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.
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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.
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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.
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P1
P2
P3
+
–
Power Supply
+
–
20V
20V
Power Supply
+
–
Power Supply
Bq76pl536
EVM-3
Jumpers
Installed
(+) and (–) outputs
must remain isolated
from earth ground .
20V
P1
P2
P3
+
–
54V
Power Supply
Bq76pl536
EVM-3
Jumpers
Installed
10Ω
2W
18V
220µF
63V
+
10Ω
2W
18V
220µF
63V
+
10Ω
2W
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
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P1
P2
P3
+
–
60V
Power Supply
Bq76pl536
EVM-3
Jumpers
Installed
Resistor divider
(18K) does not
supply sufficient
current to IC’s
Base IC must be
powered!
P1
P2
P3
+
–
60V
Power Supply
Bq76pl536
EVM-3
Jumpers
Installed
Resistor divider
(18K) does not
supply sufficient
current to IC’s
P1
P2
P3
+
–
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
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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.
(c) Connect the USB cable to the Aardvark and your PC.
(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.
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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.
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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
register require multi-byte writes to “unlock”the target register for writing. To accomplish this, program the
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.
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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
register.
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
register.
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.
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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
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