STMicroelectronics begins mass production of L9962 battery management IC

STMicroelectronics has commenced mass production of the L9962, a battery management integrated circuit (IC) designed for lithium-ion and lithium-polymer battery packs with up to 10 cells connected in series.

The L9962 features a 12-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a cell-balancing function of up to 70mA to maintain uniform voltage across cells. It integrates monitoring for voltage, current, and temperature, providing protection against overvoltage, undervoltage, overcurrent, and short circuits. By utilizing Coulomb counting and a high-precision current sense amplifier, the chip achieves a current measurement accuracy of 0.25% across the entire temperature range after a single calibration.

Designed for low power consumption, the IC includes a 5μA standby mode and a 2μA deep-sleep mode to extend battery life during storage or inactivity. It also incorporates a 3.3V low-dropout (LDO) regulator, fuse control, and high-side/low-side pre-drivers for relays to simplify external circuitry. Target applications include cordless power tools, medical devices, small electric vehicles such as e-bikes, and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems. The product is available in a 48-pin TQFP package.