A STUDY OF STEP-DOWN SWITCHING MODE

RECTIFIER AND APPLICATION OF

SERIAL-PARALLEL BALANCE CHARGING FOR
LI-ION BATTERY ARRAYS

Lin, Shu-Han
Prof. Ching-Yuan Lee

Thesis for Master of Science

Department of Electrical Engineering
Tatung University

July 2004

80196

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to develop a step-down switching mode rectifier (SMR),
which is used to reduce the whole system volume and achieve serial-parallel balance charging
of the Li-ion battery arrays. The single phase step-down SMR connects with utility power and
catch the synchronous signal of utility power to achieve synchronous control. By using LC
filter to obtain a stable DC voltage, then charging serial-parallel Li-ion battery by DC/DC
buck converter.
The battery charger is DC/DC buck converter. In serial charging mode, using lowdissipative circuit which parallels the battery can transfer excess energy from the higher
voltage battery to the lower one to achieve balance charging. In parallel charging mode,
utilizing the method of switching can maintain the equal charging current in each battery to
avoid the different battery internal resistance which is caused unbalance charging. While the
charging current in the system is over the battery limit, it can protect the security of the
system by using the configuration of protection software-hardware properly.
Finally, a single-chip microprocessor 80196 is used in this system and an experimental
hardware scheme with software algorithm is established to prove the proposed principle in
expectation to attain low-dissipative energy of serial-parallel Li-ion battery balance charging
system.

II

III

TABLES OF CONTENTS

CHINESE ABSTRACTi
ENGLISH ABSTRACT.. ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..iii
TABLES OF CONTENTS. iv
LIST OF FIGURES...vii
LIST OF TABLES..xi
CHAPTER
I

Introduction1
1.1

Motivation.1

1.2

Organization of the Thesis 4

II Basic Concepts of the Li-ion Battery and Battery charger ... 6

2.1

Knowledge of Rechargeable Battery 6

2.1.1 History of Li-ion battery.....6
2.1.2 The Characteristic of Li-ion battery...7
2.1.3 Constitution of Li-ion battery.9
2.1.4 Protection of Li-Ion battery......................................12

2.2

Typical Types of Battery Charger...12

2.3

Equalization of Series Battery String 15

IV

2.3.1 Dissipative equalization technique.......15

2.3.2 Non-dissipative equalization technique....17
2.4

Charging of Parallel Battery Array.....19

III Analysis and Design of the System..20

3.1

Configuration of the System... 20

3.2

Mathematical Analysis of the SMR.... 21

3.2.1 Analysis of gate control...22
3.2.2 Selection the value of LC filter....23

3.3

Mathematical Analysis of the Buck Converter... 24

3.4

Serial Charging with Balance Circuit..... 28

3.5

Parallel Charging with Current Control..31

IV Hardware Structure and Software Algorithm...32

4.1

Hardware Structure of the Whole System...32

4.1.1 MOSFET drive circuit. 32
4.1.2 Voltage and current feedback circuit... 33
4.1.3 Zero crossing detector circuit..33
4.1.4 Snubber cell circuit..37
4.1.5 Microcontroller39

4.2

Software Algorithm.43

V Experimental Result.47
VI Conclusions..56
REFERENCES.. 58

VI

LIST OF FIGURES

Fig 1.1 (a) single phase half-controlled rectifier (b) The waveform of Vin, Iin, Vout and Iout
Fig 1.2 Functional block diagram of the whole system
Fig 2.1 (a) Li-ion battery is charging (b) Li-ion battery is discharging.
Fig 2.2 The equivalent circuit of the battery
Fig 2.3 The single phase simple charger.
Fig 2.4 The three phase simple charger.
Fig 2.5 The boost converter/full bridge converter based unity power factor battery charger
Fig 2.6 The flyback converter for battery charger
Fig 2.7 Voltage equalization using individual cell equalizer (ICE)
Fig 2.8 (a) Circuit diagram for the switched-capacitor equalizer (b) Operation diagram for
switch
Fig 2.9 The Bi-directional non dissipative current diverter
Fig 2.10 The simple battery charger of parallel charging
Fig 3.1 Configuration of the whole system
Fig 3.2 The configuration of step-down SMR
Fig 3.3 The proposed switching control signal is inverse SPWM
Fig 3.4 The basic configuration of a buck converter
Fig 3.5 The operation in mode 1 (S on)
Fig 3.6 The operation in mode 2 (S off)
Fig 3.7 The proposed charge-equalizing circuit charged by constant current
Fig 3.8 (a) when VB1-VB2> 0.2 volt, SB1 on (b) when VB1-VB2< 0.2 volt, SB1 off
Fig 3.9 (a) when VB2-VB1> 0.2 volt, SB2 on (b) when VB2-VB1< 0.2 volt, SB2 off
Fig 3.10 The proposed parallel charging circuit
VII

Fig 4.1 Hardware structure of the serial battery charger

Fig 4.2 Hardware structure of the parallel battery charger
Fig 4.3 MOSFET drive circuit
Fig 4.4 Circuit of voltage sensing
Fig 4.5 Circuit of current sensing
Fig 4.6 (a) Zero crossing detector circuit (b) Waveform
Fig 4.7 The operation of the RCD circuit (a)S1 on (b)S1 off
Fig 4.8 Block diagram of 8X196MC
Fig 4.9 The practical circuit of 8X196MC and peripheral
Fig 4.10 Flowchart of the main routine
Fig 4.11 Flowchart of the SMR control subroutine
Fig. 4.12 Flowchart of the parallel charging subroutine
Fig 4.13 Flowchart of the serial charging subroutine
Fig 5.1 (a) The rectified voltage (Vin) waveform (b) The zero point signal of utility power
line (c) The inverse spwm switching signal (Vgs) of SMR.
Fig 5.2 (a) The voltage waveform (Vds) across switching device without snubber. (b) The
voltage waveform (Vds) across switching device with snubber.
Fig 5.3 The waveform of Vin and Iin when the output voltage: 60volt, load: 500 ohm and
PF=0.875.
Fig 5.4 (a) The rectified voltage (Vin) waveform (b) The output voltage waveform(Vo) of
SMR before LC filter
Fig 5.5 (a) The output voltage waveform(Vo) of SMR aftrer LC filter (b) The input
current waveform (Iin) when the load: 500 ohm and Vo: 60volt
Fig 5.6 (a)The output voltage of battery charger V0: 8.4 volt (b) The voltage value of
battery VB: 7.8 volt
VIII

Fig 5.7 The battery initial condition before serial balance charging.
Fig 5.8 The waveform of ILB1and ILB2 in serial balance charging when VB1-VB2>0.2 Volt.
Fig 5.9 The battery condition after serial balance charging
Fig 5.10 The battery initial condition before serial balance charging
Fig 5.11 The waveform of ILB1and ILB2 in serial balance charging when VB2-VB1>0.2 Volt.
Fig 5.12 The battery condition after serial balance charging
Fig 5.13 The battery condition before parallel charging
Fig 5.14 The charging current without current control, IB1=0.2A and IB2=0.7A.
Fig. 5.15 The average charging current with current control, IB1= IB2=0.5A

