Battery module and updating method of battery firmware thereof

Abstract

The invention provides a battery module and a battery firmware updating method thereof. The battery module is in communication connection with the electronic device and comprises a battery cell group and a battery management system. The battery management system is connected with the battery cell group, the battery management system comprises a microcontroller, the microcontroller has hardware information, and the microcontroller receives new battery firmware transmitted by the electronic device, compares whether the new battery firmware has key information corresponding to the hardware information or not, and agrees to update the new battery firmware when the key information is matched with the hardware information. Therefore, wrong firmware can be prevented from being updated to the battery module, and meanwhile, whether the battery firmware can be updated or not is judged by the battery module so as to keep normal action of the battery module, so that the situation that the battery module cannot be used due to function abnormality caused by manual careless loss is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to a firmware update method, and more particularly to a battery module and a battery firmware update method thereof. Background Art

[0002] The firmware of the battery sometimes needs to be upgraded to expand its functions. Therefore, if you want to update the new version of the firmware to the battery, you must first confirm the firmware content of the battery and the new version of the firmware to prevent burning a firmware content that is incompatible with the hardware, causing the battery firmware to be burned incorrectly, which will cause the battery to be unable to be used normally, and will further cause the device to be unable to operate. Therefore, in order to prevent this problem from occurring, updating the battery firmware can be said to be a very important procedure. At present, in order to prevent users from updating the wrong firmware to the battery, the existing method is to read the file name or content of the firmware update file to be updated through the device, and then read the battery information through communication, and then the electronic device determines whether the battery firmware can be updated. However, relying solely on the electronic device to determine whether it can be updated is not a comprehensive method. Once the detection software on the device side has a vulnerability (bug), or the device side has no anti-mistake mechanism at all, it may cause the hardware firmware that is incompatible with the battery to be updated to the battery, thereby causing the battery function to fail.

[0003] Therefore, in view of the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, the present application further proposes a battery module and a method for updating battery firmware thereof to solve the problems arising from the prior art. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of the above problems, the main purpose of this application is to provide a method for updating a battery module and its battery firmware, where the battery module determines whether to update the battery firmware to prevent incorrect firmware from being updated to the battery cell group, thereby avoiding functional abnormalities of the battery module.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the present application provides a battery firmware update method, which is applied to a battery module. The battery module has hardware information. The battery firmware update method includes the following steps:

[0006] Receive new battery firmware;

[0007] Compare the key information of whether the new battery firmware has the corresponding hardware information; and

[0008] When the key information matches the hardware information, the battery module agrees to update the new battery firmware.

[0009] Among them, the key information includes a battery circuit board version and a battery cell type.

[0010] The hardware information includes a hardware circuit board version and a hardware battery type.

[0011] When the key information does not match the hardware information, the battery module refuses to update the new battery firmware and enters a battery operation mode.

[0012] According to the above purpose, the present application further provides a battery module, which is communicatively connected to an electronic device, wherein the battery module includes a battery cell group and a battery management system (BMS), wherein the battery management system is connected to the battery cell group. The battery management system includes a microcontroller (MCU, Microcontroller Unit), wherein the microcontroller has hardware information, and the microcontroller receives a new battery firmware transmitted by the electronic device, and compares the new battery firmware to see whether it has a key information corresponding to the hardware information, and when the key information matches the hardware information, it agrees to update the new battery firmware.

[0013] The electronic device includes a meter of an electric bicycle or a firmware burner.

[0014] As described above, the battery module and its battery firmware update method of the present application can prevent erroneous firmware from being updated to the battery module. At the same time, the battery module determines whether the battery firmware can be updated to maintain normal operation of the battery module, thereby reducing functional abnormalities caused by human errors and making it impossible to use the battery module.

[0015] The following examples illustrate the preferred implementation of the present application, and are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 A block diagram of an embodiment of a battery module of the present application;

[0017] Figure 2 This is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method for updating battery firmware of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] The present application is described below based on embodiments, but the present application is not limited to these embodiments. In the detailed description of the present application below, some specific details are described in detail. It is also possible for those skilled in the art to fully understand the present application without the description of these details. In order to avoid confusing the essence of the present application, known methods, processes, flows, components and circuits are not described in detail.

[0019] See also Figure 1The battery module 1 of the present application can be communicatively connected to the electronic device 2. The battery module 1 includes a battery cell group 12 and a battery management system 14. The battery management system 14 is connected to the battery cell group 12. The battery management system 14 includes a microcontroller 142. The microcontroller 142 has hardware information. The microcontroller 142 receives the new battery firmware transmitted by the electronic device 2 and compares the new battery firmware to see whether it has key information corresponding to the hardware information. When the key information matches the hardware information, it agrees to update the new battery firmware. When the key information does not match the hardware information, the battery module refuses to update the new battery firmware and enters the battery working mode.

[0020] The electronic device 2 includes a meter or a firmware burner of the electric bicycle, and can be connected to the battery module 1 via communication.

[0021] Key information includes the battery circuit board version and the battery cell type. Hardware information includes the hardware circuit board version and the hardware battery cell type. The hardware circuit board version is the circuit board version of the battery module 1, and the hardware battery cell type is the type of battery cell group 12, for example: 18650 battery cell, 21700 battery cell, etc.

