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Battling the Battery Drain

The networks may be faster and the handsets fancier, but today 's feeble battery technology could hinder next-generation wireless services and devices.

by sue marek
January 7, 2002

The weakest link in the path to next-generation wireless is not likely to be the networks, the back-office infrastructure, the billing systems or even the handsets. While all those factors will continue to experience some glitches and setbacks as U.S. carriers upgrade their networks, some industry experts believe the most limiting element in the wireless food chain is the handset battery.

The lack of advancements in battery technology for mobile devices certainly isn't a surprise; handset manufacturers and wireless carriers have been battling the battery drain for a long time. But with so much riding on consumer receptivity to next-generation wireless services that supposedly will offer always-on connectivity, carriers can't help but worry about subscriber devices running out of juice, preventing consumers from taking full advantage of the new network technology. "The processing power for [third-generation] phones could be as much as a tenfold increase," says James Storey, chief technology officer for TCSI Corp. "And though technology has gotten to the point where they can make the devices small, they will still eat up a lot of battery power."

Japan's NTT DoCoMo, which launched its 3G wireless network in Tokyo in early October, already has experienced this phenomenon. Subscribers accessing high-tech video messaging and other sophisticated applications say their handset batteries are depleted in nearly half the usual time. "Power is the weakest link," says Atakan Ozbek, vice president of energy research at Oyster Bay, N.Y.-based Allied Business Intelligence. "The battery industry hasn't been answering the demand."

Lithium-polymer batteries are perhaps the most recent technological advancement in the battery arena. Known for their ultra-thin shape, lithium-polymer batteries first were incorporated into wireless devices in the late '90s and only recently have been produced in volume. "Lithium-polymer's biggest advantage is in the design because it can be made into different shapes," Ozbek says. "But it isn't an upgrade in power density."

And while other more powerful fuel options are on the horizon, experts say it will be a few years before those technologies are available commercially. Fuel cells are perhaps one of the most popular future power options, with the potential capability of powering a mobile device for up to a week between refuelings. Fuel cells have some significant obstacles to overcome before they will be available commercially, however. The technology is bulkier and larger than typical battery technology and requires the availability of a fuel source, such as methanol.

According to Ozbek, we may see some pre-commercial fuel-cell units in 2002; however, they are not likely to be available for commercial use until at least 2003.

Streamlining Handset Design

In the meantime, experts are scurrying to find ways to overcome the limitations of current power sources. One solution is improving handset electronics. "We are making lots of advances on the electronics side," says Brian Kober, vice president of North American product operations for Motorola. "But all the applications that require larger displays and color displays will take more power to run." That means handset makers must sacrifice certain application-enhancing features in order to extend the battery life of the phone. "We're having to trade off user experience for battery life. The challenge is making the right trade off," Kober says.

While these next-generation networks likely will encourage subscribers to use their devices more, manufacturers say CDMA 1XRTT network technology will sport enhancements that make the hand-set better. "Within the 1X network there are certain advancements that will make the handset more effi-cient, enhance the battery's per-formance and improve its lifespan," says Curtis Wick, director of testing and technical support at LG InfoComm USA Inc.

Keeping Batteries Charging Efficiently

Beyond relying on network technology advances and sacrificing handset enhancements, manufacturers also are using integrated circuits to extend the battery life of phones. "Our job is to try to squeeze as much energy out of the battery as we can and promote as long of a run time as we can," says Peter Fundaro, a product marketing engineer with Texas Instruments Inc.'s portable products division.

Basically, ICs help manage the battery's charging and discharging. For example, an IC can increase the lifespan of the battery by charging it in a way that maximizes the amount of energy to the battery. Or it can measure the capacity of the battery and charge it quickly and efficiently. According to Fundaro, ICs can help extend battery run times because they help keep more energy in the battery. "The ICs put as much energy into the battery as possible, giving you more gas in the tank," Fundaro says.

Some battery makers also use integrated circuits to help protect certain types of batteries from overcharging. For example, ICs are used with lithium-ion and lithium-polymer batteries to keep them from overdischarging or overcharging. "ICs keep them operating in the sweet spot where they can't be damaged," Fundaro says. As battery power management becomes a bigger issue, companies such as Texas Instruments expect to see demand for ICs increase. "As the devices get more complicated and do more things, companies are going to implement more comprehensive power management strategies," Fundaro says. One way that ICs can help manage the power of complex devices is by monitoring how much of the battery capacity is being used by the device. For example, some next-generation devices combine a handset with a peripheral device, such as an MP3 player. Fundaro says an IC can monitor the power that is being used by both the handset and the peripheral device, and when the user begins to run low on power, the IC will put the battery into power conservation mode, which shuts down the peripheral device and sends all the power to the handset to keep it operating.

But don't expect every handset to take advantage of ICs. According to Fundaro, ICs are primarily used in higher-end devices because these phones have more capabilities and therefore have more battery man-agement requirements.

Extending Battery Life

Besides integrated circuits, there are other ways to extend the phone's run time. According to Earl Siamundo, product merchandising manager for Reno, Nev.-based iGo Corp., which develops and markets accessories for mobile devices, many heavy wireless users are purchasing extended-capacity batteries for their wireless phones. Although bigger and bulkier, these batteries offer more juice and are recommended for field workers who don't have access to a charger. "Some heavy users, particularly those in the field, will sacrifice size for longer run times," Siamundo says.

Though next-generation networks with always-on connectivity likely will lead the typical user to increase his talk time, some believe the phone's standby time will experience the biggest impact. The highly touted always-on connectivity means subscribers will leave their phones on all the time. "Standby time will increase a lot. If I'm always on but not active, I'll need more standby mode," says Muzib Khan, senior director of product management and engineering at Samsung Wireless Terminals Division. Like Siamundo, Khan believes that to make up for the increased drain on the battery, consumers will purchase extended bat-teries or carry extra batteries to make up for the increased usage. But he doesn't believe the extra bat-tery drain will pose a big problem for consumers. "In the long run, we could still increase the battery size," Khan says. "A 20 percent increase won't affect the size significantly and people in general will be OK with the performance."

While battery life issues have long daunted the wireless industry, the advent of next-generation networks will likely only amplify the problem. However, if wireless carriers continue to delay 3G services, new power sources, such as fuel cells, could actually be available in time for consumers to test drive those video messaging and other bandwidth- and power-intensive applications. [WIM]