Master-slave parallel method and power supply test system

Abstract

The present invention discloses a master-slave paralleling method and power supply testing system, comprising a configuration initiation phase, a configuration response phase, and a parallel operation phase. The present invention uses machine ID codes as a basis for identifying the number of slaves, sorts and numbers the machine ID codes, and then distributes the corresponding numbers to each slave. This eliminates the need for manual parameter setting, resulting in a simple, efficient, and flexible deployment. This method not only reduces the complexity of paralleling but also addresses the time-consuming and error-prone nature of traditional manual configuration methods, which are often complicated and have strict configuration rules. Furthermore, the master dynamically allocates the load of each slave based on its current state, providing fault-tolerant processing for the cluster. Even if a slave fails, the cluster can continue to operate without downtime.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of power supply testing, and in particular to a master-slave paralleling method and a power supply testing system. Background Art

[0002] Power supply products are widely used in scientific research, testing, industrial production, and military applications. Due to factors such as size, manufacturing process, and electrical safety regulations, the power of a single power supply is limited. Typically, a single power supply does not exceed 3U in height, and its maximum output power does not exceed 20kW. This is sufficient for general small and medium-power applications. However, for ultra-high-power applications of tens of kW, hundreds of kW, or even megawatts, such as electric vehicle motor performance testing and new energy high-power grid-connected testing, the power of a single power supply cannot meet the requirements. In this case, multiple power supplies need to be connected in parallel to form a cluster. The parallel connection method is to select an appropriate number of power supplies based on the power requirements of the load being tested, and connect the output terminals of each power supply in parallel to converge the current. At this time, the maximum output power of the cluster is the sum of the maximum output power of each power supply. In addition, their parallel communication ports need to be connected together in a bus manner to facilitate communication and current sharing.

[0003] In parallel applications, wiring is only the basic requirement; after wiring is complete, functional configuration is required before use. The current practice is to manually designate a power supply as the master through the HMI or host computer. The number of slaves must be correctly set on the master to ensure the master knows how many slaves there are. All other units except the master are either shut down or designated as slaves. Each slave is assigned a unique number, which serves as the slave's identification code and is used by the master to identify, communicate with, manage, and control the slave. The numbering rule starts at 1 and increases in steps of 1, with no gaps allowed. Once configured, the master will poll the slaves according to the set number of slaves, transmitting control commands and obtaining slave status data.

[0004] Manually assigning the master and slave roles and slave numbers for power supplies is time-consuming because it requires configuration on a unit-by-unit basis. Furthermore, because only one power supply can be configured as the master in the system, unrelated power supplies must be shut down or disconnected from the parallel network. The remaining required power supplies must be configured as slaves. Furthermore, slave numbers cannot be repeated or blank, and the actual number of slaves must match the number of slaves configured for the master. Violating any of these rules results in a system error. Because of these strict configuration rules, users are prone to errors and struggle to correctly configure the system the first time. This problem becomes more pronounced with the number of parallel units.

[0005] Furthermore, this approach also limits the development of flexible deployment and fault tolerance for power clusters. Firstly, whether it's initial startup or a significant change in the measured load power demand during operation, requiring a change in the number of parallel units, reconfiguration and even wiring adjustments are required. Secondly, if a slave unit fails during operation, or if the parallel communication line to a slave unit becomes damaged or communication is poor, the mechanism of this approach prevents the system from automatically removing or shielding the faulty unit. Consequently, the entire cluster will inevitably shut down, preventing automatic load transfer and uninterrupted operation, and requiring manual intervention. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present invention aims to address at least one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. To this end, the present invention proposes a master-slave paralleling method and power supply testing system. These methods address the time-consuming and error-prone nature of traditional manual configuration methods, which suffer from complex configuration and strict configuration rules. These methods achieve flexible deployment and fault tolerance for power supply clusters.

