Battery charging method, electronic device, storage medium and program product

Abstract

The present application provides a battery charging method, electronic device, storage medium and program product, which relate to the field of terminal technology. It can solve the problem of overcharging of individual cells due to uneven voltage distribution of each cell during the charging process of a battery composed of multiple cells connected in series. The method includes: obtaining the current charging current and the voltage of n cells; if the difference between the maximum voltage of the n cell voltages and the preset upper limit of the single cell charging voltage is less than or equal to the preset difference, then determining the derating current, wherein the preset difference is greater than or equal to 0, the maximum voltage is less than or equal to the upper limit of the single cell charging voltage, and the derating current is less than the current charging current; indicating that the battery is charged with the derating current.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application belongs to the field of terminal technology, and in particular relates to a battery charging method, an electronic device, a storage medium, and a program product. Background Art

[0002] To improve charging efficiency, batteries in electronic devices (e.g., lithium-ion batteries) are often charged using a constant current (CC)-constant voltage (CV) charging method. That is, when an electronic device is connected to a charger, the charger generally first outputs a large charging current to charge the battery based on the control of the electronic device, causing the battery's charging voltage to rise rapidly. This phase is called the constant current charging phase. When the charging voltage output by the charger rises to the battery's charge limit voltage, the charger maintains the output of the charge limit voltage unchanged and enters the constant voltage charging phase, causing the charging current to gradually decrease over time until the battery is fully charged.

[0003] The batteries in electronic devices mostly use a battery structure with multiple cells connected in series. The charging limit voltage is generally the sum of the rated voltages of the multiple cells. However, the physical properties of cells of the same specification (such as charging starting voltage, internal resistance, capacity, etc.) may be different, resulting in uneven voltage distribution of the multiple cells during the charging process. This results in the charging voltage not reaching the charging limit voltage during the charging process, but the voltage of some cells reaches the rated voltage of the cells in advance, and the voltage of these cells will continue to rise, resulting in overcharging of these cells, resulting in problems such as cell bulging and performance degradation. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The embodiments of the present application provide a battery charging method, an electronic device, a storage medium, and a program product, which can solve the problem of overcharging of individual cells due to uneven voltage distribution among the cells during the charging process of a battery composed of multiple cells connected in series.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present application provides a battery charging method, which is applied to a battery composed of n battery cells, where n is an integer greater than 1, and the method includes: obtaining the current charging current and the voltages of the n battery cells; if the difference between the maximum voltage among the voltages of the n battery cells and a preset upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage is less than or equal to the preset difference, determining a derating current, wherein the preset difference is greater than or equal to 0, the maximum voltage is less than or equal to the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage, and the derating current is less than the current charging current; and indicating that the battery is charged with the derating current.

[0006] Using the method provided in the present application, whenever it is detected that the maximum voltage among the voltages of n battery cells has reached or is about to reach the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage, the charging current is derated so that the voltage of the n battery cells is reduced, thereby ensuring that during the constant current charging stage, the voltage of each battery cell will never exceed the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage, thereby avoiding the problem of overcharging of the battery cells.

[0007] Optionally, determining the derating current includes: determining a corresponding derating current according to a range in which the current charging current is located.

[0008] Optionally, determining the derated current includes: determining the derated current from a preset current sequence.

[0009] Based on this optional approach, the derating current is determined from a preset current sequence by a table lookup method, so that the charging current is derated according to an optimized fixed current value, which simplifies the derating algorithm and improves charging efficiency.

[0010] Optionally, after determining the derating current, the method further includes: calculating a compensation voltage based on the derating current and the impedance of the charging circuit in which the battery is located; adding the battery's charging limit voltage and the compensation voltage to obtain a maximum allowable charging voltage of the battery; and setting the maximum allowable charging voltage as a cutoff charging voltage.

[0011] Based on this optional approach, during the constant current charging phase, IR compensation is performed on the maximum allowable charging voltage based on the derated current and updated, and the charging circuit's cutoff charging voltage is updated based on the updated maximum allowable charging voltage. This can, to a certain extent, prevent the charging voltage output by the charging circuit from reaching the maximum allowable charging voltage before the battery reaches the charging limit voltage. This prevents the charging circuit from switching from the constant current charging mode to the constant voltage charging mode prematurely, thereby ensuring battery charging efficiency.

[0012] Optionally, if the current charging current is less than the first current value, and the difference between the maximum voltage and the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage is less than or equal to the preset difference, the method also includes: if the sum of the voltages of n battery cells and the preset voltage adjustment value is less than or equal to the maximum allowable charging voltage of the battery, then the sum of the voltages of n battery cells and the preset voltage adjustment value is set as the cutoff charging voltage.

[0013] Optionally, after setting the sum of the voltages of the n battery cells and the preset voltage adjustment value as the cutoff charging voltage, the method further includes: if it is detected that the charging current is greater than the full charge cutoff current of the battery, reducing the cutoff charging voltage according to the voltage adjustment value.

[0014] Optionally, after setting the sum of the voltages of n battery cells and a preset voltage adjustment value as a cutoff charging voltage, the method further includes: if it is detected that the charging current is less than or equal to a preset second current value, then when the sum of the cutoff charging voltage and the voltage adjustment value is less than or equal to the maximum allowable charging voltage, the cutoff charging voltage is increased according to the voltage adjustment value, and the second current value is less than the full charge cutoff current of the battery.

[0015] Based on the three optional methods described above, after the charging current decreases to the first current value, the charging circuit's cutoff charging voltage can be refreshed to switch the charging mode of the charging circuit from a constant current charging mode to a constant voltage charging mode, thereby adjusting the charging current and accelerating the full charge detection speed. While ensuring that the full charge condition can be detected, it can be ensured that the voltage of the n battery cells never exceeds the upper limit of the single battery cell charging voltage.

[0016] In a second aspect, the present application provides an electronic device, which may be an electronic device, a power management module in an electronic device, a charging management module in an electronic device, or a charging management chip in a charging management module.

[0017] When the electronic device is a charge management chip, the charge management chip includes a processor coupled to a memory, and the processor executes a computer program or instruction stored in the memory to implement the battery charging method as described in the first aspect or any optional embodiment of the first aspect. The memory may be provided in the charge management chip or in another chip.

[0018] Optionally, when the electronic device is a charging management module, the charging management module includes a charging management chip, a battery consisting of n cells, and a charging circuit. A processor in the charging management chip is connected to the battery and the charging circuit, and the processor is coupled to a memory. The processor executes a computer program or instructions stored in the memory to implement the battery charging method as described in the first aspect or any optional embodiment of the first aspect.

[0019] Optionally, when the electronic device is an electronic device, the electronic device includes a charging management module, which includes a charging management chip, a battery consisting of n battery cells, and a charging circuit. A processor in the charging management chip is connected to the battery and the charging circuit, and the processor is coupled to a memory. The processor executes a computer program or instructions stored in the memory to implement the battery charging method as described in the first aspect or any optional embodiment of the first aspect.

