ROHM launches ultra-efficient battery management solution evaluation board for small and thin devices

ROHM launches ultra-efficient battery management solution evaluation board for small and thin IoT devices

~Power ICs using Nano Energy™ technology help IoT devices using new secondary batteries operate for longer periods of time~

ROHM, a world-renowned semiconductor manufacturer (headquartered in Kyoto, Japan), has developed an evaluation board "REFLVBMS001-EVK-001" that can easily evaluate ultra-efficient battery management solutions (suitable for various wearable devices, electronic shelf labels, smart cards and other small IoT devices) for the growing IoT field, and has begun selling it on e-commerce platforms.

In recent years, battery-driven electronic devices have become ubiquitous, including mobile devices, wearable devices, and industrial IoT devices. The components used in these applications are required to be smaller and thinner in order to improve their design flexibility and performance, and batteries are required to have larger capacity and reduce power consumption to a greater extent in order to improve their convenience. ROHM has developed a variety of low-power analog ICs, including power ICs that use the ultra-low quiescent current technology "Nano Energy™" and charging control ICs that support various secondary batteries. By providing targeted and excellent power solutions, it helps to achieve long-term operation of battery-driven application products. This time, combining these technological advantages, an evaluation board that can evaluate ultra-efficient battery management solutions for small and thin IoT devices has been developed and is now on sale.

The "REFLVBMS001-EVK-001" evaluation board is equipped with a power IC and reset IC using ROHM's ultra-low quiescent current technology "Nano Energy™", a charging control IC that supports new low-voltage secondary batteries, and Nippon Insulator Co., Ltd.'s thin, large-capacity lithium-ion secondary battery "EnerCera®". The circuit is ideal for small IoT devices. The power IC with an ultra-low quiescent current of 180nA can greatly reduce the power consumption of the power supply part of the application, while the charging control IC that supports a wider charging voltage range can control charging, monitoring, and discharging. Using this evaluation board, you can easily evaluate an ultra-thin, ultra-efficient battery management solution with a thickness of less than 0.60mm for all installed components, including thin secondary batteries.

This evaluation board has been available for e-commerce sales since November 2021 and can be purchased from e-commerce platforms such as Ameya360, Sekorm, and Oneyac.

ROHM will continue to develop a variety of energy-saving, high-performance analog ICs, including power supply ICs, and contribute to further energy conservation in a wide range of application products by providing excellent power supply solutions.

＜Details of Ultra-Efficient Battery Management Solution and Evaluation Board＞

In this solution, the power supply IC equipped with the ultra-low quiescent current technology "Nano Energy™" can greatly reduce the power consumption of the power supply part of the application product, and at the same time, the charging control IC that supports various secondary batteries can provide matching charging for various secondary batteries.

This evaluation board "REFLVBMS001-EVK-001" uses the secondary battery "EnerCera® EC382704P-C" with a thickness of 0.45mm and a battery capacity of 27mAh. The ultra-low power consumption IC "BD70522GUL" with a standby quiescent current of 180nA equipped with "Nano Energy™" technology is used as a high-efficiency power supply, and the charging control IC "BD71631QWZ" that supports charging voltages of 2.0V to 4.7V is responsible for charging, monitoring, and discharging control suitable for the battery. These devices together constitute a power storage unit. Including the reset IC "BD5230NVX-2C" for detecting abnormal voltage, the quiescent current during standby is very low, which can not only provide a power supply function without waste for the application product, but also extend the standby time of the application product by more than 60 times compared with ordinary solutions. This evaluation board can easily evaluate this solution. In addition, the thickness of all installed components is less than 0.60mm, and the thickness of the PCB board is only an ultra-thin 1.60mm, so it can also be directly installed in card-type IoT devices (smart cards) as a reference design.

●Application examples

- Wearable devices such as smart watches and keyless entry systems

- Electronic shelf labels, smart cards, smart meters, alarms and other small industrial IoT devices,

It is ideal for various IoT devices that require smaller, thinner size and longer battery life.

＜Sales Information＞

Sales start time: November 2021

E-commerce platforms: Ameya360, Sekorm, Oneyac and other e-commerce platforms will also gradually release the product.

Products for sale:

*For more information about EnerCera® from Nippon Insulators Corporation,

＜Details of Nano Energy™ technology, the core of the ultra-efficient battery management solution＞

Nano Energy™ is an ultra-low quiescent current technology that aims to achieve the keyword "10-year drive with a button battery" in the IoT field. It is achieved by combining the three advanced analog technology advantages of "circuit design", "layout" and "process" under ROHM's vertically integrated production system.

The BD70522GUL, a step-down DC/DC converter IC equipped with this technology, has a quiescent current of as low as 180nA (n=10 to the 9th power) during standby, which allows the battery driving time of the application product during standby to be 1.4 times that of ordinary products, helping electronic devices such as wearable devices and IoT devices that are powered by batteries or small batteries to operate for a long time.

*Nano Energy™ is a trademark or registered trademark of ROHM Co., Ltd.

*EnerCera® is a registered trademark of NGK INSULATORS, LTD.