[0007] According to the first embodiment of the present invention, the master-slave parallel method includes the following steps:

[0008] Configuration initiation phase:

[0009] Construct a parallel structure including N power supplies, where the N power supplies communicate with each other via a parallel communication bus, where N is an integer greater than 1;

[0010] Select any power supply as the master, and the master sends a broadcast addressing command to other power supplies through the parallel communication bus;

[0011] The host receives the addressed response message within a limited time, parses the addressed response message to obtain the machine ID code of the corresponding power supply, and marks the power supply that returns the addressed response message as a slave;

[0012] The host counts the number of slaves that return addressed response messages within a specified time, and sorts and numbers the machine ID codes of all recorded slaves;

[0013] The host frames the coded configuration command according to the machine ID code and number corresponding to each slave, and then sends the coded configuration command through the parallel communication bus;

[0014] Configure the response phase:

[0015] The slave receives the broadcast addressing command and returns an addressing response message with its own machine ID code through the parallel communication bus;

[0016] The slave receives and parses the coded configuration command corresponding to its own machine ID code, obtains the number corresponding to the machine ID code as the slave number and stores it;

[0017] Parallel operation stage:

[0018] The master communicates with the slaves via the parallel communication bus and dynamically distributes the load of each slave according to the current status of the slave.

[0019] The master-slave parallel method according to the first embodiment of the present invention has at least the following beneficial effects:

[0020] In an embodiment of the present invention, the host sends a broadcast addressing command to the slave through the parallel communication bus. After receiving the broadcast addressing command, the slave returns an addressing response message containing the machine ID code. The host obtains the machine ID code of the corresponding slave from the addressing response message, and then sorts and numbers the machine ID codes according to the number of slaves. Then, the host sends a coding configuration command through the bus. The slave receives and parses the coding configuration command corresponding to its own machine ID code, obtains the number corresponding to the machine ID code as the slave number and stores it. The host communicates and interacts with the slave through the parallel communication bus, and dynamically allocates the load of each slave according to the current status of the slave. The present invention uses the machine ID code as the basis for identifying the number of slave machines, sorts and numbers the machine ID codes, and then distributes the corresponding number to each slave machine. It does not require manual parameter setting, is simple and efficient, and can be deployed flexibly. It can not only reduce the complexity of paralleling, but also solve the problems of traditional manual configuration methods faced by complex configuration and strict configuration rules, which are time-consuming and prone to errors. The load of each slave machine is dynamically allocated according to the current status of the slave machine, so that the cluster has fault-tolerant processing measures, and the cluster can continue to operate even if a slave machine fails.

[0021] According to some embodiments of the present invention, in the step of selecting any one power supply as the master, the power supply is configured as the master via a human-machine interface, a trigger button, or a parallel configuration trigger command sent by a host computer.

[0022] According to some embodiments of the present invention, in the step of the host receiving the addressed response message within a limited time, the limited time is 1S.

[0023] According to some embodiments of the present invention, in the step of sorting the machine ID codes of all recorded slave machines, the master machine sorts the codes in ascending order or in descending order.

[0024] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the machine ID code is generated according to the ID of the CPU of the current power supply, the MAC address of the network controller, or a random function.

[0025] According to some embodiments of the present invention, in the step of the host communicating and interacting with the slave via the parallel communication bus, the communication interaction mechanism adopts a host polling mechanism or a slave active reporting mechanism.

[0026] According to some embodiments of the present invention, in the step of the host communicating and interacting with the slave through the parallel communication bus, the content of the communication interaction is one or more of set values, command values, state quantities, analog quantities, sequence data, and fault information.

[0027] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the specific steps of dynamically allocating the load of each slave according to the current state of the slave are:

[0028] The slave detects a fault in the slave, shuts down its own output and reports the fault status;

[0029] When the master receives a fault status report from a slave or fails to communicate with the slave, it sets the slave to an unavailable state and then redistributes the load of each slave according to the number of slaves currently available.

[0030] The slave in fault state detects that the local fault has been restored, clears the fault state and reports it to the master;

[0031] When the host receives the clear fault status reported by the slave or restores communication with the slave, it sets the slave to the available state;

[0032] The host detects in real time whether the number of currently available slaves has changed. If so, the host redistributes the load of each slave according to the number of currently available slaves.

[0033] According to the second aspect of the present invention, the power supply testing system includes: a load connection terminal for connecting a load; N power supplies, the output terminals of the N power supplies are all connected to the load connection terminal, and the communication terminals of the N power supplies are connected via a parallel communication bus.

