Battery diagnostic apparatus and method of operating same

Abstract

A battery diagnosis apparatus according to an embodiment disclosed in this document may include: an acquisition unit that acquires a balancing execution time of a battery cell; a calculation unit that calculates at least one equilibrium execution rate based on the equilibrium execution time; and a diagnosis unit that compares a specified balance execution rate corresponding to the specified period with a reference rate to diagnose an abnormality of the battery cell.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0183673, filed on December 23, 2022, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety as a part of this specification. Technical Field

[0004] Embodiments disclosed herein relate to a battery diagnostic device and an operating method thereof. Background Art

[0005] Recently, the research and development of secondary batteries has been actively carried out. In this article, the secondary battery as a chargeable / dischargeable battery can include all conventional nickel (Ni) / cadmium (Cd) batteries, Ni / metal hydride (MH) batteries, etc., and recent lithium ion batteries. Among secondary batteries, lithium ion batteries have an energy density much higher than that of conventional Ni / Cd batteries, Ni / MH batteries, etc. In addition, lithium ion batteries can be made small and lightweight, so that lithium ion batteries have been used as the power supply of mobile devices, and recently, their scope of use has been expanded to the power supply for electric vehicles, thus attracting attention as the next generation of energy storage media.

[0006] In addition, the secondary battery may be used as a battery pack including a battery module in which a plurality of battery cells are connected in series and / or in parallel with each other, or as a battery rack including a plurality of battery modules and a rack frame accommodating the battery modules.

[0007] At the same time, multiple battery units (e.g., battery cells, battery modules, battery packs, or battery racks) connected in series or parallel may experience uneven charge states over time due to differences in capacity. Consequently, problems may arise, such as overcharging or over-discharging a specific battery cell, reducing the capacity of all battery cells and shortening their service life.

[0008] To address these issues, it is crucial to uniformly balance the state of charge (SOC) of battery cells. For example, when the SOC deviation between battery cells is at a certain level or higher, balancing can be performed using a balancing current. Summary of the Invention

[0009] Technical issues

[0010] However, the balancing function can artificially reduce the SOC deviation between battery cells, making it impossible to quickly diagnose battery cell abnormalities. Due to the balancing function, even abnormal battery cells with internal short circuits or other types of faults may not be diagnosed at an early stage.

[0011] Embodiments disclosed herein provide a battery diagnosis apparatus and an operating method thereof, in which abnormality of a battery cell can be diagnosed by using a feature that the abnormal battery cell has a higher balancing execution rate due to an SOC deviation from other normal battery cells.

[0012] Technical problems of the embodiments disclosed herein are not limited to the above-mentioned technical problems, and other unmentioned technical problems will be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art from the following description.

[0013] Technical Solution

[0014] A battery diagnostic device according to an embodiment disclosed herein includes: an acquisition unit configured to acquire a balancing execution time of a battery cell; a calculation unit configured to calculate at least one balancing execution rate based on the balancing execution time; and a diagnosis unit configured to diagnose an abnormality of the battery cell by comparing a specified balancing execution rate corresponding to a specified cycle with a reference rate.

[0015] In the battery diagnosis device according to the embodiment disclosed herein, the calculation unit may be further configured to calculate the designated balancing execution rate based on a value obtained by dividing a balancing execution time of the battery cell during the designated period by the designated period.

[0016] The battery diagnosis apparatus according to the embodiment disclosed herein may further include a determination unit configured to determine the reference rate based on another balancing execution rate corresponding to another cycle before the designated cycle.

[0017] The battery diagnosis apparatus according to the embodiment disclosed herein may further include a determination unit configured to determine the reference rate based on another balancing execution rate of another battery cell of the same model as the battery cell.

[0018] In the battery diagnosis apparatus according to the embodiment disclosed herein, the diagnosis unit may be further configured to diagnose the battery cell as an abnormal battery cell when a difference between the designated balancing execution rate and the reference rate is greater than or equal to a designated value.

[0019] The battery diagnosis device according to the embodiment disclosed herein may further include an abnormality processing unit configured to perform an abnormality processing function based on the abnormality diagnosis result of the battery cell, wherein the abnormality processing function includes a notification function and / or a short circuit function.

