Battery management system (BMS) hardware and software continue to evolve as electric vehicles (EVs) transition to 800-V Li-ion battery systems comprising around 200 individual cells connected in series. Cell measurement accuracy and lifetime design robustness enhance BMS performance to maximize the usable capacity and safety of EV batteries and other energy storage systems.
BMS—essential for managing safe and healthy battery usage—employs battery-related data such as current, voltage, and temperature to ensure optimal performance. Yole Intelligence estimates that the BMS market is poised to surge from US$5 billion in 2022 to almost US$12 billion in 2028.
Figure 1 New BMS designs increasingly incorporate system-level semiconduction solutions while adding software-centric features and capabilities. Source: NXP
Below is a sneak peek at some noticeable developments in BMS hardware and software, respectively. It demonstrates how the BMS solutions are advancing to help extend a vehicle’s battery life.
Battery junction box
The new battery management ICs increasingly aim to offer system-level solutions to more accurately perform voltage measurements for state-of-charge (SOC) and state-of-health (SOH) calculations. Take the case of NXP’s MC33777 battery management IC, which integrates sense, think and act capabilities on a single chip.
While conventional pack-level monitoring solutions require multiple discrete components, external actuators and processing support, this new BMS chip integrates everything needed to monitor a battery pack and react quickly to safety-critical events into a single device. NXP plans to launch this BMS chip at Electronica 2024.
MC33777, which NXP calls battery junction box IC, integrates critical pack-level functions into a single device, reducing design complexity, qualification and software development effort, and cost for OEMs and Tier 1s. NXP claims the MC33777 chip reduces the component count by up to 80%.
Figure 2 MC33777 claims to be the first BMS chip to integrate critical pack-level functions into a single IC. Source: NXP
The battery pack monitoring IC aims to better protect high-voltage batteries from overcurrent by constantly monitoring the battery current and slope every eight microseconds. According to NXP, MC33777 detects and reacts to a wide matrix of configurable events up to 10 times faster than conventional ICs without waiting for specific current thresholds to be exceeded.
The faster reaction times help to provide additional safety capabilities, like reducing the risk of electric shocks to passengers in case of a crash. Then, there is fuse-emulation capability, which removes expensive and low-reliability melting fuses from the system. That, in turn, leads to significant cost savings for OEMs and Tier 1s and enhances safety for the vehicle occupants.
AI algorithms in BMS
On the software front, while BMS chips like MC33777 claim to reduce software development effort due to hardware implementations, EV battery outfits like LG Energy Solution are employing artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to bolster BMS capabilities. They are doing this by partnering with chipmakers to improve BMS diagnostics.
Presently, BMS software mostly operates on dedicated hardware, and battery diagnostic technologies are developed based on virtual conditions rather than real-world battery data. Moreover, traditional BMS solutions cannot measure the exact temperature inside an individual battery cell in real time.
LG Energy Solution is teaming up with Qualcomm to bolster its battery diagnostic software with AI hardware and software solutions featured on Snapdragon Digital Chassis, Qualcomm’s BMS solution. The enhanced BMS solution could perform real-time battery health diagnosis by employing sophisticated battery algorithms while utilizing the computing power of semiconductor platforms like Snapdragon Digital Chassis.
Figure 3 ADI and LG Energy Solution are co-developing solutions for precisely measuring battery cells’ internal temperature.
LG Energy Solution is also joining hands with Analog Devices Inc. to co-develop algorithms that could precisely measure the internal temperatures of EV battery cells. The two companies will employ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technology to precisely estimate the internal temperature of individual battery cells without needing a separate temperature measuring device.
That will open the door to improving charging speeds. The EIS technology, primarily used to analyze defects in used batteries, has yet to be commercialized. The success of this joint effort could thrust this promising technology into the commercial mainstream.
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