IX

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 Performance of the popular commercial battery

XI

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Motivation

Recently, portable electronic products are rapidly proliferated. Battery is one of the most
popular energy-storage devices for many electronic products, such as portable computers,
mobile phone, digital cameras and so on. Rechargeable battery is used wildly because it has
economical and convenient characteristics. Batteries can be placed in series and parallel to
obtain higher voltage and capacity while the load needs heavy energy such as electrical
vehicles (EV) [1].
Now, there are several kinds of charging strategy for rechargeable batteries such as
1.constant voltage (CV), 2.constant current (CC), 3.hybrid (CC/CV), 4.pulse current and
5.reflex which uses positive and negative pulse current to charge [2]-[6]. CV and CC are the
simplest way to charge battery but both of them need a long charging time; therefore, the
popular battery charger does not use these two ways alone. In general, the hybrid charging
method which combines constant current and constant voltage is used. Using hybrid charging
method can improve charging efficiency and save charging time. Pulse current charging and
reflex charging method are also applied to fast charging and have good performance in
efficiency. However, using these two ways have some disadvantages including more external
variables, the width of pulse current and complicated control circuit. Besides, pulse current
charging or reflex charging, which uses positive and negative pulse current to charge, is often
utilized in lead-acid battery charger because of its chemistry characteristic. Furthermore, the
chemistry characteristic of Li-ion battery is dissimilar with lead-acid battery. If reflex
1

charging method used in Li-ion battery, the charging efficiency is better than hybrid charging
technique but it will reduce the battery life. As a result, this thesis still uses CC/CV for Li-ion
battery charging.
While the serial battery set is charging, we need to consider the problem of balance
voltage of each battery. Because every batterys initial condition is different, the rate of
charging is not the same. If we did not care about these conditions, some batteries may be
excessively refilled while others are not enough. If the battery is overcharged, the excess
injected power will not be stored into cells through the electrochemical reaction, but cause
electrolyte reduction and deposition of metallic lithium instead. This reaction will degrade
battery life. Therefore, this thesis proposes balance charging circuit for serial-connected
battery. As one cell has higher electrical quantity, the energy can transform to the lower one
by balance charging circuit. Not only it can protect each serial battery, but it also can improve
the whole charging efficiency [7].
While the parallel battery set is charging, we must think about the problem of balance
current in each battery loop. Because every batterys initial condition is different, the internal
resistance is not the same [8]. According to the theory of current distribution, the lower
internal resistance battery loop would be allocated higher current while using constant current
charge. If this current higher than the battery charging rated current, it would cause damage to
battery. Therefore, this thesis utilizes switches to control the equal current in each battery loop.
Although the cost will rise, the battery can be protected and can increase the using cycle.
In general, in order to achieve step-down voltage, it can use transformer, control mode
rectifier and switching mode rectifier. The simplest method is using transformer to transfer
input source to desired output voltage level. However, there are some disadvantages for using
transformer (1) the volume is large and (2) output voltage level is restricted by turn ratio.
Hence, the transformer is not suitable to minimize total volume and control variable output
2

voltage level. The other way is controlled rectifiers. There are two kinds of controlled
rectifiers. One is half-controlled, another is full-controlled. The controlled rectifiers utilize
controllable components such as SCR to step-down. It can control the firing angle to decide
the output voltage but the faults are power factor poor and firing angle which can not too large.
Therefore, if we wanted to obtain the lower output voltage level, the power factor will be very
poor. Figure 1.1 shows the single phase half-controlled rectifier. Another method is switching
mode rectifier (SMR). The SMR is switching the rectified voltage to accomplish step-down
voltage. There are some advantages for using SMR (1) power factor is better than using
controlled rectifier and (2) the desired output voltage level is controllable. Therefore, this
thesis would utilize SMR to achieve step-down voltage.
This thesis proposed a new technique, using a special control gate driver to step down
the AC source and then obtain a fixed DC source through LC filter. A low-dissipative circuit
is used to charge serial battery pack and avoid abnormal overcharging. A buck converter is
used to current sharing for parallel connected batteries. The serial and parallel connection
scheme uses two batteries as the smallest unit. The number of batteries may be expanded at
will. The proposed system can lead to an efficient, practicability, safety, and cost implement.
At last, we will prove its feasibility in the practical application.

(a)
3

(b)
Fig. 1.1 (a) single phase half-controlled rectifier
(b) The waveform of Vin, Iin, Vout and Iout

1.2 Organization of the Thesis

Functional diagram as shown in Fig. 1.2 includes a buck converter, DC step-down

switching controller, non-dissipative circuit for charging series-connected batteries, constant
voltage (CV) mode and constant current (CC) mode controller.
A microprocessor-based control system is used to manage the whole system. The Intel
8X196MC microcontroller is applied to realize CC/CV charging mode and ensure balance
charging whatever series-connected or parallel-connected.
In the Chapter 2 of this thesis, the concept and the characteristic of Li-ion battery will be
introduced. Review of the conventional techniques for charge equalization technique of serial

battery and current sharing improvement of parallel battery cells which had suggested by the
authors are discussed. In Chapter 3, the proposed AC/DC step-down switching rectifier,
battery management system and its operation principle will illustrate clearly in different
sections. In Chapter 4, the practical system, including hardware and software structures, will
be described in detail. The experimental results are shown in Chapter 5. Finally, a brief
conclusion and discussion are declared in Chapter 6.

Single Phase
AC Source

AC/DC
Step Down
Switching Rectifier

AC Step
Down
Mode

DC/DC
Buck
Converter

Constant
Current
Mode

Constant
Voltage
Mode

Series & Parallel

Battery Pack

Current
Sharing
Mode

Mode
Controller
MCU

Fig. 1.2 Functional block diagram of the whole system

CHAPTER 2
BASIC CONCEPT OF THE LI-ION BATERY AND
THE BATTERY CHARGER
2.1 Knowledge of Rechargeable Battery

The battery can transform the chemical energy into electrical energy directly. As the
increasing of electronic products in the world, the battery plays an important role in our life.
Batteries have a variety of materials and differences in shapes and sizes. Although a variety of
battery types are necessary for such a difference of uses, all of the batteries work with the
same basic principles.

2.1.1 History of Li-ion battery

Rechargeable Lithium metal batteries were commercialized in the 1980s but failed in
the market due to safety concerns associated with the Lithium metal. It was found that
dendritic growth leads to an increased area of lithium metal which could result in thermal
runaway. Increased heating of the cell caused a reaction with the flammable electrolyte
resulting in explosion. As a result, Lithium metal cells were withdrawn from the market.
Rechargeable Li-Ion cells were commercialized by Sony in 1991 and basically this
technology is still used by manufacturers of cells today. These cells contain no metallic
Lithium and a carbon based negative electrode (originally coke but now graphite) and a
Lithium transition metal oxide positive electrode are used instead. Li-Ion cells have proven to

be extremely safe with many hundreds of millions of cells shipped with very few reported
incidents.

