Watchdog circuit protects against loss of battery charger's control signals

Recharging a mobile phone's internal battery usually occurs under control of a proprietary charging algorithm that resides in the baseband controller. The charger connects to the internal battery through a P-channel- MOSFET switch of low on-resistance (Figure 1). A baseband controller supplies a PWM signal that drives the switch. To minimize power dissipation and consequent thermal problems in the phone, the charging supply—usually a plug-in transformer assembly—features internal current limiting and has specifications that correspond to the battery's chemistry and charge-recovery requirements.

However, if the baseband processor stalls for any reason, the nearly direct charger-to-battery connection could damage the battery. To circumvent the problem, another circuit monitors the charger's PWM input and disables the series power switch after a predetermined delay interval (Figure 2). The circuit operates independently of the baseband unit's processor and allows charging to resume when the PWM signal returns.

In this circuit, microprocessor supervisor IC₁, a Maxim MAX6321 that includes a watchdog circuit that can monitor software execution, drives IC₂, a normally open SPST analog switch. Components R₄, D₂, and C₁ protect IC₁ and IC₂ by limiting V_CC to a maximum of 5.1V. Resistor R₄'s value isn't critical because the protection circuit's quiescent current is low at approximately 30 µA. Select R₄ to provide just enough current—for example, 0.5 mA—to bias zener diode D₁ into the "knee" of its characteristic V-I curve.

The protection circuit consumes no power except when the battery undergoes charging and therefore doesn't burden the battery. Supervisor IC₁ provides a   output that can serve as a charger-ready interrupt input to the baseband-controller CPU. The  output's open-drain structure allows its connection to other circuits that operate from different supply voltages. Supplying power to the watchdog and PWM circuits only during charging also prevents reverse current from flowing into the IC₁'s   output and discharging the battery via a sneak path.

The  output releases the SPST analog switch, IC₂, which enables the PWM input. Meanwhile, the active WDI (watchdog input) monitors the PWM input signal. If no signal transitions occur within 1.6 sec, the RESET and  outputs become active, disabling the PWM input and pausing the charger algorithm using a CPU interrupt that the charger-ready signal conveys (Figure 4). All active and passive components for the circuit are available in surface-mount packages. Pass transistor Q₂, a Siliconix-Vishay SiS5853, includes an integrated Schottky diode, D₁.

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