Infineon Releases High-Voltage BMS Reference Design
The design platform enables 20% faster battery charging and improved thermal safety using integrated parallel processing.
Updated on Oct. 30, 2026 in Semiconductors
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Infineon has released a high-voltage battery management system (BMS) reference design that integrates a specialized microcontroller and monitoring hardware. This reference design provides the architectural framework and software tools needed for manufacturers to implement advanced battery controls in high-voltage systems.
Why it matters
The reference design provides manufacturers with an integrated pathway to adopt parallel processing and advanced sensing for electric vehicle batteries. This helps accelerate the development of systems that can optimize energy usage and improve safety through thermal-runaway detection.
The architecture supports monitoring up to 1,000 V and features a 19-wire analog front-end configuration to reduce wiring complexity. The system manages up to 62 cascaded boards, with the primary controller delivering a 30-times improvement in processing performance over standard CPU implementations.
The players
Infineon
A global semiconductor manufacturer specializing in power systems, automotive microcontrollers, and sensor technologies for the energy sector.
The details
The design utilizes an AURIX TC4x microcontroller featuring a parallel processing unit that executes complex battery-modeling algorithms simultaneously with monitoring tasks. A TLE9018DQK integrated circuit manages 18-channel cell monitoring and balancing, while the system employs XENSIV pressure and gas sensors to identify early-stage thermal-runaway events. This configuration simplifies the analog front-end design, allowing for a 19-wire connection structure that minimizes the physical cabling required for high-voltage battery packs.
Timeline
October 30, 2026: Infineon officially released the high-voltage BMS reference design.
The Tech Race
This release marks a shift from component-based hardware to integrated, software-defined BMS architectures that handle high-voltage loads. It directly competes with existing modular battery control platforms by bundling sensing, processing, and connectivity into a single reference design.
Automotive manufacturers and battery system designers can access this reference design to prototype high-voltage packs. While these components are currently available for engineering development, the projected benefits of 20% faster charging will reach end-users once vehicles using these designs hit the market.
The takeaway
This reference design signals a shift toward using high-performance parallel processing to manage high-voltage energy storage. Designers should monitor the industry adoption rates of these reference models to see if the projected 30% increase in battery lifetime translates to long-term reliability in future electric fleets.
Further reading
For more on the latest advancements in automotive chips and power systems, visit the Semiconductors section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by CHARGED Electric Vehicles Magazine.
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