Benchmarq announces new family of mask-programmable Lithium Ion Pack Supervisors.DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 14, 1996--Benchmarq (NASDAQ/NMS:BMRQ) announced a new addition to its growing portfolio of Lithium Ion A rechargeable battery technology introduced in 1991 that provides greater charge per pound than nickel metal hydride. In 1993, Toshiba introduced the first notebook in the U.S. with a Li-ion battery. battery management ICs with the introduction of the bq2058 family of Li-Ion Pack Supervisors. Li-Ion is an emerging battery chemistry that delivers more energy by weight and volume than existing NiCd and NiMH batteries. Because its characteristics are significantly different from Nickel-based cells, Li-Ion requires different battery management techniques. The 16-pin bq2058 controls two external FETs in the charge/discharge path of the battery pack to provide overvoltage, undervoltage, and overcurrent (short-circuit) protection to three or four series cell battery packs. When a protection threshold is violated, the charge or discharge FET FET: see transistor. (Field Effect Transistor) One of two major categories of transistor; the other is bipolar. FETs use a gate element that, when charged, creates an electromagnetic field that changes the conductivity of a silicon (as appropriate) is deactivated after a user-configurable time delay. The delay for each threshold is individually set by a single external capacitor capacitor or condenser, device for the storage of electric charge. Simple capacitors consist of two plates made of an electrically conducting material (e.g., a metal) and separated by a nonconducting material or dielectric (e.g. . The device consumes less than 40uA during operation and powers down to less than 1.5uA when idle. A wide variety of the chip's characteristics are mask-programmable during manufacture. Six different overvoltage threshold values -- matching the recommendations of different Li-Ion battery suppliers -- are available from +/- 25mV to +/- 50mV tolerance. "The bq2058 provides the flexibility to tune protection thresholds to the battery and tune timing to the characteristics of the application," said Bill Bentley William John "Bill" Bentley (born October 21, 1947 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) is an English former professional football player. He played as a left-back. Bentley is now a window cleaner in his hometown.[1] Notes 1. , Product Marketing Manager. "This is a significant step forward in this second-generation Li-Ion protection device. Where Li-Ion batteries are concerned, one size does not fit all." Pricing and Availability Samples of the bq2058 will be available in late fourth quarter 1996 with production quantities available in the first quarter of 1997. The bq2058 is priced at $1.91 each in 10K quantities. About Benchmarq Benchmarq provides integrated circuits Integrated circuits Miniature electronic circuits produced within and upon a single semiconductor crystal, usually silicon. Integrated circuits range in complexity from simple logic circuits and amplifiers, about 1/20 in. (1. and modules for portable applications and applications sensitive to the loss of system power. Product lines include battery-management ICs and modules, real-time clock A real-time clock (RTC) is a computer clock (most often in the form of an integrated circuit) that keeps track of the current time. Although the term often refers to the devices in personal computers, servers and embedded systems, RTCs are present in almost any electronic ICs and modules, nonvolatile controller ICs and modules, and nonvolatile static RAMs A fast memory technology that requires power to hold its content. Static RAM (SRAM, S-RAM) is used for high-speed registers, caches and relatively small memory banks such as a frame buffer on a display adapter. . Benchmarq's products address the system designers' increasing requirements for high-performance solutions that are easy to use. In North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , Benchmarq products are marketed through independent manufacturers' representatives Manufacturers representatives (reps), also known as sales agents, are independently owned and managed sales companies that are an alternative to hiring a direct sales force. and are distributed by Arrow Electronics Arrow Electronics NYSE: ARW is a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Melville, New York. This company specializes in products and services of electronic components and computer products. , Marshall Industries, Wyle Electronics, Nu Horizons, and Vantage Components. Distributors market and sell Benchmarq products internationally. -0-
Please refer all reader inquiries to:
Bill Bentley
Product Marketing Manager
BENCHMARQ Microelectronics, Inc.
17919 Waterview Parkway Dallas, Texas U.S.A.
WWW: http://www.benchmarq.com
E-mail: benchmarq@benchmarq.com
Fax: 972/437-9198
Tel: 972/437-9195
-0- TRADEMARK NOTE: Benchmarq is a registered trademark of BENCHMARQ Microelectronics Inc. CONTACT: Benchmarq Microelectronics Inc., Dallas Bill Bentley or Patricia H. Smith, 972/437-9195 (Media) Fax: 972/437-9198 or Shelton Associates, Dallas Jodi Shelton, 972/239-5119 (Investors) |
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