Renesas Electronics Launches Complete Lithium-Ion Battery Management Platform with Pre-Verified Firmware
Revolutionary Solution Accelerates Development Time for Battery-Powered Consumer Products
Global semiconductor solutions provider Renesas Electronics (TSE: 6723) today announced the launch of a one-stop lithium battery pack management solution — R-BMS F — targeting a variety of lithium battery-powered consumer products including electric bicycles, vacuum cleaners, robots, and drones. Thanks to the pre-verified firmware provided, R-BMS F will significantly shorten developers’ learning curve, helping them quickly design safe and efficient battery management systems.
Comprehensive Solution for Diverse Battery Configurations
The R-BMS F solution is designed for lithium-ion cells in 2-4 and 3-10 series (S) configurations. It includes Renesas’ industry-leading fuel gauge IC (FGIC), integrated microcontroller (MCU), analog battery front-end, pre-programmed firmware, software, development tools, and complete documentation — all provided as a complete evaluation kit, now ready for shipment.
Renesas demonstrated this new Battery Management System (BMS) solution live at their booth (#2021) during the Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC) held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA from March 16-20.
Pre-Programmed Firmware Simplifies Development Process
Firmware plays a crucial role in battery management systems, responsible for monitoring the battery’s state of charge (SoC), state of health (SoH), current, and temperature, actively balancing the voltage of each cell, and detecting faults. However, in some cases, consumer electronics developers may find it difficult to develop control algorithms that ensure batteries operate within a safe temperature range and maintain sufficient service life through multiple charge-discharge cycles due to a lack of highly specialized knowledge.
Renesas’s R-BMS F solution includes built-in pre-tested firmware that works with the FGIC’s integrated MCU. The firmware contains key pre-programmed functions to maximize battery life and ensure safe operation: these functions encompass cell balancing, current control, and voltage and temperature monitoring. To further enhance flexibility, the battery management system allows developers to set numerous parameters through a graphical user interface (GUI) to meet specific requirements and adjust the solution for different cell chemistries without requiring a full integrated development environment (IDE).
Expert Perspective on Eliminating Development Bottlenecks
Chris Allexandre, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Power at Renesas, stated: “A major bottleneck in designing advanced power management solutions is the complexity of firmware development and validation tasks. Not all developers have the expertise or internal resources needed to write custom algorithms. To address this, we’ve introduced the one-stop R-BMS F battery management system, which simplifies the development process and provides power solutions that can go straight to market without requiring MCU programming or advanced battery management design expertise.”
Complete Evaluation Kits Available Immediately
Both R-BMS F solutions for different cell series counts come with complete evaluation kits containing all the hardware, software, tools, and documentation needed to start development. The core hardware of R-BMS F is Renesas’s FGIC solution, which integrates the analog battery front-end and ultra-low-power RL78 MCU into a single small-package chip:
- The analog section provides precise cell voltage, current, and temperature measurements, controls external MOSFETs, and converts analog data to digital signals
- The digital section performs synchronization functions, including the main CPU, clock, timer, and serial interfaces
The evaluation kit also includes:
- Pre-programmed firmware stored in embedded flash (which can flexibly set battery pack and cell chemistry parameters)
- USB System Management Bus (SMBus) interface
- GUI-based software
- Cables for communication with the host system
- Dedicated parameter setting development tools
- Complete documentation (including circuit diagrams and component lists/eBOM)
With these rich resources, developers can confidently inject innovative features into smart power management systems, safely monitor battery usage, extend battery life, while reducing environmental impact. Renesas plans to integrate this turnkey R-BMS F solution in all future FGIC products.
Solution for 2-4 Series Cells (RTK0EF0163DK0002BU)
The R-BMS F solution for 2 to 4 series cells (approximately 8V to 16V), suitable for small vacuum cleaners, floor cleaning robots, consumer and medical devices, runs on Renesas RAJ240055 lithium-ion battery FGIC. By integrating this FGIC with other devices in its product portfolio, Renesas further introduces a comprehensive smart floor cleaning robot solution.
Solution for 3-10 Series Cells (RTK0EF0136DK0002BU)
The R-BMS F solution for 3 to 10 series cells (approximately 12V to 40V) runs on Renesas’s RAJ240100 and RAJ240090 lithium-ion battery FGICs, targeting applications including electric bicycles, electric mobility tools, vacuum cleaners, robots, drones, and industrial, consumer, and medical systems.
Renesas combines these FGICs with other devices in its product portfolio to introduce “Wall to Battery Low-Power Energy Storage System” and “USB-PD Integrated Battery and Charging Solution.” Renesas’s “Winning Combinations” rely on mutually compatible devices that work seamlessly together, while adopting technically validated system architectures, delivering optimized low-risk designs and accelerating time-to-market. Based on its product lineup, Renesas has now launched over 400 “Winning Combinations” designed to help users drive the design process and accelerate time-to-market.
Availability Information
Both R-BMS F solutions are now in mass production and available for delivery.