2.1.2 The characteristic of Li-ion battery

Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) has become the predominant battery technology for handheld
electronic applications in recent years due to its high energy density, high voltage, good cycle
life and excellent storage characteristics. It has many advantages over Nickel Cadmium
(Ni-Cd) and Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) technologies but also some restrictions due to its
differing principal of operation.
High Energy Density
Li-ion cells weigh around half a Ni-Cd or Ni-MH cell of the same capacity. In
addition Li-Ion cells are 40 to 50% volumetrically smaller than Ni-Cd cells, and 20-30%
smaller than Ni-MH cells.
High Voltage
The average voltage of a Li-Ion cell (3.6-3.7V) is equivalent to three Ni-Cd or
Ni-MH cells (each 1.2V). This means only one cell is required for many of todays
portable electronic devices (Mobile phones, MP3 players, GPS etc).
High Drain Capability
Li-Ion cells can typically be discharged at rates up to 1.5C continuous. High
capacity and higher drain multi-cell packs are achieved by connecting multiple cells in
parallel, which is not easily done when using Ni-Cd or Ni-MH cells.
Long Cycle Life & Fast Charge Capable
Under normal charged and discharged conditions, the life of a Li-Ion cell is
typically between 300 and 500 cycles. Li-Ion cells can be fast charged with around
7

70-80% of typical capacity by charging at 1C for around one hour.

Wide Environmental Operating Range
Li-Ion cells can typically be charged between 0C and +45C, and discharged
between 20C and +60C. Specialist cells are available for operation outside this range
and discharge operation between 40C and +70C.

The performance of the most popular commercial battery nowadays is list in Table 2.1
along with an estimate of the future performance capability in the year 2005. If cadmium were
improper handling, it will cause environmental pollution. Therefore, Ni-Cd battery using
cadmium in products had been restricted in most countries. Although lead acid has the
greatest potential, it still has some problems of pollution.
Consequently, Ni-MH and Li-ion are used to substitute for Ni-Cd battery because they
both have higher energy density. Even though Li-ion battery offers the highest energy storage
capability of any commercial rechargeable battery, it requires more complex charge/discharge
and voltage control for best performance. A good battery management system (BMS) for the
battery is necessary [5][6].

Table 2.1 Performance of the popular commercial battery

Material

____WH/l_____
Present future

____WH/kg_____
Present future

Li-ion

180-250

350

60-115

150

Ni-MH

150-200

250

50-65

70

Ni-Cd
Pb Acid

80-150
75-110

160
125

30-50
25-50

55
55

2.1.3 Constitution of Li-ion battery

The electromotive force (terminal voltage) of battery is the voltage difference between
the anode potential and the cathode potential without any current through battery [8].

E = E+ E

(2.1)

If let Pox be the active material of positive electrode, N ox be the active material of
negative electrode in the charge state, Pred be the active material of positive electrode, and
N red be the active material of negative electrode in the discharge state, the reduction reaction
occurs in the anode by obtaining e and the oxidation reaction occurs in cathode by emitting
e .

Anode

Cathode

Pox + ne Pred

(2.2)

N red N ox + ne

(2.3)

Therefore, the reaction equation of the Li-ion battery is as follow

Charging
LiCoO2 + Cn

Li1 XCoO2 + CnLix

Discharging
Li1 XCoO2 + CnLix

LiCoO2 + Cn

(2.4)
(2.5)

The reaction process of the Li-ion battery is shown in Fig.2.1 (a) and Fig.2.1 (b). Figure
2.1(a) shows that the lithium ions in the cathode material (lithium compound) migrate via a
separator to the layers of carbon material that form the anode, and a charging current flows
when the battery is charged.
9

Fig.2.1 (a) Li-ion battery is charging.

Figure 2.1(b) shows that the lithium ions in the carbon material that form the anode
migrate via a separator to the cathode material (lithium compound), and a discharging current
flows when the battery is discharged.

Fig.2.1 (b) Li-ion battery is discharging.

The equivalent model of the battery is to connect with a series internal resistance of the
battery. As shown in Fig.2.2, rb is the internal resistance of the battery, and E b is the
electromotive force (EMF) of the battery.

10

Rb

Eb

Vb

Fig. 2.2 The equivalent circuit of the battery

During discharge, there is the current between the battery and the external circuit.
Because battery has the internal resistance

rb

that causes voltage drop, therefore, the

terminal voltage Vb is less than the EMF ( E b ). If R is the resistance of external circuit, and I
is the current of discharge circuit, the relation equation is followed as:

I = Eb /( R + rb )

(2-6)

Eq. (2-7) also shows the ratio between battery potential difference of both terminal
voltage Vb and EMF of battery E b

Vb / Eb = R /( R + rb )

In this time, the EMF and the internal resistance depends on the state of battery.

11

(2-7)

2.1.4 Protection of Li-Ion battery

In general, the fundamental protection methods of the Li-Ion battery need to consider
voltage limit, current limit, and temperature limit while charging or discharging. These
protection circuits for batteries will be designed as a limit circuit.
If the voltage and current protection circuit failed to protect charger, the battery would
cause a thermal event [9]. In this section, we will discuss the ways of battery protection about
over or under voltage while battery is charging or discharging. For series-connected battery,
an advanced and popular method is to detect the individual voltage of battery string. While
overcharging occurs, the protection circuit can remove the battery which is overcharging.
Except the protection of battery voltage, the overcharge current protection is another
important thing. While battery is over discharge, the terminal voltage is less than 2.8 volt.
Consequently, the initial charging current is bigger than the rate of battery charging current
when using constant voltage to charge. If we did not have any protection circuit, the large
current will endamage the battery or make the battery explode. As a result, the battery charger
needs current limit circuit. Furthermore, we still need to notice the temperature of battery. The
higher temperature of battery may degrade charging efficiency and make battery unstable. For
these reasons, the protection circuits for battery charger are important. We can not ignore it
otherwise user may be in a dangerous situation.

2.2 Typical Types of Battery Charger

Nowadays, the more portable electronic products are produced, the more rechargeable
batteries are used. Because rechargeable battery has some superior characteristics to

12

traditional battery such as high energy capacity, people use more and more rechargeable
battery in their life gradually. Hence, it is necessary to have an efficient and safe battery
charger. This section is going to introduce some types of battery charger.
There are two simple battery chargers as show in Fig. 2.3 and Fig 2.4. Figure 2.3 is a
single-phase, full-wave, uncontrolled rectifier using diodes and a large DC filter capacitor.
Output control was achieved by a DC step-down chopper after the rectifier. Figure 2.4 is a
three-phase, full-wave, fully-controlled rectifier using SCRs and an inductive choke. Both
simple charging circuits have an AC transformer on the front end to boost the line voltage to
that capable of charging a battery pack with a normal voltage of 384V [10].

Rb
Vb

Fig. 2.3 The single phase simple charger.

choke
Rb
Vb

Fig. 2.4 The three phase simple charger.

