Texas Instruments Bq76PL536 EVM User manual

User's Guide

SLUU437B–October 2010–Revised May 2011

bq76PL536 EVM Quick Start Guide

1 Scope

This document covers the initial connection and installation of the Texas Instruments bq76PL536

Evaluation Module (EVM), supplied in kit form including the EVM board, the Aardvark USB-SPI adapter,

and connectors to make cells-to-EVM connection. It is not meant as a comprehensive guide to using the

'536 integrated circuit and its' features. See the device data sheet for details (SLUSA08).

2 Software Installation

2.1 PC Requirements

1. Pentium 1.66GHz (Core™2 or better recommended)

2. Windows-XP™SP2 (software has not been tested with Windows Vista™/Win7)

3. Windows .NET™2.0 or later, with updates

4. Available USB powered-port (hub OK if wall adapter used)

2.2 Installing the Aardvark Driver

CAUTION

The Aardvark driver must be installed before attaching the adapter for the first

time.

The Aardvark driver should be installed prior to installing the TI supplied bq76PL536 Evaluation software.

From the CD-ROM, run the file "/Tools/Aardvark/Drivers/TotalPhaseUSB-v2.xx.exe" to install the drivers. If

prompted to do so, plug in the Aardvark to an available USB port using the supplied cable. The port must

be a powered-port, typically directly from a PC. Use of a USB non-powered hub may not provide sufficient

operating current for the Aardvark or EVM to operate correctly.

2.3 Installing the bq76PL536 Evaluation Software

From the CD-ROM, run the file "/Software/bq76PL536 Evaluation Software x_x_x.msi" to install, where the

"x_x_x" is replaced by the current build number. Installation is automatic. This installs the GUI (Graphical

User Interface) software for Windows. As new versions are released, they may be installed over the

existing version.

Windows-XP, Windows Vista are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SLUU437B–October 2010–Revised May 2011 bq76PL536 EVM Quick Start Guide

EVM Assembly and Configuration

www.ti.com

3 EVM Assembly and Configuration

3.1 Configure the Isolated Communications Interface

3.1.1 5V vs 3.3V Selection

In the ISO-COMMS section of the PCB, there are two jumpers. JP5 selects 5V or 3.3V I/O operation

across the isolation boundary. The Aardvark adapter supplied with the EVM uses 3.3V logic, but is 5V

tolerant. JP5 should be configured for 3.3V operation with the supplied Aardvark interface adapter,

although either position will work correctly. For connection to a user supplied microcontroller, select the

appropriate voltage.

3.1.2 Use USB Power from Aardvark

JP1 selects power from the USB connection through the Aardvark when installed in the “USB”position.

3.2 Configure the EVM board

3.2.1 Use with Cells

Remove jumpers JP1-18 (18) located near the black battery connectors P1-P3 to reduce the current draw

of the board. It is OK to leave the jumpers in place; they connect a 1K precision resistor between each

adjacent pair of cell inputs and are supplied to use the EVM with power supplies in place of cells (see the

Use with ~12-26VDC Power Supply).

Connect cells to the supplied mating connectors with screw terminals BEFORE plugging the connector

into the EVM at P1, the large black connector on the left edge of the board. The most negative cell

connects to the most bottom of the black connector (P1).

The bottom-most pin of the battery connector is the most negative connection to the board from the

battery stack. This is the negative end of cell 1. The next pin up the connector is the positive end of cell 1

(and the negative end of cell 2). The connections proceed in this fashion up the connector to pin 7, which

is the most positive voltage from the battery stack connected to each IC. Pin 7 of P1 (P1.7) is connected

to P2.1 on the board. The same is true of P2.7 and P3.1. P3.7 is connected to the top of the PCB (most

positive voltage), while P1.1 is connected to the bottom of the PCB (most negative voltage).

The battery connections should be made secure, a loose connection may result in device destruction.

Ideally, the cells are connected to one another by secure means such as welding, and only tap points are

brought over to the EVM from each cell-to-cell interconnection.

Although the device is immune to the effects of a random connection sequence, the ideal connection

sequence is from pin P1.1 to pin 3.7 in order.

TI recommends that users unfamiliar with the EVM and/or li-ion cells begin by using power supplies as

outlined in the next section.

2bq76PL536 EVM Quick Start Guide SLUU437B–October 2010–Revised May 2011

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EVM Assembly and Configuration

3.2.2 Use with ~12-26VDC Power Supply

Important: Install jumpers JP1-18 (18) located near the black battery connectors P1-P3 before connecting

power supplies. These jumpers connect a precision 0.1% resistor divider network between cell

connections.

