
DS2714: Quad Loose Cell NiMH Charger 
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
CHARGE ALGORITHM OVERVIEW 
A charge cycle begins in one of three ways:  With the application of power to the DS2714 with cell(s) already 
inserted, with the detection of cell insertion after power-up, or when exiting suspend mode with cell(s) inserted. The 
charge cycle begins with Pre-charge qualification to prevent Fast charging of deeply depleted cells or charging 
under extreme temperature conditions. Pre-charging is performed at a reduced rate until the cell being charged 
reaches V
BAT-LOW
 (1V). The algorithm proceeds to a Fast charge phase which includes cell tests to avoid accidental 
charging of alkaline cells or NiMH cells which are worn-out or damaged. Fast charging continues as long as the cell 
temperature is less than 50°C (based on Thermistor sensors THM 1, 2), the open circuit cell voltage(s) are 
between V
BAT-LOW
 (1.0V) and V
BAT-MAX1
 (1.65V) and the closed ciruit cell voltage(s) are less than V
BAT-MAX2
 (1.75V). 
Fast charging terminates by the - V (negative delta voltage) or flat voltage method. The Top-Off charge phase 
follows to completely charge the cell. After the Top-off charge timer expires, the Maintenance charge phase 
continues indefinitely to keep the cells fully charged. Maximum voltage, temperature and charge time monitoring 
during all charge phases act as secondary or safety termination methods to provide additional protection from 
overcharge. A cell voltage greater than V
BAT-MAX2
 (1.75V) will result in a fault condition, and temperature greater 
than 50°C (see Table 1) will result in either Fault or Maintenance depending on which charge state the device was 
last in. Each cell is monitored independently, and the charge phase of each cell is independently controlled. If a cell 
is removed while being charged, the algorithm for that cell slot is completely reset to its Presence Test state without 
affecting the charge control states of the other cells. 
CHARGE CONFIGURATION 
The DS2714 supports four slot standalone chargers. It alternates charge to the four slots every two seconds, with 
one half second available to each cell. Removal or insertion of a cell into the charger does not disturb the charge 
timing or charge rates of the other cells. Charge pulses are fed alternately to each cell under the control of the CCx 
pins so that the charge regimes occur in parallel. The duty cycle on the CCx pins are completely independent of 
one another. Transitions from Pre-charge to Fast charge, Fast charge to Top-off and Top-off to Maintenance occur 
independently for each cell. The configuration shown in Figure 3 is for charging four cells with a current limited 
source of 2A. The effective average fast charge current for each cell is 2A x 0.25 x 15/16 = 0.469A. The 15/16 term 
is due to the fact that every 16
 charge time slot is used for negative delta-voltage and impedance testing. No 
current is delivered to the cell during that time. Mechanical design of the holders is required to prevent insertion of 
more than one cell in each slot. The holder design should also prevent electrical contact with reverse polarity 
insertion. 
PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS OVER TEMPERATURE AND VOLTAGE 
85
70
50
0
-20
-40
TEMPERATURE, DEGRES 
CENTIGRADE
V
4.0
5.5
Full Performance
Valid NiMH 
Charge Range
Low
Temperature
Range
High
Temperature
Range
Below Operating 
Voltage Range
Abs. Max
Operating
Range
INTERNAL OSCILLATORS AND CLOCK GENERATION 
An internal oscillator provides the main clock source used to generate timing signals for internal chip operation. The 
pre-charge timer, hold-off timers, and duty factors for the charging operations are derived from this timebase. There 
are two separate timers for the impedance test and Fast Charge/Topoff functions.