Design A Load Sharing System Power Path Management with Microchip's Stand-Alone Li-Ion Battery Charger

Though they often depend on batteries, portable consumer electronic products, such as global positioning systems (GPS) and multi-media players, may consume energy directly from AC-DC wall adapters or accessory power adapters ("auto adapters") when batteries are low or when the devices are in a stationary mode. Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) batteries are popular in these portable products due to relatively high energy densities and their maintenance-free ease of use.

This application note features an application using Li-Ion batteries, intended to assist product designers by demonstrating how Microchip's fully-integrated, simple Li-Ion battery charge management controllers with common directional control can be used to build a system and battery load sharing circuitry. The solutions are ideal for use in cost-sensitive applications and can help to shorten time-to-market.