High-accuracy battery monitor and protector simplifies multiple cell pack management
The Monolithic Power Systems MP3716 battery monitor and protector integrated circuit (IC) combines precision sensing of voltage, temperature, and current sensing, with independent charge and discharge MOSFET control, to simplify design.
The MP3716 provides a complete analog front-end (AFE) monitoring and protection solution for series battery packs from 3 cells to 18 cells, with an absolute voltage exceeding 80V on particular pins. The AFE can also operate in standalone mode without a microcontroller unit (MCU), which can simplify safety-critical designs or provide a protection backstop even when the host processor is unavailable.
To support both protection and fuel gauging, MP3716 integrates two separate analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). One ADC measures differential cell voltages across up to 18 channels, die temperature, and up to seven external temperature points using negative temperature coefficient thermistors (NTC). The second ADC measures charge and discharge current through an external current-sense resistor.
On the power path, MP3716 includes high-side N-channel MOSFET drivers for independent charge and discharge control. The discharge (DSG) driver adds configurable scaled current soft-start (SS), providing a controlled turn-on that can eliminate the need for an external pre-charge circuit in many architectures. Protection coverage includes over-current protection (OCP), short-circuit protection (SCP), cell under-voltage protection (UVP) and over-voltage protection (OVP), pack UVP and OVP, and high and low temperature protections, plus die high-temperature protection.
The MP3716 integrates a fuse driver with protections such as severe under-voltage protection (SUVP), severe over-voltage protection (SOVP), MOSFET damage protection, and extensive self-diagnostics. It is available in a thin quad flat package (TQFP) with 48 pins and 7mm x 7mm dimensions.