Pre-charging of load

Abstract

The invention relates to pre-charging of loads, and particularly provides a computer system. The computer system includes processing circuitry configured to control the first battery pack and the second battery pack to provide pre-charge to the load. The processing circuitry is further configured to configure the first battery pack to provide pre-charge in the supported pre-charge mode, and during pre-charge in the supported pre-charge mode, monitor a first voltage difference indicator indicative of a difference between the load voltage and the first battery pack voltage. The processing circuit is further configured to control the first battery pack to suspend pre-charging of the load in response to the first voltage difference indicator indicating that the first battery pack voltage is equal to or lower than the load voltage.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to power management. In particular aspects, the present disclosure relates to pre-charging of loads. The present disclosure may be applied to ships, industrial applications, and vehicles, particularly heavy vehicles such as trucks, buses, and construction equipment, as well as other vehicle types. Although the present disclosure may be described with respect to a particular vehicle, the present disclosure is not limited to any particular vehicle. Background Art

[0002] Pre-charging is a technique used to limit the inrush current that occurs when power is applied to a load. This is particularly true for inductive loads such as motors or transformers. An inductive load is characterized by its ability to store energy in its magnetic field, and this stored energy can cause a surge in current when power is initially applied. Similarly, most capacitive loads exhibit nearly zero resistance during the initial period of power application. A vehicle's voltage traction bus is both inductive and capacitive. Pre-charging involves gradually applying voltage to the load, allowing it to build up a magnetic field and reduce the inrush current.

[0003] The purpose of pre-charging is to protect the electrical system from excessive currents that may occur during load energization. High inrush currents may cause voltage sags, trip circuit breakers, damage components and / or disrupt the normal operation of other devices connected to the same power source. If, for example, the voltage drop across a contactor between, for example, a battery and a load is too high, an arc may form across a small air gap due to the inrush current before the contactor is fully closed. This may damage or even weld the contactor.

[0004] However, there are some potential issues associated with precharging loads. Precharging typically requires additional circuitry and control mechanisms to gradually apply voltage to the load. This can increase the complexity of system design and add additional components, resulting in higher costs and maintenance requirements. The precharging process also takes time to complete, which may not be suitable for applications that require fast power-up. During the precharging process, the voltage is applied gradually, which means that the load receives an increasing voltage until the precharging is complete. This can cause a voltage drop that can affect the operation of other devices connected to the same power supply. The reliability of the control system responsible for precharging is very important. If the control system malfunctions or fails, improper precharging may result, resulting in higher inrush currents and potential damage to the load or electrical system. Summary of the invention

[0005] According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a computer system is proposed. The computer system includes a processing circuit, which is configured to: control a first battery pack and a second battery pack to provide pre-charging to a load, and configure the first battery pack to provide pre-charging in a pre-charging support mode. The processing circuit is also configured to: during pre-charging in the pre-charging support mode, monitor a first voltage difference indicator indicating the difference between the load voltage and the first battery pack voltage, and in response to the first voltage difference indicator indicating that the first battery pack voltage is equal to or lower than the load voltage, control the first battery pack to terminate pre-charging of the load. The first aspect of the present disclosure can seek to reduce potential defects caused by uneven voltages of batteries added to pre-charge the load. Technical benefits can include reducing the time required to pre-charge the load.

[0006] Optionally, in some examples, including at least one preferred example, the processing circuit is further configured to: monitor a pre-charge current between the first battery pack and the load, and determine a first voltage difference indicator based on the pre-charge current. Technical benefits may include obtaining a readily available indication of whether the battery pack contributes to pre-charging the load.

[0007] Optionally, in some examples, including at least one preferred example, the processing circuit is further configured to: monitor the first battery pack voltage and the load voltage, and determine a first voltage difference indicator based on the first battery pack voltage and the load voltage. Technical benefits may include obtaining a readily available indication of whether the battery pack contributes to pre-charging the load.

[0008] Optionally, in some examples, including at least one preferred example, the processing circuit is further configured to: during pre-charging in the pre-charging support mode, monitor a second voltage difference indicator indicating a difference between the load voltage and the second battery pack voltage, and in response to the second voltage difference indicator indicating that the second battery pack voltage is equal to or lower than the load voltage, control the first battery pack to suspend pre-charging of the load. Technical benefits may include being able to respond if the battery pack operating in the pre-charging support mode is charging other battery packs participating in pre-charging of the load.

[0009] Optionally, in some examples, including at least one preferred example, the processing circuit is further configured to: obtain at least one of an open circuit cell voltage or a loaded cell voltage of each battery pack of a battery system including more than two battery packs, and select the first battery pack and the second battery pack by selecting a pair of battery packs in the battery system with the smallest difference in the open circuit cell voltage and / or the loaded cell voltage of each pair of battery packs in the two or more battery packs of the battery system. Technical benefits may include reducing the risk that batteries used for pre-charging at least initially have different voltages.

[0010] Optionally, in some examples, including at least one preferred example, the processing circuit is further configured to: monitor a pre-charge current between the first battery pack and the load, and determine a first voltage difference indicator based on the pre-charge current; monitor the first battery pack voltage and the load voltage, and determine the first voltage difference indicator based on the first battery pack voltage and the load voltage; during pre-charging in support of the pre-charge mode, monitor a second voltage difference indicator indicating the difference between the load voltage and the second battery pack voltage, and in response to the second voltage difference indicator indicating that the second battery pack voltage is equal to or lower than the load voltage, control the first battery pack to terminate pre-charging of the load; and obtain at least one of the open circuit cell voltage or the loaded cell voltage of each battery pack of a battery system including more than two battery packs, and select the first battery pack and the second battery pack by selecting a pair of battery packs among the two or more battery packs of the battery system having the smallest difference in the open circuit cell voltage and / or the loaded cell voltage of each pair of battery packs in the two or more battery packs of the battery system.

[0011] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-implemented method is proposed. The method includes: controlling a first battery pack and a second battery pack to provide pre-charging to a load through a processing circuit of a computer system; and configuring the first battery pack to provide pre-charging in a pre-charging support mode through a processing circuit of the computer system. The method includes: during pre-charging in a pre-charging support mode, monitoring a first voltage difference indicator indicating the difference between a load voltage and a first battery pack voltage through a processing circuit of the computer system, and in response to the first voltage difference indicator indicating that the first battery pack voltage is equal to or lower than the load voltage, controlling the first battery pack to terminate pre-charging of the load through the processing circuit of the computer system. The second aspect of the present disclosure may seek to reduce potential defects caused by uneven voltages of batteries added to pre-charge the load. Technical benefits may include reducing the time required to pre-charge the load.

[0012] Optionally, in some examples, including at least one preferred example, the computer-implemented method further comprises: monitoring a pre-charge current between the first battery pack and the load by a processing circuit of the computer system, and determining a first voltage difference indicator based on the pre-charge current by a processing circuit of the computer system. Technical benefits may include obtaining a readily available indication of whether the battery pack contributes to pre-charging the load.

[0013] Optionally, in some examples, including at least one preferred example, the computer-implemented method further comprises: monitoring the first battery pack voltage and the load voltage by a processing circuit of a computer system, and determining a first voltage difference indicator by a processing circuit of the computer system based on the first battery pack voltage and the load voltage. Technical benefits may include obtaining readily available indications of whether the battery pack contributes to precharging the load.

[0014] Optionally, in some examples, including at least one preferred example, the computer-implemented method further comprises: during pre-charging in the pre-charging support mode, monitoring, by a processing circuit of the computer system, a second voltage difference indicator indicating a difference between a load voltage and a second battery pack voltage, and in response to the second voltage difference indicator indicating that the second battery pack voltage is equal to or lower than the load voltage, controlling, by the processing circuit of the computer system, the first battery pack to suspend pre-charging of the load. Technical benefits may include being able to respond if the battery pack operating in the pre-charging support mode is charging other battery packs participating in pre-charging of the load.

[0015] Optionally, in some examples, including at least one preferred example, the computer-implemented method further comprises: obtaining at least one of an open circuit cell voltage or a loaded cell voltage of each battery pack of a battery system including more than two battery packs by a processing circuit of a computer system, and selecting a pair of battery packs in the battery system having the smallest difference in the open circuit cell voltage and / or the loaded cell voltage of each pair of battery packs in the two or more battery packs of the battery system by the processing circuit of the computer system to select the first battery pack and the second battery pack. Technical benefits may include reducing the risk that batteries used at least initially for pre-charging have different voltages.

[0016] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle is provided, comprising a first battery pack, a second battery pack, and a computer system according to any one of the first aspects operably connected to the first battery pack and the second battery pack.

[0017] Optionally, in some examples, including at least one preferred example, the vehicle is a heavy vehicle.

