The Battery Interface (BIF) Working Group was established to define a robust, cost-efficient communication interface specification for smart batteries and low cost batteries. 

 

The fundamental requirement for a battery interface is to provide a method to communicate enough information to ensure safe and efficient charging in any environmental conditions. While low cost battery interface supports battery chemistry and capacity detection for basic safety, a smart battery interface with security features can offer strong protection against use of counterfeit batteries, providing a safer solution for mobile terminal end users.  

 

Battery chemistries are evolving rapidly and will present new challenges to charge control, battery life time prediction and other similar subjects. The BIF WG enabled future expandability and platform for user-defined, innovative functions and services for differentiation. The BIF WG has reviewed other standards in the mobile battery technology area to comply with relevant parts of them.

 

In terms of the OSI reference model, the BIF specification consists of Data Link Layer and Physical Layer definition. 

 

BIF Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) Specification is being defined to complement the Battery Interface Specification. It describes the standard software interface on top of the BIF master signaling layer. HAL has been defined in operating system independent way as much as possible. 

 

The HAL enables BIF slave suppliers to develop the BIF client driver for BIF slave control on the host platform. Similarly, a mobile device maker can develop BIF master high level software to control BIF master devices from different suppliers.