Seiko Instruments Inc. (SII) announced the release of the S-8240 Series, 1-cell lithium-ion battery protection IC available in an ultra-small package (1.2 x 1.2 x 0.4 mm). The S-8240 features ±5mV charge and discharge overcurrent detection voltage accuracy and ultra-low 1.5µA current consumption. The S-8240 has been optimized for use in smart phones, wearable devices, and other battery-operated portable device designs.

Lithium-ion battery protection ICs protect lithium-ion batteries from failure including over-charging, over-discharging, over-current, and short-circuiting.

Leveraging SII’s HSNT-6 (1212) ultra-small package, the S-8240 requires only half the footprint of SII’s conventional SNT-6A packaged ICs and is ultra-light weight at 1.6 mg. These key features help to save precious space and meet the designer’s needs for creating small, thin, and lightweight battery packs. The high-precision ±5mV charge and discharge overcurrent detection voltage accuracy helps allow for higher reliability and safety of lithium-ion battery packs when compared to those with typical industry accuracy of ±10mV to ±15mV. The ultra-low 1.5µA current consumption during operation helps to prolong battery runtime when compared to typical battery protection IC current consumption of nearly twice this amount.

At the same time, SII releases the new 1-cell secondary protection IC S-8206A Series to enhance the safety of 1-cell lithium battery protection ICs, as well as the battery monitoring IC S-8259A Series that allows simplified design of multi-cell protection circuits by monitoring each cell.