[0020] In a third aspect, the present application provides a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the battery charging method as described in the first aspect or any optional method of the first aspect.

[0021] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product. When the computer program product is run on an electronic device, the electronic device executes the battery charging method described in the first aspect or any optional method of the first aspect.

[0022] The technical effects of the second to fourth aspects provided in this application can refer to the technical effects of the first aspect or the various optional methods of the first aspect mentioned above, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of a charging management module provided in this application;

[0024] Figure 2 A process of an embodiment of a battery charging method provided in this application Figure 1 ;

[0025] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a charging scenario provided for this application;

[0026] Figure 4 A process of an embodiment of a battery charging method provided in this application Figure 2 ;

[0027] Figure 5 A process of an embodiment of a battery charging method provided in this application Figure 3 ;

[0028] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of test results of a battery charging method provided by this application;

[0029] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device provided in this application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The following will provide an exemplary description of the charging method provided in the present application in conjunction with specific embodiments. Some terms will be involved in the description. For example, when using ordinal numbers such as "first" or "second", unless the context indicates an order, it should be understood that it is only used for distinction. The terms "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or explanations. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other implementations or design schemes. Specifically, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete way.

[0031] Unless otherwise specified, " / " in this document generally indicates an "or" relationship between the preceding and following related objects. For example, A / B can mean A or B. The term "and / or" simply describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exists simultaneously, and B exists alone. Additionally, in the description of this application, "plurality" means two or more.

[0032] The battery charging method provided in this application is applicable to electronic devices powered by rechargeable batteries, such as laptops, tablet computers, smart phones, etc. In order to facilitate readers to understand the battery charging method provided in this application, first combine Figure 1 , an exemplary description of the charging management module in the electronic device is given. Figure 1 The charging management module shown in the figure is an example of a structure. The charging management module generally includes a battery 10, a controller 11, and a charging circuit 12. The battery 10 includes n (n>1, n is an integer) battery cells 101 connected in series, a sampling circuit 102, a controller 103, and a protection circuit 104.

[0033] The sampling circuit 102 includes a voltage sampling analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 102a, a current sampling ADC 102b, and a current sampling resistor 102c. The voltage sampling ADC 102a is an ADC for sampling the voltage of each cell and includes n voltage sampling ports, such as Figure 1 The n voltage sampling ports shown as v1, v2, v3, ..., vn are connected to the positive electrodes of n battery cells respectively to collect the voltage of each battery cell.

[0034] The current sampling ADC 102b is connected to both ends of the current sampling resistor 102c to collect the current on the current sampling resistor 102c. Figure 1 Therefore, the current in the current sampling resistor 102c is equal to the current of the battery 10 and also equal to the charging current output by the charging circuit 12.

[0035] It should be noted that when the charging current or the charging current of the battery 10 is mentioned below, it refers to the charging current output by the charging circuit 12. The current of the battery 10 refers to the current flowing through the battery 10. During the charging process, the current of the battery 10 is generally equal to the charging current output by the charging circuit 12.

[0036] When referring to the charging voltage or the charging voltage of the battery 10 below, this refers to the charging voltage output by the charging circuit 12. The voltage of the battery 10 is the sum of the voltages of n battery cells. Due to the potential for impedance in the charging circuit, the voltage of the battery 10 is typically less than or equal to the charging voltage output by the charging circuit 12.

[0037] In addition, although not shown, the sampling circuit 102 may also include a temperature detection module (such as a temperature sensor) for collecting the temperature of the battery 10 during the charging process.

[0038] The controller 103 can be one or more single-chip microcomputers, central processing units (CPUs), or other units capable of implementing logical control. The protection circuit 104 includes a charging switch 104a and a discharging switch 104b. The controller 103 is connected to the sampling circuit 102 and the protection circuit 104. The controller 103 can determine whether the battery 10 is in an abnormal charging or discharging state (e.g., high-temperature charging, abnormal voltage, abnormal current, etc.) based on the voltage, current, temperature, and other information collected by the sampling circuit 102, and control the on and off of the charging switch 104a and the discharging switch 104b to protect the battery 10 from charging and discharging. In addition, the controller 103 can also perform full charge detection based on the voltage, current, temperature, and other information collected by the sampling circuit 102 to determine whether the battery 10 is fully charged.

[0039] The controller 11 can be one or more single-chip microcomputers, CPUs, or other units capable of implementing logic control. The controller 11, controller 103, and charging circuit 12 are connected via a communication bus or directly. The controller 11 can send a current command or a voltage command to the charging circuit 12 based on the voltage and current reported by the controller 103 to control the charging circuit 12 to output a specified charging current or charging voltage for charging control. In the embodiment of the present application, a current command refers to a command for setting the current output by the charging circuit 12. A voltage command refers to a command for setting the cutoff charging voltage of the charging circuit 12.

[0040] In addition, the controller 11 can also predict abnormal charging conditions based on information reported by the controller 103. When it determines that the battery 10 is about to enter an abnormal charging state, it controls the charging circuit 12 to stop output, thereby implementing charging protection. For example, taking the abnormal high-temperature charging state, when the temperature of the battery 10 reaches temperature threshold 1 during charging, it indicates that the battery 10 has entered a high-temperature charging state. The controller 103 is configured with temperature threshold 1. When the controller 103 determines that the temperature value read from the sampling circuit 102 has reached temperature threshold 1, the controller 103 determines that the battery 10 is in a high-temperature charging state. The controller 103 then controls the charging switch 104a to open, stopping the battery 10 from receiving charger input, thereby protecting the battery 10. When the controller 103 determines that the temperature value read from the sampling circuit 102 has not reached temperature threshold 1 and charging protection is not required, the controller 103 reports the temperature value to the controller 11. The controller 11 is configured with temperature threshold 2, which is lower than temperature threshold 1. When the controller 11 determines that the received temperature value has reached temperature threshold 2, the controller 11 determines that the temperature of the battery 10 is about to rise to temperature threshold 2, that is, the battery 10 is about to enter a high-temperature charging state. The controller 11 can then send a command to the charging circuit 12 to control the charging circuit 12 to stop output, thereby protecting the battery 10 in advance.

[0041] It should be noted that the charging management module may include the controller 103 and the controller 11, or include one of the controllers 103 and 11. When the charging management module includes one of the controllers 103 and 11, the controller is directly connected to the sampling circuit 102, the protection circuit 104, and the charging circuit 12 to collect information (voltage, current, temperature, etc.), control charging and discharging, and provide protection.

[0042] The charging circuit 12 may be a circuit component integrated into an electronic device for connecting to a charger. For example, the charging circuit 12 may include a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface for connecting to a charger. The USB interface is an interface that complies with USB standards and may be a Mini USB interface, a Micro USB interface, a USB Type-C interface, or the like. When the charging circuit 12 is connected to a charger, the charger can output a charging voltage and a charging current to the battery 10 through the charging circuit 12, thereby charging each cell in the battery 10.

