My Application Needs Accurate Fuel Gauging—What Options are Available? (Download)
Users of battery-powered products demand accurate cell fuel gauging so that they can conveniently plan recharges. But there’s a second, less obvious, reason for precise battery energy measurement: Inaccuracy leads to bad user experiences such as a product suddenly failing while still indicating to the user there’s some runtime left.
To avoid this situation, vendors often add safety margins that force the user to charge the product sooner than needed. That’s not only inconvenient, but it also creates the impression that the product has a shorter battery life when it's not the case. And while charging a consumer product like a wearable more often than required is one thing, in an industrial context, where there might be hundreds or even thousands of battery-powered devices, frequent unnecessary charging is quite another.