6 TI power path battery chargers

Linear chargers such as the BQ25180 are useful in charge current applications <1 A. The BQ25180 comes equipped with ship mode to provide a low-power mode to conserve the battery. In ship mode, the battery quiescent current is only 15 nA, which is significantly lower than the 3-µA battery quiescent current in the BQ25180’s normal operation. It is possible to program the BQ25180 to have an extremely low I_TERM of 0.5 mA, which helps charge the battery to its full capacity. Adjusting the I_TERM is simple, as it is a fixed 10% of the programmed fast charge current, and easily changeable through I²C communication. This charger also prioritizes system power with supplement mode.

The BQ25620 is a switching buck charger that comes equipped with power path. Switching chargers are useful in applications that need a charge current >1 A, since switching chargers are better for higher-power applications. The BQ25620 can support up to 3.5 A of charge current. It also has ship mode for battery conservation, with 150 nA of battery quiescent current, while supplement mode optimizes system performance. In order to maximize battery capacity, the BQ25620 has an I_TERM as low as 10 mA and can be easily customized with I²C communication.