[0018] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program product is provided, wherein the computer program product comprises program code for executing the computer-implemented method of the second aspect when the program code is executed by a processing circuit of a computer system.

[0019] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is provided. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprises instructions which, when executed by a processing circuit of a computer system, cause the processing circuit to perform the computer-implemented method of the second aspect.

[0020] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the disclosed aspects, examples (including any preferred examples), and / or the appended claims may be appropriately combined with each other. Additional features and advantages are disclosed in the following description, claims, and drawings, and will in part be apparent to those skilled in the art or recognized by practicing the disclosure as described herein.

[0021] Also disclosed herein are computer systems, control units, code modules, computer-implemented methods, computer-readable media, and computer program products associated with the technical benefits discussed above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Examples are described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0023] Figure 1A is a side view of an exemplary vehicle according to an example.

[0024] Figure 1B is a schematic illustration of an example vehicle according to an example.

[0025] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary battery pack operably connected to a computer system according to an example.

[0026] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary battery pack operably connected to a computer system according to an example.

[0027] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a pre-charge controller according to an example.

[0028] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a pre-charge controller according to an example.

[0029] Figure 6 is a block diagram of a battery system according to an example;

[0030] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a method of providing pre-charging to a load according to an example.

[0031] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a computer program product according to an example.

[0032] Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary computer system for implementing the examples disclosed herein, according to an example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] The detailed description set forth below provides information and examples of the disclosed technology in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure.

[0034] Figure 1A 1 is an exemplary schematic side view of a heavy vehicle 10 (hereinafter referred to as vehicle 10 for simplicity). This particular vehicle 10 includes a tractor unit 10a arranged to tow a trailer unit 10b. In other examples, other heavy vehicles may be employed, such as trucks, buses, and construction equipment. Although Figure 1AIt is not explicitly shown in the figure, but it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the vehicle 10 includes all necessary vehicle units and associated functions (such as a powertrain, chassis, and various control systems) so that it can operate as expected by those skilled in the art for the vehicle 10. The focus of the present disclosure is on the pre-charging control of the vehicle 10, and therefore the functions and features related thereto will become the focus of the present disclosure. However, the vehicle 10 includes one or more propulsion sources 12. The propulsion source 12 can be any suitable propulsion source 12, such as but not limited to one or more of an electric motor, an internal combustion engine (such as a diesel engine, a gas engine, or a gasoline engine), or a combination thereof. The vehicle 10 also includes an energy source 200 suitable for providing energy to the propulsion source 12. That is, if the propulsion source 12 is an electric motor, a suitable energy source 200 would be a battery or a fuel cell. The vehicle 10 also includes a sensor circuit 16, which is arranged to detect, measure, sense, or otherwise obtain data related to the operation of the vehicle 10. Data related to the operation of the vehicle 10 may include, for example, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: the speed of the vehicle 10, the weight of the vehicle 10, the inclination of the vehicle 10, the state of the energy source 200 of the vehicle 10 (state of charge, fuel level, etc.), the presence of road users near the vehicle 10, the current speed limit of the road currently traveled by the vehicle 10, etc. Advantageously, the vehicle 10 also includes a communication circuit 18, which is configured to communicate with external devices of the vehicle 10. The vehicle 10 also includes a computer system 100, which will be further explained in the following section.

[0035] Advantageously, the vehicle 10 according to the present disclosure is a vehicle that is at least partially propelled by electricity. To this end, the vehicle 10 according to the present disclosure comprises at least one energy source 200 in the form of an electrical energy source. Figure 1B , a block diagram of a vehicle 10 is shown. The vehicle energy source 200 includes at least two battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d. Figure 1B , the vehicle energy source 200 is shown as including four battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d. However, this is for illustrative purposes only, and the energy source 200 may include any number of battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d. The battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d may be connected in series, in parallel, or in a combination of series or parallel to provide the rated voltage and capacity from the energy source 200. For the present disclosure, it is assumed that at least two battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d are connected in parallel. In some examples, the voltage of the energy source is approximately 800 V.

[0036] The vehicle 10 may communicate with the cloud server 20 directly via the communication circuit 18, or via the communication circuit 18 via a communication interface such as Figure 1BThe vehicle 10 may be connected to a cellular communication interface (eg, a cellular communication interface exemplified by a radio base station 30 in FIG. 1 ) and communicate with the cloud server. The cloud server 20 may be any suitable cloud server, such as, but not limited to, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), IBM Cloud, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, Alibaba Cloud, Rackspace, etc. The communication interface is advantageously a wireless communication interface, such as, but not limited to, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Z-Wave, LoRa, Sigfox, 2G (GSM, CDMA), 3G (UMTS, CDMA2000), 4G (LTE), 5G (NR), etc. The vehicle 10 may also be operably connected to a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) 40, such as, but not limited to, a global positioning system (GPS), a global navigation satellite system (GLONASS), Galileo, a Beidou satellite navigation system, an Indian constellation navigation (NavIC), etc., via a communication circuit 18. The vehicle 10 may be configured to determine the geographic location of the vehicle 10 using data obtained from the GNSS 40.

[0037] The computer system 100 of the vehicle 10 is advantageously operably connected to the communication circuit 18, the sensor circuit 16, the energy source 200, and / or the propulsion source 12 of the vehicle 10. The computer system 100 includes a processing circuit 110. The computer system 100 may include a storage device 120, which is advantageously a non-volatile storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), etc. In some examples, the storage device 120 is operably connected to the computer system 100.

[0038] The energy source 200 is advantageously configured to provide energy to at least the propulsion source 12 of the vehicle 10. Additionally or alternatively, the energy source 200 may be configured to provide energy to other parts or components of the vehicle 10, such as, but not limited to, vehicle electronics, climate control of the vehicle 10, safety features of the vehicle, etc. Regardless of the load, it may be advantageous to control the connection of the energy source 200 to the load in order to reduce the inrush current flowing from the energy source 200 into the load. In the context of an electric vehicle, pre-charging may be interpreted as slowly increasing the voltage of the traction voltage bus of the vehicle 10. It should be mentioned that the traction voltage bus of the vehicle 10 typically presents a capacitive load at least in part, which may result in high inrush currents if proper pre-charging of the traction voltage bus is omitted. The voltage of the traction voltage bus is slowly increased until a threshold voltage is reached. In general, the threshold voltage corresponds to or is similar to the voltage of the energy source 200. When the traction bus voltage reaches the voltage threshold, pre-charging is complete and the vehicle may begin normal operation.

[0039] exist Figure 2 , a schematic diagram of a battery pack 210 connected to a general load 29 and a computer system 100 is shown. The load 29 advantageously includes a traction voltage bus of the vehicle 10. The battery pack 210 includes one or more battery cells 212 connected in series and / or in parallel to provide a configuration voltage and capacitance of the battery pack 210. The battery pack 210 advantageously includes a first switching circuit 215, which is arranged to connect a first pole of the one or more battery cells 212 to the load 29. The battery pack 210 advantageously includes a pre-charge load 213 operably connected between the one or more battery cells 212 and the load 29. The pre-charge load 213 is configured to limit the current from the one or more battery cells 212 during pre-charging. The pre-charge load 213 can be any suitable circuit that is configured to limit the current from the one or more battery cells 213, such as a resistor. The battery pack 210 advantageously includes a second switch circuit 214, which is arranged to selectively close the circuit between the one or more battery cells 212, the pre-charge load 213 and the load 29. The battery pack 210 advantageously includes a third switch circuit 216, which is arranged to connect the second pole of the one or more battery cells 212 to the load 29.

[0040] The battery pack 210 advantageously includes a battery pack processing circuit 211. The battery pack processing circuit 211 may be configured to control the operation of the battery pack 210. The battery pack 210 may also include one or more sensor circuits 217 configured to detect, measure, sense, or otherwise obtain operational data related to the battery pack 210. The operational data related to the battery pack 210 may be, for example, but should not be considered limited to, the voltage of one or more of the battery cells 212, the state of the switch circuits 214, 215, 216, the voltage of the load 29, the current flowing through the pre-charge load 213, the current from the battery cell 212 (and thereby the current flowing to the battery cell 212 in the case of charging, for example), etc.

[0041] Typically, during pre-charging, the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100 may instruct the battery pack processing circuit 211 to close the second switch circuit 214 and the third switch circuit 216 (if present). This will cause the battery pack 210 to pre-charge the load 29. The processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100 typically monitors the voltage of the load 29, and when the voltage of the load 29 reaches a threshold, the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100 may instruct the battery pack processing circuit 211 to open the second switch circuit 214 and close the first switch circuit 215, so that the battery pack 210 is operable to provide the rated current to the load 29. In some examples, it may be advantageous to close the first switch circuit 215 before opening the second switch circuit 214 in order to keep the voltage across the load 29 stable until the mechanical movement (arcing potential) of the first switch 215 is completed.