Connect an appropriate power supply capable of supplying 12-26VDC to connector P1, then plug P1 into

the EVM connector. Any voltage which meets the IC requirements will work, 18-24V is typical of most

six-cell systems. Plug additional supplies into P2 and P3. The supplies must be isolated from each other

and from earth ground to avoid unintentional short circuits. A separate supply is required for each IC

(each cell-connection plug).

The supply negative connection is made to pin 1 of the mating connector, the pin that will connect to the

bottom-most pin of the mating connector. The positive connection is made to pin 7, the top-most on the

connector. It is not necessary to connect to the intermediate pins due to the resistive divider on the EVM

which was enabled when JP1-18 were installed

CAUTION

Do not remove any of the jumpers JP1-18 while using the EVM in this

configuration. Lethal DC voltages may be present for these configurations.

Contact with these voltages may result in serious injury or death. Use

appropriate safety precautions.

SLUU437B–October 2010–Revised May 2011 bq76PL536 EVM Quick Start Guide

–

Power Supply

–

20V

Power Supply

–

Power Supply

Bq76pl536

EVM-3

Jumpers

Installed

(+) and (–) outputs

must remain isolated

from earth ground .

20V

–

54V

Power Supply

Bq76pl536

EVM-3

Jumpers

Installed

10Ω

18V

220µF

63V

10Ω

18V

220µF

63V

10Ω

18V

220µF

63V

54V

EVM Assembly and Configuration

www.ti.com

Figure 1. Correct Connection of Three ~20V Power Supplies to EVM

Figure 2. Alternate Connection for Single 54V Supply

4bq76PL536 EVM Quick Start Guide SLUU437B–October 2010–Revised May 2011

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–

60V

Power Supply

Bq76pl536

EVM-3

Jumpers

Installed

Resistor divider

(18K) does not

supply sufficient

current to IC’s

Base IC must be

powered!

–

60V

Power Supply

Bq76pl536

EVM-3

Jumpers

Installed

Resistor divider

(18K) does not

supply sufficient

current to IC’s

–

60V

Power Supply

Bq76pl536

EVM-3

Jumpers

Installed

Resistor divider

(18K) does not

supply sufficient

current to IC’s

www.ti.com

EVM Assembly and Configuration

Figure 3. Incorrect Connections, Base IC Not Powered

Figure 4. Incorrect Connections, Insufficient VBAT Per IC

Figure 5. Incorrect Connections, Top IC Not Powered, IC1,2 Insufficient VBAT

SLUU437B–October 2010–Revised May 2011 bq76PL536 EVM Quick Start Guide

Connecting the EVM

www.ti.com

3.3 Non-Critical Hardware Testing or Firmware Development

3.3.1 Stacking EVMs

For casual testing, one or two devices may be powered (in order from negative to positive) in lieu of

powering all 3 devices. Due to poor termination of the unpowered devices in this configuration, detailed

testing or critical hardware evaluations should not be undertaken. Any odd behavior or unexpected fault

conditions should be ignored until verified with the EVM correctly powered by three isolated supplies

4 Connecting the EVM

4.1 Connection Order

Figure 6. Bq76pl536EVM-3

(a) Configure the EVM jumpers per Section 3.1.

(b) Connect the EVM to the Power Supplies or cells, turn on the supplies at ~12 to 24V is recommended.

The Absolute Maximum voltage per IC is 36V and should not be exceeded, 30V is the recommended

maximum continuous voltage.

(d) Connect the Aardvark ribbon cable to the 10 pin header on the EVM board

The Aardvark adapter should be connected last during power-up, and disconnected first when

powering down. If not using the wall adapter to supply power, it must be after starting the Windows

application to avoid a turn-on issue with the Aardvark adapter. Many laptop computers power off their

USB ports when they go into sleep, standby, or hibernate modes. If the device the Aardvark is

connected to remains powered when this happens, the Aardvark may suffer permanent damage.

(e) Start the WinGUI User Interface software supplied with the EVM and installed earlier

4.2 Connection Notes

The ISO-COMMS section of the EVM board isolates the EVM side voltages completely from the PC side.

It isolates all power, ground, and signal lines to the EVM. Caution must still be carefully taken when using

the EVM as part of a stack, where lethal voltages may be present. The galvanic isolation provided by the

ISO-COMMS section does not eliminate the need for safe handling procedures, proper High-Voltage

equipment and protective clothing. Proper safety procedures should always be followed.

6bq76PL536 EVM Quick Start Guide SLUU437B–October 2010–Revised May 2011

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Evaluation Software Details

Because the ISO-COMMS circuit section fully isolates the PC, Aardvark, and wall adapter from the EVM

“battery”side, the Aardvark is insensitive to the powering of the EVM, which receives its’power from the

battery cells or power supply used for evaluation.