[0034] The power supply testing system according to the second aspect of the present invention has at least the following beneficial effects:

[0035] In an embodiment of the present invention, the host sends a broadcast addressing command to the slave through the parallel communication bus. After receiving the broadcast addressing command, the slave returns an addressing response message containing the machine ID code. The host obtains the machine ID code of the corresponding slave from the addressing response message, and then sorts and numbers the machine ID codes according to the number of slaves. Then, the host sends a coding configuration command through the bus. The slave receives and parses the coding configuration command corresponding to its own machine ID code, obtains the number corresponding to the machine ID code as the slave number and stores it. The host communicates and interacts with the slave through the parallel communication bus, and dynamically allocates the load of each slave according to the current status of the slave. The present invention uses the machine ID code as the basis for identifying the number of slave machines, sorts and numbers the machine ID codes, and then distributes the corresponding number to each slave machine. It does not require manual parameter setting, is simple and efficient, and can be deployed flexibly. It can not only reduce the complexity of paralleling, but also solve the problems of traditional manual configuration methods faced by complex configuration and strict configuration rules, which are time-consuming and prone to errors. The load of each slave machine is dynamically allocated according to the current status of the slave machine, so that the cluster has fault-tolerant processing measures, and the cluster can continue to operate even if a slave machine fails.

[0036] Additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description which follows, or may be learned by practice of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments, in which:

[0038] Figure 1 This is a connection diagram of a master-slave parallel system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0039] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the process of configuring the initiation phase in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0040] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the process of configuring the response phase in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0041] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the process of the host in the parallel operation stage according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0042] Figure 5 1 is a flow chart of the slave machine in the parallel operation stage according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] The following describes embodiments of the present invention in detail. Examples of the embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals throughout represent the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are intended only to explain the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention.

[0044] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that descriptions involving orientation, such as the orientation or positional relationship indicated by up, down, etc., are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present invention.

[0045] In the description of the present invention, "a plurality" refers to more than two. The use of "first" or "second" is solely for the purpose of distinguishing technical features and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance, or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features, or implicitly indicating the order of the indicated technical features.

[0046] In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise clearly defined, terms such as setting, installing, and connecting should be understood in a broad sense, and technicians in the relevant technical field can reasonably determine the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention based on the specific content of the technical solution.

[0047] Below Figure 1-Figure 5 The master-slave parallel method according to an embodiment of the present invention is described, which includes three parts: a configuration initiation phase, a configuration response phase, and a parallel operation phase. The details are as follows:

[0048] S100, configuration initiation phase, refer to Figure 2 As shown, the detailed steps are:

[0049] S101. Construct a parallel structure including N power supplies, where N is an integer greater than 1. The parallel structure refers to Figure 1 As shown, the parallel communication ports of N power supplies are connected via a parallel communication bus to achieve mutual communication, and the power output ports of the N power supplies are connected in parallel to converge.

[0050] S101. Select any power supply as the host, and the host sends a broadcast addressing command to other power supplies through the parallel communication bus.

[0051] Among them, first select any power supply to trigger the parallel configuration. The power supply is the master by default. The triggering channels include but are not limited to the HMI human-machine interface, buttons or parallel configuration trigger commands sent by the host computer. The built-in program of the power supply detects in real time whether it has received the parallel configuration trigger command. If it has received it, it first marks itself as the master and then issues a broadcast addressing command. The command is sent through the parallel communication bus and is received by all other power supplies connected to the parallel communication bus. The power supplies that receive the command return the addressing response message as required.

[0052] S102: The host receives the addressing response message within a limited time, parses the addressing response message to obtain the machine ID code of the corresponding power supply, and marks the power supply that returns the addressing response message as a slave.

[0053] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the time limit is 1S. Of course, those skilled in the art can also replace the time limit with other values ​​according to the actual needs of the site. The time limit is set to 1S, that is, the host determines whether the addressing response message is received within 1S. If received, it parses it, parses the machine ID code from it and records it.

[0054] S103 , the host counts the number of slaves that return addressed response messages within a specified time, and sorts and numbers the machine ID codes of all recorded slaves.

[0055] It should be noted that after the specified time is reached, the host computer counts and records the number of machine ID codes, which represents the number of slave machines. The machine ID codes are then sorted. The sorting rules can be simple from small to large or from large to small, or specific custom rules can be used. As long as the sorting rule definition and sorting rule application are consistent for all machines in the parallel system, it can be sufficient.