13

Other types of battery charger will be shown in Fig. 2.5 and Fig. 2.6[11]. Figure 2.5 is
the whole charge system based on this approach incorporating a boost converter and a full
bridge converter. The intermediate dc bus is generally bulky in order to filter the input power
fluctuations caused by the input single phase line. The power balance between the input and
output stages has to be coordinated to prevent dc voltage overshoots, resulting in complexity
in the control strategy.

Fig. 2.5 The boost converter/full bridge converter based unity power factor battery charger

Figure 2.6 shows the simple flyback battery charger. The switch S is realized by using a
four quadrant switch IGBTs and anti-parallel diodes. When switch S is on, energy is stored in
the primary winding of the flyback transformer T. When switch S is off, the current is picked
up by the secondary winding of the transformer. The secondary current channels through
appropriate diodes of the rectifier charge to the battery.

14

Fig. 2.6 The flyback converter for battery charger

2.3 Equalization of Series Battery String

As mentioned previously, each battery has different chemistry during repeat cycles of
charging and discharging thus the series connected batteries lead to large non-uniformly in
cell status and correspondingly different battery terminal voltage.
During the charging period, some cells will reach full charge before the overall battery
string which did not finish the charging process. Series connected battery string are prone to
reduce battery life and cause some damage if one set kept on charging after full charging [12].
The phenomenon is similar to discharging process. For this reason, series connected batteries
should maintain each cell at an equalized level during charge/discharge mode.

2.3.1 Dissipative equalization technique

The simplest approach to equalize the battery cells in a string is to use a bypass resistor
to shunt across each cell. According to the Ohm theory, the higher voltage of battery cell, the
more current being diverted to the shunt resister. Therefore, the excess energy is converted
into the shunt resistor.

15

The shunt current can be regulated more by using individual cell equalizers (ICE) as
show in Fig. 2.7 [13][14]. It is a voltage controlled current shunt, which delivers the current
away from the battery. Although the dissipative equalization technique is simple, it is not
suitable for high power application because the excessive energy is converted to heat.





 




 



Fig. 2.7 Voltage equalization using individual cell equalizer (ICE).

16

2.3.2 Non-dissipative equalization technique

High efficiency equalization at higher charging rate can be achieved by using

non-dissipative equalization technique. It uses non-dissipative elements, such as inductances,
capacitors, and switches to realize equalization of each cell.
While charging, Non-dissipative equalization, the current is deliver away from the full
charged cell to the weak cell in the string. One example of non-dissipative equalization
technique is show in Fig. 2.8 [15].
Controlled by the switches, the capacitor is used to store the energy that can transfer
from the full charge battery to the weak ones. Generally, the switched-capacitor approach to
battery equalization is based on using N-1 capacitors to balance the voltage of a series string
of N battery.

SB1
B1
C1

Switch up
Switch open

B2
SB2

Switch down

(a)

(b)

Fig. 2.8 (a) Circuit diagram for the switched-capacitor equalizer.

(b) Operation diagram for switch

17

Another equalization technique can be realized by using inductance as show in Fig. 2.9
[12]. The diverter module consists of a switch pair (MOSFETs) in addition to an energy store
element, L. If the battery voltage is higher than others, the corresponding MOSFET is turned
on and energy is stored in the magnetic core of the shunt inductance. When the switch is turn
off, whichever the store energy is diverted to the weak battery below or above depend on the
direction of current flow in the shunt inductor. There have been different equalization schemes
proposed today [16]-[18], but they are not fast and efficient if the energy needs to transfer far
from the battery to another.

S1

B1
L

S2

B2

Fig. 2.9 The Bi-directional non dissipative current diverter.

18

2.4 Charging of Parallel Battery Array

The advantage of parallel charging is that each battery can be charged with the rated
voltage such as 4.2 Volt for Li-ion. The problem of overcharging in serial-connected batteries
will never occur again. Unfortunately, another problem is imbalance charging current in each
cell. When a power source is using battery, the rate of discharging is difference in each cell.
Even though all of batteries are made by the same company, it still has some different
characteristics, like internal resistance. While internal resistance of the battery is lower than
others, the battery has higher voltage level. Therefore, when charging with parallel-connected
batteries, the charging current is not the same with each other. How to overcome this
disadvantage of parallel charging is the first goal. Then next step is to improve the efficiency
of charging. Figure 2.10 shows the simple parallel charging circuit. The diode is to avoid the
battery which has the higher voltage level to charge the lower one.

Fig. 2.10 The simple battery charger of parallel charging

19

CHAPTER 3
ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF THE SYSTEM
3.1

Configuration of the System

In this chapter, the configuration of the whole system will be introduced. The
functional diagram is shown in Fig. 3.1. The whole system consists of the single phase AC
source, AC/DC Step-down switching rectifier, DC/DC Buck converter, DC output filtering
stage, and battery bank. The Step-Down switching mode rectifier (SMR) which uses special
gate driver and operates in coordination with zero voltage detector controls the first stage
output voltage and then obtains a fixed DC source through LC filter.

Fig. 3.1 Configuration of the whole system

20

The first stage output voltage feeds the second stage-DC/DC buck converter. The
converter consists the freewheeling diode, voltage smooth capacitor, main power switch and
snubber cell circuit. The whole system has the advantages of reducing the volume, low cost,
and increasing the charging efficiency by using balance charging circuit. The control scheme
of the system is governing by a microprocessor, 80196MC.

3.2

Mathematical Analysis of the SMR

In order to reduce total volume, this thesis proposes switching mode rectifier (SMR) to
achieve step-down voltage. The configuration of SMR circuit is shown in Fig. 3.2[19][20].
The main switch, which is on the DC link, commands the output voltage level. By using LC
filter, the output voltage could be filtered a DC source. The snubber circuit is to diminish the
voltage stress on the switch. Without snubber circuit, the huge voltage stress will kill the
switch.

Fig. 3.2 The configuration of step-down SMR

21

3.2.1 Analysis of the gate control

The proposed switching signal of this thesis is inverse SPWM. As shown in Fig. 3.3,
the pulse-width is larger in the low voltage level than in the high voltage level. Hence, the
output voltage level is depended on the width of mth pulse ( m ). In order to realize step-down
SMR, the switching control signal will be triggered by synchronous signal of utility power.
Therefore, if we wanted to change the pulse-width, changing the amplitude of sine wave can
regulate output voltage. When the input voltage level is under the desired output voltage level,
the pulse-width will open widely. On the contrary, when the input voltage is over the desired
output level, the pulse-width will open narrowly. For this reason, the SMR can accomplish the
purpose of step-down voltage. The output voltage equation is as Eq. (3.1).

m
Vo = Vs
m =1
2p

1/ 2

(3.1)

Ac

Ar

Vgs
0

Fig. 3.3 The proposed switching control signal is inverse SPWM.

