Patent ID: 8786255

Claim:
A charge balancing circuit, comprising: a switch arrangement comprising a first terminal and a second terminal, at least one control input for receiving at least one control signal, and a plurality of cell terminals, each of the cell terminals being configured to be connected to a tap of a charge storage arrangement that comprises a plurality of charge storage cells connected in series; a first inductive storage element coupled to the first and second terminals of the switch arrangement, wherein the switch arrangement is configured to selectively connect the first terminal with one of the plurality of cell terminals, and is operable to selectively connect the second terminal with one of the plurality of cell terminals dependent on the at least one control signal, and is configured to enable a current flow from the first and second terminals to the cell terminals either in a first direction or in a second direction opposite the first direction depending on a voltage between the first and second terminals; and a control circuit configured to provide the at least one control signal dependent on a state of charge of at least one of the charge storage cells, operate the switch arrangement in a first charge balancing mode providing electrical charge exchange through the first inductive storage element from any first charge storage cell of the plurality of storage cells to any second charge storage cell of the plurality of storage cells, wherein, during the first charge balancing mode, the control circuit is configured to cause the switch arrangement to connect the first inductive storage element between terminals of the first charge storage cell during a first step and then connect the first inductive storage element between terminals of the second charge storage cell during a second step.