[0056] S104: The host composes a coding configuration command according to the machine ID code and number corresponding to each slave machine, and then sends the coding configuration command through the parallel communication bus.

[0057] It should be noted that after the sorting is completed, each machine ID code is assigned a number in sequence. For simplicity, the numbering uses Arabic numerals, starting from 1 and increasing by 1, with no gaps in the middle. From then on, each machine ID code is paired with the corresponding number. The host then frames each pair of machine ID code and number into a coded configuration command, and then sends it frame by frame through the parallel communication bus.

[0058] It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present invention, the master and the slave use the same type of power supply, and their software and hardware are exactly the same, that is, the master and the slave only differ in their actual application roles.

[0059] S200, configuration response phase, parallel configuration is not only the master, but also the entire group including the slaves. There is a configuration initiation phase and a configuration response phase. The configuration initiation phase is executed by the manually selected master. The master broadcasts the broadcast addressing message and the coded configuration command message to other power supplies through the parallel communication bus. These messages will be received and responded by all other power supplies connected to the communication bus except the master. This is the configuration response. Figure 3 As shown in the figure, the detailed steps for configuring the response phase are:

[0060] S201: The slave receives a broadcast addressing command and returns an addressing response message with its own machine ID code via the parallel communication bus.

[0061] It should be noted that each power supply generates a unique machine ID code for record keeping and backup when powered on. To ensure uniqueness, the machine ID code can be generated by the ID of the CPU of the current power supply or the network controller. Because each power supply has a CPU and usually also has a network controller, the ID and network MAC address of the CPU of each power supply are usually globally unique, and the machine ID code generated accordingly can ensure uniqueness. In addition, a random function or a true random function can be used to generate the machine ID code in this application. The above are just examples of three ways to generate a unique machine ID code. This application is not limited to using the above three forms to generate the machine ID code. Any method that can generate a unique feature code is applicable to the present invention.

[0062] S202: The slave receives and parses the coding configuration command corresponding to its own machine ID code, obtains the number corresponding to the machine ID code as the slave number, and stores it.

[0063] It should be understood that after the power supply generates and stores the machine ID code, it checks in real time whether it has received a broadcast addressing command. If so, it frames its own machine ID code into an addressing response message and sends it through the parallel communication port. If not, it continues to check whether it has received a code configuration command. If so, it parses the code from the code configuration command, saves it as its own number, and marks itself as a slave.

[0064] S300, Parallel Operation: After completing the configuration initiation and configuration response phases, the parallel operation phase begins. The master communicates with the slaves via the parallel communication bus, dynamically allocating load to each slave based on their current status.

[0065] The parallel operation phase includes the master parallel operation process and the slave parallel operation process, refer to Figure 4 As shown in the figure, the parallel operation process of the master is as follows: During the parallel operation, the master frequently communicates and interacts with the slaves through the parallel communication bus. The communication interaction mechanism adopts the master polling mechanism or the slave active reporting mechanism. The interaction content includes set values, command values, status quantities, analog quantities, sequence data, fault information, etc. The interaction methods include broadcast, one-to-one, one-to-many, etc.

[0066] When the master receives a fault status report from a slave or fails to communicate with the slave, it sets the slave to an unavailable state and then redistributes the load of each slave according to the number of slaves currently available. Redistributing the load of each slave means first updating the maximum output power of the cluster and then redistributing the load to each power supply.

[0067] When the host receives the clear fault status reported by the slave or restores communication with the slave, it sets the slave to the available state;

[0068] The host detects in real time and uniformly determines whether the number of currently available slaves has changed. If so, it updates the maximum output power of the cluster based on the number of currently available slaves and redistributes the load to each power supply.

[0069] refer to Figure 5 As shown in the figure, the slave parallel operation process is as follows:

[0070] The slave detects a fault in the slave, shuts down its own output and reports the fault status.

[0071] If the slave in fault state detects that the local fault has been restored, it will clear the fault state and report it to the master, and then resume output after receiving the command from the master.