The grounds (VSS) are fully isolated; please keep this in mind when using an oscilloscope or meter. Do

not inadvertently connect the EVM VSS to the PC/Aardvark VSS by connecting two probe grounds or

otherwise forming a ground loop through external wiring, including the building wiring.

4.3 Quick Check

The first step in communicating with the bq76PL536 is to set a unique address for each device in the

stack. This is required even if you are only using a single device. This occurs automatically when the

Evaluation software is first started. To do this manually, select COMMAND | AUTO ADDRESS (shortcut

key CTRL + A). This will cause the software to interrogate the stack of ‘536 devices, find all available

devices, and assign each a unique address beginning with address 0x01. Address 0x00 is reserved for

un-addressed devices.

After addressing is complete, you should see the number of devices found and the total combined voltage

of all cells being monitoring displayed in the STACK HEIGHT and V STACK windows.

5 Evaluation Software Details

5.1 Main Screen

The main screen is divided into 4 major areas, plus the menu and status bars. The software is referred to

as the “Windows Graphical User Interface”, or abbreviated to WinGUI.

VBRIC K The voltage measured by the bq76PL536 between the BATx and VSS pins

VCELLn the voltage measured between the pair of pins VCn –VCn-1 (i.e. VCELL2 = VC2 -

VC1).

ADDR displays the address of the device being monitored in the measurement result area.

LOG DEVICE Checking this box will add the contents of the device at this address to the log file.

TSn The voltage measured between the TSn+ and TSn- inputs, converted by the WinGUI

to temperature based on the characteristics of the thermistor used in the EVM design.

The EVM and WinGUI are configured to measure this voltage as a ratio of REG50,

which removes any offset or gain errors introduced by drift in the REG50 output.

VIEW AS... Shows the ratio of the measured input voltage to REG50 as a percentage.

SLUU437B–October 2010–Revised May 2011 bq76PL536 EVM Quick Start Guide

Evaluation Software Details

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Updates the displayed measurements for this device. The conversion is started by

sending the register command CONVERT[CONV]=1,

or hardware by toggling the CONV pin if the HW IO CONTROL box is checked.

5.1.1 Volatile RAM Configuration Registers –

The lower half of this area displays the volatile configuration registers shown as bit fields, see the

bq76PL536 data sheet for details on programming these registers. These registers display green for logic

0, and orange for logic 1. The two states may be toggled between by left-clicking on the bit

The STATUS, COV_FAULT, and CUV_FAULT bits are either white (logic 0) or red (logic 1) for asserted.

In most cases, the asserted state indicates an error condition sensed by the bq76PL536.

To clear a fault, first remove the physical condition causing the fault, then click on the ALERT or FAULT

bit to reset the state of the bit. This writes a 1 to the bit, followed by a 0, which is the device’s method for

clearing the asserted bit state back to logic 0.

5.1.2 Group-3 Protected Registers –

The device is provided with many configuration options set by bits contained in a special set of registers

protected against accidental writing. These RAM registers are initialized from OTP (One-Time

Programmable) EPROM cells. The device is shipped with these EPROM locations un-programmed

(blank). The Windows GUI interface hides the un-programmed nature of the device by setting defaults in

the registers cells when the Evaluation software starts (this can be defeated by setting the TOOLS |

OPTIONS defaults). The last settings are also automatically saved by the GUI and restored on next use.

These features are provided for ease of use, and are implemented solely in the GUI. Users are

responsible for programming OTP bits in parts correctly during manufacturing for correct operation

in-circuit.

Some Group-3 registers are shown as registers at the bottom of the left side of the screen, the others in

the top right section of the screen as listboxes and registers

5.1.3 Quick Access

The Quick Access register(s) provide R/W access to any location in the part. They are named arbitrarily in

the GUI ‘X’,‘Y’, and ‘Z’ – there are no XYZ registers in the part. Some registers, such as the MASTER

X register address/data with the first unlock key, the Y register with the second unlock key, and finally the

Z register with the target address and data. Then use the “write all”button to send all three address/data

bytes in the correct order and timing to accomplish the multi-byte write. (This is done automatically when

using the Protected Registers window.)

5.1.4 LED Status Indicators

At the top right of the user interface screen are 8 status indicator "LED's". These provide a quick view of

the status of the devices, and the interface, cable connections, etc. Green normally indicates a logic 0

condition, and red a logic one condition. Gray indicates undefined.