[0042] Pre-charging as described above is relatively slow. Pre-charging the load 29 from a single battery pack 210 may take more than 1 second. In addition, if only one battery pack 210 is utilized, the pre-charge load 213 of the battery pack 210 will have to be sized to handle sufficiently high current and / or energy to keep the pre-charge time short. This will result in a pre-charge load that is costly and physically large. These disadvantages can be addressed by connecting more than one battery pack 210 to the load 29 during pre-charging. This will potentially double the pre-charge current, or allow the current handling and / or energy handling of the pre-charge load 213 to be reduced, thereby reducing the cost and size of the pre-charge load 213 (and effectively reducing the battery pack 210).

[0043] However, the inventors of the present disclosure, through creative thinking and challenging the technical prejudices associated with pre-charging, have realized that there is room for further improvement. If the voltages of the two battery packs are the same, then using more than one battery pack for pre-charging can fully function. If the voltage of one battery pack is lower than the voltage of the other battery pack, when the voltage of the load 29 reaches or exceeds the voltage of the battery pack with the lower voltage, the battery pack with the higher voltage will charge the battery pack with the lower voltage. This is undesirable because it may actually prolong the pre-charging or completely prevent the completion of the pre-charging. The inventors have realized that although the two battery packs exhibit similar voltages when unloaded, their corresponding voltages may change differently when they are loaded. However, the no-load voltage difference between the two battery packs is also common and may be caused by, for example, replacing one battery pack, self-discharge, mechanical and / or chemical failure, some charging function causing the battery pack to be unbalanced, etc. For this reason, it is beneficial to monitor the voltage difference between each battery pack and the load voltage during pre-charging. If the voltage of the battery pack is lower than or equal to the voltage of the load 29, the pre-charging through the battery pack is advantageously terminated.

[0044] exist Figure 3 In FIG. 1 , an exemplary view of a computer system 100 is shown. Figure 3, the computer system 100 is connected to a first battery pack 210a, a second battery pack 210b, a third battery pack 210c, and a load 29. The processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100 is configured to control or cause control of pre-charging of each of the battery packs 210a, 210b, and 210c. The processing circuit 110 may be configured to obtain a load voltage 314 indicative of a voltage of the load 29. The processing circuit 110 may be configured to obtain a first battery pack voltage 312a indicative of a voltage of one or more battery cells 212a of the first battery pack 210a. Advantageously, the first battery pack voltage 312a indicates a loaded voltage of one or more battery cells 212a of the first battery pack 210a. Additionally or alternatively, the processing circuit 110 may be configured to obtain a further first battery pack voltage 312a' indicative of an open cell voltage, i.e., a no-load voltage, of one or more battery cells 212a of the first battery pack 210a. The processing circuit 110 may be configured to obtain a second battery pack voltage 312b, which indicates a voltage of one or more battery cells 212b of the second battery pack 210a. Advantageously, the second battery pack voltage 312b indicates a loaded voltage of one or more battery cells 212b of the second battery pack 210b. Additionally or alternatively, the processing circuit 110 may be configured to obtain a further second battery pack voltage 312b', which indicates an open circuit cell voltage, i.e., a no-load voltage, of one or more battery cells 212b of the second battery pack 210b. The processing circuit 110 may be configured to obtain a third battery pack voltage 312c, which indicates a voltage of one or more battery cells 212c of the third battery pack 210c. Advantageously, the third battery pack voltage 312c indicates a loaded voltage of one or more battery cells 212c of the third battery pack 210c. Additionally or alternatively, the processing circuit 110 may be configured to obtain another third battery pack voltage 312c', which indicates an open circuit cell voltage, i.e., a no-load voltage, of one or more battery cells 212c of the third battery pack 210c. The battery pack voltages 312a, 312a', 312b, 312b', 312c, 312c' may be obtained by the corresponding battery pack processing circuit ( Figure 3 Additionally or alternatively, the processing circuit 100 may be configured to directly receive, for example, the sensor circuit 16 of the vehicle 10 or the corresponding sensor circuit ( Figure 3 ) to obtain battery pack voltages 312a, 312a', 312b, 312b', 312c, 312c'.

[0045] Assuming that two battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c are to be used for pre-charging, the processing circuit 110 may optionally be configured to compare the obtained voltages 312a, 312a', 312b, 312b', 312c, 312c' and select two battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c having the most similar open-circuit cell voltages 312a', 312b', 312c' and / or loaded cell voltages 312a, 312b, 312c. The processing circuit 110 may be configured to start pre-charging of the selected two battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c. Alternatively, the processing circuit 110 may be configured to control the corresponding switches ( Figure 3 During the pre-charging period, the processing circuit 110 may monitor the battery pack voltages 312a, 312b, 312c and compare them with the load voltage 314. If one of the battery pack voltages 312a, 312b, 312c is equal to or lower than the load voltage 314, this indicates that the associated battery pack 210a, 210b, 210c does not contribute to pre-charging the load 29. In order to reduce the pre-charging time and avoid charging the battery pack 210a, 210b, 210c whose battery pack voltage 312a, 312b, 312c is equal to or lower than the load voltage 314, the processing circuit 100 may be configured to control or cause the battery pack 210a, 210b, 210c whose battery pack voltage 312a, 312b, 312c is equal to or lower than the load voltage 314 to stop (suspend, pause, interrupt, abandon) pre-charging. Optionally, in response to controlling (or causing control) one of the battery packs 210 a , 210 b , 210 c to stop pre-charging, the processing circuit 100 may control (or cause control) another battery pack 210 a , 210 b , 210 c to pre-charge the load 29 .

[0046] Through the brief example provided above, a pre-charging method is provided that reduces the risk that the pre-charging current is used to charge the battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c instead of the load 29. However, the inventors of the present disclosure have realized that there are opportunities for further improvement. By allocating control of the pre-charging to the battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, the pre-charging can be interrupted more quickly and less communication with the battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c is required. The communication networks in the vehicle (such as the CAN bus) are typically slow, and from a pre-charging perspective, communicating voltage and control over these networks will take a lot of time. For this reason, a supportive pre-charging mode is introduced.

[0047] exist Figure 4, a schematic diagram of a pre-charge controller 300 according to some examples is shown. The pre-charge controller 300 and all of its functions and features can be part of the computer system 100 and / or included in the vehicle 10. In an advantageous example, the pre-charge controller 300 is at least partially a computer-implemented function. Advantageously, the computer-implemented functions of the pre-charge controller 300 are performed by suitable processing circuits 110, 211 (advantageously, the battery pack processing circuit 211). In an example where the functions of the pre-charge controller 300 are performed by the battery pack processing circuit 211, there is a time benefit compared to performing the functions away from the battery pack 200. As described above, sending communications back and forth over the vehicle communication network typically takes longer than measuring the voltage directly at the battery pack processing circuit 211 and immediately comparing it to the voltage target / limit. This is because measurements and logical decisions need to be performed in either case (remote or local functions), and for the remote case, the relatively slow two-way CAN communication also takes time.

[0048] In a system, device or apparatus including more than one battery pack 210, one pre-charge controller 300 is advantageously associated with each battery pack 210. Figure 4 , the pre-charge controller 300 is shown as being operably connected to the load 29, the computer system 100, and the battery pack 210. However, this is for illustrative purposes only, and those skilled in the art will appreciate that this should not be viewed as limiting the present disclosure.

[0049] The pre-charge controller 300 includes the switch states 302 of the switch circuits 214, 215, 216 of the associated battery pack 210. The pre-charge controller 300 is configured to control the switch states 302 of the corresponding switch circuits 214, 215, 216 during pre-charging based on a pre-charge mode 320. The pre-charge mode 320 can be a non-supportive charge mode 322 or a supportive pre-charge mode 324. The pre-charge mode 320 is advantageously set by, for example, the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100. In general, if a specific pre-charge mode 320 is not specified, the pre-charge controller 300 can operate in the non-supportive pre-charge mode 322.

[0050] In the non-supportive pre-charge mode 322, the pre-charge controller 300 controls the switch state 302 to provide pre-charge to the load 29. The non-supportive pre-charge mode 322 can continue until an instruction to stop pre-charge is obtained from, for example, the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100. When such an instruction is obtained, the pre-charge controller 300 can be configured to control the switch state 302 to disconnect the pre-charge load 213 from the load 29 and close the first switch circuit 215.