22

3.2.2 Selection the value of LC filter

We know the rectified voltage is a discontinuous DC voltage. Combining with the

inductor, capacitor and freewheeling diode, it works like a buck converter. Therefore, we use
the concept of buck converter and make an appropriate modification to analyze DC output
voltage
To calculate value of the inductor, we use Eq.(3.2)
L=

VsD(1 D)
fI

(3.2)

From Eq.(3.2), we can find the value of the inductor depends on switching frequency, peakto-peak ripple current, value of input voltage, and duty ratio. The choice of switching
frequency is generally somewhat arbitrary. The switching frequency must be high enough to
make the power circuit small and minimize the distortion. At the same time, it also must be
low enough to keep the efficiency highly. So the choice of switching frequency must take a
compromise considered by size and efficiency. The peak-to-peak ripple current is normally
chosen to be about 25% of the maximum line current. But in high power system, if we still
require the current ripple in 25% limitation, the value of inductor will be large. It is difficult to
design the inductor in high power system. We desire the value of inductor larger, but it needs
increasing turn numbers of the inductor and induces the core saturating easily under high
current level.
After deciding the value of inductance, we use Eq.(3.3) to calculate the value of
capacitor.
C=

VsD(1 D)
8 LVof 2

23

(3.3)

Therefore, selecting the correct value of LC filter, the rectified voltage could be
filtered as stable DC voltage. However, while the switching frequency is changing, the value
of LC filter need calculate again.

3.3

Mathematical Analysis of the Buck Converter

The battery charger will be analyzed in this section. The mathematical model will be
established. In our analysis, we assume that switches and all passive components (capacitors
and inductors) are lossless.
Battery charger circuits require an output voltage that is usually less than the input
voltage. Therefore, the proposed battery charger, buck converter, is shown in Fig 3.5. When
the switch is in the off state, energy is transferred to the output by the buck inductance. The
operating modes of this circuit are shown in Fig. 3.6, 3.7 and states as following [12].

Fig. 3.4 The basic configuration of a buck converter

24

Mode 1: When the switch is in the on state, the current through inductance L would
rise linearly from lowest value prevailing at the instant of turn-off (ILmin). During this period
of time Ton, DC source feeds the energy to the load and charges storage capacitor C.

Fig. 3.5 The operation in mode 1 (S on)

Mode 2: When the switch is in the off state, the freewheeling diode is conducted.
The current which releases from choke L begins to decline and decreases from ILmax to ILmin
during the length of time toff. Therefore, the inductance and storage capacitance transfer the
energy to the load.

Fig. 3.6 The operation in mode 2 (S off)

25

Hence, the inductance L plays an important role when switch is off. In other words,
while the switch is on, inductance L needs storage enough energy to offer the load when the
switch is off. The varying duty cycle can regulate the load in the specific voltage level.
With switch S in the on time state, the entire input voltage is passed to inductance L.
Thus,

Vi = L

di
+ Vo
dt

(3.4)

We assume the input voltage Vi to remain constant during the ton time.

iL =

Vi Vo
t
L

(3.5)

Substituting the value of t = ton in Eq.(3.2)., an equation is obtained that establishes a

relationship between the lower and higher values of inductance current:

I L max =

Vi Vo
t on
L

(3.6)

When the switch is turned off, the current iL following in the inductance now flows
through the load battery B1 and B2, the inductance and freewheeling diode. It can be written
that

Vo = L

26

di
dt

(3.7)

Integrating this equation, then

iL =

Vo
t
L

(3.8)

After the elapse of time toff, the current flow in the inductance is

I min =

Vo
t off
L

(3.9)

The pulse duty cycle is defined as

D=

t on
t
= on
t on + t off
T

(3.10)

From Eq. (3.6), (3.9) and (3.10), the Vo can be expressed as

Vo = Vi (

t on
) = DVi
t on + t off

27

(3.11)

3.4

Serial Charging with Balance Circuit

Figure 3.8 shows the proposed charge-equalizing circuit in serial battery set. The
charger is represented by a constant current source in CC mode. Each battery in the seriesconnected battery bank is shunted with a balance charging circuit. The balance charging
circuit is basically buck converter. The balance charging circuit is activated to divert the
excessive energy from the higher one to the lower one by couple inductor.

Fig 3.7 The proposed charge-equalizing circuit charged by constant current

The operation of the balance charging circuit is described by two illustrative cases.
Figure 3.9 shows the case operation when VB1 higher than VB2. Figure 3.10 shows another
case operation when VB2 higher than VB1.

Case 1: when VB1-VB2 > 0.2 volt, the SB1 turns on. The Ich would charge to B2 through
LB1. In this time, ILB1 will increase linearly. While VB1-VB2 < 0.2 volt, the SB1
turns off. LB1 release the energy to battery B2 and LB2 will transfer energy to
battery B2 because of coupling. Therefore, the extra energy, which storage in
28

coupling inductor, can transfer to battery B2 by low-dissipative energy in

balance charging circuit.

(a)

(b)
Fig. 3.8(a) when VB1-VB2> 0.2 volt, SB1 on
3.8(b) when VB1-VB2< 0.2 volt, SB1 off

29

Case 2: when VB2-VB1> 0.2 volt, the SB2 turns on. The Ich would charge to B1 through
LB2. In this time, ILB2 will increase linearly and LB1 will storge some energy
because of coupling. While VB1-VB2 < 0.2 volt, the SB2 turns off. LB1 release
the energy to battery B1. Therefore, the extra energy, which storages in
coupling inductor, can transfer to battery B1 by low-dissipative energy
balance charging circuit.

(a)







(b)
Fig. 3.9 (a) when VB2-VB1> 0.2 volt, SB2 on
3.9 (b) when VB2-VB1< 0.2 volt, SB2 off

30

3.5

Parallel Charging with Current Control

In parallel charging, the main problem is unbalance charging current. This is because
of different internal resistance in battery, and the internal resistance is not the unchangeable
value which is a nonlinear variable. While the battery has higher voltage level, the internal
resistance is smaller. Therefore, if we wanted using the method of constant voltage to charge,
the battery which has higher voltage level will get higher charging current than another
battery which has lower voltage level. As a result of this reason, the battery which has lower
voltage level will charge slowly until the higher one is charged to full. In order to solve this
problem, the proposed way is to make the same charging current in each battery. By utilizing
switch control and one inductor in each battery, the same charging current can be obtained in
each cell. The proposed circuit is shown in figure 3.10.

Fig. 3.10 The proposed parallel charging circuit

31

CHAPTER 4
HARDWARE STRUCTURE AND SOFTWARE
ALGORITHM
4.1 Hardware Structure of the Whole System

The experimental hardware schemes and software algorithms of the battery charger with
balance charging are realized in this chapter. The hardware structure of serial battery charging
and parallel battery charging is depicted in Fig.4.1 and Fig. 4.2, respectively. The software
strategies and flowcharts are mentioned in section 4.2.

4.1.1 MOSFET drive circuit

Although the field-effect transistor (FET) has been used in circuit design for many years,
the power metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) has been perfected in
recent years to make it commercially of available for power electronics design. The MOSFET
was developed of the need for a power device that could work beyond the 200-kHz frequency
spectrum, anywhere from 100kHz to above 1MHz [21], without experiencing the limitations
of the bipolar power transistor.
The photo-coupler is isolated a portion of the input from the output for safety and good
performance [22]. This diode-transistor uses an isolating layer between the light emitting
diode and integrated photon detector to provide electrical insulation between input and output.
Drive circuit is shown in Fig. 4.3.

