Circuitry for Single Cell Operation

Portable, battery-powered operation of electronic apparatushas become increasingly desirable. Medical, remotedata acquisition, power monitoring and other applicationsare good candidates for batteryoperation. In some circumstances,due to space, power or reliability considerations,it is preferable to operate the circuitry from a single 1.5Vcell. Unfortunately, a 1.5V supply eliminates almost alllinear ICs as design candidates. In fact, the LM10 opamp-reference and the LT®1017/LT1018 comparators arethe only IC gain blocks fully specifi ed for 1.5V operation.Further complications are presented by the 600mV dropof silicon transistors and diodes. This limitation consumesa substantial portion of available supply range, makingcircuit design diffi cult. Additionally, any circuit designedfor 1.5V operation mustfunction at end-of-life batteryvoltage, typically 1.3V. (See Box Section, “Componentsfor 1.5V Operation.”)