[0051] As reference Figures 2 to 3As described above, the pre-charge controller 300 may control the switch state 302 by controlling the first switch circuit 215 , the second switch circuit 214 and / or the third switch circuit 216 .

[0052] In the non-supportive pre-charging mode 322, the pre-charging controller 300 may be configured to control the switch state 302 so that the second switch circuit 214 is closed and the first switch circuit 215 is open, so that the battery pack 200 pre-charges the load 29. If the third switch circuit 216 is implemented, the pre-charging controller 300 may control the switch state 302 in the non-supportive pre-charging mode 322 so that the third switch circuit 216 is closed.

[0053] Upon receiving an instruction to stop precharging the load 29 in the non-supportive mode 322, the precharge controller 300 may be configured to control the switch state 302 so that the second switch circuit 214 is opened to disconnect the precharge load 213 and the first switch circuit 215 is closed. If the third switch circuit 216 is implemented, the precharge controller 300 may control the switch state 302 so that the third switch circuit 216 is closed.

[0054] In the supportive pre-charge mode 324, the pre-charge controller 300 controls the switch state 302 to provide pre-charge to the load 29. The supportive pre-charge mode 324 may also continue until an instruction to stop pre-charging is obtained from, for example, the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100. When such an instruction is obtained, the pre-charge controller 300 may be configured to control the switch state 302 to disconnect the pre-charge load 213 from the load 29 and disconnect the first switch circuit 215. However, in the supportive pre-charge mode 324, if it is determined that the associated battery pack 210 does not contribute to pre-charging the load 29, the pre-charge controller 300 will also stop pre-charging.

[0055] To this end, the pre-charge controller 300 includes a voltage obtainer 310. The voltage obtainer 310 can be configured to obtain a battery pack voltage 312. The battery pack voltage 312 can be obtained in any suitable manner, advantageously, through the sensor circuit 217 of the associated battery pack 210. The voltage obtainer 310 can be configured to obtain a load voltage 314. The load voltage 314 can be obtained in any suitable manner, advantageously, through the sensor circuit 217 of the associated battery pack 210. During pre-charging, the load voltage 314 is at an opposite potential to the battery pack voltage 312 and the pre-charge load 213. This means that (assuming that the pre-charge load 213 is located between the positive pole of one or more battery cells 212 and the load 29), if the battery pack voltage 312 is higher than the load voltage 314, current flows from one or more battery cells 212 to the load 29, that is, the battery pack 210 contributes to pre-charging the load 29. In addition (still assuming that the pre-charge load 213 is located between the positive terminal of one or more battery cells 212 and the load 29), if the battery pack voltage 312 is lower than the load voltage 314, current flows from the load 29 into the one or more battery cells 212, that is, the battery pack 212 does not contribute to pre-charging the load 29, but forms part of the pre-charged load. Therefore, the voltage obtainer 310 can be configured to provide a voltage difference indicator 316, which indicates whether the battery pack 210 contributes to pre-charging the load 29. Alternatively or additionally, the voltage obtainer 310 can be configured to obtain the pre-charge current 313. In some examples, the voltage obtainer 310 can be configured to determine the voltage difference indicator 316 based on the direction (i.e., positive or negative) of the pre-charge current 313. In addition, if the current is substantially zero, this also indicates that the battery pack 210 does not contribute to pre-charging the load 29.

[0056] During pre-charging in the supportive pre-charging mode 320, the pre-charging controller 300 may be configured to abort pre-charging if the voltage difference indicator 316 indicates that the battery pack 210 is not contributing to the pre-charging. That is, the voltage difference indicator 316 indicates that the battery pack voltage 312 is equal to or lower than the load voltage 314. Optionally, if the pre-charging controller 300 aborts pre-charging the load 29, the pre-charging controller 300 may be configured to provide a supportive pre-charging failure indication 305, or simply a pre-charging failure indication 305, to the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100. This is beneficial because it notifies the computer system 100 of the pre-charging failure and allows the computer system 100 to control another battery pack to provide pre-charging to the load 29, optionally in the supportive pre-charging mode 324.

[0057] As reference Figures 2 to 3As described above, the pre-charge controller 300 may control the switch state 302 by controlling the first switch circuit 215 , the second switch circuit 214 and / or the third switch circuit 216 .

[0058] In the supportive precharge mode 324, the precharge controller 300 can be configured to control the switch state 302 so that the second switch circuit 214 is closed to connect the precharge load 213 to the load 29, and the first switch circuit 215 is open. If the third switch circuit 216 is implemented, the precharge controller 300 can control the switch state 302 in the supportive precharge mode 321 so that the third switch circuit 216 is closed.

[0059] Upon receiving an instruction to stop precharging the load 29 in the supportive mode 324, the precharge controller 300 can be configured to control the switch state 302 so that the second switch circuit 214 is opened to disconnect the precharge load 213 and the first switch circuit 215 is opened. If the third switch circuit 216 is implemented, the precharge controller 300 can control the switch state 302 so that the third switch circuit 216 is closed, at least until the second switch circuit 214 is opened. In one example, the precharge controller 300 can control the switch state 302 so that the third switch circuit 216 is opened after the second switch circuit 214 is opened.

[0060] refer to Figure 5 , shows another schematic diagram of a pre-charge controller 300a according to some examples. Figure 5 The precharge controller 300a shown in FIG. 1 may be configured to have Figure 4 All functions and features of the pre-charge controller 300 shown in the figure. For the sake of brevity, these functions and features will not be discussed in detail. Figure 5 The pre-charge controller 300a is repeated. Figure 5The pre-charge controller 300a shown in includes an external voltage obtainer 330a. The external voltage obtainer 330a can be configured to obtain a second battery pack voltage 312b, which indicates the voltage of the second external battery pack 210b. The second battery pack voltage 312b can be obtained in any suitable manner, advantageously, by a second pre-charge controller 300b associated with the second battery pack 210b. Alternatively or additionally, the second battery pack voltage 312b can be obtained from the computer system 100 and / or directly from the sensor circuit of the second battery pack 210b. Alternatively or additionally, the external voltage obtainer 330a can be configured to obtain a pre-charge current 313b of the second battery pack 210b. The pre-charge current 313b of the second battery pack 210b can be obtained correspondingly according to the second battery pack voltage 312b. Corresponding to the voltage difference indicator 316 a provided by the voltage obtainer 310 a , the external voltage obtainer 330 a may be configured to provide a second voltage difference indicator 316 b indicating whether the second battery pack 210 b contributes to pre-charging the load 29 .

[0061] During pre-charging in the supported pre-charging mode 320, the pre-charging controller 300a can be configured to abort pre-charging if the second voltage difference indicator 316b indicates that the second battery pack 210b is not contributing to the pre-charging. In other words, if the second pre-charging controller 300b determines that the voltage of the second battery pack 210b is equal to or lower than the load voltage sensed by the second pre-charging controller 300b, the second battery pack 210b may be being charged by the first battery pack 210a. Assuming that the second pre-charging controller 300b is configured to provide pre-charging in the non-supporting mode, the second pre-charging controller 300b is not allowed to abort pre-charging the load 29. However, in this example, the first pre-charging controller 300b can respond to the voltage difference of the second pre-charging controller 300b and abort pre-charging from the first battery pack 210a, so that only the second pre-charging controller 300b provides pre-charging to the load 29 (assuming that there are no additional contributors available for pre-charging). This reduces the risk that the current battery pack 210 a charges other battery packs 210 b together with the load 29 .

[0062] like Figure 3 As shown, optionally, if Figure 5 If the precharge controller 300 of the computer system 100 aborts the precharge of the load 29 (for whatever reason), the precharge controller 300 may be configured to provide a support precharge failure indication 305 to the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100. This is beneficial because it notifies the computer system 100 of the precharge failure and allows the computer system 100 to control another battery pack to provide precharge to the load 29, optionally in a support precharge mode 324.

[0063] exist Figure 6 , a schematic diagram of a battery system 400 is shown. The battery system 400 includes at least a first battery pack 210a, a second battery pack 210b, and a processing circuit 410. Figure 6 In the example, the battery system 400 also includes an optional third battery pack 210c, and more than three battery packs may be included in other examples. The processing circuit 410 may be a dedicated battery system processing circuit or a processing circuit that forms part of the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100. At least one of the battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c may be configured to provide pre-charging in the support pre-charging mode 324 proposed herein. In the following, it is assumed that at least the first battery pack 210a and the optional third battery pack 210c may be configured to provide pre-charging in the support pre-charging mode 324. The processing circuit 410 is advantageously configured to control the first battery pack 210a and the second battery pack 210b to provide pre-charging to the load 29. The processing circuit 410 is also advantageously configured to configure the first battery pack 210a to provide pre-charging in the support pre-charging mode 324.