32

4.1.2 Voltage and current sensing circuit

Figure 4.4 shows the voltage-sensing circuit. It senses the voltage across resistor R to
the input terminal of an operational amplifier, The non-inverting voltage amplifier (OP-741)
[23] is provide a proper scale to A/D converter of 8X196MC.
Figure 4.5 shows the current-sensing circuit. A Hall current sensor (LY-04) provides the
output voltage proportional to the amperage of the input current flowing through the current
line [24]. The transformation proceeds through the medium of the magnetic field generated by
the input current around the current lines, which provides complete isolation between the
sensing circuit and the current being sensed and allows continuous sensing dc current. At the
same result, the non-inverting voltage amplifier(OP-741) also connected to the isolation
amplifier and provide a proper scale to A/D converter of 8X196MC.

4.1.3 Zero crossing detector circuit

Figure 4.6 shows the zero crossing detector circuit and waveform. Because we must
exactly control the switch of SMR to step-down voltage, the zero crossing detector circuit is
necessary. The amplifier LM324 works as the comparator and compares the input sinusoidal
signal to a pulse signal when zero voltage occurs. When CPU detects the pulse signal from
zero crossing detector circuit, 8X196MC will send the signal to control the switch of SMR.
Therefore, zero crossing detector circuit can ensure that the switching control of SMR would
synchronize with utility power.

33

34
Fig. 4.1 Hardware structure of the serial battery charger

35
Fig. 4.2 Hardware structure of the parallel battery charger

From
8x196MC

7
TLP250

4


Fig. 4.3 MOSFET drive circuit

VB

+5V
+15V

741

to 8x196MC

-15V

Fig. 4.4 Circuit of voltage sensing

LY-04
+15V

-15V

+15V


741

to 8x196MC

-15V

Fig. 4.5 Circuit of current sensing

36

(a)

(b)
Fig. 4.6 (a) Zero crossing detector circuit (b) Waveform

4.1.4 Snubber cell circuit

A snubber circuit is used to improve the turn-on and turn-off transients of the MOSFET
in SMR and dc/dc converter. Switching losses of PWM dc/dc converters is mainly generated
during turn on and turn off switching transients. The problem of switching losses as follows
[25]:
A surge current flows through the MOSFET, caused by the reverse-recovery current
of the freewheeling diode during the turn-on process. This is the dominant source of
the turn on loss.
37

Fast increase of the drain-source voltage during the turn off process occurs. The huge
voltage stress will emerge from the transient of turn-off process. Without snubber
circuit, the huge voltage stress will demolish the switch and cause a lot of switching
loss.
Therefore, this thesis proposes the simple snubber circuit, RCD snubber, to limit the
huge voltage stress in SMR. Increasing the rates of the drain-source voltage is restricted by
capacitors. So that the cross voltage of the switch will never bear huge voltage stress which is
several times of input voltage. Figure 4.7 shows the operation process of RCD snubber[25].

(a)

(b)
Fig. 4.7 The operation of the RCD circuit (a)S1 on (b)S1 off

38

4.1.5 Microcontroller

The 8X196MC is a 16-bits microcontroller design primarily to control 3 phase AC

induction and brushless DC motor as well as power inverter application. The peripheral block
diagram is shown in Fig.4.8. The 8X196MCs on-chip peripherals provide special functions
useful in a variety of applications [26]. The peripherals are monitored and controlled via
special function registers (SFRs) that can be accessed indirectly or windowed and thereby
treated as CPU accumulators. The brief descriptions of these peripherals are listed as
follow:

A peripheral transaction server (PTS), which supports micro-coded interrupt processing

requiring less CPU intervention. On the microcontroller, a special PTS mode supports the
serial I/O (SIO) function, asynchronous and synchronous modes.

Timers and the Event Processor Array (EPA)

The Event Processor Array (EPA) performs input and output functions associated with

Timer1 and Timer2. In the input mode the EPA monitors an input pin for signal transitions
and records the timer value when the event occurs. The captured event is thus tagged with
its time. In the output mode the EPA waits until the timer matches a stored time value and
then sets, clears or toggles an output pin. This is a compare event. Both capture and
compare events initiate interrupts, which can be handled by a normal service routine or the
PTS. The 8X196MC has 4 capture/compare modules and 4compare-only modules.

Two pins PWM generator

39

These have a common programmable frequency, and separately programmable duty

cycles, and feature 8-bit resolution.

Waveform Generator
The Waveform Generator (WG) produces 3 pairs of complementary PWM signals. This

peripheral is optimized for controlling 3-phase induction AC motors. It can also control
brushless DC motors and DC to AC inverter. Dead-time generator and phase inverter circuit
provide non-overlapping on-times for each PWM output pair. Each signal is independently
programmable.
XTAL

NMI

CLOCK
GEN.
WATCHDOG
TIMER

REG RAM
512 BYTES

INTERRUPT
CONTROL

CPU

8XKX

16KBYTES
ONCHIP
MEMORY
BUS
CONTROL

EPA

A/D

PORT2

PORT0

3PHASE
WAVE
GEN.
PORT1

PWM
(2)

PORT5
PORT4
PORT3

SERIAL
PORT

PORT6

EXTINT

Fig. 4.8 Block diagram of 8X196MC

Pulse Width Modulation Unit

The 8X196MC has a PWM module that provides two PWM outputs. This module is in

addition to the waveform generator. The duty cycle and the period of each output is
programmable through a respective 8-bit period register. The module has an 8-bit counter,
40

two 8-bit PWM compare registers and an 8-period register. The PWM output pins are
controlled with bits in the output control register of the waveform generator.

A/D Converter
The 13-channel A/D converter can perform 10-bit conversions or faster 8-bit

conversions. Automated A/D conversions and result storages are facilitated by the A/D scan
mode of the PTS. The sample and hold times and the conversion times are programmable.
The A/D can also act as a programmable comparator and issue an interrupt when the input
crosses a threshold. The zero offset compensation circuit is also programmable, enabling
automatic offset adjustment.

16-bit watchdog timer

It is an internal timer that resets the microcontroller if the software fails to operate

properly.

The 8X196MC read the instructions in the external memory, EPROM, through a
multiplexed 16-bit address/16-bit data bus. External memory is addressed through lines AD0
to AD15, which from a 16-bits multiplexed bus. The address/data bus shares pins with port3
and port4. The practical circuit of 8X196MC and peripheral is shown in Fig. 4.9

41

42

Fig. 4.9 The practical circuit of 8X196MC and peripheral

4.2 Software Algorithm

The software program contains the main routine, the serial battery charging routine, the
parallel battery charging routine, and SMR control subroutine. The main routine is used to
initialize the system and control SMR with the desired voltage and battery charger. The
flowchart of the main routine is shown in Fig. 4.10.

Fig. 4.10 Flowchart of the main routine

43

The SMR control subroutine can generate adequate PWM signal to drive the main
switch of the SMR. In addition, it can adjust output voltage equals to reference voltage so that
it can offer enough power to second stage, battery charger. Fig 4.11 shows the flowchart of the
SMR control subroutine. Fig 4.12 shows the flowchart of the parallel charging subroutine. Fig
4.13 shows the flowchart of the serial charging subroutine.

