AEK-POW-BMS63EM Battery Management System Evaluation Board

Introduction

The STMicroelectronics AEK-POW-BMS63EM is a battery-management-system evaluation board for Li-ion battery nodes. It is designed to evaluate multi-node battery monitoring architectures, combining cell-voltage, current, and temperature monitoring with passive balancing, state-of-charge and state-of-health functions.

Technically, the board supports systems ranging from a single Li-ion battery node to 31 nodes, with 4 to 14 cells per node and a 48 V to 64 V battery-node voltage range. Its support for both daisy-chain and dual-access-ring topologies makes it relevant for examining communication and monitoring arrangements across larger battery systems.

What it does

The AEK-POW-BMS63EM provides a development platform for Li-ion battery-node management. Each node can monitor up to 14 battery cells, while the board supports battery current, voltage, and temperature measurement as inputs to state-of-charge and state-of-health calculations.

Passive cell balancing is supported for managing cell-voltage differences within a node. The first node can be connected for 6-cell, 10-cell—using configuration A or B—or 14-cell battery packs.

For communications, the board includes two CAN ports and CAN-FD transceiver capability at data rates up to 8 Mbps. Two embedded L9963T ISOSPI transceivers support interconnected battery-node configurations, including daisy-chain and dual-access-ring arrangements. Four configurable GPIOs, onboard temperature sensing, and JTAG debugging and programming support are also included.

Applications

• Evaluation of Li-ion battery monitoring and balancing strategies.
• Development of multi-node BMS communication architectures.
• Prototyping battery packs with 4 to 14 cells per monitored node.
• Testing CAN or CAN-FD connectivity in battery-management systems.
• Exploring daisy-chain and dual-access-ring battery-node topologies.
• Developing temperature-aware state-of-charge and state-of-health monitoring functions.

Design considerations

The board is intended for systems with battery-node voltages from 48 V to 64 V, so the intended pack and node arrangement should be established before selecting the cell-connection configuration. The first-node battery-pack connection supports 6, 10, or 14 cells, while monitoring extends to as many as 14 cells per node.

System integration may also need to account for the selected network topology. The AEK-POW-BMS63EM supports both daisy-chain and dual-access-ring configurations through its two embedded L9963T ISOSPI transceivers. CAN integration can use either of the two CAN ports, with CAN-FD operation specified up to 8 Mbps.

Temperature sensing is available through three embedded NTCs and provisions for three additional NTCs on the battery-holder connector. Four configurable GPIOs and JTAG support provide additional options for evaluation, control, debugging, and programming.

Availability and further information

Further technical information is available through the source/distributor and datasheet links provided on this page.