[0064] In some examples, the processing circuit 410 is further configured to monitor the second voltage difference indicator 316 b (as disclosed herein) and provide the second voltage difference indicator 316 b to the first battery pack 210 a .

[0065] In some examples, in response to obtaining the pre-charging support failure indication 305 from the first battery pack 210a, the processing circuit 410 may be configured to control the third battery pack 210c to provide pre-charging to the load 29. Optionally, the processing circuit 410 may also be configured to configure the third battery pack 210c to provide pre-charging in the pre-charging support mode 324.

[0066] As described above, if the voltage difference indicator 316 indicates that the battery pack 210 does not contribute to the pre-charge, the pre-charge is advantageously aborted. However, for the present disclosure, this can be interpreted as the battery pack 210 does not contribute significantly to the pre-charge of the load 29. That is, if the voltage difference indicator 316 indicates that the battery pack voltage 312 is below a configurable threshold, the pre-charge can be aborted. The threshold can be configured with sufficient margin so that if the battery pack 210 contributes to the pre-charge of the load 29, but the contribution is not as expected, the pre-charge can be aborted.

[0067] exist Figure 7, a schematic diagram of method 500 is shown. Method 500 is advantageously a computer-implemented method 500. Method 500 or at least a portion of method 500 is advantageously performed by processing circuit 110 of computer system 100. That is, processing circuit 110 may be configured to partially or fully perform method 500, configured to partially or fully cause the performance of method 500, or a combination thereof. Figure 7 The method 500 is briefly introduced, but those skilled in the art will appreciate that the method 500 may be well expanded to include any additional features, functions, or examples set forth herein.

[0068] The method 500 includes controlling 530 the first battery pack 210a and the second battery pack 210b to provide pre-charging to the load 29. According to the present disclosure, the battery packs 210a, 210b are advantageously battery packs 210a, 210b, but can be any suitable battery packs that can be configured to provide pre-charging to the load 29. The method 500 also includes configuring 540 the first battery pack 210a to provide pre-charging in the support pre-charging mode 324. It should be mentioned that if the first battery pack 210a is a battery pack according to the present disclosure, the first battery pack 210a can indeed be configured to provide pre-charging in the support pre-charging mode 324B. However, if the battery pack is a universal battery pack, the support pre-charging mode can be configured and controlled at a level above the battery pack itself as described herein. The method 500 also includes monitoring 552a the pre-charging contribution of the first battery pack 210a during pre-charging in the support pre-charging mode 324. Monitoring 552a of the pre-charging contribution of the first battery pack 210a may be provided according to any feature, function or example presented herein. Advantageously, monitoring 552a of the pre-charging contribution of the first battery pack 210a is based on a first voltage difference indicator 316a indicating a difference between the load voltage 314 and the first battery pack voltage 312a. The method 500 also includes controlling 570 the first battery pack 210a to suspend (interrupt, stop, stop) pre-charging of the load 29 in response to determining that the first battery pack 210a does not contribute to pre-charging the load 29 (e.g., the voltage difference indicator 316a indicates that the first battery pack voltage 312a is equal to or lower than the load voltage 314).

[0069] In some optional examples of method 500 , method 500 further includes determining 560 first voltage difference indicator 316a based on pre-charge current 313a . Additionally or alternatively, method 500 may include determining 560 first voltage difference indicator 316a based on first battery pack voltage 312a and load voltage 314 .

[0070] In some optional examples of the method 500, the method 500 further includes monitoring 552b the pre-charge contribution of the second battery pack 210b during pre-charging in the support pre-charging mode 324. The monitoring 552b of the pre-charge contribution of the second battery pack 210b can be provided according to any feature, function or example presented herein. Advantageously, the monitoring 552b of the pre-charge contribution of the second battery pack 210b can be provided by a second voltage difference indicator 316b indicating the difference between the load voltage 314 and the second battery pack voltage 312b. The method 500 further includes controlling 570 the first battery pack 210a to suspend (suspend, stop, stop) pre-charging of the load 29 in response to the second battery pack 210b not contributing to pre-charging the load 29. Advantageously, the method 500 includes controlling 570 the first battery pack 210a to suspend pre-charging of the load 29 in response to the second voltage difference indicator 316b indicating that the second battery pack voltage 312b is lower than or equal to the load voltage 314.

[0071] Optionally, in some examples, the method 500 may include: in response to controlling the first battery pack 210a to suspend pre-charging of the load 29, controlling 530 the third battery pack 210c to provide pre-charging to the load 29, and configuring 540 the third battery pack 210c to provide pre-charging in the support pre-charging mode 324. The contribution of the third battery to the pre-charging of the load 29 may be performed in the manner outlined with reference to the first battery pack 210a. It should be noted that the method 500 (as well as other examples provided herein) may well include controlling the second battery pack 210b to provide pre-charging in the support pre-charging mode 324 in response to suspending the support pre-charging of the first battery pack 210a.

[0072] Optionally, in some examples, the method 500 further comprises obtaining 510 at least one of an open circuit cell voltage 312′ or a loaded cell voltage 312 of each battery pack 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d connectable to the load 29. Advantageously, the battery pack 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d is part of a battery system 200 comprising two or more battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d. The method 500 also includes selecting 520 a first battery pack 210a and a second battery pack 210b from two or more battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d based on the open circuit cell voltages 312a', 312b', 312c', 312d' and / or the loaded cell voltages 312a, 312b, 312c, 312d of the battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d. Advantageously, method 500 includes selecting a first battery pack 210a and a second battery pack 210b by selecting a pair of battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d among the two or more battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d having the smallest difference in open circuit cell voltage 312a', 312b', 312c', 312d' and / or loaded cell voltage 312a, 312b, 312c, 312d for each pair of battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d among the two or more battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d.

[0073] exist Figure 8 In FIG. 6 , a computer program product 600 is shown. The computer program product 600 comprises a computer program 800 and a non-transitory computer readable medium 700. The computer program 800 is advantageously stored on the computer readable medium 700. Figure 8 In the figure, the computer-readable medium 700 is illustrated as an old-fashioned 5.25-inch floppy disk, but may also be embodied as any suitable non-temporary computer-readable medium, such as but not limited to a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid-state drive (SSD), an optical disk (e.g., CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-RW), a USB flash drive, a magnetic tape, a memory card, a read-only memory (ROM), a network attached storage (NAS), cloud storage, etc.

[0074] The computer program 800 includes instructions 810, such as program instructions, software codes, which when executed by a processing circuit cause the processing circuit to perform the Figure 7 Method 500 is described.

[0075] It should be noted that the teachings of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other loads, and implementations in other fields besides transportation and vehicles. Any system, device or arrangement where inrush current reduction and / or controlled pre-charging are beneficial may benefit from the present disclosure. Such systems, devices or arrangements may exist in industrial applications or marine fields, such as watercraft, motorboats, workboats, sports vessels, boats, ships, and other vessel types.

[0076] Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a computer system 900 for implementing the examples disclosed herein. Fig. 9 The computer system 900 shown in the figure may be the computer system 100 previously proposed. The computer system 900 is suitable for executing instructions from a computer-readable medium to perform these and / or any functions or processes described herein. The computer system 900 may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines in a LAN, an intranet, an extranet, or the Internet. Although only a single device is shown, the computer system 900 may include any device collection that executes an instruction set (or multiple instruction sets) individually or jointly to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein. Therefore, any reference to a computer system, a computing system, a computer device, a computing device, a control system, a control unit, an electronic control unit (ECU), a processor device, a processing circuit, etc. in the present disclosure and / or claims includes a reference to one or more such devices to execute an instruction set (or multiple instruction sets) individually or jointly to perform any one or more methods discussed herein. For example, the control system may include a single control unit or multiple control units connected to each other or otherwise communicatively coupled, so that any executed function may be distributed between the control units as needed. In addition, such devices may communicate with each other or with other devices through various system architectures such as directly or via a controller area network (CAN) bus.

[0077] The computer system 900 may include at least one computing device or electronic device that can include firmware, hardware and / or execute software instructions to implement the functionality described herein. The computer system 900 may include a processing circuit 902 (e.g., a processing circuit including one or more processor devices or control units), a memory 904, and a system bus 906. The processing circuit 902 may be the processing circuit 110 of the previously proposed computer system 100. The memory 904 may be the storage device 120 of the previously proposed computer system 100. The computer system 900 may include at least one computing device having the processing circuit 902. The system bus 906 provides an interface for system components including, but not limited to, the memory 904 and the processing circuit 902. The processing circuit 902 may include any number of hardware components for performing data or signal processing or for executing computer code stored in the memory 904. Processing circuit 902 may include, for example, a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a circuit containing a processing component, a group of distributed processing components, a group of distributed computers configured for processing, or other programmable logic devices designed to perform the functions described herein, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof. Processing circuit 902 may also include computer executable code that controls the operation of a programmable device.

