The MTC-80901 / 80902 / 80904 comprise a family of single-chip Li-ion and Li-polymer battery protection ICs. Each product is available in two alternative packages. The "three-terminal, direct weldable package" is a new packaging technology allowing for direct mounting in a battery pack by means of contact welding, soldering or gluing. This concept results in easy assembly into the battery pack and eliminates the PCB to achieve smaller dimensions. Optionally, this package can contain a serial fuse for an extra level of protection and a capacitor for EMI filtering.

The product is also available in an ultra-small Quad Flat Non-lead (QFN) package for mounting on a PCB. Thanks to its small dimensions (width 3.5mm) it is ideally suited for ultra-slim battery packs needed for small products such as headsets or ultra flat mobile phones.

Li-ion and Li-polymer batteries require protection against fault voltage conditions and over-current. The MTC-80901 / 80902 / 80904 product family meets the requirement for the protection of single-cell Li-ion and Li- polymer battery packs. These chips offer full battery protection functionality without the need for any external components. Furthermore, the products feature an integral temperature sensor thus eliminating the need for a poly-switch. As such, the MTC-8090x family offers a very compact and complete solution for full battery protection in a wide range of portable applications such as cell phones, private mobile radios (PMR), PDAs and digital cameras.

Alcatel Microelectronics, Tel: 972-477-7611.
Web: www.alcatel.com/microelectronics

Alcatel Microelectronics realized that there was a market for this type battery protection chip for designs with small batteries that don't have built-in external protection. Lithium-Ion batteries and Lithium-polymer batteries require over/under voltage protection, excess charge and discharge current, and over temperature protection.

The three versions will cover the different market applications nicely. The MTC-80901 is designed for the Bluetooth headset market for typical battery capacities of 150mAh, and probably the one they will use for their recently introduced MTC-60180 chip. They fine tuned their offerings for PDA market with their 80902 for battery capacities of 300mAh and the 80904 for the huge cell phone market for battery capacities of 600mAh.

It's no secret that lithium-based batteries are sensitive to over charge and discharge events, and that's why this product will find a ready market. It prevents charging beyond 4.2V to 4.35V and discharging is prevented below 2.5V. The chip also protects against over discharge current spikes and provides instantaneous shut down for currents greater than 5 amps. It even stops charging from occurring above 90 degrees C and below zero degrees C. I guess that means there's a market for cell phone warmers for our friends in the extreme latitudes where the temperature regularly get below 0 degrees C.

The ability to do direct welding or soldering of the package is another great feature, as opposed to using a similar device that has the added size and bulk of its own PCB. Additionally, Alcatel offers the chip in the quad flat no lead package for mounting on PC boards that have very slim battery packs. This should be a winner in the race for smaller and lighter.

First samples of the new chip are available to the OEM market and battery manufacturers. Volume production will be under way during Q3 2002. I don't expect there to be any significant changes since the April 15th purchase of Alcatel Microelectronics by STMicroelectronics. It will probably be business as usual.

Further information: www.alcatel.com/microelectronics

Update:
Some of you have told me that you can't find the information on the MTC-80901 on the Alcatel site, and you're right - it's impossible to find unless you know exactly where to look, and the search engine doesn't help.
Here's what you can do until the company fixes the problem: from the www.alcatel.com/microelectronics page choose the link to "Products" (on the left side of the page).
Next, choose the "Wireless Solutions" link.
Finally, choose the "Battery and Power ICs" link.
That should take you to the description of the MTC-80901 with links to more information.

Contacts at Batteries 2002:

Guido Remmerie
Business Unit Director Portable Power
+ 32 496 572 434

Bas Dorren
Product Line Manager for Battery Embedded Devices
+ 32 496 572 545