Something that usually keep mobile users on pins and needles are unreliable batteries. These pieces of hardware always take the blame when you find yourself unable to talk, send an e-mail or whatever you want to do with your handset due to lack of power.
But, are really batteries so lousy? Or could mobile devices have wrong information about the battery power output?
Texas Instruments have developed a new battery-gauge chip to improve the information available about the battery status, telling the user exactly how much standby or talking time have left (it can measure levels of 1% of the battery level). This will make smartphone developers to enable battery saving methods only when needed, allowing the users to squeeze more power out of the battery as well as decreasing the number of chargings (thus increasing the battery lifecycle).
This improvement has been made by changing the parameters usually measured. For instance, older battery-gauge chips only check for battery’s voltage which is rather unstable (when the phone is sending a signal its voltage drops but the power remains steady) and sensitive to outside temperature and battery’s age.
The new Texas Instruments’ chip also measures electric impedance which is a measure of the opposition to current flow. It also changes with temperature, battery age, and the power demands but, along with the voltage, mobile device can recalculate power output and give more reliable readings.
More info at Texas Instruments product website
August 31st, 2007 at 10:26 am
Nuevo chip medidor del nivel de batería para móviles
Texas Instruments ha desarrollado un nuevo chip que ofrece mediciones del nivel de batería mucho más fiables.