[0078] The system bus 906 can be any of several types of bus structures, which can be further interconnected to a memory bus (with or without a memory controller), a peripheral bus, and / or a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. The memory 904 can be one or more devices for storing data and / or computer code to complete or facilitate the methods described herein. The memory 904 can include a database component, an object code component, a script component, or any type of information structure for supporting various activities herein. Any distributed or local memory device can be utilized together with the system and method of this specification. The memory 904 can be communicatively connected to the processing circuit 902 (e.g., via a circuit or any other wired, wireless, or network connection) and can include computer code for performing one or more processes described herein. The memory 904 may include nonvolatile memory 908 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), etc.) and volatile memory 910 (e.g., random access memory (RAM)), or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of machine-executable instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer or other machine having the processing circuit 902. A basic input / output system (BIOS) 912 may be stored in the nonvolatile memory 908 and may include the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the computer system 900.

[0079] The computer system 900 may also include or be coupled to non-transitory computer-readable storage media such as storage device 914, which may include, for example, an internal or external hard disk drive (HDD) (e.g., enhanced integrated drive electronics (EIDE) or serial advanced technology attachment (SATA)), a HDD for storage (e.g., EIDE or SATA), flash memory, etc. The storage device 914 and other drives associated with computer-readable and computer-usable media may provide non-volatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executable instructions, etc.

[0080] The hard-coded or soft-coded computer code may be provided in the form of one or more modules. The module may be implemented as software and / or hard-coded in the circuit to implement the functionality described herein in whole or in part. The module may be stored in a storage device 914 and / or a volatile memory 910 that may include an operating system 916 and / or one or more program modules 918. All or part of the examples disclosed herein may be implemented as a computer program 920 stored on a temporary or non-temporary computer-available or computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a single medium or multiple media) such as a storage device 914, which includes complex programming instructions (e.g., complex computer-readable program code) that cause the processing circuit 902 to perform the actions described herein. Therefore, the computer-readable program code of the computer program 920 may include software instructions for implementing the functionality of the examples described herein when executed by the processing circuit 902. In some examples, storage device 914 may be a computer program product (e.g., a readable storage medium) on which a computer program 920 is stored, wherein at least a portion of computer program 920 may be loadable (e.g., loaded into a processor) for implementing the functionality of the examples described herein when executed by processing circuit 902. Processing circuit 902 may serve as a controller or control system of computer system 900 for implementing the functionality described herein.

[0081] The computer system 900 may include an input device interface 922 configured to receive input and selections to be transmitted to the computer system 900 when executing instructions, such as from a keyboard, mouse, touch-sensitive surface, etc. Such input devices can be connected to the processor circuit 902 through an input device interface 922 connected to the system bus 906, but can be connected through other interfaces (such as a parallel port, an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 serial port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an IR interface, etc.). The computer system 900 may include an output device interface 924, which is configured to forward output to a display, a video display unit (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 900 may include a communication interface 926 suitable for communicating with a network as appropriate or as needed.

[0082] The operational actions described in any exemplary aspect of this article are described to provide examples and discussions. These actions can be performed by hardware components, can be embodied in machine executable instructions so that a processor performs these actions, or can be performed by a combination of hardware and software. Although a specific order of method actions can be shown or described, the order of actions can be different. In addition, two or more actions can be performed simultaneously or partially simultaneously.

[0083] Example 1. A computer system 100 includes a processing circuit 110, wherein the processing circuit is configured to: control a first battery pack 210a and a second battery pack 210b to provide pre-charging to a load 29, configure the first battery pack 210a to provide pre-charging in a pre-charging support mode 324, and during pre-charging in the pre-charging support mode 324, monitor a first voltage difference indicator 316a indicating a difference between a load voltage 314 and a first battery pack voltage 312a, and in response to the first voltage difference indicator 316a indicating that the first battery pack voltage 312a is equal to or lower than the load voltage 314, control the first battery pack 210a to terminate pre-charging of the load 29.

[0084] Example 2 The computer system 100 of Example 1, wherein the processing circuit 110 is further configured to: monitor a pre-charge current 313a between the first battery pack 210a and the load 29, and determine a first voltage difference indicator 316a based on the pre-charge current 313a.

[0085] Example 3 The computer system 100 of Example 1 or 2, wherein the processing circuit 110 is further configured to monitor the first battery pack voltage 312 a and the load voltage 314 , and determine the first voltage difference indicator 316 a based on the first battery pack voltage 312 a and the load voltage 314 .

[0086] Example 4. A computer system 100 according to any one of Examples 1 to 3, wherein the processing circuit 110 is further configured to: during pre-charging in support of the pre-charging mode 324, monitor a second voltage difference indicator 316b indicating a difference between the load voltage 314 and the second battery pack voltage 312b, and in response to the second voltage difference indicator 316b indicating that the second battery pack voltage 312b is equal to or lower than the load voltage 314, control the first battery pack 210a to terminate pre-charging of the load 29.

[0087] Example 5. A computer system 100 according to any one of Examples 1 to 4, wherein the processing circuit 110 is further configured to: in response to controlling the first battery pack 210a to suspend pre-charging of the load 29, control the third battery pack 210c to provide pre-charging to the load 29, and configure the third battery pack 210c to provide pre-charging in the pre-charging support mode 324.

[0088] Example 6. The computer system 100 of Example 5, wherein the processing circuit 110 is further configured to: during pre-charging in support of the pre-charging mode 324, monitor a third voltage difference indicator 316c indicating a difference between a voltage of the load 29 and a third battery pack voltage 312c, and in response to the third voltage difference indicator 316c indicating that the third battery pack voltage 312c is equal to or lower than the voltage of the load 29, control the third battery pack 210c to terminate pre-charging of the load 29.

[0089] Example 7. A computer system 100 according to any one of Examples 1 to 6, wherein the processing circuit 110 is further configured to: obtain at least one of the open circuit cell voltage 312' or the loaded cell voltage 312 of each battery pack 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d of a battery system 200 including more than two battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d, and select a first battery pack 210a and a second battery pack 210b from two or more battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d of the battery system 200 based on the open circuit cell voltages 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d and / or the loaded cell voltages 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d of the battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d of the battery system 200.

[0090] Example 8. The computer system 100 of Example 7, wherein the processing circuit 110 is further configured to select a first battery pack 210a and a second battery pack 210b by selecting a pair of battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d of the battery system 200 having the smallest difference in open circuit cell voltage 312a', 312b', 312c', 312d' and / or loaded cell voltage 312a, 312b, 312c, 312d for each pair of battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d of the battery system 200.

[0091] Example 9. The computer system 100 of Example 1, wherein the processing circuit 110 is further configured to: monitor a precharge current 313a between the first battery pack 210a and the load 29, and determine a first voltage difference indicator 316a based on the precharge current 313a; monitor the first battery pack voltage 312a and the load voltage 314, and determine the first voltage difference indicator 316a based on the first battery pack voltage 312a and the load voltage 314; during precharge in the support precharge mode 324, monitor a second voltage difference indicator 316b indicating a difference between the load voltage 314 and the second battery pack voltage 312b, and indicate the second battery pack voltage 312b in response to the second voltage difference indicator 316b; In response to the first battery pack 210a being controlled to suspend pre-charging the load 29, the third battery pack 210c is controlled to provide pre-charging to the load 29, and the third battery pack 210c is configured to provide pre-charging in the pre-charging support mode 324; during the pre-charging in the pre-charging support mode 324, a third voltage difference indicator 316c indicating a difference between the voltage of the load 29 and the third battery pack voltage 312c is monitored, and in response to the third voltage difference indicator 316c indicating that the third battery pack voltage 312c is equal to or lower than the voltage of the load 29, the third battery pack 210a is controlled to suspend pre-charging the load 29. 10c terminates pre-charging of the load 29; obtains at least one of the open-circuit cell voltage 312' or the loaded cell voltage 312 of each battery pack 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d of the battery system 200 including more than two battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d, and selects from the two or more battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d of the battery system 200 based on the open-circuit cell voltage 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d and / or the loaded cell voltage 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d of the battery pack 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d of the battery system 200 a first battery pack 210a and a second battery pack 210b; and selecting the first battery pack 210a and the second battery pack 210b by selecting a pair of battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d from the two or more battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d of the battery system 200 whose difference in open circuit cell voltage 312a', 312b', 312c', 312d' and / or loaded cell voltage 312a, 312b, 312c, 312d of each pair of battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d in the battery system 200 is minimized.