[0020] In the battery diagnostic device according to the embodiment disclosed herein, the abnormality handling unit can also be configured to perform the notification function regarding the abnormal diagnostic result and / or information related to the battery cell, and the information related to the battery cell may include manufacturing information of the battery cell and / or location information about the arrangement of the battery cell.

[0021] In the battery diagnostic device according to the embodiments disclosed herein, the battery unit may be a battery cell, a battery module, a battery pack, or a battery rack.

[0022] A battery diagnosis method according to an embodiment disclosed herein includes the following steps: acquiring a balancing execution time of a battery cell; calculating at least one balancing execution rate based on the balancing execution time; and diagnosing an abnormality of the battery cell by comparing a specified balancing execution rate corresponding to a specified period with a reference rate.

[0023] In the battery diagnosis method according to the embodiment disclosed herein, the step of calculating the at least one balancing execution rate may include the step of calculating the designated balancing execution rate based on a value obtained by dividing the balancing execution time of the battery cells during the designated cycle by the designated cycle.

[0024] The battery diagnosis method according to the embodiment disclosed herein may further include the step of determining the reference rate based on another balancing execution rate corresponding to another cycle before the designated cycle.

[0025] The battery diagnosis method according to the embodiment disclosed herein may further include determining the reference rate based on another balancing execution rate of another battery cell of the same model as the battery cell.

[0026] In the battery diagnosis method according to the embodiment disclosed herein, the step of diagnosing the abnormality of the battery cell may include the step of diagnosing the battery cell as an abnormal battery cell when the difference between the designated balancing execution rate and the reference rate is greater than or equal to a designated value.

[0027] The battery diagnosis method according to the embodiment disclosed herein may further include the step of executing an abnormality handling function based on the abnormality diagnosis result of the battery cell, wherein the abnormality handling function includes a notification function and / or a short circuit function.

[0028] In the battery diagnosis method according to the embodiment disclosed herein, the step of executing the abnormality handling function may include the following steps: executing the notification function regarding the abnormal diagnosis result and / or information related to the battery cell, and the information related to the battery cell may include manufacturing information of the battery cell and / or location information about the arrangement of the battery cell.

[0029] Beneficial effects

[0030] The battery diagnostic apparatus and the operating method thereof according to various embodiments disclosed herein may detect the occurrence of a short circuit or another type of fault inside a battery.

[0031] Effects of the battery abnormality diagnostic device and the operating method thereof according to the disclosure of this document are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the disclosure of this document.

[0032] Furthermore, various effects directly or indirectly recognized from the present disclosure can be provided. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a battery diagnostic device according to an embodiment.

[0034] Figure 2 is a diagram for describing an example in which a balancing execution rate of an abnormal battery cell increases as a cycle changes according to an embodiment.

[0035] Figure 3 is a diagram for describing an example in which a balancing execution rate of an abnormal battery cell increases as a cycle changes according to an embodiment.

[0036] Figure 4 is an operation flow chart of the battery diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, this description is not intended to limit the present disclosure to a specific embodiment, and should be construed to include various modifications, equivalents and / or alternatives according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0038] It should be understood that the various embodiments of this document and the terms used therein are not intended to limit the technical features set forth herein to specific embodiments, and include various changes, equivalents, or replacements to the corresponding embodiments. With respect to the description of the drawings, similar reference numerals may be used to refer to similar or related elements. It should be understood that the singular form of a noun corresponding to an item may include one or more things, unless the relevant context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0039] As used herein, each of the phrases such as "A or B", "at least one of A and B", "at least one of A or B", "A, B or C", "at least one of A, B and C", and "at least one of A, B or C" may include any one or all possible combinations of the items listed together in the corresponding phrase. Unless otherwise specified, phrases such as "1 st ”, “2 nd ,” “first,” “second,” “A,” “B,” “(a),” or “(b)” may be used to simply distinguish a corresponding component from another component and do not limit the components in other respects (e.g., importance or order).