[0043] based on Figure 1In the charging management module shown, when the charging circuit 12 is connected to the charger, the controller 103 controls the charging switch 104a to connect the charging circuit. The controller 103 reports the charging limit voltage and rated charging current of the battery 10 (i.e., the maximum charging current allowed by the battery 10) to the controller 11. The controller 11 sends a current instruction to the charging circuit 12, instructing the charging circuit 12 to output the charging current according to the rated charging current of the battery 10. It can be understood that if the charger connected to the charging circuit 12 supports outputting the rated charging current, the charging circuit 12 outputs the rated charging current to charge the battery 10 with constant current. If the charger connected to the charging circuit 12 does not support outputting the rated charging current, and the maximum current that the charger can output is less than the rated charging current, the charging circuit 12 outputs the maximum current that the charger can output to charge the battery 10 with constant current.

[0044] During constant current charging, the charging current of the battery 10 remains constant, while the charging voltage gradually increases over time. Accordingly, the voltage of the battery 10 (i.e., the total voltage of the n battery cells) also increases over time. The controller 103 periodically obtains the voltage, temperature, and current of the n battery cells collected by the sampling circuit 102 to determine whether the battery 10 is experiencing excessive temperature, abnormal voltage, abnormal current, etc., and to determine whether power-off protection is required (i.e., disconnecting the charging switch 104a).

[0045] Generally speaking, during the charging process, to avoid overcharging, the voltage of the battery 10 cannot exceed its charge limit voltage. Therefore, the controller 11 usually uses the charge limit voltage of the battery 10 as the maximum allowable charge voltage that the charging circuit 12 can output, and sets the cut-off charge voltage of the charging circuit 12 to this maximum allowable charge voltage through a voltage command. When the charging voltage rises to the maximum allowable charge voltage over time, the maximum allowable charge voltage is maintained at the output to the charging circuit 12, and constant voltage charging is performed on the battery 10 to ensure that the voltage of the battery 10 does not exceed its charge limit voltage, thereby achieving charging protection. During the constant voltage charging process, the charging voltage of the battery 10 remains unchanged, and the charging current decreases over time until the battery is fully charged.

[0046] However, the physical properties of the n cells of battery 10 (e.g., charging starting voltage, internal resistance, and capacity) may not be completely consistent, resulting in uneven voltage distribution among the n cells during charging. The charging limit voltage of battery 10 is generally the sum of the rated voltages of the n cells. Before the charging voltage reaches the maximum allowable charging voltage, the voltage of some of the n cells may exceed the rated voltage.

[0047] For example, if n=4 and the rated voltage of the battery cell is 4.39V, then the charging limit voltage of the battery 10 is 4*4.39=17.56V. During the constant current charging stage, due to uneven voltage division, the voltage of one of the battery cells rises to 4.5V, while the voltage of the remaining three rises to 4V. At this time, the charging voltage rises to 4.5+4+4+4=16.5V, which is less than 17.56V. The charging circuit 12 will not maintain the charging voltage of 16.5V to enter the constant voltage charging mode. Therefore, the battery cells that exceed the rated voltage will be overcharged, which will lead to problems such as battery cell bulging and performance degradation.

[0048] In order to solve the problem of overcharging of individual cells due to uneven voltage distribution of each cell during the charging process of a battery composed of multiple cells connected in series. The present application provides a battery charging method, which adopts a step-by-step derating method to control the charging current during constant current charging, so as to achieve the purpose of limiting the voltage rise of the cell. That is, whenever it is detected that the maximum voltage among the voltages of n cells reaches or is about to reach the upper limit of the charging voltage of a single cell, the charging current is derated once, so that the voltage of the n cells is reduced, thereby ensuring that in the constant current charging stage, the voltage of each cell will never exceed the upper limit of the charging voltage of a single cell, thereby avoiding the problem of overcharging of the cell.

[0049] The battery charging method provided in this application is exemplarily described below in conjunction with specific embodiments.

[0050] See also Figure 2 , is a flow chart of an embodiment of a battery charging method provided by the present application. The following method steps can be performed by an electronic device. For example, based on Figure 1 The charging management module of the electronic device shown in FIG. 1 can be controlled and implemented by the controller 103 or the controller 11 in the electronic device. Figure 1 The charging management module shown in the figure takes the controller 11 in the electronic device as an example to illustrate the process of this embodiment. Figure 2 As shown, the method includes:

[0051] S201 , after the battery 10 starts charging, the controller 11 detects the charging current of the battery 10 and the voltage of each cell.

[0052] After the battery 10 starts charging, the controller 103 periodically reads the charging information of the battery 10 from the sampling circuit 102. The charging information includes the charging current and the voltage of n battery cells, and may also include the temperature, etc. The controller 103 first detects whether the battery 10 is full, whether the temperature is too high, whether there are any charging abnormalities, etc. based on the charging information to determine whether charging needs to be terminated. When the controller 103 determines that charging needs to continue, the collected charging information is reported to the controller 11, and the controller 11 continues to detect the charging information to determine whether the controller 11 needs to perform charging protection. If the controller 11 determines to continue charging, it determines whether the acquired charging information meets the preset derating conditions.

[0053] In the embodiment of the present application, the derating condition may be that the difference between the maximum voltage among the voltages of the n battery cells and the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage is less than or equal to a preset difference.

[0054] The upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage may be the rated voltage of the cell. For example, the rated voltage of cells commonly used in laptop computers is typically 4.35V or 4.4V. Alternatively, the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage may be set according to actual needs. For example, the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage may be set to a voltage value less than the rated voltage of the cell. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0055] The preset difference is a value greater than or equal to 0 and is used to control the degree to which the maximum voltage approaches the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage. For example, if the preset difference is set to 0, it means that when the maximum voltage reaches the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage, the charging current needs to be derated to reduce the voltage of all n battery cells, thereby preventing the voltage of any battery cell from rising above the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage.

[0056] If the preset difference is greater than 0, it means that when the difference between the maximum voltage and the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage is less than or equal to the preset difference, the maximum voltage is about to reach the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage. At this time, the charging current can also be derated to reduce the voltage of each battery cell in advance to prevent the voltage of any battery cell from rising above the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage.

[0057] Optionally, the derating condition may further include that the charging current is greater than a preset first current value. That is, when the charging current is greater than the first current value, the charging current may be derated until the charging current is reduced to the first current value.

[0058] The first current value may be the current value that has the smallest difference between the full charge cut-off current of the battery 10 and the current value that the charging circuit 12 can output based on the setting of the current command. The full charge cut-off current of the battery 10 refers to the current value that can trigger the full charge condition. For example, the full charge condition is that the charging current is less than the full charge cut-off current and lasts for a preset period of time. When the charging current meets the full charge condition, it indicates that the battery 10 has been fully charged. The full charge cut-off current of the battery 10 is generally obtained based on the physical property testing of the battery 10.

