Integrated Power Management Circuits protects against over-voltage, and under-voltage conditions and they maximize battery life between charges, minimize charging times, and improve overall battery life. Batteries for PDAs, MP3s, Digital Cameras, and Laptops for example have designed within them integrated power management circuits that insure that the deliverance of reliable power is properly managed. Without these power management integrated circuits even fine tuned handhelds will exhibit problems such as over-voltage, and under-voltage conditions. Overcharging for example is the state of charging a battery beyond its electrical capacity, which can lead to a battery explosion, leakage, or irreversible damage to the battery. It may also cause damage to the charger or device in which the overcharged battery is later used.
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An integrated circuit in general is a miniaturized electronic circuit. An electrical circuit is a network that has a closed loop, giving a return path for current. The goals of integrated circuits are multifaceted, for example when designing for signal processing integrated circuits apply a predefined operation on potential differences (measured in volts) or currents (measured in amperes). For batteries the use of integrated circuits with the goal of power management is integrated battery management which include voltage regulation and charging functions. Power management integrated circuits offer other key benefits as well including maximizing battery life between charges, minimize charging times, and improve battery life. The other critical aspect of power management integrated circuits is their functioning design to detect and monitor voltage levels in batteries. When certain parameter thresholds are exceeded or dangerous conditions exist, these “supervisory circuits” react through a programmable logic design to protect the monitored system and correct problems as programmed. Supervisory circuits are known by a variety of names, including battery monitors, power supply monitors, supply supervisory circuits and reset circuits. They perform critical functions including power-on-reset (POR) protection to ensure that processors always start at the same address during power-up. Without POR, even well-functioning systems can exhibit problems during power-up, power-down, over-voltage, and under-voltage conditions.