[0072] This invention designs a simple and efficient master-slave paralleling method. Each power supply generates a unique machine ID code. A designated master is then collected and aggregated by the master, which then uses this code to determine the number of slaves. The machine ID codes are sorted and encoded, and then the corresponding code is distributed to each slave. Upon receiving the encoding configuration command, the other power supplies automatically mark themselves as slaves and use the code in the encoding configuration command as their own serial number. During parallel operation, the master updates the slave's availability status in real time based on the slave's fault status and communication status. This information is then used to update the cluster's maximum output power and reallocate the load to each power supply.

[0073] This application is simple, efficient, and offers flexible deployment. It not only reduces the complexity of paralleling, but also addresses the time-consuming and error-prone nature of traditional manual configuration methods, often due to complex and stringent configuration rules. Because the master determines the fault and communication status of slaves and implements fault-tolerant measures, the cluster can continue to operate even if a slave fails. Flexible deployment and fault tolerance can enhance the intelligence and automation of power supply equipment.

[0074] refer to Figure 1 As shown, the present invention also relates to a power supply testing system for running the method of the above embodiment, comprising:

[0075] A load connection terminal is connected to the load; N power supplies, the output terminals of the N power supplies are all connected to the load connection terminal, and the communication terminals of the N power supplies are connected via a parallel communication bus.

[0076] The embodiments of the present invention are described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various changes can be made within the knowledge of ordinary technicians in the relevant technical field without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A master-slave parallel method, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Configuration initiation phase: Construct a parallel structure including N power supplies, where the N power supplies communicate with each other via a parallel communication bus, where N is an integer greater than 1; Select any power supply as the master, and the master sends a broadcast addressing command to other power supplies through the parallel communication bus; The host receives the addressed response message within a limited time, parses the addressed response message to obtain the machine ID code of the corresponding power supply, and marks the power supply that returns the addressed response message as a slave; The host counts the number of slaves that return addressed response messages within a specified time, and sorts and numbers the machine ID codes of all recorded slaves; The host frames the coded configuration command according to the machine ID code and number corresponding to each slave, and then sends the coded configuration command through the parallel communication bus; Configure the response phase: The slave receives the broadcast addressing command and returns an addressing response message with its own machine ID code through the parallel communication bus; The slave receives and parses the coded configuration command corresponding to its own machine ID code, obtains the number corresponding to the machine ID code as the slave number and stores it; Parallel operation stage: The master communicates with the slaves via the parallel communication bus and dynamically distributes the load of each slave according to its current status. The specific steps of dynamically distributing the load of each slave according to the current state of the slave are: The slave detects a fault in the slave, shuts down its own output and reports the fault status; When the master receives a fault status report from a slave or fails to communicate with the slave, it sets the slave to an unavailable state and then redistributes the load of each slave according to the number of slaves currently available. The slave in fault state detects that the local fault has been restored, clears the fault state and reports it to the master; When the host receives the clear fault status reported by the slave or restores communication with the slave, it sets the slave to the available state; The host detects in real time whether the number of currently available slaves has changed. If so, the host redistributes the load of each slave according to the number of currently available slaves.

2. The master-slave parallel method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the step of selecting any one power supply as the master, the power supply is configured as the master through a human-machine interface, a trigger button, or a parallel configuration trigger command sent by a host computer.

3. The master-slave parallel method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the step of the host receiving the addressed response message within a limited time, the limited time is 1S.

4. The master-slave parallel method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the step of sorting the machine ID codes of all the recorded slave machines, the master machine sorts the machine ID codes in ascending order or in descending order.

5. The master-slave parallel method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The machine ID code is generated according to the ID of the CPU of the current power supply, the MAC address of the network controller or a random function.

6. The master-slave parallel method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the step of the host communicating and interacting with the slave via the parallel communication bus, the communication interaction mechanism adopts a host polling mechanism or a slave active reporting mechanism.

7. The master-slave parallel method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the step of the host communicating and interacting with the slave via the parallel communication bus, the content of the communication interaction is one or more of a set value, a command value, a state quantity, an analog quantity, a sequence data, and a fault information.

8. A power supply testing system for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: include: Load connection terminal, used for connecting load; N power supplies, output terminals of the N power supplies are all connected to the load connection terminal, and communication terminals of the N power supplies are connected via a parallel communication bus.

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