8bq76PL536 EVM Quick Start Guide SLUU437B–October 2010–Revised May 2011

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Evaluation Software Details

ALERT A condition has been sensed that is causing the ALERT hardware pin to be asserted. This

is also indicated by the ALERT bit being set (red) in the [DEVICE] STATUS register. The

source of the ALERT condition is indicated in the ALERT register just below the STATUS

FAULT Similar to the ALERT indicator, this LED indicates the FAULT bit, and FAULT hardware

pin are asserted. The source is indicated in the FAULT register, just below the ALERT

LAST CRC The last CRC received by the GUI was incorrect for the contents of the packet. This

usually indicates a communications error caused by improper connection, excessive

cabling, etc. The cause of the communications error should be corrected before

continuing.

LOG Green if a log file is being written to. Logging is useful to capture information about cell or

interface behavior over long periods of time

STACK At least one device was found during auto-addressing or rebuild addresses. This indicates

that the bottom device in the stack was found, is powered, not in POR, and the ribbon

cable from the Aardvark to the EVM is connected correctly. This verifies the cabling and

connection all the way to the IC.

INTERFACE The Aardvark USB-SPI interface adapter was successfully found and communicated with.

This verifies the cabling and driver to the adapter.

5.1.5 Global Registers

DEVICE The Address of the device currently being communicated with. Change to access

different devices in the stack. “BROADCAST”mode also available to send a single

command to all devices in the stack. (In BROADCAST mode, no data is shown –the

interface can only display data from one device at a time.

STACK HT. The number of devices found during the last AUTO-ADDRESS or

REBUILD-ADDRESS cycle.

POLL Check or un-check this box to turn polling on or off. Note that many menu items are

unavailable during polling –turn polling off to access them.

RATE This list box allows choosing a polling rate between 100ms and 60s. The LED

illuminates green each time the GUI polls the device stack. Useful as a heartbeat

indicator when polling or logging is active. A setting “Fast”is also available. In this

position, the WinGUI will poll as fast as possible, with only Windows OS slowing it

down. On most systems, this results in a poll every 10-20ms, but your results may vary

depending on the speed of your CPU and other tasks that are running.

LOG STACK Enables or disables data logging. Logging is to a file in comma-separated-values (.csv)

format. Set up logging in the LOG | SETUP menu. Logging may also be started /

stopped under the LOG menu. Data is captured each poll, set by the polling interval in

TOOLS | INTERFACE.

VIEW PLOT Check this box to view a dynamic plot of data collected during polling. See PLOTTING

for further information on configuring the plotter.

SLUU437B–October 2010–Revised May 2011 bq76PL536 EVM Quick Start Guide

Evaluation Software Details

www.ti.com

HW I/O Check this box to force the Evaluation software to use the hardware pins CONV and

DRDY to initiate, and monitor ADC conversion cycles, instead of sending commands to

the CONVERT_CTRL[CONV] register bit. Similarly, it is monitoring the FAULT and

ALERT hardware pin states to determine a FAULT and/or ALERT condition being

present. Note that in HW I/O mode, the REFRESH button toggles the hardware CONV

line, but the user may optionally use the CONVERT_CTRL[CONV] bit to force software

initiated conversions by clicking on the bit.

5.2 Addressing

The first step in communicating with the

bq76PL536 is to set a unique address for each

device in the stack. This is required even if you are

only using a single device. On the menu, select

COMMAND | AUTO ADDRESS (shortcut key CTRL

+ A). This will cause the software to interrogate the

stack of '536 devices, find all available devices, and

assign each a unique address beginning with

address 0x01. Address 0x00 is reserved for

un-addressed devices.

After addressing is complete, the number of

devices found and the total combined voltage of all

cells being monitoring are displayed in the STACK

HEIGHT and V STACK windows. In this example, 2

bq76PL536 devices are connected together

monitoring 12 cells of about 3.3V each.

The screen automatically refreshes each time something changes. Addressing the device will cause all

displayed values and registers to update. The user hould see all cell voltages displayed, along with

registers showing FAULT and ALERT status, DEVICE STATUS, etc.

5.3 Menus and Commands

5.3.1 File Menu

This menu provides a way to save complex register

settings between sessions. The settings are saved

to a file on the local disk, selected using a dialog

box that appears when the Load or Save command

is selected. Multiple files, with different settings may

be saved under different file names. Saved register

settings are then re-loaded from the saved file. All

registers –volatile and shadow –are saved or

loaded, except the ADC measurements

Another useful command available in this menu allows copying the current measurement data (VCn,

VBRICK, and TS1, TS2, in that order) to the clipboard, and subsequent copying to a document or

spreadsheet.measurements.

It will also create Eprom programmable image for Bq76PL536 OTP EPROM Programmer

10 bq76PL536 EVM Quick Start Guide SLUU437B–October 2010–Revised May 2011

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