Patent ID: 8227944

Claim:
A vertical bus circuit for reduced power consumption management of a battery comprising a rechargeable multi-cell battery pack, comprising: a plurality of bus blocks coupled to a plurality of cells in said battery and operable for transmitting signals indicating statuses of said cells between said bus blocks, wherein said bus blocks share a plurality of common voltage levels, wherein each of said bus blocks comprises a signal path, a first input/output (I/O) device, and a second I/O device, wherein said first and second input/output (I/O) devices are powered by a first common voltage level and a second common voltage level of said common voltage levels respectively, wherein said signal path enables signal transmission between said first and second I/O devices, wherein said common voltage levels enable said signal transmission between said bus blocks, and wherein said signal path comprises a differential circuit operable for transmitting said signals using a voltage difference between a first voltage and a second voltage, wherein said first and second voltages are determined by said common voltage levels.