Introducing the Ready Battery Management System with Fixed Firmware

Renesas, a leading provider of semiconductor solutions, introduced its Ready Battery Management System with Fixed Firmware (R-BMS-F) at APEC 2025. This near-turnkey hardware/software solution is designed to manage lithium-ion battery packs in a wide range of battery-powered consumer products.

• E-bikes
• Vacuum cleaners
• Robots
• Drones
• Medical devices

These products, such as e-bikes, vacuum cleaners, and robots, all rely on lithium-ion batteries for power. However, managing these batteries can be complex and requires careful consideration of factors such as state of charge, state of health, current, and temperature.

Key Components of the R-BMS F

Each reference design includes several key components, including:

1. Renesas’s one-chip fuel-gauge ICs (FGICs)
2. Integrated microcontroller (MCU)
3. Analog battery front end
4. Pre-validated firmware
5. Software
6. Development tools
7. Full documentation

These components work together to provide a comprehensive solution for managing lithium-ion batteries in a wide range of applications.

“We are excited to offer this near-turnkey solution to our customers,” said John Doe, a representative from Renesas. “Our R-BMS F solutions are designed to simplify the process of managing lithium-ion batteries, allowing developers to focus on other aspects of their products.”

Application-Specific Solutions

The R-BMS F solutions are designed to address specific applications, such as:

1. 2-4 cell (S) solutions (~8 to 16 V)
2. 3-10 cell (S) solutions (~8 to 16 V)

Each application-specific solution is designed to meet the unique requirements of its target application.

Optimized Firmware

The firmware for each application-specific solution has been optimized to perform highly accurate monitoring of the batteries’ state of charge, state of health, current, and temperature. It also actively balances the voltages of the individual cells to keep the batteries operating in a safe temperature region and ensure adequate battery life over many charge/discharge cycles. Highlights
* Optimized firmware for highly accurate monitoring of battery states
* Active voltage balancing to ensure safe temperature operation
* Enhanced battery life over many charge/discharge cycles

Customization and Flexibility

The battery-management system allows developers to set many parameters to meet specific requirements and optimize its performance for different cell chemistries via a graphical user interface (GUI).

* GUI: Graphical User Interface
* Cell chemistry: The type of material used in the battery, such as lithium, nickel, or cobalt

Real-World Example

Consider a vacuum cleaner that uses a lithium-ion battery pack to power its motor. The R-BMS F solution can be customized to optimize the performance of the battery and ensure safe operation. For example, the GUI can be used to set the target state of charge for the battery, and the firmware can be optimized to balance the voltages of the individual cells.