The bq26500, the first in the bqJUNIOR family of advanced gas gauge device for handheld applications, is a highly accurate standalone single-cell Li-Ion and Li-Pol battery capacity monitoring and reporting device targeted at space limited portable applications. The device monitors a voltage drop across a small current sense resistor connected in series with the battery to determine charge and discharge activity of the battery. Compensations for battery temperature, self-discharge, and rate of discharge are applied to the charge counter to provide available capacity across a wide range of operating conditions. Battery capacity is automatically recalibrated, or learned, in the course of a discharge cycle from full to empty. Internal registers include available capacity, cell temperature and voltage, state-of-charge, and status and control registers.
The bq26500 can operate directly from single-cell Li-Ion and Li-Pol batteries and communicates to the system over a simple one-wire bi-directional serial interface. The 5-kbits/s HDQ bus interface reduces communication overhead in the external microcontroller.
| Cell chemistry | Lead Acid, Li-Ion/Li-Polymer, NiCd, NiMH |
| Number of series cells | Single Cell |
| Communication interface | HDQ |
| Battery capacity (min) (mAh) | 300 |
| Battery capacity (max) (mAh) | 6000 |
| Implementation | Pack, System |
| External capacity indication | None |
| Features | Coulomb Counter |
| Operating temperature range (°C) | 0 to 70 |
| Rating | Catalog |
| TSSOP (PW) | 8 | 19.2 mm² 3 x 6.4 |