Engineers can pair it with the BQ79600-Q1 SPI/UART communication interface, to enable complete shutdown of the system when the vehicle is parked or turned off, to conserve battery power, improve cell balancing and support safety requirements.  

The BQ79616-Q1 is the first in a family of battery monitors and balancers to support monitoring of a range of battery chemistries, including lithium-iron phosphate (LiFePO4). IT has an integrated digital low-pass filter and ADC to optimise signal measurement accuracy for cell voltage measurements with less than 2mV of error.

The device also meets component-level requirements of ISO 26262, supporting ASIL D compliance for voltage measurement, temperature measurement and communication. This reduces the bill of materials and also the software overhead, claims the company. Diagnosis times for battery failure are claimed to be the fastes in the industry at 100ms in 400V systems.

EMC performance is capable of withstanding the harsh, noisy environments of HEVs and EVs without compromising the reliability of daisy-chain communication, says the company. The pin rating enables the device to withstand high voltage transients and hot plug events. There is also autonomous cell balancing to simplify thermal management.

The monitor-balancer integrates busbar measurement, for use across various combinations of battery module sizes. The company advises that combining the BQ79616-Q1 with its BQ79600-Q1 enables battery management system in a closed-loop configuration with a single communication interface, reducing component count.

The 16-channel BQ79616-Q1 is available now in a 10 x 10mm, 64-pin thermally enhanced TQFP.

The BQ79616-Q1EVM evaluation module is also available now.