[0059] For example, the full charge cut-off current of the battery 10 is 100 milliamperes (mA). Assume that, based on the current setting accuracy, the current values ​​that the charging circuit 12 can output based on the current instruction have the smallest difference from 100mA of 80mA and 120mA, and 80mA is less than 120mA, so the first current value can be set to 80mA. Alternatively, assume that, based on the current setting accuracy, the output current of the charging circuit 12 can be set to 100mA, which is equal to the full charge cut-off current of the battery 10. Then, the first current value can also be set to 100mA. Alternatively, based on the current setting accuracy, the minimum output current of the charging circuit 12 can be set to 120mA, then the first current value can be set to 120mA.

[0060] In practical applications, the first current value can be set based on the full charge cut-off current of the battery 10 and the current setting accuracy of the charging circuit 12, and this application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0061] S202 : If the difference between the maximum voltage among the voltages of the n battery cells and the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage is less than or equal to a preset difference, determine a derated current and instruct to charge the battery 10 with the derated current.

[0062] For example, Figure 3 As shown in (a), it is assumed that the battery 10 starts charging from time t0, and the initial value of the charging current is a1. The initial value can be the rated charging current of the battery 10 (that is, the maximum charging current allowed by the battery 10). The rated charging current can be pre-set in the controller 103 of the battery 10. When the battery 10 starts charging, the controller 103 can report the rated charging current to the controller 11, and the controller 11 sends a current instruction to the charging circuit 12 to control the charging circuit 12 to output the rated charging current and perform constant current charging for the battery 10. Of course, the initial value can also be set to a current value less than the rated charging current according to actual conditions. For example, the controller 103 or the controller 11 can determine a ratio (for example, 80%) based on the currently measured voltage, temperature and other information of the battery 10, and then use the product of the ratio and the rated charging current as the initial value. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0063] See also Figure 3 In (b), after the battery 10 starts charging, voltage is generated on the n battery cells. Assume that at time t0, the voltage of battery cell m among the n battery cells is the largest, and the voltage of battery cell m is U1. As the charging time increases, the amount of electricity in the battery 10 increases, and the voltage of each battery cell gradually increases, and the voltage of battery cell m is always the maximum voltage among the voltages of the n battery cells. At time t1, the controller 11 detects that the voltage of battery cell m reaches the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage (for example, expressed as Um). That is, since the difference between the maximum voltage and Um is 0, which is less than the preset difference, the controller 11 determines that the voltages of the n battery cells currently detected meet the derating conditions, and the current charging current a1 needs to be derated.

[0064] The controller 11 determines a derated current a2 (a2 < a1) and reduces the charging current from a1 to a2. For example, after determining a2, the controller 11 sends a current instruction to the charging circuit 12, instructing the charging circuit 12 to output a2 to charge the battery 10.

[0065] It is understandable that when the charging current decreases, the voltage of each cell will also decrease. Figure 3 As shown, at time t1, when the charging current decreases from a1 to a2, the voltage of battery cell m decreases from Um to U2, and the difference between Um and U2 (i.e., Um-U2) is greater than the preset difference. After time t1, the charging circuit 12 continues to perform constant current charging for the battery 10 with a2 as the charging current. After decreasing, the voltage of the n battery cells increases again with the charging time. Until time t2, the controller 11 detects the voltage of battery cell m as the maximum voltage among the voltages of the n battery cells, and increases to U3. Since Um-U3 is less than the preset difference, the controller 11 determines that the voltages of the n battery cells detected at time t2 once again meet the derating conditions, and the current charging current needs to be derated again.

[0066] The controller 11 determines that the derated current is a3 and sends a current instruction to the charging circuit 12, instructing the charging circuit 12 to output a3 to perform constant current charging on the battery 10. That is, when the maximum voltage among the n battery cells is about to reach Um, the controller 11 derates the charging current again, causing the voltage of each battery cell to be further reduced. The maximum voltage after the reduction is U4, which is less than Um. Therefore, the voltage of each battery cell does not exceed Um.

[0067] It can be understood that after time t2 , since the controller 11 has derated the charging current to the first current value a3 , the controller 11 may stop performing the derated process on the charging current based on the derated condition.

[0068] based on Figure 3As can be seen, the battery charging method provided in this application adopts a constant current charging method with a stepped derated rating. Each time it is detected that the maximum voltage among the voltages of n battery cells reaches or is about to reach the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage, the charging current is derated, so that the voltages of the n battery cells are reduced, thereby ensuring that the voltage of any battery cell will not exceed the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage. This ensures that the battery 10 avoids the problem of overcharging any battery cell during constant current charging, thereby ensuring the safety of the battery.

[0069] It is worth noting that each time the controller 11 detects that the derating condition is met, it can choose to delay for a period of time (for example, 2 seconds) before performing the derating operation. Or, if the derating condition is detected to be met multiple times in a row, the derating operation is performed again. This can avoid the derating condition being met due to the voltage jitter of the n battery cells, and avoid the unreasonable extension of the charging time due to the incorrect reduction. The derating operation is performed when it is ensured that the voltage and charging current of the n battery cells truly meet the derating conditions.

[0070] In addition, it should be noted that during the charging process of the battery 10, the maximum voltage may always be the same cell or multiple cells (the multiple cells have the same voltage). It is also possible that at different charging stages, the maximum voltage may be the voltage of a different cell due to the internal resistance of each cell being affected by temperature changes.

[0071] The following describes the process of the controller 11 determining the derating current in combination with two examples.

[0072] In example 1, the derating current may be a current value pre-configured in the controller 11 , or may be a current value calculated by the controller 11 according to a preset derating rule.

[0073] For example, the derating rules pre-configured in the controller 11 include multiple current intervals and the derating step or derating current corresponding to each current interval. Assume that the controller 11 is configured with a derating step adjustment threshold (expressed as c1), an adjustment step (expressed as c2), a first current value a3, and two derating steps (expressed as b1 and b2, respectively). Among them, b1≥b2, c1-b1>a3, c2>b2. b1 and b2 can be determined based on the setting accuracy of the charging circuit 12. For example, b1 can be the minimum current setting step of the charging circuit 12, and b2 can be a positive integer multiple of b1. Assuming that the current charging current is d, and the current charging current and the voltage of n batteries meet the derating conditions, the derating rules can be as shown in Table 1 below:

[0074] Table 1

[0075] Current range Derating current (c1，+∞) d-b1 (a3+c2,a1] d-b2 (a3, a3+c2] a3

[0076] Based on Table 1, if d>c1, the controller 11 determines the derating current to be d-b1, and reduces the charging current from d to d-b1.

[0077] If a3+a2≤d<c1, the controller 11 determines the derating current to be d-b2, and reduces the charging current from d to d-b2.

[0078] If a3≤d<a3+c2, the controller 11 determines the derated current to be a3 and reduces the charging current from d to a3. After reducing the charging current to a3, the controller 11 may stop derated charging current based on the derated condition.

