Smart Battery Charger Specifications

A smart battery charger is designed to increase battery life. Using a smart battery helps in faster, fuller and safer charging.
   
The word "smart" in 'smart battery charger' refers to a microprocessor-controlled charger. This microprocessor helps the to perform complex functions such as letting the user know how much battery charge remains and also the health of the battery. Smart Battery Chargers are mostly used in complex electronic and electrical equipments such as computer notebooks, digital cameras, medical related equipment, etc.
It's interesting to note that smart battery chargers are primarily used with smart batteries and not not with those that simply let the charger know when and 'how much' to charge the battery.
Smart Battery Charger uses a Smart Battery
Two important factors related to any are its state of charge (SoC) and state of health (SoH). Wherein normal batteries fail to communicate with a user about their Soc and SoH, a smart battery is able to communicate both with the charger and the user.
There are various categories of smart batteries. The most basic type may include nothing but a microchip that simply sets the charger to charge according to the battery's need. But according to the SBS forums, a smart battery must indicate its SoC correctly to both the charger and the user.
Smart Battery Charger Specifications
A smart battery charger periodically communicates with the Smart  it is connected with, and uses an algorithm to set itself to charge the battery in response to the SoC and SoH information provided by the smart battery.
A typical smart battery charger, which is, in fact, controlled by a smart battery, interprets the warning messages sent by the battery in the form of charging voltage and charging current. The charger, in turn, obliges itself to the charging algorithm provided by the smart battery and defines its output according to the needs of the battery.
Smart Battery Charger and Smart Battery Communications
There are various forms of communications that may be performed between a smart  and a smart battery charger. The very common ones include the smart battery telling the smart battery charger to set the appropriate charge current and charge voltage, allowing access to the correct charging algorithm for the battery and to allow a speedy charging of the smart battery as safely as possible.
Advantages of a Smart Battery Charger and a Smart Battery
A smart battery charger system is self-aware and communicates all important charging related information to the end user and also to the smart battery charger. A smart battery charger's biggest advantage is that it refrains a smart from getting overcharged. This also helps in conserving power.
Also, a smart battery will inform the end user of any failure or fault in the battery itself or the charging system. This helps in preventing potential failures that may occur otherwise. The punch line in describing the advantage would be that a smart battery charger provides the smart battery with exactly what it needs, when it needs it.
Other advantages of a smart battery charger include faster charging, fuller charging, more usable capacity from battery, smaller chances of over charging and killing sealed batteries. All these factors ultimately lead to a longer smart battery life.