[0022] The key information is the data pre-written in the battery update file of the new battery firmware. Therefore, when the user wants to perform a battery firmware update operation, the microcontroller 142 can compare whether the battery circuit board version of the key information matches the hardware circuit board version of the hardware information, and whether the battery cell type of the key information matches the hardware battery cell type of the hardware information. If both the circuit board version and the battery cell type match, the microcontroller 142 agrees to update the new battery firmware. If one of the circuit board version and the battery cell type does not match, the microcontroller 142 refuses to update the new battery firmware and enters the battery operation mode.

[0023] The microcontroller 142 will not compare the original battery firmware version of the battery module 1 with the new battery firmware version to see if it is upgraded or downgraded during the comparison process, but will only compare whether the hardware information matches the key information of the new battery firmware. Therefore, the battery module 1 can avoid being updated to a firmware with compatibility issues, which may cause abnormal battery function.

[0024] Although the concept of the method for updating the battery firmware of the battery module 1 has been described in the foregoing description of the battery module 1 of the present application, for the sake of clarity, a flowchart is still drawn below for detailed description.

[0025] See also Figure 2 The battery firmware update method of the present application is applied to a battery module, the battery module has hardware information, and the battery firmware update method includes the following steps:

[0026] Step S10: Receive new battery firmware.

[0027] Step S11: Compare the new battery firmware to see if it has key information corresponding to the hardware information.

[0028] When the key information matches the hardware information, step S112 is performed: the battery module agrees to update the new battery firmware.

[0029] When the key information does not match the hardware information, step S114 is performed: the battery module refuses to update the new battery firmware and enters the battery working mode.

[0030] Among them, hardware information includes hardware circuit board version and hardware battery cell type, and key information includes battery circuit board version and battery cell type.

[0031] Three embodiments are further proposed to illustrate the application of the battery firmware update method.

[0032] The firmware of the first embodiment is the new battery firmware A, which has key information, and the key information matches the hardware information of the battery module. Therefore, in step S11, the new battery firmware A can be compared with the key information of the hardware information of the battery module, and step S112 is further executed.

[0033] The firmware of the second embodiment is the new battery firmware B. The content of the new battery firmware B is not used to update the firmware of the battery module, and the content does not contain any key information. Therefore, in step S11, it can be compared that the new battery firmware B does not have the key information of the hardware information of the corresponding battery module, so step S114 will be further executed to prevent the new battery firmware B from updating the battery module, thereby avoiding the problem of abnormal battery module function.

[0034] The firmware of the third embodiment is a new battery firmware C. The new battery firmware C has key information, but the battery circuit board version, one of the cell types, or both in the key information are different from the existing hardware information of the battery module. Therefore, in step S11, it can be compared that the new battery firmware C does not have the key information of the hardware information corresponding to the battery module, and then step S114 can be executed. For example, the cell type in the key information of the new battery firmware C is 18650 cell, and the hardware cell type in the battery module hardware information is 21700 cell. Due to the different cell types, the internal cell parameters are also different. Therefore, in step S14, the new battery firmware C is refused to be updated to the battery module to prevent the battery module from having functional abnormalities.

[0035] Based on the above description and the accompanying drawings, the battery module and the battery firmware update method of the present application can be used by the battery module to judge and decide whether the new battery firmware is allowed to be updated. In this way, incorrect firmware can be prevented from being updated to the battery module, and human error in downloading the wrong update file to the electronic device can be avoided, causing the electronic device to use the wrong update file to update the battery firmware.

[0036] The above description is only used to illustrate the preferred implementation mode of the present application, and is not intended to limit the scope of implementation. All simple replacements and equivalent changes made according to the claims and description of the present application are within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A battery firmware update method, applied to a battery module, wherein the battery module has hardware information, characterized in that: The battery firmware updating method comprises the following steps: Receive a new battery firmware; comparing whether the new battery firmware has key information corresponding to the hardware information; and When the key information matches the hardware information, the battery module agrees to update the new battery firmware.

2. The method for updating battery firmware according to claim 1, characterized in that: The key information includes a battery circuit board version and a battery cell type.

3. The method for updating battery firmware according to claim 1, characterized in that: The hardware information includes a hardware circuit board version and a hardware battery type.

4. The method for updating battery firmware according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the key information does not match the hardware information, the battery module refuses to update the new battery firmware and enters a battery operation mode.

5. A battery module, characterized in that: The battery module is connected to an electronic device for communication, and includes: a battery cell group; and A battery management system is connected to the battery cell group, and the battery management system includes a microcontroller. The microcontroller has hardware information. The microcontroller receives a new battery firmware transmitted by the electronic device, and compares the new battery firmware to see whether it has a key information corresponding to the hardware information. When the key information matches the hardware information, it agrees to update the new battery firmware.

6. The battery module according to claim 5, characterized in that: The key information includes a battery circuit board version and a battery cell type.

7. The battery module according to claim 5, characterized in that: The hardware information includes a hardware circuit board version and a hardware battery cell type of the battery cell group.

8. The battery module according to claim 5, characterized in that: The electronic device includes a meter or a firmware burner of an electric bicycle.

9. The battery module according to claim 5, characterized in that: When the key information does not match the hardware information, the battery module refuses to update the new battery firmware and enters a battery operation mode.

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