[0079] It should be noted that in Example 1, the actual current value measured by the sampling circuit 102 may have an error with the charging current output by the charging circuit 12 due to jitter. For example, the charging current output by the charging circuit 12 is 3.58A, and the current value received by the controller 11 from the controller 103 is 3.581A. However, the charging circuit 12 may not be able to set a step size of 1mA according to the current instruction. Therefore, the controller 11 can determine the theoretical current value corresponding to the actual current value based on the current setting accuracy of the charging circuit 12. For example, the current setting accuracy of the charging circuit 12 is 10mA, then when the actual current value received is 3.581A, it can be determined that the corresponding theoretical current value is 3.58A. That is, at this time, the charging current obtained by the controller 11 is 3.58A.

[0080] Example 2, the derating rule may include multiple current intervals and current sequences corresponding to each current interval. The controller 11 can use a counting method to count the number of times that the charging current of the battery 10 and the voltage of the n battery cells meet the derating conditions during the charging process of the battery 10. When the voltage of the n battery cells meets the derating condition for the first time, the current sequence corresponding to the interval where the charging current is located is determined, that is, the current sequence corresponding to the interval where the initial value of the charging current is located is determined. Then, the first current value of the current sequence is determined to be the derating current for this time. Correspondingly, when the voltage of the n battery cells meets the derating condition for the Mth time, the Mth current value in the current sequence is determined to be the derating current for this time. It can be understood that the current values ​​in each current sequence decrease one by one in the order of arrangement, and the smallest current value is the first current value.

[0081] For example, in this example, the derating rules may be as shown in Table 2 below:

[0082] Table 2

[0083]

[0084] For example, if the initial value of the charging current is 4.5 A, then the interval in which the initial value of the charging current falls is the interval (3.86, 4.5) in Table 2. When the charging current of the battery 10 and the voltages of n cells meet the derating condition for the first time, the controller 11 may determine the first current value 3.58 in the current value sequence {3.58, 3.32, 3.14, 3.01, ..., 0.1} corresponding to the interval (3.86, 4.5] as the derating current for the first derating process, and reduce the charging current from 4.5 A to 3.58 A.

[0085] During constant current charging of the battery 10 at a charging current of 3.58 A, when the charging current of the battery 10 and the voltages of n cells meet the derating condition for the second time, the controller 11 determines the second current value 3.32 in the current value sequence {3.58, 3.32, 3.14, 3.01, ..., 0.1} as the derating current for the second derating process, and reduces the charging current from 3.85 A to 3.32 A. Similarly, if the controller 11 does not detect that charging needs to be terminated, the controller 11 stops derating the charging current based on the derating condition until the controller 11 reduces the charging current to 0.1.

[0086] It is understandable that if the derating condition includes the charging current being greater than the first current value, the controller 11 may also determine whether the currently detected charging current is greater than the first current value before derating the charging current, and then determine the derating current based on the value.

[0087] In an embodiment of the present application, after the controller 11 reduces the charging current to the first current value, it can choose to terminate charging directly. For example, the controller 11 instructs the charging circuit 12 to shut down its output, thereby terminating charging. Because the first current value is close to the full-charge cutoff current of the battery 10, after the charging current gradually decreases to the first current value, the battery 10 is actually nearly fully charged. For example, the battery 10 has been charged to 95%. Therefore, the controller 11 can choose to terminate charging directly.

[0088] Optionally, if the first current value is less than or equal to the full charge cut-off current of the battery 10, then when the charging current is reduced to the first current value, it indicates that the charging current is reduced to below the full charge cut-off current, and the controller 103 can perform a battery full charge detection. For example, assuming that the full charge condition is that the charging current is less than or equal to the full charge cut-off current for 10 minutes. Then, the controller 11 reduces the charging current to the first current value, and after charging the battery 10 for 10 minutes, the controller 103 can detect that the charging current of the battery meets the full charge condition and determines that the battery 10 is fully charged. The controller 103 sends a charge end instruction to the controller 11, and the controller 11 can control the battery 10 to end charging.

[0089] In one possible example, when the charging circuit 12 charges the battery 10 by outputting a first current value, the voltages of the n battery cells will continue to rise slowly as the charging time passes. Before the controller 103 detects the full charge condition, the maximum voltage among the voltages of the n battery cells may once again rise to a value where the difference between the maximum voltage and the upper limit of the charging voltage of a single battery cell is less than a preset difference. In order to ensure that the controller 103 can detect the full charge condition and that the voltages of the n battery cells never exceed the upper limit of the charging voltage of a single battery cell, the controller 11 may, after the charging current is reduced to the first current value, refresh the cut-off charging voltage of the charging circuit 12 so that the charging mode of the charging circuit is switched from a constant current charging mode to a constant voltage charging mode, thereby adjusting the charging current and the voltages of the n battery cells.

[0090] For example, Figure 4 As shown in FIG, it is a flow chart of an embodiment of a battery charging method provided by the present application. It mainly describes the charging process of the battery 10 after the charging current is reduced to the first current value. Figure 4 As shown, the method includes:

[0091] S401: If the currently detected charging current is less than the first current value, and the difference between the maximum voltage among the voltages of the n battery cells and the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage is less than or equal to the preset difference, and the sum of the voltages of the n battery cells and the preset voltage adjustment value is less than or equal to the maximum allowable charging voltage of the battery, then the sum of the charging voltage and the preset voltage adjustment value is set as the cut-off charging voltage.

[0092] In this example, after the charging current drops to the first current value, the controller 11 continues to perform constant current charging on the battery 10 at the first current value and continues to detect the voltages of the n battery cells. When the maximum voltage among the n battery cell voltages once again reaches or is about to reach the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage, the controller 11 can adjust the charging current by setting the cut-off charging voltage to facilitate full charge detection.

[0093] For example, if the sum of the voltages of the n battery cells currently detected and the preset voltage adjustment value is less than or equal to the maximum allowable charging voltage of the battery, it means that the current charging voltage can be adjusted up. Then, the controller 11 can send a voltage instruction to the charging circuit 12 to refresh the cut-off charging voltage set in the charging circuit 12, that is, to refresh the cut-off charging voltage from the maximum allowable charging voltage set at the beginning of charging to the sum of the voltages of the n battery cells and the preset voltage adjustment value. When the charging voltage output by the charging circuit 12 reaches the cut-off charging voltage, the charging circuit 12 maintains the output cut-off charging voltage to perform constant voltage charging on the battery 10, and the charging current gradually decreases at this time. It can be understood that when the cut-off charging voltage is reduced from the maximum allowable charging voltage to the sum of the voltages of the n battery cells and the preset voltage adjustment value, the charging circuit will perform constant voltage charging in advance, so that the voltage of each battery cell does not always exceed the single-cell charging voltage. Furthermore, the charging current is reduced in advance. When the controller 103 detects that the charging current is gradually decreasing to the full charge cut-off current and the full charge condition is met, the controller 103 can send a charge termination instruction to the controller 11, so that the controller 11 instructs the charging circuit 12 to turn off the output, thereby ending charging. Therefore, the detection of the full charge condition is accelerated.

[0094] The voltage adjustment value may be a minimum voltage adjustment step of the charging circuit 12, for example, 8 mV, 10 mV, etc., and may be specifically set based on the voltage setting accuracy of the charging circuit 12, which is not limited in this application.

