1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to the electrical arts, and more particularly, to concepts and techniques for measuring the voltage of a power source.
2. Background
Determining the voltage of a single cell battery is a straightforward procedure. A conventional voltmeter is simply placed across the terminals of the cell and the voltage measured. This procedure, however, poses various technological challenges when measuring the cell voltages of a multiple cell battery. In particular, the voltmeter must be switched between the cells to determine the voltage of each cell. Moreover, the voltmeter, which is generally composed of relatively low voltage breakdown semiconductor based electronic components, must withstand the voltage measured at each cell in the battery with respect to ground. This voltage, which is often referred to as “common mode voltage,” can reach hundreds of volts in large series connected battery stacks, such as those found in automobiles and other high voltage applications. These high voltage applications are beyond the voltage breakdown capabilities of most semiconductor components. Semiconductor based switches suffer from similar problems due to voltage breakdown limitations. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for isolated measurement techniques for batteries and other power sources.