PISCATAWAY, N.J., USA, 8 Dec. 2006 Jean Baronas, Director of the
Technology Standards Office at Sony Electronics, and Bill Kabele, Director of
Power Engineering at Dell Corporation, were elected to co-chair the Portable Computer
Battery Working Group at its first meeting last month. The group is revising IEEE
1625(TM), “IEEE Standard for Rechargeable Batteries for Portable Computing,”
which addresses the design, manufacture and testing of lithium-ion battery cells
and packs used in portable computing devices.
The working group also set
an accelerated schedule for its efforts and now plans to complete its work on
the standard within 12 months. It also defined a structure for its efforts by
forming a number of subgroups, including those focusing on the cell, the pack,
and the system, and another to investigate all conformity assessment options and
make a recommendation for the revised standard. In addition, the group tentatively
set its next meeting for February in Asia.
“We made impressive progress
in our first meeting by setting an organizational structure, reaching agreement
on funding, and setting a development schedule,” said David Ling, who had
been the working group’s acting chair and is Regulatory Policy and Strategy
Manager at the Hewlett Packard Company.
Kabele noted that the first meeting
was a clear indication of how serious the industry is about improving the reliability
of batteries for portable computing. “About 50 people from 30 companies attended,”
he said, “representing the entire global supply chain for batteries used
in portable computing from cell manufacturers to OEMs, including third-party test
and certification bodies.”
“One of the primary goals for the revised
version of IEEE 1625,” says Baronas, “is to establish liaisons with
key standards development organizations and stakeholders to ensure better coordination,
avoid conflict, and support collaboration to improve battery standardization globally.
We also want to submit the completed document for acceptance by the International
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) as a dual-logo standard.”
Ling, who
chairs the Subgroup on Conformity Assessment, said the subgroup will explore the
need for a compliance program for the revised standard in the context of all potential
options, with the possibility that an option would be not to have such a program.
The Subgroup will return a recommendation to the working group by the end of the
development phase.
IEEE 1625 is part of the Livium(TM) family of battery
standards, which also includes the IEEE 1725(TM) standard for mobile cell phone
batteries. Another Livium standard, IEEE P1825(TM), is underway for mobile batteries
in digital cameras and camcorders. IEEE Livium standards are created within the
IEEE Standards Association Corporate Program, which involves company-based working
groups.
IEEE 1625 is sponsored by the Stationary Batteries Committee of
the IEEE Power Engineering Society, with support from the IEEE-SA Corporate Advisory
Group.
“We’re sponsoring the Livium family of documents because
the Stationary Battery Committee is focused on developing standards for emerging,
market-relevant battery technologies,” says Samuel Norman, Chair of the Stationary
Battery Technical Committee and Chief Operating Officer of Majorpower Corporation.
“As the home for battery technology in IEEE, we sponsor 20 standards spanning
conventional and cutting-edge energy storage chemistries.”
About
the IEEE Standards Association The IEEE Standards Association (SA), a
globally recognized standards-setting body, develops consensus standards through
an open process that brings diverse parts of an industry together. These standards
set specifications and procedures based on current scientific consensus. The IEEE-SA
has a portfolio of more than 870 completed standards and more than 400 standards
in development. Over 15,000 IEEE members worldwide belong to IEEE-SA and voluntarily
participate in standards activities. For information on IEEE-SA see: http://standards.ieee.org/.
The IEEE-SA Corporate Standards Program The IEEE-SA Corporate
Standards Program allows profit and not-for-profit entities create standards within
an ANSI-based, open process. Standards are developed in company-based working
groups in which each member has one vote. This industry-oriented program allows
for standards creation in one to two years, depending on participant commitment
and the use of IEEE support services.
About the IEEE The IEEE
has more than 375,000 members in approximately 150 countries. Through its members,
the organization is a leading authority on areas ranging from aerospace, computers
and telecommunications to biomedicine, electric power and consumer electronics.
The IEEE produces nearly 30 percent of the world's literature in the electrical
and electronics engineering, computing and control technology fields. This nonprofit
organization also sponsors or cosponsors more than 300 technical conferences each
year. Additional information about the IEEE can be found at http://www.ieee.org.