[0092] Example 10. A computer-implemented method 500, comprising: controlling 530, by the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100, the first battery pack 210a and the second battery pack 210b to provide pre-charging to the load 29, configuring 540, by the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100, the first battery pack 210a to provide pre-charging in the support pre-charging mode 324, and during the pre-charging in the support pre-charging mode 324, monitoring 552a, by the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100, a first voltage difference indicator 316a indicating a difference between a load voltage 314 and a first battery pack voltage 312a, and in response to the first voltage difference indicator 316a indicating that the first battery pack voltage 312a is equal to or lower than the load voltage 314, controlling 570, by the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100, the first battery pack 210a to terminate pre-charging to the load 29.

[0093] Example 11. The computer-implemented method 500 of Example 10 further comprises: monitoring 552a, by the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100, a pre-charge current 313a between the first battery pack 210a and the load 29, and determining 560, by the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100, a first voltage difference indicator 316a based on the pre-charge current 313a.

[0094] Example 12. The computer-implemented method 500 of Example 10 or 11 further comprises: monitoring 552a the first battery pack voltage 312a and the load voltage 314 by the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100, and determining 560 the first voltage difference indicator 316a based on the first battery pack voltage 312a and the load voltage 314 by the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100.

[0095] Example 13. A computer-implemented method 500 according to any one of Examples 10 to 12, further comprising: during pre-charging in support of a pre-charging mode 324, monitoring 552b a second voltage difference indicator 316b indicating a difference between a load voltage 314 and a second battery pack voltage 312b by the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100, and in response to the second voltage difference indicator 316b indicating that the second battery pack voltage 312b is equal to or lower than the load voltage 314, controlling 570 the first battery pack 210a by the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100 to terminate pre-charging of the load 29.

[0096] Example 14. A computer-implemented method 500 according to any one of Examples 10 to 13, further comprising: in response to controlling the first battery pack 210a to suspend pre-charging of the load 29, controlling 530 the third battery pack 210c to provide pre-charging to the load 29 through the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100, and configuring 540 the third battery pack 210c to provide pre-charging in a pre-charging support mode 324 through the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100.

[0097] Example 15. The computer-implemented method 500 of Example 14 further comprises: during pre-charging in support of pre-charging mode 324, monitoring, by the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100, a third voltage difference indicator indicating a difference between a voltage of the load 29 and a voltage of the third battery pack, and in response to the third voltage difference indicator indicating that the third battery pack voltage 312c is equal to or lower than the voltage of the load 29, controlling 570 the third battery pack 210c to terminate pre-charging of the load 29 by the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100.

[0098] Example 16. The computer-implemented method 500 according to any one of Examples 10 to 15 further comprises: obtaining 510, by the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100, at least one of the open circuit cell voltage 312′ or the loaded cell voltage 312 of each battery pack 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d of the battery system 200 including two or more battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d, and calculating the voltage 312′ of the battery pack 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d by the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100; The processing circuit 110 selects 520 a first battery pack 210a and a second battery pack 210b from two or more battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d of the battery system 200 based on the open circuit cell voltages 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d and / or the loaded cell voltages 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d of the battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d of the battery system 200.

[0099] Example 17. The computer-implemented method 500 of Example 16 further comprises: selecting 520 a first battery pack 210a and a second battery pack 210b by the processing circuit 110 of the computer system 100 by selecting a pair of battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d of the two or more battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d of the battery system 200 having the smallest difference in open circuit cell voltage 312a', 312b', 312c', 312d' and / or loaded cell voltage 312a, 312b, 312c, 312d for each pair of battery packs 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d of the battery system 200.

[0100] Example 18. A vehicle 10 includes a first battery pack 210a, a second battery pack 210b, and a computer system 100 according to any one of Examples 1 to 9 operably connected to the first battery pack 210a and the second battery pack 210b.

[0101] Example 19. The vehicle 10 of Example 18, wherein the first battery pack 210a and the second battery pack 210b are propulsion batteries operably connected to one or more electrical propulsion sources 12 of the vehicle 10.

[0102] Example 20. The vehicle 10 of Example 18 or 19, wherein the vehicle 10 is a heavy vehicle.

[0103] Example 21. A computer program product 600 comprising a program code 810 for performing the computer-implemented method 500 according to any of Examples 10 to 17 when executed by a processing circuit 110 of a computer system 100.

[0104] Example 22. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium 700 comprising instructions 610 which, when executed by a processing circuit 110 of a computer system 100, cause the processing circuit 110 to perform the computer-implemented method 500 according to any of Examples 10-17.

[0105] Example 23. A battery pack 210, comprising a battery pack processing circuit 211, one or more battery cells 120, and a pre-charge load 213 selectively connected between the one or more battery cells 120 and a load 29, wherein the battery pack processing circuit 211 is configured to: obtain instructions for performing pre-charging on the load 29 in a supported pre-charging mode 324, connect the pre-charge load 213 between the one or more battery cells 120 and the load 29, monitor a first voltage difference indicator 316a indicating a difference between a load voltage 314 and a battery pack voltage 312, and disconnect the pre-charge load 213 from the one or more battery cells 120 and / or the load 29 in response to the first voltage difference indicator 316a indicating that the battery pack voltage 312 is lower than or equal to the load voltage 314.

[0106] Example 24. The battery pack 210 of Example 23, wherein the battery pack processing circuit 211 is further configured to provide a supporting pre-charge failure indication 305 to the processing circuit 410 of the battery system 400 in response to disconnecting the pre-charge load 213 from one or more battery cells 120 and / or the load 29 .

[0107] Example 25. A battery pack 210 according to Example 23 or 24, wherein the battery pack processing circuit 211 is further configured to: obtain a second voltage difference indicator 316b, the second voltage difference indicator indicating the difference between the load voltage 314 and a second battery pack voltage 312b associated with a second battery pack 210b connected to the load 29, and in response to the second voltage difference indicator 316b indicating that the second battery pack voltage 312b is equal to or lower than the load voltage 314, disconnect the pre-charge load 213 from one or more battery cells 120 and / or the load 29.

[0108] Example 26. A battery pack 210 according to any one of Examples 23 to 25, further comprising: a first switching circuit 215, arranged to connect a first pole of one or more battery cells 212 to a load 29; and a second switching circuit 214, arranged to selectively close a circuit between one or more battery cells 212, a pre-charged load 213 and a load 29.

[0109] Example 27 The battery pack 210 according to Example 26 further comprises a third switch circuit 216 arranged to connect the second pole of the one or more battery cells 212 to the load 29 .

[0110] Example 28. A battery pack 210 according to Example 26 or 27, wherein the battery pack processing circuit 211 is further configured to: obtain an instruction for pre-charging the load 29 in a non-supportive pre-charging mode 322, disconnect the first switch circuit 215 and close the second switch circuit 214, so that the battery pack 210 pre-charges the load 29.

[0111] Example 29 The battery pack 210 according to Example 28, wherein the battery pack processing circuit 211 is further configured to: control the third switch circuit 216 to be closed.

[0112] Example 30. A battery pack 210 according to any one of Examples 26 to 29, wherein the battery pack processing circuit 211 is configured to stop pre-charging the load 29 in the non-supportive pre-charging mode 322 by controlling the second switch circuit 214 to disconnect to disconnect the pre-charging load 213 and the first switch circuit 215 to disconnect.

[0113] Example 31. A battery pack 210 according to Example 30, wherein the battery pack processing circuit 211 is further configured to: control the third switch circuit 216 to be closed at least until the second switch circuit 214 is disconnected, preferably, the processing circuit 211 is also configured to disconnect the third switch circuit 216 after the second switch circuit 214 is disconnected.

[0114] Example 32. A battery pack 210 according to any one of Examples 26 to 31, wherein the battery pack processing circuit 211 is configured to: obtain instructions for performing pre-charging on the load 29 in a supported pre-charging mode 324, close the second switch circuit 214 to connect the pre-charge load 213 to the load 29, and open the first switch circuit 215.

[0115] Example 33 The battery pack 210 according to Example 32, wherein the battery pack processing circuit 211 is configured to: obtain an instruction for performing pre-charging on the load 29 in the pre-charging support mode 324 and close the third switch circuit 216.

[0116] Example 34. A battery pack 210 according to any one of Examples 26 to 33, wherein the battery pack processing circuit 211 is configured to stop pre-charging the load 29 in the supportive pre-charging mode 324 by controlling the second switch circuit 214 to disconnect to disconnect the pre-charging load 213 and the first switch circuit 215 to disconnect.

