Supplement: Power Table 2. Drawbacks of USB-C and parallel battery charging
the consumer demand for more power and longer battery life that devices with parallel battery configurations target. As the battery capacity of a consumer device increases due to the parallel battery configuration, so does the power requirement for the charger supplying power to the device. In addition to this, a goal in the consumer market is to allow users to have access to their device as much as possible. The higher power from USB-C ports allows consumers to charge their device faster than before and results in more time for them to use the device however they please, without the attachment to a charging cable.
Parallel battery charging with USB-C has already made its way into many applications and will continue to spread throughout consumer applications. While USB-C ports and cables will be largely beneficial to the consumer market in terms of power, cost, and simplicity, there are some drawbacks that need to be pointed out.
Figure 2 shows an example of one of the main tools we would need to create a parallel battery charging environment, the MAX17330. This part is a battery charger, fuel gauge, and protector all in one IC. The MAX17330 would receive its power from a USB-C compatible charger or converter, which would then allow for the MAX17330 to charge the parallel battery packs at high speeds, allowing users to have the most hands-on usage time as possible. In addition, this configuration allows for the batteries
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to be placed in their own unique location, such as the opposite side of an AR/VR headset or separate sides of a foldable phone. Some of the benefits of using this chip are minimising dropout and heat, preventing cross-charging for parallel batteries, and being able to independently charge parallel packs.
This article has pointed out some of the benefits and drawbacks and given us an introduction to the combination of parallel
battery charging and USB-C. Now that we are more familiar with the topic as a whole, it is good to point out some real-world applications. Parallel battery charging and USB-C has already begun introduction into a few consumer markets. These include, but are not limited to, AR/ VR headsets, cordless drills and other tools, laptops, and portable tablets. The challenges mentioned previously in Table 2 do cause some difficulties for designers when creating these types of systems. Where Analog Devices comes into play to replace the blocks in Figure
be combined to allow consumers to incorporate USB-C’s faster charging with parallel battery packs. This results in better efficiency as the end product has a longer battery life and shorter charging time. With the consumer market always evolving, designers need to quickly adapt and find ways to satisfy customers’ requirements. USB-C and parallel battery charging is the next solution to the ever-changing problem of finding a new way to power the next generation of consumer devices.
www.analog.com Components in Electronics February 2024 39 Figure 2. A block diagram of parallel battery charging environment including the MAX17330.
2 is with the MAX17330, along with the MAX77958 in place of the USB-C controller and the MAX77986 in place of the downstream source. The MAX77958 allows designers to simplify their design with the standalone solution and customisable firmware that dictates USB-C power delivery levels, while the MAX77986 can act as a downstream source for the USB-C to power other sections of the entire product. This type of setup is ideal for applications with power requirements of 15W or greater. For applications with lower than 15W, the MAX77789 is the ideal solution for its combination of 1S 3A charger and USB-C detection.
Consumers in today’s world are all about maximising efficiency and not wasting time with their products. All of these products offered by Analog Devices can
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