Welcome to the Texas Instruments Introduction to Battery Management product training module, part three. This 5-part series covers some of the key aspects of battery technology, and in particular, battery management electronics for Lithium-Ion battery applications. Part three of this series will take a look at the basic methods of charging a Lithium Ion battery, and some of the choices available regarding which type of charging IC to use. Since Lithium-Ion batteries have been common for so long now, there are a number of choices for charging IC devices. For example, most single-cell Li-Ion systems want to charge up to 4.2V, with a maximum current anywhere from a few hundred mA up to a few Amps. Why are there so many different devices that all have such similar specs? This course will talk about some of the additional parameters beyond just the “volts and amps” requirements that will help narrow down the process of choosing the right charger for a specific application. This course begins by first taking a closer look at the Lithium-Ion charging profile, and then looking at the tradeoffs between linear and switching chargers, understanding the need for “power path” system, and finally choosing between a standalone hardware solution and a microcontroller host-controlled “smart charger” option.