[0040] Herein, it should be understood that when one element (e.g., a first element) is referred to as being “connected,” “coupled,” or “linked” to another element (e.g., a second element), or “coupled to” or “connected to” another element (e.g., a second element), regardless of whether the term “operably” or “communicably” is used, it means that the element can be connected to the other element directly (e.g., by wire), wirelessly, or through a third element.

[0041] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method according to various embodiments of the disclosure disclosed herein may be included and provided in a computer program product. The computer program product may be traded between a seller and a buyer as a product. The computer program product may be distributed in the form of a machine-readable storage medium (e.g., a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM)), or distributed online (e.g., downloaded or uploaded) via an application store, or distributed directly between two user devices. If distributed online, at least a portion of the computer program product may be temporarily generated or at least temporarily stored in a machine-readable storage medium, such as a memory of a manufacturer's server, a server of an application store, or a relay server.

[0042] According to various embodiments, each of the above components (e.g., a module or a program) may include a single entity or multiple entities, and some of the multiple entities may be separately provided in different components. According to various embodiments, one or more of the above components may be omitted, or one or more other components may be added. Alternatively or additionally, multiple components (e.g., modules or programs) may be integrated into a single component. In this case, according to various embodiments, the integrated component may still perform one or more functions of each of the multiple components in the same or a similar manner as performed by the corresponding one of the multiple components before integration. According to various embodiments, operations performed by a module, a program, or another component may be performed sequentially, in parallel, repeatedly, or heuristically, or one or more operations may be performed in a different order or omitted, or one or more other operations may be added.

[0043] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a battery diagnostic device according to an embodiment.

[0044] Referring to Figure 1 , the battery diagnostic device 101 may be connected to the electronic device 103 and / or the external device 105 wiredly and / or wirelessly.

[0045] According to an embodiment, the connection 104 between the battery diagnostic device 101 and the electronic device 103 may be a communication connection via a wired network and / or a wireless network. According to an embodiment, the wired network may be based on local area network (LAN) communication or power line communication. According to an embodiment, the wireless network may be based on a short-range communication network (e.g., Bluetooth, wireless fidelity (WiFi), or infrared data association (IrDA)) or a long-range communication network (e.g., a cellular network, a fourth-generation (4G) network, a fifth-generation (5G) network).

[0046] In another embodiment, the connection 104 between the battery diagnostic device 101 and the electronic device 103 may be a connection using a device-to-device communication scheme (e.g., a bus, a general-purpose input and output (GPIO), a serial peripheral interface (SPI), or a mobile industry processor interface (MIPI)).

[0047] According to an embodiment, the connection 106 between the battery diagnostic device 101 and the external device 105 may be a communication connection via a wired network and / or a wireless network.

[0048] According to an embodiment, the electronic device 103 may be a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone, a laptop computer, a smart phone, a smart tablet), an electric vehicle (e.g., an electric vehicle (EV), a hybrid EV (HEV), a plug-in HEV (PHEV), a fuel cell EV (FCEV)), an energy storage system (ESS), or a battery swapping system (BSS).

[0049] According to an embodiment, the electronic device 103 may include one or more battery cells 111, 113, and 115. Each of the one or more battery cells 111, 113, and 115 may be a battery cell, a battery module, a battery pack, or a battery rack.

[0050] According to an embodiment, the external device 105 may be a user terminal or an external server. Herein, the user terminal may be a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone, a laptop computer, a smart phone, a smart tablet) or a personal computer (PC).

[0051] According to an embodiment, the battery diagnostic device 101 may include a communication circuit 120, a sensor 130, a memory 140, and a processor 150. According to an embodiment, in addition to Figure 1 the components shown, Figure 1 the battery diagnostic device 101 shown may further include at least one component (e.g., a display, an input device, or an output device).

[0052] According to an embodiment, the communication circuit 120 may establish a wired communication channel and / or a wireless communication channel between the battery diagnostic device 101 and the electronic device 103 and / or the external device 105, and send data to the electronic device 103 and / or the external device 105 and receive data from the electronic device 103 and / or the external device 105 through the established communication channel.

[0053] According to an embodiment, the sensor 130 may obtain values related to the states of the battery cells 111, 113, and 115 of the electronic device 103. According to an embodiment, the values related to the states may indicate one or more values or a combination thereof of the voltage, current, resistance, state of charge (SOC), state of health (SoH), or temperature of the battery cells 111, 113, and 115. Hereinafter, the values related to the states may be referred to as "state values".

