Intelligent cell gauge for a hierarchical battery management system

Continuous monitoring of cell parameters (voltage and temperature) is fundamental for Lithium batteries, particularly when many cells are connected in series. It is also important to keep trace of particular events occurring during the life of the cell, preventing data losses if the cell is disconnected from the original battery management system for maintenance purpose or to be used in another battery in a second life market perspective. We present in this work a gauge that enables the cell monitoring and data storage in a non-volatile memory. The gauge is embedded in the cell and performs cell voltage and temperature measurements. It communicates with a battery management system through an isolated interface, so that multiple gauges, used on series-connected cells, can share a common bus without voltage conflicts.