IEEE to revise rechargeable mobile battery standard

A WORKING GROUP set up within the IEEE will soon start on a revision to the current Standard for Rechargeable Batteries for Cellular Telephones, that is, IEEE Standard 1725.

Because the industry and mobile telephony have changed in recent years, the IEEE wants to revisit the rules that cover the quality and reliability of rechargeable lithium and lithium-ion polymer batteries for mobile phones.

"The cellular industry has grown tremendously since IEEE [Standard] 1725 was first approved in 2006, as have the patterns of people using cellular phones," said Jason Howard, chair of the Cell Phone Battery Working Group. "With today's consumers demanding more processing strength and better power management from their phones, it is time for us to review and revise the standard to make sure that it covers the latest developments in battery technology and industry knowledge."

Also on the agenda will be the construction of battery packs and other mechanical elements, packaging technologies, pack and cell level charge and discharge controls and - making us wonder why they didn't just say this in the first place - "overall system considerations".

The Cell Phone Battery Working Group will hold its first meeting on 16-18 February 2010 in Washington, DC.

The IEEE explained that it was an industry oriented group - Howard works in Motorola's mobile technology business - and that, depending on participation, the updates could be approved in one or two years. µ