[0054] According to an embodiment, the memory 140 may include volatile and / or non-volatile memory.

[0055] Depending on the embodiment, memory 140 may store data used by at least one component of battery diagnostic device 101 (e.g., processor 150). For example, the data may include software (or instructions related thereto), input data, or output data. Depending on the embodiment, when the instructions are executed by processor 150, battery abnormality diagnostic device 101 may perform the operations defined by the instructions.

[0056] According to an embodiment, the memory 140 may include one or more software (eg, an acquisition unit 141 , a calculation unit 143 , a determination unit 145 , a diagnosis unit 147 , and an exception handling unit 149 ).

[0057] Depending on the embodiment, the processor 150 may include a central processing unit, an application processor, a graphics processing unit, a neural processing unit (NPU), an image signal processor, a sensor hub processor, or a communication processor.

[0058] According to an embodiment, the processor 150 can execute software (e.g., the acquisition unit 141, the calculation unit 143, the determination unit 145, the diagnosis unit 147, and the exception handling unit 149) to control at least one other component of the battery diagnostic device 101 connected to the processor 150 (e.g., a hardware or software component) and perform various data processing or operations.

[0059] Hereinafter, a method of diagnosing an abnormality of the battery cell 111 , 113 , or 115 performed by the battery diagnosis apparatus 101 through the acquisition unit 141 , the calculation unit 143 , the diagnosis unit 147 , and / or the abnormality processing unit 149 will be described.

[0060] According to an embodiment, the acquisition unit 141 may acquire the balancing execution time of the battery cell 111, 113, or 115. According to an embodiment, the acquisition unit 141 may acquire the balancing execution time of the battery cell 111, 113, or 115 from the electronic device 103 connected via a wired and / or wireless network. In this document, the balancing execution time may refer to the time required to uniformly perform balancing on the state of charge (SoC) having deviations between the battery cells 111, 113, and 115. Such balancing may be performed autonomously within the electronic device 103. The balancing execution time may refer to the time required to perform balancing on the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 from a first time point to a second time point.

[0061] According to an embodiment, the obtaining unit 141 may obtain the balance execution time and / or balance execution rate of another battery cell of the same model as the battery cells 111, 113, or 115. According to an embodiment, the obtaining unit 141 may obtain the balance execution time and / or balance execution rate of another battery cell from an external device 105 (e.g., an external server) connected via a wired and / or wireless network. Herein, the another battery cell may have the same model as the battery cells 111, 113, or 115, and may refer to a battery cell disposed in an electronic device other than the electronic device 103.

[0062] According to an embodiment, the calculating unit 143 may calculate at least one balance execution rate based on the balance execution time of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 obtained by the obtaining unit 141. For example, the calculating unit 143 may calculate the balance execution rate for each of a plurality of cycles included in a period from a first time point to a second time point of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115.

[0063] According to an embodiment, the calculating unit 143 may calculate a specified balance execution rate based on the balance execution time and the specified period of a specified period among the obtained balance execution times. In an embodiment, the calculating unit 143 may calculate the specified balance execution rate based on a value obtained by dividing the balance execution time of the specified period by the specified period.

[0064] According to an embodiment, the calculating unit 143 may calculate another balance execution rate based on another balance execution time and another period of another period before the specified period among the obtained balance execution times. In an embodiment, the calculating unit 143 may calculate the another balance execution rate based on a value obtained by dividing the another balance execution time of the another period by the another period. Herein, the another period may have the same or different duration as the specified period.

[0065] Hereinafter, for convenience of description, it will be assumed that the obtaining unit 141 obtains the balance execution time of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 from a first time point to a second time point for description. Another period from a third time point after the first time point to a fourth time point before the second time point may be referred to as a first period, and a specified period from the fourth time point to the second time point may be referred to as a second period. The balance execution time of the first period (or the second period) may be referred to as a first balance execution time (or a second balance execution time), and another balance execution rate (or a specified balance execution rate) may be referred to as a first balance execution rate (or a second balance execution rate). However, this is merely an example, and the specified period and another period may be set differently.

