Simplifying lithium-ion (Li+) battery charger testing

Overview

Lithium-ion (Li+) batteries are more fragile than other battery chemistries and have very little tolerance for improper operation. Therefore, the Li+ battery charging circuit is relatively complex and requires high-precision current and voltage settings. If these accuracy requirements are not met, the charger may not be able to fully charge the battery, which may reduce battery life or affect battery performance.

Given these requirements for Li+ battery chargers, it is important to fully test the charger design and perform segment testing throughout the entire operating range. However, testing a Li+ battery charger with a conventional load (i.e., a Li+ battery) would be time-consuming and difficult to implement in lab and production environments. In order to simplify the test process, this article provides a battery simulation circuit, which can speed up the test and realize the test of Li+ battery charger without an actual battery.