MIX AND MATCH: HARNESSING THE POWER OF BATTERIES WITH DIFFERENT CHEMICAL DESIGN

Microsoft's Software-Defined Battery Tech Could Increase the Lifespan of Devices

Researchers at Microsoft have demonstrated that using software to actively control a number of smaller batteries, with different chemical compositions, could increase the lifespan of devices. Typically, today’s batteries have one particular chemical design that controls how fast they charge and discharge. Engineers at Microsoft have instead opted to use multiple, smaller batteries of various chemical compositions managed by software that selects the most effective way to charge or discharge the batteries based on the task at hand. In this way a device may use one type of battery for demanding tasks and switch to another when it is on standby.

According to Ranveer Chandra, a principal researcher at Microsoft, these “software-defined batteries” could one day improve the performance of drones and electric cars. Christine Ho, CEO at Imprint Energy, a firm developing flexible batteries, believes Microsoft’s project could merge newer technologies, such as the batteries Imprint make, with more traditional batteries that are the mainstay of most devices. However, she noted new configurations come at a price. “For high-end devices it makes a lot of sense, but it may not be possible for all types,” said Ho. “For many wearables they will need to be low-cost, and space is very constrained.”