[0095] Of course, if the sum of the currently detected voltages of the n battery cells and the preset voltage adjustment value is greater than the battery's maximum allowable charging voltage, this indicates that the current charging voltage cannot be increased, and the controller 11 may not perform the relevant action. The cutoff charging voltage in the charging circuit 12 remains at the maximum allowable charging voltage. At this point, the charging voltage of the charging circuit 12 is about to reach the cutoff charging voltage and maintains the output cutoff charging voltage. This ensures that the voltage of a single battery cell is not overcharged.

[0096] Optionally, in order to ensure that the controller 103 can quickly identify the full charge condition, during the constant voltage charging of the battery 10, the controller 11 can control the size of the charging current by adjusting the size of the cut-off charging voltage of the charging circuit 12. For example, when the charging current is greater than the full charge cut-off current, the cut-off charging voltage is reduced according to the voltage adjustment value until the charging current is less than or equal to the full charge cut-off current. Alternatively, when the charging current is much less than the full charge cut-off current, for example, less than a preset second current value (the second current value is less than the full charge cut-off current, for example, the full charge cut-off current is 100mA and the second current value is 50mA), the cut-off charging voltage is increased according to the voltage adjustment value until the charging current is greater than or equal to the second current value, or until the cut-off charging voltage increases to the maximum allowable charging voltage. In this way, the full charge condition is that the charging current is less than or equal to the full charge cut-off current and greater than the second current value within a preset time period.

[0097] Illustratively, after the above step S401, the battery charging method may further include the following steps S402-207.

[0098] In step S402, the controller 11 detects whether the charging current is greater than the full charge cut-off current. If so, step S403 is executed; otherwise, step S405 is executed.

[0099] S403 , the controller 11 reduces the cut-off charging voltage according to the voltage adjustment value.

[0100] Specifically, the controller 11 reduces the current charging voltage by a voltage adjustment value and then sends a voltage command to the charging circuit 12 to update the charging circuit 12's cutoff charging voltage. The charging circuit 12 then outputs the reduced cutoff charging voltage to provide constant-voltage charging for the battery 10. As the cutoff charging voltage decreases, the charging current also decreases. The controller 11 then proceeds to S404.

[0101] At step S404, the controller 11 detects whether the charging current is greater than the full charge cut-off current. If so, the process returns to step S403. Alternatively, if not (i.e., the charging current is less than or equal to the full charge cut-off current), the process proceeds to step 409.

[0102] At step S405, the controller 11 detects whether the charging current is less than or equal to the second current value. If so, step S406 is executed. Alternatively, if not (i.e., the charging current is greater than the full charge cut-off current), step S409 is executed.

[0103] S406: Determine whether the sum of the current cut-off charging voltage and the voltage adjustment value is less than the maximum allowable charging voltage. If so, proceed to step S407. Alternatively, if not (i.e., the sum of the current charging voltage and the voltage adjustment value is greater than or equal to the maximum allowable charging voltage), proceed to step 409.

[0104] S407 , the controller 11 increases the cut-off charging voltage according to the voltage adjustment value.

[0105] That is, if the sum of the current charge cutoff voltage and the voltage adjustment value is less than the maximum allowable charge voltage, indicating that the current charge cutoff voltage can be adjusted upward, the controller 11 then adds a voltage adjustment value to the current charge cutoff voltage and sends a voltage command to the charging circuit 12 to refresh the charge cutoff voltage of the charging circuit 12. At this point, the charging circuit 12 detects that the current output charge voltage is less than the refreshed charge cutoff voltage. The charging circuit 12 then maintains the current output charge current until the output charge voltage increases to the refreshed charge cutoff voltage. At this point, the charging circuit 12 continues to maintain the refreshed charge cutoff voltage to perform constant voltage charging on the battery 10. As the charge cutoff voltage increases, the charging current also increases. The controller 11 then proceeds to S408.

[0106] In step S408, the controller 11 detects whether the charging current is less than or equal to the second current value. If so, the controller 11 executes step S406. Otherwise, the controller 11 executes step S409.

[0107] During the charging process, it is necessary to ensure that the voltage of the battery 10 does not exceed the charging limit voltage of the battery 10. Therefore, when the controller 11 adjusts the cut-off charging voltage, once it detects that the adjusted cut-off charging voltage is greater than the maximum allowable charging voltage, it is necessary to set the cut-off charging voltage to the maximum allowable charging voltage.

[0108] S409: The controller 11 performs a full charge detection.

[0109] The so-called full charge detection refers to the controller 103 detecting whether the charging current meets the full charge condition, that is, detecting whether the charging current is less than or equal to the full charge cutoff current and greater than a second current value within a preset time period. If the charging current is less than or equal to the full charge cutoff current and greater than the second current value within the preset time period, it indicates that the battery 10 is fully charged. The controller 103 can then send a charge termination instruction to the controller 11. If the controller 11 receives the charge termination instruction sent by the controller 103, it determines that the battery 10 is fully charged and then instructs the charging circuit 12 to shut down the output, thereby ending charging.

[0110] Optionally, to ensure the accuracy of the full charge detection, the controller 103 may perform multiple full charge detections. For example, if the controller 103 detects that the charging current meets the full charge condition multiple times in a row, it determines that the battery 10 is fully charged and sends a charge termination instruction to the controller 11, so that the controller 11 instructs the charging circuit 12 to turn off the output, thereby terminating charging. If the charging current is detected to not meet the full charge condition at any time, the process returns to step 402 and the charging current detection is restarted.

[0111] Of course, it is understood that during the execution of steps S201-202 and S401-402, if the controller 103 detects conditions such as the charger being unplugged, high-temperature charging, abnormal current, abnormal voltage, or battery 10 failure, the controller 103 may immediately send a charge termination instruction to the controller 11, so that the controller 11 instructs the charging circuit 12 to shut down its output, thereby terminating charging. Furthermore, after receiving the charging information reported by the controller 103, if the controller 11 detects that the battery 10 is about to enter an abnormal charging state, the controller 11 may also instruct the charging circuit 12 to shut down its output, thereby terminating charging.

[0112] In one possible scenario, impedance typically exists in the charging circuit of the charge management module. For example, this includes the impedance of the copper wires on the printed circuit board (PCB) where the charge management module is integrated, the impedance of the USB interface, the impedance of the charger, and the impedance of the charging cable. When the charging current flows through these impedances, a voltage drop occurs, consuming a portion of the charging voltage. As a result, the voltage of the battery 10 is often lower than the charging voltage output by the charging circuit 12.

[0113] For example, assuming that the impedance of the charging circuit (ie, the sum of the impedances of each component) is 0.1 ohm (Ω), the charging current is 2A, and the charging voltage is 13.2V, then the voltage of the battery 10 is 13.2-0.1*2=13V.

