Lithium ion satellite battery charge control circuit

摘要

A charge control circuit for use with lithium ion satellite batteries that provides for both charge control and cell bypass features. The charge control circuit reconfigures the battery from a series array of cells to a parallel array of cells using switches (that are part of the battery) in order to implement the cell bypass function. The switches are preferably implemented using low resistance mechanical relays to lessen the thermal dissipation of the circuit. The charge control circuit minimizes the amount of current passing through the parallel battery circuit by breaking the battery down into sub-modules for purposes of charging, and using distributed low voltage power supplies for charging. The charge control circuit may also implement sequential charging of the battery along with bus cross strapping to ensure that the satellite electrical bus is always supported by one battery during battery recharging.