Notebook computers are complex devices. Figure 1 depicts the basic elements that comprise a notebook computer and shows how they fit together. It includes the operating environment and user, as well as the computer, battery pack, and the fundamental electrochemical cell that drives its operation. Since notebooks are portable, it is essential to have a lightweight, sealed battery to prevent leakage of electrolyte into the computer case. Two types of batteries are found in a notebook computer. One is a rechargeable battery pack that provides the energy for its operation. The pack is usually composed of several lithium-ion cells. | Notebooks Batteries RJ Brodd Broddarp of Nevada Inc. Henderson NV USA 2009 Elsevier . All rights reserved. Introduction Notebook computers are complex devices. Figure 1 depicts the basic elements that comprise a notebook computer and shows how they fit together. It includes the operating environment and user as well as the computer battery pack and the fundamental electrochemical cell that drives its operation. Since notebooks are portable it is essential to have a lightweight sealed battery to prevent leakage of electrolyte into the computer case. Two types of batteries are found in a notebook computer. One is a rechargeable battery pack that provides the energy for its operation. The pack is usually composed of several lithium-ion cells in series and parallel arrangements along with an electronic battery management unit to control the operation and to provide communication between the battery pack and the computer. The second battery typically a small lithium primary cell maintains the memory for the basic input output system BIOS . The operating system of a notebook computer is located in its hard drive and is unavailable when the computer is first turned on. The computer microprocessor gets its first instructions for loading its operating system from the BIOS and assumes control of the personal computer PC . The primary function of BIOS is to prepare the notebook computer during startup by providing instructions to load the operating system programs that are stored in its hard drive. The BIOS is stored in a flash memory chip that is usually protected by Figure 1 Depiction of the components of a notebook computer. a small lithium primary battery. Both primary and rechargeable cells can be used for memory protection. Rechargeable Energy Batteries Early in the development of the portable computer the sealed nickel-cadmium Ni-Cd battery was the only rechargeable battery available. In the late 1980s the higher-energy nickel-metal hydride Ni-MH batteries were .
