IntellBatt: Towards smarter battery design

Abstract

Battery lifetime and safety are primary concerns in the design of battery operated systems. Lifetime management is typically supervised by the system via battery-aware task scheduling, while safety is managed on the battery side via features deployed into smart batteries. This research proposes IntellBatt; an intelligent battery cell array based novel design of a multi-cell battery that offloads battery lifetime management onto the battery. By deploying a battery cell array management unit, IntellBatt exploits various battery related characteristics such as charge recovery effect, to enhance battery lifetime and ensure safe operation. This is achieved by using real-time cell status information to selects cells to deliver the required load current, without the involvement of a complex task scheduler on the host system. The proposed design was evaluated via simulation using accurate cell models and real experimental traces from a portable DVD player. The use of a multi-cell design enhanced battery lifetime by 22% in terms of battery discharge time. Besides a standalone deployment, IntellBatt can also be combined with existing battery-aware task scheduling approaches to further enhance battery lifetime.