[0114] In this case, if the maximum allowable charging voltage of the battery 10 is still set to the charge limit voltage of the battery 10, the charging voltage output by the charging circuit 12 will reach the maximum allowable charging voltage before the voltage of the battery 10 reaches the charge limit voltage. This will cause the charging circuit 12 to prematurely terminate the constant current charging mode and switch to the constant voltage charging mode to charge the battery 10 before the voltage of the battery 10 reaches the charge limit voltage, thereby extending the charging time.

[0115] For example, assume that the charge limit voltage of battery 10 is 13.2V. When battery 10 begins charging, controller 103 reports the charge limit voltage to controller 11. Controller 11 determines that the maximum allowable charge voltage is 13.2V and sets the cutoff voltage of charging circuit 12 to 13.2V via a voltage command. When the charge voltage output by charging circuit 12 reaches 13.2V, due to the 0.1Ω impedance in the charging circuit, the voltage of battery 10 remains at 13V, which does not reach the charge limit voltage. However, at this point, the charge voltage output by charging circuit 12 reaches 13.2V, switching to constant voltage charging mode.

[0116] To prevent the charging circuit 12 from prematurely switching the charging mode to the constant voltage charging mode, an embodiment of the present application provides an IR compensation scheme. Each time the controller 11 sets the charging current, it can perform IR compensation on the maximum allowable charging voltage of the battery 10 based on the set charging current, and set the charging cutoff voltage of the charging circuit 12 based on the IR-compensated maximum allowable charging voltage. That is, each time the controller 11 determines the derating current, it calculates the compensation voltage based on the determined derating current and the impedance of the charging circuit in which the battery 10 resides. It then adds the battery 10's charging limit voltage and the compensation voltage to obtain the maximum allowable charging voltage of the battery 10. The charging cutoff voltage of the charging circuit 12 is then set based on this maximum allowable charging voltage. This prevents the charging voltage output by the charging circuit 12 from reaching the maximum allowable charging voltage before the battery 10 reaches the charging limit voltage.

[0117] The following is combined with Figure 5 The flowchart shown is an exemplary description of the IR compensation solution provided in this application.

[0118] See also Figure 5 , is a flow chart of another embodiment provided by the present application, which mainly relates to the process of performing IR compensation on the maximum allowable charging voltage during the constant current charging stage of the battery with step-by-step derating. Figure 5 As shown, the method includes:

[0119] S501: After detecting that the charging circuit is connected, the controller 103 reports the initial charging current a1 and the charging limit voltage U5 to the controller 11.

[0120] S502 , the controller 11 sends a current instruction to the charging circuit 12 , controlling the charging circuit 12 to output a constant initial charging current a1 to charge the battery 10 .

[0121] In the embodiment of the present application, after the charging circuit 12 begins charging the battery 10, the controller 103 within the battery 10 controls the sampling circuit 102 to periodically collect various data from the battery 10, including the current of the battery 10, the voltage of each cell in the battery 10, and the temperature of the battery 10. The controller 103 first detects whether the battery 10 meets the end-of-charging conditions based on the detected information such as the current of the battery 10, the voltage of each cell, and the temperature. The end-of-charging conditions may include the occurrence of events such as the battery 10 being fully charged, charging at high temperature, abnormal current, abnormal voltage, battery 10 failure, and / or the charger being unplugged.

[0122] If the controller 103 detects that the battery 10 does not meet the charging termination conditions, the controller 103 reports the collected data to the controller 11, and the controller 11 executes the following step S503 to continue the charging process. Otherwise, the controller 103 sends a charge termination instruction to the controller 11, causing the controller 11 to control the charging circuit 12 to turn off the output to terminate charging.

[0123] S503, the controller 11 calculates the compensation voltage U6 (ie, U6 = a1 * R) according to the initial charging current a1 and the impedance R of the charging circuit, adds U6 and U5 to obtain the maximum allowable charging voltage, and sets the cutoff charging voltage to U6 + U5.

[0124] Before entering the derating phase, the controller 11 can perform IR compensation on the maximum allowable charging voltage based on the initial charging current a1, the impedance R, and the charging limit voltage of the battery 10. After obtaining the compensated maximum allowable charging voltage, the controller 11 sends a voltage command to the charging circuit 12 to set the charging cutoff voltage of the charging circuit 12 to the compensated maximum allowable charging voltage. This prevents premature entry into the derating phase and ensures charging efficiency.

[0125] S504, after entering the derating stage, whenever the controller 11 determines the derating current, the controller 11 performs IR compensation on the maximum allowable charging voltage according to the determined derating current, the impedance R and the charging limit voltage, and sets the cut-off charging voltage to the compensated maximum allowable charging voltage.

[0126] The so-called entering the derating stage refers to a process in which the controller 11 derating the charging current based on the derating condition starts from the time when the charging current a1 and the voltages of the n battery cells first meet the derating condition.

[0127] For example, based on Figure 3In the example shown, when the battery 10's charging current a1 and the voltages of n cells meet the derating conditions, the battery enters the derating phase. The controller 11 determines the derating current a2 and reduces the charging current to the derating current a2. The controller 11 then calculates the compensation voltage U7 based on a2 and the charging circuit's impedance R (i.e., U7 = a2 * R). U7 is then added to U5 to obtain the maximum allowable charging voltage. At this point, the maximum allowable charging voltage is reduced from U6 + U5 to U7 + U5. A voltage command is then sent to the charging circuit 12 to set the charging cutoff voltage of the charging circuit 12 to U7 + U5.

[0128] Similarly, when charging circuit 12 is performing constant-current charging of battery 10 at charging current a2, if the charging current a2 and the voltages of n battery cells meet the derating conditions, controller 11 determines the derating current a3 and reduces the charging current from a2 to a3. Accordingly, controller 11 calculates compensation voltage U8 (U8 = a3 * R) based on a3 and impedance R, and adds U8 to U5 to obtain the maximum allowable charging voltage. At this point, the maximum allowable charging voltage is reduced from U7 + U5 to U8 + U5. A voltage command is then sent to charging circuit 12 to set the charging cutoff voltage of charging circuit 12 to U8 + U5.

[0129] During the constant current charging phase, by performing IR compensation and updating the maximum allowable charging voltage based on the derated current, and refreshing the charging cutoff voltage of the charging circuit 12 based on the updated maximum allowable charging voltage, it is possible to, to a certain extent, prevent the charging voltage output by the charging circuit 12 from reaching the maximum allowable charging voltage before the battery 10 reaches the charging limit voltage. This prevents the charging circuit 12 from prematurely switching from the constant current charging mode to the constant voltage charging mode, thereby ensuring the charging efficiency of the battery 10.

