Battery safety mechanism for battery fault conditions

A portable electronic device, comprising:

• a battery;
• and
• a battery charger circuit, comprising:
• a charging circuit configured to charge the battery, wherein the charging circuit comprises a pull-up transistor having a first source/drain coupled to a battery charger adapter port and a second source/drain coupled to the battery;
• a discharging circuit configured to discharge the battery, wherein the discharging circuit comprises a pull-down transistor having a first source/drain coupled to the battery and a second source/drain coupled to a circuit ground;
• a battery fault detection circuit configured to detect a battery fault condition of the battery, based on monitoring a battery voltage and a battery temperature associated with the battery;
• and
• a battery charge control circuit configured to selectively discharge the battery via the discharging circuit, based on whether the battery fault condition is detected.

A method for controlling a charge level of a battery, comprising:

• using a charging circuit to charge the battery at a first temperature to a first charge level;
• after the battery has been charged to the first charge level, using a battery monitoring circuit to measure a second charge level of the battery and a temperature associated therewith as a second temperature;
• using a fault determination circuit to make a determination whether the second charge level is greater than a first charge level threshold and whether the second temperature is greater than or equal to a first temperature threshold;
• and
• based on the determination, using a discharging circuit to selectively discharge the battery while charging of the battery is suspended.