Fig. 4.11 Flowchart of the SMR control subroutine

44

"

"

Fig. 4.12 Flowchart of the parallel charging subroutine

45

"

"

%&'

) $

"

Fig. 4.13 Flowchart of the serial charging subroutine

46

CHAPTER 5
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
In order to verify the proposed battery charger, the laboratory prototype has been
established and tested. The battery cells are GS LC18650 1800mAh 3.6 Volt Li-ion battery.
The full charge voltage is 4.2 Volt and the low limited discharge voltage is 3.0 Volt. The
experimental results will be shown and discussed in this chapter.

A. SMR and control signal

Figure 5.1 shows the rectified voltage Vin, the relationship of zero point signal of utility
power line and inverse spwm switching signal (Vgs) of SMR. The waveform without
snubber circuit and with snubber circuit of Vds will be shown in Fig. 5.2. Figure 5.3 shows
the waveform of Vin and Iin when the load=500 ohm and PF=0.875. The waveform of
output voltage before LC filter and after LC filter is shown in Fig. 5.4 and Fig. 5.5.

B. Charging of series connected battery string

Figure 5.6 shows the output voltage of buck converter and battery voltage value. Figure
5.7 shows the voltage of battery when VB1-VB2>0.2. Figure 5.8 shows the waveform of
ILB1, ILB2 and ICH when SB1 is triggered. While finishing balance charging, the result is
shown in Fig. 5.9. When VB2-VB1>0.2, the principle of operation is the same. The result is
shown in Fig.5.10, Fig. 5.11 and Fig. 5.12.

C. Charging of parallel connected battery set

Figure 5.13 shows the state of parallel-connected battery before charging. The state of
charging current without current control is shown in Fig. 5.14. The state of charging
current with current control is shown in Fig. 5.15.

47

Vin
150V
100V
50V
0V
0
1
2
Ch1: 50V/Div

3
4
5
Time: 1ms/Div

10ms

(a)

Zero point of utility power line synchronous signal

5V
0V
0
2.5
5
Ch1: 5V/Div

7.5
10 12.5
Time: 2.5ms/Div

15

17.5

20

22.5

25ms

20

22.5

25ms

(b)

T/2

-----------

5V

-----------

Vgs

15

17.5

0V
0
2.5
5
Ch1: 5V/Div

7.5
10 12.5
Time: 2.5ms/Div

(c)
Fig. 5.1 (a) The rectified voltage (Vin) waveform (b) The zero point signal of
utility power line (c) The inverse spwm switching signal (Vgs) of SMR.

48

300V

Vds

200V
100V
0V
0

10

Ch2: 100V/Div

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50us

35

40

45

50us

Time: 5us/Div
(a)

300V
Vds

200V
100V
0V
0

10

15

20

25

30

Ch2: 100V/Div

Time: 5us/Div
(b)
Fig. 5.2 (a) The voltage waveform (Vds) across switching device without snubber.
(b) The voltage waveform (Vds) across switching device with snubber.
100V

Vin

0V
-100V
0.2A
Iin

0A
-0.2A
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100ms

Fig. 5.3 The waveform of Vin and Iin when the output voltage: 60volt, load: 500
ohm and PF=0.875.
49

150V

Vin

100V
50V
0V

2.5

7.5

10

12.5

15

17.5

20

22.5

25ms

15

17.5

20

22.5

25ms

(a)
150V
V0

100V
50V
0V
0

2.5

7.5

10

12.5
(b)

Fig. 5.4 (a) The rectified voltage (Vin) waveform (b) The output voltage
waveform(Vo) of SMR before LC filter

V0

60V
40V
20V
0V

2.5

7.5

10

12.5

15

17.5

20

22.5

25ms

(a)
0.2A

Iin

0A
-0.2A
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100ms

(b)
Fig. 5.5 (a) The output voltage waveform(Vo) of SMR aftrer LC filter
(b) The input current waveform (Iin) when the load: 500 ohm and Vo: 60volt
50

Vo
8V
4V
0V
0

25

50

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

250us

150

175

200

225

250us

(a)
7.8V
4V
0V
0
25
50
Ch1: 4V/Div

75 100 125
Time: 25us/Div
(b)

Fig. 5.6 (a)The output voltage of battery charger V0: 8.4 volt
(b) The voltage value of battery VB: 7.8 volt

VB1=4

4V
2V
0V
3.7V

25

50

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

250us

75 100
125 150 175 200
Ch2: 2V/Div
Time: 25us/Div

225

250us

VB2=3.7

2V
0V

0
25
50
Ch1: 2V/Div

Fig. 5.7 The battery initial condition before serial balance charging.
51

ILB1
2A
1A
0A

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100us

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100us

ILB2

2A
1A
0A
0

10

20

Ch1: 1A/Div

Ch2: 1A/Div

Time: 10us/Div

Fig. 5.8 The waveform of ILB1and ILB2 in serial balance charging

when VB1-VB2>0.2 Volt.

VB1=3.9

3.9V
2V
0V

25

50

75

100

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

250us

150

175

200

225

250us

VB2=3.8

3.8V
2V
0V
0

25

Ch1: 2VDiv

50

125

Ch2: 2V/Div

Time: 25us/Div

Fig. 5.9 The battery condition after serial balance charging

52

VB2=4.1

4.1V
2V
0V

25

3.8V

50

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

250us

75
100 125 150 175 200
Ch2: 2V/Div
Time: 25us/Div

225

250us

VB1=3.8

2V
0V

0
25
50
Ch1: 2V/Div

Fig. 5.10 The battery initial condition before serial balance charging

ILB1

2A
1A
0A
2A

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100us

30
40
50 60
70
80
Ch2: 1A/Div Time: 10us/Div

90

100us

ILB2

1A
0A

0
10
20
Ch1: 1A/Div

Fig. 5.11 The waveform of ILB1and ILB2 in serial balance charging when
VB2-VB1>0.2 Volt.

53

VB2=3.95
3.95V
2V
0V

25

3.91V

50

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

250us

100

125

150

175

200

225

250us

VB1=3.91

2V
0V
0

25

50

Ch1: 2V/Div

75

Ch2: 2V/Div

Time: 25us/Div

Fig. 5.12 The battery condition after serial balance charging

VB1=3

3V
2V
0V
3.8V

25

50

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

250us

75 100
125 150 175 200
Ch2: 2V/Div
Time: 25us/Div

225

250us

VB2=3.8

2V
0V
0
25
50
Ch1: 2V/Div

Fig. 5.13 The battery condition before parallel charging

54

IB2

1A
0.5A
0A

25

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

250us

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

250us

IB1

0.5A
0A

50

25

50

Ch1: 0.5A/Div

Ch2: 0.5A/Div

Time: 25us/Div

Fig. 5.14 The charging current without current control, IB1=0.2A and IB2=0.7A.

