Battery Guidelines Increase Run Life

The Smart Battery System Implementers Forum (SBS-IF) has announced the first Smart Battery Accuracy Testing Guidelines and the availability of the System Management Bus (SMBus) 2.0 Specification.

The guidelines provide a common way for system manufacturers to determine accurate battery capacity that can increase battery run-time up to 20%.

The SMBus 2.0 specification allows the SMBus to be extended to add in cards, reducing PCI power and simplifying plug-and-play support.

The guidelines provide a standardised means to assure smart battery accuracy within portable systems.

Until recently, system manufacturers have been unable to realise the full potential of batteries because of inconsistent information reported by the battery electronics.

Current portable battery designs lose significant battery run time due to excessive margins that force the user to recharge the battery earlier than needed. Reducing these margins allows system manufacturers to boost battery run time up to 20%.

Manufacturers of portable equipment can now implement power management strategies that reliably use the maximum available battery capacity.

The System Management Bus (SMBus) is a low power, communication link between a wide variety of devices including batteries, power devices and system sensors.

For further information please contact either Intel Australia or Spectrum Communications.