[0066] For example, the calculation unit 143 can calculate a first balancing execution rate (e.g., 1%) by multiplying 100 by a value obtained by dividing a first balancing execution time (e.g., 7.2 hours) of a first period (e.g., 720 hours) by the first period. The calculation unit 143 can calculate a second balancing execution rate (e.g., 5%) by multiplying 100 by a value obtained by dividing a second balancing execution time (e.g., 36 hours) of a second period (e.g., 720 hours) by the second period.

[0067] According to an embodiment, the calculation unit 143 may calculate another balancing execution rate based on the balancing execution time of another battery cell obtained by the acquisition unit 141 .

[0068] Depending on the embodiment, the determination unit 145 may determine a reference rate. Depending on the embodiment, the determination unit 145 may determine the reference rate based on another balancing execution rate. For example, the determination unit 145 may determine another balancing execution rate as the reference rate. In another example, the determination unit 145 may determine the reference rate as the average balancing execution rate of multiple other balancing execution rates obtained by the acquisition unit 141 and / or calculated by the calculation unit 143.

[0069] According to an embodiment, the other balancing execution rate may represent another balancing execution rate corresponding to another cycle before the specified cycle among the at least one balancing execution rate of the battery cell 111, 113, or 115 calculated by the calculation unit 143. In this case, the calculation unit 143 may determine the reference rate based on the first balancing execution rate corresponding to the first cycle before the second cycle.

[0070] According to another embodiment, the another balancing execution rate may represent another balancing execution rate of another battery cell obtained by the acquiring unit 141 or calculated by the calculating unit 143 .

[0071] According to an embodiment, the diagnosis unit 147 may diagnose abnormality of the battery cell 111 , 113 , or 115 .

[0072] According to an embodiment, the diagnosis unit 147 may diagnose an abnormality of the battery cell 111, 113, or 115 by comparing a designated balancing execution rate corresponding to a designated period among at least one balancing execution rate of the battery cell 111, 113, or 115 calculated by the calculation unit 143 with a reference rate. Herein, the reference rate may be a ratio previously stored in the memory 140 or a ratio calculated by the determination unit 145.

[0073] According to an embodiment, the diagnosis unit 147 may diagnose a battery cell 111, 113, or 115 in which the difference between the specified balance execution rate and the reference rate is greater than or equal to a specified value as an abnormal battery cell. The diagnosis unit 147 may diagnose a battery cell 111, 113, or 115 in which the difference is less than the specified value as a normal battery cell. Here, the specified value may be set differently according to the specifications of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115.

[0074] For example, when the specified value is set to 3% and the determination unit 145 determines the reference rate as the first balance execution rate (e.g., 1%), the diagnosis unit 147 may diagnose the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 as abnormal battery cells because the difference between the second balance execution rate (e.g., 5%) and the first balance execution rate is 4%, which is greater than or equal to the specified value.

[0075] For an abnormal battery cell having an internal short circuit or a fault, an electronic device including the battery cell may autonomously increase the balance execution rate. The battery diagnosis device 101 may use the above characteristics to pre-diagnose whether a battery cell 111, 113, or 115 with an increased balance execution rate compared to the previous cycle is abnormal, thereby reducing the risk of damaging the electronic device 103.

[0076] According to an embodiment, the abnormality handling unit 149 may perform an abnormality handling function based on the abnormality diagnosis result of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115. In an embodiment, the abnormality handling function may include a notification function or a short-circuit function.

[0077] According to an embodiment, the abnormality handling unit 149 may perform a notification function regarding the abnormality diagnosis result of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 and / or information related to the battery cells 111, 113, or 115. For example, the information related to the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 may include manufacturing information of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 and / or position information regarding the arrangement of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115. Here, the position information regarding the arrangement of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 may include information about the position where the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 are located in the electronic device 103, and more specifically, information about the connection relationship between the battery cells 111, 113, and 115.

[0078] According to an embodiment, the abnormality handling unit 149 may send the abnormality diagnosis result of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 and / or information related to the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 to a user terminal 105 connected via a wired and / or wireless network.

