Power supply methods and arrangements

1. An apparatus comprising:

a battery for powering a computer system; and

a control module which controls said battery and monitors a plurality of battery conditions;

said control module-further acting to:

use a first fuse to prompt disabling battery power to the computer system responsive to a first voltage associated with a battery over-charge condition; and

use a second fuse to redundantly prompt disabling battery power to the computer system responsive to a second voltage associated with the battery over-charge condition;

wherein said control module monitors and responds to the first voltage and the second voltage independently;

wherein, the second fuse is prompted to disable battery powering of the computer system as a back up to the first fuse; and wherein said control module further acts to: measure cell voltage when the battery is neither charging nor discharging power to a load; and responsive to a voltage decrease over a predetermined threshold over a predetermined time period when the battery is neither charging nor discharging power to a load, trigger a third fuse to disable the battery.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a battery management unit;

said battery comprising a plurality of cells;

said control module acting to prompt said battery management unit to trigger the first fuse at or above the first voltage associated with the battery over-charge condition per cell.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein:

said control module further acts to prompt said battery management unit to trigger the second fuse at or above the second voltage associated with the battery over-charge condition per cell.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said control module further acts to:

use a first safeguard to prompt disabling battery power to the computer system responsive to a first voltage associated with a battery over-discharge condition; and

use a fuse to redundantly prompt disabling battery power to the computer system responsive to a second voltage associated with the battery over-discharge condition.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein:

the first safeguard is a discharge FET; and

said control module further acts to prompt a deactivation of said discharge FET at or below the first voltage associated with the battery over-discharge condition per cell.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said control module further acts to:

detect taper current associated with battery over-current and detect a specified voltage associated with battery over-current.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said control module further acts to:

detect a first temperature associated with battery overheating and detect a second temperature associated with battery overheating;

wherein the second temperature is greater than the first temperature;

wherein, responsive to detection of the first temperature, said control module acts to stop charging of the battery; and

wherein, responsive to detection of the second temperature, said control module acts to disable the battery.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:

said control module acts to prompt a disablement of said battery responsive to a voltage imbalance in cell blocks.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a thermal fuse positioned to detect FET failure;

wherein, responsive to an FET failure, the thermal fuse is triggered to disable battery powering.

10. A method comprising:

providing battery power to a computer system;

monitoring a plurality of battery conditions of a battery;

using a first fuse to prompt disabling battery power to the computer system responsive to a first voltage associated with a battery over-charge condition; and

using a second fuse to redundantly prompt disabling battery power to the computer system responsive to a second voltage associated with the battery over-charge condition;

wherein disablement responsive to the first voltage is independent of disablement responsive to the second voltage; and

wherein, the second fuse is prompted to disable battery power to the computer system as a back up to the first fuse;

measuring cell voltage when the battery is neither charging nor discharging power to a load; and responsive to a voltage decrease over a predetermined threshold over a predetermined time period when the battery is neither charging nor discharging power to a load, triggering a third fuse to disable the battery.

11. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising:

using a first safeguard to prompt disabling battery power to the computer system responsive to a first voltage associated with a battery over-discharge condition; and

using a fuse to redundantly prompt disabling battery power to the computer system responsive to a second voltage associated with the battery over-discharge condition.

12. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising:

detecting taper current associated with battery over-current; and

detecting a specified voltage associated with battery over current.

13. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising:

detecting a first temperature associated with battery overheating; and

detecting a second temperature associated with battery overheating;

wherein the second temperature is greater than the first temperature;

wherein, responsive to detection of the first temperature, battery charging is stopped; and

wherein, responsive to detection of the second temperature, the battery is permanently disabled.

14. The method according to claim 10 , wherein a voltage imbalance among different groups of battery cells prompts disablement of the battery.

15. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform acts comprising:

providing battery power to a computer system;

monitoring a plurality of battery conditions of a battery;

using a first fuse to prompt disabling battery power to the computer system responsive to a first voltage associated with a battery over-charge condition; and

using a second fuse to redundantly prompt disabling battery power to the computer system responsive to a second voltage associated with the battery over-charge condition;

wherein disablement responsive to the first voltage is independent of disablement responsive to the second voltage; and

wherein, the second fuse is prompted to disable battery power to the computer system as a back up to the first fuse;

measuring cell voltage when the battery is neither charging nor discharging power to a load; and

responsive to a voltage decrease over a predetermined threshold over a predetermined time period when the battery is neither charging nor discharging power to a load, triggering a third fuse to disable the battery.

16. An apparatus comprising:

a battery having a plurality of battery cells therein, said battery configured for powering a computer system; and

a control module which controls said battery and monitors a plurality of battery conditions;

said control module being configured to independently use a first fuse and a second fuse for disabling the battery, wherein to independently use a first fuse and a second fuse comprises:

using the first fuse to disable the battery responsive to a first voltage associated with a battery over-charge condition; and

using the second fuse to redundantly and permanently disable the battery responsive to a second voltage associated with the battery over-charge condition; and

wherein, the second fuse is prompted to disable battery power to the computer system as a back up to the first fuse; and

wherein said control module further acts to:

measure cell voltage when the battery is neither charging nor discharging power to a load; and

responsive to a voltage decrease over a predetermined threshold over a predetermined time period when the battery is neither charging nor discharging power to a load, trigger a third fuse to disable the battery.