Other Parts Discussed in Thread: BQ25713, BQ24171
Hello,
I like the BQ24610 battery charger PMIC for it's multiple charging parameters which can be set by external voltage references. I am designing a charger that has a requirement to implement all safety-related protections in hardware, but still offer some configurability in firmware. This is because the design can benefit from extensive reviews for hardware, but the firmware will not be subject to extensive validation.
My idea is to use the ACSET pin to regulate charging power in the event of system over-temperature/over-current events. This feedback loop shall be implemented with analog circuitry that can be easily reviewed and verified.
It shall be possible to tweak the charging current, voltage, and termination-current in a host MCU's firmware, but it shall not be possible to accidentally exceed certain maximum's. So my idea is to (ab)use the ISET1, ISET2 and VFB pins, by applying DAC voltages to resistor networks connected to these pins. The resistor networks set the maximum voltage these pins can possibly see, whilst the DAC can operate at lower than 100% duty cycle to reduce the limits beneath these maximum values.
As far as I can see the BQ24610 is perfect for this application. But the 2009 date on the datasheet is somewhat concerning. There are even references to a Japanese site on this chip from 2006. Is there any information anyone could offer to reassure me that this chip will still be available for the foreseeable future? Or should I consider some newer alternatives which can also satisfy my needs above? I don't mind implementing a newer chip with registers that can be changed over I2C, for example. But it must be possible to write-protect some kind of maximum value to those registers somehow.
Other requirements are as follows:
- 3.5A charging current
- Single lithium ion cell
- State-of-the-art efficiency (90%+)
- Preferably compatible with at least 12V input
Many thanks for any advice offered.
Best,
Eddie