[0079] According to an embodiment, the abnormality processing unit 149 may isolate an abnormal battery cell from the electronic device 103 based on the abnormality diagnosis result of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115. Here, the isolation may include electrical isolation and / or mechanical isolation.

[0080] Figure 2 is a view for describing an example in which the balance execution rate of an abnormal battery cell according to an embodiment increases as the cycle changes. Components of Figure 1 will be used to describe Figure 2 .

[0081] Referring to Figure 2 , graphs 210 and 220 are shown. Graph 210 shows the balance execution rate calculated based on the time when balance is performed on multiple battery cells during a first cycle, and graph 220 shows the balance execution rate calculated based on the time when balance is performed during a second cycle after the first cycle. Here, the balance execution rate may be calculated by the calculation unit 143.

[0082] In graphs 210 and 220, for the fifth battery cell among the multiple battery cells, from the first cycle to the second cycle, the balance execution rate increases from 1% to 5%. On the other hand, for the other battery cells except the fifth battery cell, although the cycle changes, the balance execution rate hardly changes.

[0083] In this case, the diagnosis unit 147 may diagnose the fifth battery cell as an abnormal battery cell because the difference between the balance execution rate (1%) in the first cycle determined as the reference rate by the determination unit 145 and the balance execution rate (5%) in the second cycle is greater than or equal to a specified value (e.g., 3%). The diagnosis unit 147 may diagnose the other battery cells with no change in the balance execution rate as normal battery cells.

[0084] Figure 3 is a view for describing an example in which the balance execution rate of an abnormal battery cell according to an embodiment increases as the cycle changes. Components of Figure 1 will be used to describe Figure 3 .

[0085] Referring to Figure 3 , graphs 310 and 320 are shown. Graph 310 shows the balance execution rate calculated based on the time when balance is performed on multiple battery cells during a first cycle, and graph 320 shows the balance execution rate calculated based on the time when balance is performed during a second cycle after the first cycle. Here, the balance execution rate may be calculated by the calculation unit 143.

[0086] In FIGS. 310 and 320, for the first to fourth battery cells among a plurality of battery cells, from the first cycle to the second cycle, the balance execution rate increases from 1% to 5%. On the other hand, for the fifth battery cell, although the cycle changes, the balance execution rate hardly changes.

[0087] In this case, the diagnosis unit 147 can diagnose the first to fourth battery cells and the sixth to tenth battery cells as abnormal battery cells because the difference between the balance execution rate (1%) in the first cycle determined as the reference rate by the determination unit 145 and the balance execution rate (5%) in the second cycle is greater than or equal to a specified value (e.g., 3%). The diagnosis unit 147 can also diagnose the fifth battery cell with no change in the balance execution rate as a normal battery cell.

[0088] Figure 4 is an operation flowchart of a battery diagnosis device according to an embodiment. The components of Figure 1 will be used to describe Figure 4 .

[0089] Figure 4 The illustrated embodiment may be an example, and the operation order according to various embodiments of the present disclosure may be different from Figure 4 the operation order shown, and some operations shown in Figure 4 may be omitted, the order of operations may be changed, or operations may be combined. For example, in Figure 4 , operation 415 and / or operation 425 may be omitted.

[0090] Referring to Figure 4 , in operation 405, the battery diagnosis device 101 can obtain the balance execution time of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115. According to an embodiment, the battery diagnosis device 101 can obtain the balance execution time of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 from an electronic device 103 connected via a wired network and / or a wireless network. Here, the balance execution time may mean the time for uniformly performing balance on the state of charge (SoC) having a deviation among the battery cells 111, 113, and 115. Such balance can be autonomously performed inside the electronic device 103. The balance execution time may mean the time for the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 to perform balance from a first time point to a second time point.

[0091] According to an embodiment, the battery diagnostic device 101 may obtain the equalization execution time and / or equalization execution rate of another battery cell of the same model as the battery cells 111, 113, or 115. According to an embodiment, the battery diagnostic device 101 may obtain the equalization execution time and / or equalization execution rate of another battery cell from an external device 105 (e.g., an external server) connected via a wired and / or wireless network. Herein, the another battery cell may have the same model as the battery cells 111, 113, or 115, and may refer to a battery cell disposed in an electronic device other than the electronic device 103.