[0117] Example 35. The battery pack 210 according to Example 34, wherein the battery pack processing circuit 211 is further configured to stop pre-charging the load 29 in the supportive pre-charging mode 324 by controlling the third switch circuit 216 to be disconnected.

[0118] Example 36. A battery system 400, comprising a first battery pack 210a selectively connected to a load 29, a second battery pack 210b selectively connected to the load 29, and a processing circuit 410, wherein at least the first battery pack 210a is a battery pack according to any one of Examples 23 to 35, wherein the processing circuit 410 is configured to: control the first battery pack 210a and the second battery pack 210b to provide pre-charging to the load 29, and configure the first battery pack 210a to provide pre-charging in a pre-charging mode 324.

[0119] Example 37 The battery system 400 of Example 36, wherein the processing circuit 410 is further configured to monitor a second voltage difference indicator 316b indicating a difference between the load voltage 314 and the second battery pack voltage 312b, and provide the second voltage difference indicator 316b to the first battery pack 210a.

[0120] Example 38. The battery system 200 according to Example 36 or 37 further includes a third battery pack 210c, wherein the processing circuit 210 is further configured to: in response to obtaining a support pre-charging failure indication 305 from the first battery pack 210a, control the third battery pack 210c to provide pre-charging to the load 29, and configure the third battery pack 210c to provide pre-charging in the support pre-charging mode 324.

[0121] The terms used herein are only for the purpose of describing specific aspects and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. As used herein, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular forms "one", "a kind of" and "the" are intended to also include plural forms. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It should also be understood that the terms "include" and / or "comprising" when used herein indicate the presence of stated features, integers, actions, steps, operations, elements and / or parts, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, actions, steps, operations, elements, parts and / or their groups.

[0122] It should be understood that although the terms first, second, etc. can be used to describe various elements in this article, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. For example, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, the first element can be referred to as the second element, and similarly, the second element can be referred to as the first element.

[0123] Relative terms such as "below" or "above" or "upper" or "lower" or "horizontal" or "vertical" may be used herein to describe the relationship of one element to another element, as shown in the figures. It should be understood that these terms and those discussed above are intended to cover different device orientations in addition to the orientations depicted in the figures. It should be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "coupled" to another element, the element may be directly connected or directly coupled to the other element, or there may be intermediate elements. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected to" or "directly coupled to" another element, there are no intermediate elements.

[0124] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure belongs. It should also be understood that, unless otherwise clearly defined herein, the terms used herein should be interpreted as meanings consistent with their meanings in the context of this specification and the relevant art, and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense.

[0125] It should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the aspects described above and shown in the accompanying drawings; rather, those skilled in the art will recognize that many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the present disclosure and the appended claims. In the drawings and description, various aspects have been disclosed for illustrative purposes only and not for limiting purposes, and the scope of the present disclosure is set forth in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A computer system comprising a processing circuit, wherein the processing circuit is configured to: Control the first battery pack and the second battery pack to provide pre-charging for the load, configuring the first battery pack to provide pre-charging in a pre-charging support mode, and During pre-charging in the supported pre-charging mode, a first voltage difference indicator indicative of a difference between a load voltage and a first battery pack voltage is monitored, and In response to the first voltage difference indicator indicating that the first battery pack voltage is equal to or lower than the load voltage, the first battery pack is controlled to suspend pre-charging the load.

2. The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: monitoring a pre-charge current between the first battery pack and the load, and The first voltage difference indicator is determined based on the pre-charge current.

3. The computer system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: monitoring the first battery pack voltage and the load voltage, and The first voltage difference indicator is determined based on the first battery pack voltage and the load voltage.

4. The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: During pre-charging in the supported pre-charging mode, monitoring a second voltage difference indicator indicative of a difference between the load voltage and a second battery pack voltage, and In response to the second voltage difference indicator indicating that the second battery pack voltage is equal to or lower than the load voltage, the first battery pack is controlled to suspend pre-charging the load.

5. The computer system (100) of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: obtaining at least one of an open circuit cell voltage or a loaded cell voltage of each battery pack of a battery system including two or more battery packs, and The first battery pack and the second battery pack are selected by selecting a pair of battery packs in the battery system having the smallest difference in open circuit cell voltage and / or loaded cell voltage of each pair of battery packs in the battery system.

6. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: monitor a pre-charge current between the first battery pack and the load, and determine the first voltage difference indicator based on the pre-charge current; monitor the first battery pack voltage and the load voltage, and determine the first voltage difference indicator based on the first battery pack voltage and the load voltage; during pre-charging in the supported pre-charging mode, monitor a second voltage difference indicator indicating the difference between the load voltage and the second battery pack voltage, and in response to the second voltage difference indicator indicating that the second battery pack voltage is equal to or lower than the load voltage, control the first battery pack to terminate pre-charging of the load; and obtain at least one of the open circuit cell voltage or the loaded cell voltage of each battery pack of a battery system including more than two battery packs, and select the first battery pack and the second battery pack by selecting a pair of battery packs among the two or more battery packs of the battery system whose difference in the open circuit cell voltage and / or the loaded cell voltage of each pair of battery packs is the smallest.

7. A computer-implemented method (500), comprising: The processing circuit of the computer system controls the first battery pack and the second battery pack to provide pre-charging for the load. configuring, by the processing circuit of the computer system, the first battery pack to provide pre-charging in a pre-charging support mode, and During pre-charging in the supported pre-charging mode, monitoring, by the processing circuit of the computer system, a first voltage difference indicator indicating a difference between a load voltage and a first battery pack voltage, and In response to the first voltage difference indicator indicating that the first battery pack voltage is equal to or lower than the load voltage, the processing circuit of the computer system controls the first battery pack to stop precharging the load.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising: monitoring, by the processing circuit of the computer system, a pre-charge current between the first battery pack and the load, and The first voltage difference indicator is determined by the processing circuit of the computer system based on the pre-charge current.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 or 8, further comprising: monitoring the first battery pack voltage and the load voltage by the processing circuit of the computer system, and The first voltage difference indicator is determined by the processing circuit of the computer system based on the first battery pack voltage and the load voltage.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising: During pre-charging in the supported pre-charging mode, monitoring, by the processing circuit of the computer system, a second voltage difference indicator indicating a difference between the load voltage and a second battery pack voltage, and In response to the second voltage difference indicator indicating that the second battery pack voltage is equal to or lower than the load voltage, the processing circuit of the computer system controls the first battery pack to stop precharging the load.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising: obtaining, by the processing circuit of the computer system, at least one of an open circuit cell voltage or a loaded cell voltage of each battery pack of a battery system including more than two battery packs, and The first battery pack and the second battery pack are selected by the processing circuit of the computer system by selecting a pair of battery packs among the two or more battery packs of the battery system having the smallest difference in open circuit cell voltage and / or loaded cell voltage of each pair of battery packs among the two or more battery packs of the battery system. 12 . A vehicle comprising a first battery pack, a second battery pack, and the computer system of claim 1 operably connected to the first battery pack and the second battery pack.

13. The vehicle of claim 12, wherein the vehicle is a heavy vehicle.

14. A computer program product comprising program code for performing the computer-implemented method according to claim 7 when executed by a processing circuit of a computer system.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processing circuit of a computer system, cause the processing circuit to perform the computer-implemented method of claim 7.

16. A battery pack comprising a battery pack processing circuit, one or more battery cells, and a pre-charge load selectively connected between the one or more battery cells and a load, wherein the battery pack processing circuit is configured to: obtain instructions for pre-charging the load in a pre-charging mode, connect the pre-charge load between the one or more battery cells and the load, monitor a first voltage difference indicator indicating a difference between a load voltage and a battery pack voltage, and disconnect the pre-charge load from the one or more battery cells and / or the load in response to the first voltage difference indicator indicating that the battery pack voltage is lower than or equal to the load voltage.

17. The battery pack according to claim 16, wherein the battery pack processing circuit is further configured to: in response to disconnecting the pre-charging load from the one or more battery cells and / or the load, provide a pre-charging failure indication to the processing circuit of the battery system.

18. A battery pack according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the battery pack processing circuit is further configured to: obtain a second voltage difference indicator, the second voltage difference indicator indicating the difference between the load voltage and a second battery pack voltage associated with a second battery pack connected to the load, and in response to the second voltage difference indicator indicating that the second battery pack voltage is equal to or lower than the load voltage, disconnect the pre-charge load from the one or more battery cells and / or the load.

19. The battery pack according to claim 16, further comprising: a first switching circuit arranged to connect a first pole of the one or more battery cells to the load; A second switching circuit is arranged to selectively close a circuit between the one or more battery cells, the pre-charge load, and the load.

20. The battery pack of claim 19, further comprising a third switch circuit arranged to connect the second pole of the one or more battery cells to the load.

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