[0130] For example, Figure 6 A schematic diagram showing test results of the battery charging method provided by this application is shown. Figure 6 In it, there is a curve showing the voltage of the battery cell changing with time (including the voltage curve of the normal battery cell and the voltage curve of the abnormal battery cell), and a charging current curve showing the charging current changing with time. During the charging process, the voltage division of the abnormal battery cell is less than the voltage division of the normal battery cell. Before the charging voltage output by the charging circuit 12 reaches the cut-off charging voltage, the voltage of each battery cell will continue to increase as the charging time is extended. This can easily lead to the situation that when the voltage of the normal battery cell reaches the rated voltage (4400mv), the total voltage of the battery will not exceed its charging limit voltage because the voltage of the abnormal battery cell is less than the rated voltage, which also causes the charging voltage output by the charger 12 to fail to reach the cut-off charging voltage. This in turn causes the voltage of the normal battery cell to continue to increase, exceeding 4400mv. After utilizing the battery charging method provided by the present application, based on Figure 6It can be seen that starting from the 781st second, every time the voltage of the normal battery cell reaches 4400mV, the charging current is derated, causing the voltage of the normal battery cell to decrease and not exceed 4400mV until the battery is fully charged. Therefore, the battery charging method provided by this application can effectively control the voltage of the normal battery cell and prevent overcharging of the normal battery cell.

[0131] Corresponding to the battery charging method described in the above embodiment, the present application provides an electronic device, which may be an electronic device, a charging management module in the electronic device, or a charging management chip in the charging management module.

[0132] When the electronic device is a charge management chip, the charge management chip includes a processor coupled to a memory, and the processor executes a computer program or instruction stored in the memory to implement the battery charging method described in the above embodiment. The memory can be provided in the charge management chip or in another chip.

[0133] For example, the processor in the charge management chip can be Figure 1 Controller 11 or controller 103 in.

[0134] The processor may include at least one of the following types: a central processing unit (CPU), and the processor may also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0135] The processor may also include a memory for storing instructions and data. In some embodiments, the memory in the processor is a cache memory. This memory can store instructions or data that the processor has just used or is reusing. If the processor needs to use the instruction or data again, it can directly call it from the memory. This avoids repeated accesses, reduces processor latency, and thus improves system efficiency.

[0136] The memory can be used to store software programs and modules. The processor executes various functional applications and data processing of the electronic device by running the software programs and modules stored in the memory. The memory can mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area can store programs required for at least one function (such as the program of the charging method provided in this application, etc.); the data storage area can store data created according to the use of the electronic device (such as charging limit voltage, maximum allowable charging voltage, derating rules, etc.). In addition, the memory can include a high-speed random access memory and can also include a non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device, a flash memory device, or other volatile solid-state storage device.

[0137] Optionally, when the electronic device is a charging management module, the charging management module includes a charging management chip, a battery consisting of n cells, and a charging circuit. A processor in the charging management chip is connected to the battery and the charging circuit, and the processor is coupled to a memory. The processor executes a computer program or instructions stored in the memory to implement the battery charging method described in the above embodiment.

[0138] For example, the charging management module may be: Figure 1 The charging management module shown. Among them, the charging management chip can be Figure 1 The controller 11 or controller 103 in the charging circuit can be Figure 1 In the charging circuit 12, the battery can be Figure 1 The battery 10, or Figure 1 There are n cells in the battery.

[0139] Optionally, when the electronic device is an electronic device, see Figure 7 The electronic device includes a power management module, which includes a charge management chip, a battery consisting of n cells, and a charging circuit. A processor in the charge management chip is connected to the battery and the charging circuit, and the processor is coupled to a memory. The processor executes a computer program or instructions stored in the memory to implement the battery charging method described in the above embodiment.

[0140] In addition, although not shown, the electronic device communication module, display module, memory, audio circuit, sensor module, etc. are not described in detail here.

[0141] The embodiments of the present application also provide a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium. The methods described in the above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions can be stored as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium or transmitted on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media can include computer storage media and communication media, and can also include any medium that can transfer a computer program from one place to another. The storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer.

[0142] As an alternative design, a computer-readable medium may include a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) or other optical disk storage, a magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer. Moreover, any connection is properly referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies (such as infrared, radio, and microwave) are used to transmit software from a website, server, or other remote source, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0143] The present application also provides a computer program product. The methods described in the above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, they can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. A computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the above computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the above method embodiments are generated in whole or in part. The above computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable device.

[0144] In the above embodiments, the description of each embodiment has its own focus. For parts that are not described or recorded in detail in a certain embodiment, reference can be made to the relevant description of other embodiments.

[0145] The above-described embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. These modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the various embodiments of the present application, and should all be included in the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A battery charging method, applied to a battery consisting of n battery cells connected in series, where n is an integer greater than 1, characterized in that: The method comprises: Obtaining the current charging current and the voltage of the n battery cells; If the difference between the maximum voltage among the voltages of the n battery cells and the preset upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage is less than or equal to the preset difference, then determining a derated current, wherein the preset difference is greater than or equal to 0, the maximum voltage is less than or equal to the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage, and the derated current is less than the current charging current; instructing to charge the battery with the derated current; If the current charging current is less than a preset first current value, and the difference between the maximum voltage and the upper limit of the single-cell charging voltage is less than or equal to the preset difference, the method further includes: if the sum of the voltages of the n battery cells and the preset voltage adjustment value is less than or equal to the maximum allowable charging voltage of the battery, setting the sum of the voltages of the n battery cells and the preset voltage adjustment value as a cutoff charging voltage; Among them, the first current value is the current value that the charging circuit can output based on the setting of the current instruction, and the difference between it and the full charge cut-off current of the battery is the smallest; the voltage adjustment value is the minimum voltage adjustment step of the charging circuit, and the charging circuit is used to charge the battery.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The determining of the derated current includes: According to the range in which the current charging current is located, a corresponding derating current is determined.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The determining of the derated current includes: determining the derated current from a preset current sequence.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that After determining the derated current, the method further includes: Calculating a compensation voltage according to the derating current and the impedance of the charging circuit in which the battery is located; Adding the charge limit voltage of the battery and the compensation voltage to obtain the maximum allowable charge voltage of the battery; The maximum allowable charging voltage is set as a cut-off charging voltage.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that After setting the sum of the voltages of the n battery cells and the preset voltage adjustment value as the cut-off charging voltage, the method further includes: If it is detected that the charging current is greater than the full-charge cut-off current of the battery, the cut-off charging voltage is reduced according to the voltage adjustment value.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that After setting the sum of the voltages of the n battery cells and the preset voltage adjustment value as the cut-off charging voltage, the method further includes: If it is detected that the charging current is less than or equal to a preset second current value, then when the sum of the cut-off charging voltage and the voltage adjustment value is less than or equal to the maximum allowable charging voltage, the cut-off charging voltage is increased according to the voltage adjustment value, and the second current value is less than the full-charge cut-off current of the battery.

7. An electronic device, characterized in that: The device comprises a processor coupled to a memory, and the processor executes a computer program or instruction stored in the memory to implement the battery charging method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein: The electronic device further includes a charging circuit and a battery consisting of n cells. The processor is connected to the battery and the charging circuit, where n is an integer greater than 1.

9. A non-volatile computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, characterized in that: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the battery charging method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is implemented.

10. A computer program product, characterized in that When the computer program product is run on an electronic device, the electronic device is enabled to execute the battery charging method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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