IB2

1A
0.5A
0A
1A

25

50

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

250us

150 175 200 225

Time: 25us/Div

250us

IB1

0.5A
0A

0
25
50
Ch1: 0.5A/Div

75
100 125
Ch2: 0.5A/Div

Fig. 5.15 The average charging current with current control, IB1= IB2=0.5A

55

CHAPTER 6
CONCLUSION
In this thesis, a serial-parallel balance charging system without using step-down
transformer is developed. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed SMR can be
achieved for step-down single phase AC source to desired output voltage. No matter in serial
or parallel charging, the battery charger can operate in balance charging. The features of
proposed serial-parallel balance charging system are:

1. Without step-down transformer, the SMR can obtain desired output voltage by using
special gate driver which synchronizes the utility power.
2. Using coupling inductor to achieve balance charging in the serial battery set, the cell
which has higher energy can transfer extra energy to the lower one. Therefore, the
condition of overcharging never occurs again.
3. Using digital interleaved technique to charge the parallel battery set, the charging
current in individual charging loop is the same and the system will be controlled
stably.
4. For extension, the serial-connected battery can be as one module and the parallelconnected battery can, too. By combining with the serial set and parallel set, the
battery charger still can work as long as changing the parameters of the controller.

According to the feature mentioned above, better performance of battery charger may be
taken expected as:

56

1.

Although the snubber circuit has already used, the better performance of snubber
circuit, which only uses L and C, can reduce loss to improve the efficiency of SMR.

2.

In order to reach the proposed circuit, many switches are used in circuit. Therefore,
the next step is to reduce the amount of switch and increase switching frequency that
can minimize the capacity of inductor and capacitor.

57

REFERENCES
[1] N.H. Kutkut, H.L.N Wiegman and D.M. Divan, D.W. Novotny, "Design
Considerations for Charge Equalization of an Electric Vehicle Battery System," IEEE
Transactions on Industry Applications, Vol.35, pp.28-35, Jan. 1999.
[2] T. Ikeya, etc., "Multi-step Constant-Current Charging Method for Electric Vehicle,
Valve-Regulated, Lead/Acid Batteries during Night Time for Load-Leveling", Journal
of Power Sources, Vol. 75, Issue 1, 1998, pp.101-107.
[3] Liang, T.J.; Wen, T.; Tseng, K.C. and Chen, J.F. "Implementation of a regenerative
pulse charger using hybrid buck-boost converter", Power Electronics and Drive
Systems, 2001. Proceedings., 2001 4th IEEE International Conference on , Volume
2 , 22-25 Oct. 2001, pp.437-442.
[4] Hsieh, Y.C.; Moo, C.S.; Wu, C.K. and Cheng, J.C, "A non-dissipative reflex charging
circuit ", Telecommunications Energy Conference, 2003. INTELEC '03. The 25th
International, 19-23 Oct. 2003, pp.679-683.
[5] W. Jacobi and G. Eichinger, Lithium Rechargeable Batteries for Portable
Telecommunication Appliances, Basic Concepts and Recent Developments,
Telecommunications Energy Special Conf. Dresden, Germany, May 7-10, 2000,
pp.123 127.
[6] E. Hansen, L. Wilhelm, N. Karditsas, I. Menjak, D. Corrigan, S. Dhar and S. Ovshinsky,
Full System Nickel-Metal Hydride Battery Packs for Hybrid Electric-Vehicle
Applications, Battery Conference on Applications and Advances, Long Beach, USA,
Jan. 15-18, 2002, pp.253 260.
[7] Moo, C.S.; Hsieh, Y.C.; Tsai, I.S., Charge Equalization for Series-Connected

58

Batteries, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, Vol.39, Issue

2, April, 2003, pp.704 710.
[8] Practical Secondary Battery. Daily of Science Magazine, Nippon Battery Co., April
1998.
[9] P. Schmode and J. Welsh, Design of lithium, primary battery comprising several
parallel strings for high pulse current loads, IEEE Power Sources Conference, Cherry
Hill, USA, June 22-25, 1992, pp.1 3.
[10] Davis, A., Salameh, Z.M. ,and Eaves, S.S, Evaluation of lithium-ion synergetic
battery pack as battery charger, IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, Volume:
14 , Issue: 3 , Sept. 1999, pp. 830-835
[11] Venkataramanan, G. A direct AC-DC converter for battery chargers, Power
Electronics Specialists Conference, 1997. PESC '97 Record., 28th Annual
IEEE, Vol.1, 22-27, June, 1997, pp.126 - 130 Vol.1.
[12] N.H. Kutkut, A Modular Nondissipative Current Diverter for EV Battery Charge
Equalization, Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC98),
Anaheim, USA, Feb. 15-19, 1998, pp.686 690.
[13] A.F. Burke, Electric Vehicle Propulsion and Battery Technology 1975-1995, In Proc.
Energy Conversion Engineering Conf. (IECEC90), Idaho, USA, Aug.12-17, 1990,
pp.119-135.
[14] B. Lindemark, Individual Cell Voltage Equalizers for Reliable Battery Performance,
in Proc. Telecommunications Energy Conf. (INTELEC '91), Kyoto, Japan, Nov. 5-8,
1991, pp.196-201.
[15] G.A. Kobzev, "Switched-Capacitor Systems for Battery Equalization," Scientific and
Practical Conference of Students, Post-graduates and Young Scientists. Modern
Techniques and Technology 2000, Tomsk, Russia, Feb.28Mar.3, 2000, pp.57-59.
59

[16] H. Schmidt and C. Siedle, The Charge Equalizer A New System to Extend Battery
Lifetime in Photovoltaic Systems, U.P.S. and Electric Vehicles, INTELEC conf., 1993,
pp.146-151.
[17] G. Brainard Non-Dissipative Battery Charge Equalizer, U.S. Patent no. 5,479,083,
Dec.26, 1995.
[18] N.H. KutKut, A Non Dissipative Current Diverter Using a Centralized Multi-Winding
Transformer, Power Electronics Specialists Conf. St. Louis, USA, June 22-27, 1997,
pp.648-354.
[19] Manias, S, A novel SMR topology, Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting,
1990., Conference Record of the 1990 IEEE , 7-12 Oct. 1990, pp.1113-1118 Vol. 2.
[20] Liaw, C.M.; Chen, T.H.; Lin, W.L., Dynamic modeling and control of a step up/down
switching-mode rectifier, Electric Power Applications, IEE Proceedings-, Volume:
146 , Issue: 3 , May 1999, pp.317-324
[21] M. Andrzej, Introduction to Modern Power Electronics. New York: John WILEY &
SONS, Inc., 1998.
[22] D. A. Williams, Optocoupler selection for high frequency power supplies, IEEE
APEC Conf, pp.90-95, Mar. 1995.
[23] Amplifier Reference Manual. Analog Device, Co., 1994.
[24] HALL CURRENT SENSOR. Nana Electronics Co., 1994.
[25] M.H. Rashid, Power Electronics circuit, devices, and Application. London: PrenticeHall, Inc. 1998.
[26] 8XC196MC/MD/MH microcontroller Users Manual. Intel corporation, 1995.

60