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Disclosed is a method for charging a rechargeable battery that includes at least one rechargeable electrochemical cell is disclosed. The method includes measuring at least one electrical characteristic of the battery, and determining a charging current to be applied to the battery based on the at le

Disclosed is a method for charging a rechargeable battery that includes at least one rechargeable electrochemical cell is disclosed. The method includes measuring at least one electrical characteristic of the battery, and determining a charging current to be applied to the battery based on the at least one measured electrical characteristic.

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1. A method for charging a rechargeable battery comprising at least one rechargeable electrochemical cell, the method comprising: determining by a processor device an internal, intrinsic charging resistance characteristic of the battery, with the internal, intrinsic charging resistance being indicat

1. A method for charging a rechargeable battery comprising at least one rechargeable electrochemical cell, the method comprising: determining by a processor device an internal, intrinsic charging resistance characteristic of the battery, with the internal, intrinsic charging resistance being indicative of battery chemistry type of the rechargeable battery;determining a charging current to be applied to the rechargeable battery based on the determined internal, intrinsic charging resistance characteristic of the rechargeable battery; andapplying the determined charging current to the rechargeable battery. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein applying the determined charging current further comprising: periodically determining the internal intrinsic charging resistance characteristic, andperiodically adjusting the level of the determined charging current to apply to the rechargeable battery. 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: regulating current applied to the rechargeable battery according to the determined charging current. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the internal, intrinsic charging resistance characteristic comprises: measuring by the processing device voltage between terminals of the battery in response to applying current to the battery at a first time instance; andmeasuring by the processing device voltage between the terminals of the battery in response to applying current to the battery at a subsequent time instance. 5. The method of claim 4, further comprises: computing by the processing device a steady-state charging resistance based on a difference between the voltage measured at the first and subsequent time instances divided by a difference in currents applied at the first and subsequent time instances. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the charging current comprises: accessing by the processing device based on the determined internal intrinsic charging resistance characteristic, a lookup table, the look-up table stored in a computer storage and storing multiple charging current values, associated with each of the determined values for charging resistance characteristic; andselecting one of the multiple charging current values stored in the lookup table based, at least in part, on the determined intrinsic charging resistance characteristic the battery. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the determined internal intrinsic charging resistance is representative of a steady-state charging resistance of the battery. 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: periodically measuring the voltage between terminals of the battery; andadjusting the charging current applied to the battery when the measured voltage between the terminals of the battery reaches a pre-determined voltage value, to maintain the voltage between the terminals of the battery at the pre-determined voltage value. 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: periodically adjusting the charging current to cause a pre-determined voltage level between terminals of the battery to be reached within a specified time period. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein periodically adjusting the charging current comprises: determining a rate of voltage rise at the terminals of the battery; andcomputing the charging current based on the determined rate of voltage rise using a predictor-corrector computation technique. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the predictor-corrector computation technique is based on a Kalman filter. 12. A charging device configured to charge a rechargeable battery comprising at least one rechargeable electrochemical cell, the device comprising: a charging compartment configured to receive the battery, the charging compartment having electrical contacts configured to be coupled to respective terminals of the battery; anda controller configured to: determine an internal, intrinsic charging resistance characteristic of the battery, with the internal, intrinsic charging resistance being indicative of battery chemistry type of the battery;determine a charging current to be applied to the battery based on the determined internal, intrinsic charging resistance characteristic of the rechargeable battery, andcause the determined charging current to be applied to the battery. 13. The device of claim 12, wherein the controller is further configured to: periodically determine the internal, intrinsic charging resistance characteristic, andperiodically adjust the level of the determined charging current to be applied to the battery. 14. The device of claim 13, further comprising: a power conversion module; anda current/voltage regulating circuit electrically coupled to the power conversion module, the current/voltage regulating circuit configured to cause current substantially equal to the determined charging current to be applied to the battery based, at least in part, on the charging current determined by the controller. 15. The device of claim 14, wherein the current/voltage regulating circuit comprises: a buck converter circuit configured to operate with an adjustable duty cycle and to supply current to the battery during time periods corresponding to the adjustable duty cycle, wherein the adjustable duty cycle is determined by the controller. 16. The device of claim 12, wherein the controller configured to determine the internal, intrinsic, charging resistance characteristic is configured to: measure voltage between the terminals of the battery in response to current applied to the battery at a first time instance; andmeasure voltage between the terminals of the battery in response to current applied to the battery at a subsequent time instance. 17. The device of claim 16, wherein the controller is further configured to: determine a steady-state charging resistance based on a difference between the voltage measured at the first and subsequent timer instances divided by a difference in currents applied at the first and subsequent time instances. 18. The device of claim 12, wherein the controller comprises: a lookup table having multiple charging current values, associated with each of the determined values representative of a charging current characteristic, and wherein the controller configured to determine the charging current is configured to:access the lookup table; andselect one of multiple charging current values stored in the lookup table based, at least in part, on the determined internal, intrinsic charging resistance-characteristic. 19. The device of claim 18, wherein the determined value is representative of a steady-state charging resistance of the battery. 20. The device of claim 12, wherein the controller is further configured to: periodically measure a voltage between the terminals of the battery;adjust the charging current applied to the battery when the measured voltage between the terminals of the rechargeable battery reaches a pre-determined voltage value, to maintain the voltage between the terminals of the rechargeable battery at the pre-determined voltage value. 21. The device of claim 12, wherein the controller is further configured to: periodically adjust the charging current such that a pre-determined voltage level between terminals of the battery is reached within a specified time period. 22. The device of claim 21, wherein the controller configured to periodically adjust the charging current is configured to: determine a rate of voltage rise at the terminals of the battery;compute the charging current based on the determined rate of voltage rise using a predictor-corrector computation technique. 23. The device of claim 22, wherein the predictor-corrector computation technique is based on a Kalman filter. 24. The device of claim 12, wherein the controller includes a processor-based micro-controller. 25. The device of claim 12, further comprising the rechargeable battery. 26. The device of claim 25, wherein the rechargeable battery includes a lithium-iron-phosphate rechargeable battery.