TurboCharge™
TurboCharge™ is a proprietary technology applied to the task of battery charging. The feature typically resides inside the battery charger circuit (such as the SMB138) inside the mobile device. It combines Switch-Mode (see Switch-Mode page) power conversion during the charging cycle with programmable charge parameters to bring dramatic gains in efficiency and charging times. Charge times are reduced by 50% or more and power dissipation (wasted heat) is reduced by up to 80% compared to linear mode charger ICs. Since battery charging power is often sourced from the AC/DC wall adapter and ultimately from the power grid these losses/gains are magnified upstream. When multiplied by a large number of mobile devices (cell phones) huge power savings can be realized from implementing this single technology and replacing older linear mode charger ICs. Finally when there is no AC source nearby TurboCharge™ makes the most use of limited power sources such as USB2.0 – 2.5W output from a notebook PC – and delivers 90% of it to the handheld device’s battery. Linear charger ICs waste up to 40% of this precious power source.
Example: Power Savings:
Conventional Linear Charger IC:
PD = (VIN-VBATT)*IBATT = (6-3.5)*0.5 = 1.25 Watts (power lost)
Summit TurboCharge™:
P D = VBATT*IBATT/η-VBATT*IBATT = 3.5*0.5/0.9-3.5*0.5 = 0.195 Watts (power lost)
Result: >1.00W saved!
Mobile devices are often charged every day (cell phones), therefore 1W per device translates to billions of watts (gigawatts) on a worldwide basis, every day. Furthermore, due to intrinsic inefficiencies in the power distribution network each 1W or power at the mobile device translates into approximately 2.6W generated at the power plant.
Example: Charge time reduction
With Summit’s TurboCharge™ technology, users of mobile devices spend 50% less time charging and therefore reduce average loads on the power distribution grid.
Figure 1 (Charge Time with TurboCharge™)
If all mobile devices converted to Summit’s TurboCharge™ technology, the power savings over the next 5 years would amount to nearly two gigawatts and about 17 millions tons of CO2 emissions.
Summit TurboCharge™ technology is featured in the following products:
SMB135
SMB136
SMB137B
SMB329B