[0092] In operation 410, the battery diagnostic device 101 may calculate at least one equalization execution time.

[0093] According to an embodiment, the battery diagnostic device 101 may calculate at least one equalization execution rate based on the equalization execution time of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 obtained in operation 405. For example, the battery diagnostic device 101 may calculate the equalization execution rate for each cycle included in a plurality of cycles during a period from a first time point to a second time point of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115.

[0094] According to an embodiment, the battery diagnostic device 101 may calculate a specified equalization execution rate based on the equalization execution time and a specified period of a specified period among the obtained equalization execution times. In an embodiment, the battery diagnostic device 101 may calculate the specified equalization execution rate based on a value obtained by dividing the equalization execution time of the specified period by the specified period.

[0095] According to an embodiment, the battery diagnostic device 101 may calculate another equalization execution rate based on another equalization execution time and another period of another period before the specified period among the obtained equalization execution times. In an embodiment, the battery diagnostic device 101 may calculate the another equalization execution rate based on a value obtained by dividing the another equalization execution time of the another period by the another period. Herein, the another period may have the same or different duration as the specified period.

[0096] According to an embodiment, the battery diagnostic device 101 may calculate another equalization execution rate based on the equalization execution time of another battery cell obtained in operation 405.

[0097] In operation 415, the battery diagnostic device 101 may determine a reference rate. According to an embodiment, the battery diagnostic device 101 may determine the reference rate based on another balance execution rate. For example, the battery diagnostic device 101 may determine another balance execution rate as the reference rate. In another example, the battery diagnostic device 101 may determine the average balance execution rate of a plurality of other balance execution rates obtained in operation 405 and / or calculated in operation 410 as the reference rate.

[0098] According to an embodiment, another balance execution rate may represent another balance execution rate corresponding to another cycle before a specified cycle among at least one balance execution rate of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 calculated in operation 410.

[0099] According to another embodiment, another balance execution rate may represent another balance execution rate of another battery cell obtained in operation 405 or calculated in operation 410.

[0100] In operation 420, the battery diagnostic device 101 may diagnose an abnormality of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 by comparing a specified balance execution rate of at least one balance execution rate calculated in operation 410 with the reference rate. Here, the reference rate may be a rate previously stored in the battery diagnostic device 101 or a rate calculated in operation 415.

[0101] According to an embodiment, the battery diagnostic device 101 may diagnose the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 with a difference between the specified balance execution rate and the reference rate greater than or equal to a specified value as abnormal battery cells. The battery diagnostic device 101 may diagnose the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 with a difference less than the specified value as normal battery cells. Here, the specified value may be set differently according to the specifications of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115.

[0102] For an abnormal battery cell having an internal short circuit or failure, an electronic device including the battery cell may autonomously increase the balance execution rate. The battery diagnostic device 101 may use the above characteristics to early diagnose whether the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 with an increased balance execution rate compared to the previous cycle are abnormal, thereby reducing the risk of damaging the electronic device 103.

[0103] In operation 425, the battery diagnostic device 101 may perform an abnormality handling function based on the abnormality diagnosis result of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115. In an embodiment, the abnormality handling function may include a notification function or a short circuit function.

[0104] According to an embodiment, the battery diagnostic device 101 may perform a notification function regarding an abnormal diagnosis result of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 and / or information related to the battery cells 111, 113, or 115. For example, the information related to the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 may include manufacturing information of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 and / or location information regarding the arrangement of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115. Here, the location information regarding the arrangement of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 may include information about the location where the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 are located in the electronic device 103, and more specifically, information about the connection relationship between the battery cells 111, 113, and 115.

[0105] According to an embodiment, the battery diagnostic device 101 may send an abnormal diagnosis result of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 and / or information related to the battery cells 111, 113, or 115 to the user terminal 105 connected through a wired and / or wireless network.

[0106] According to an embodiment, the battery diagnostic device 101 may isolate an abnormal battery cell from the electronic device 103 based on the abnormal diagnosis result of the battery cells 111, 113, or 115. Here, the isolation may include electrical isolation and / or mechanical isolation.

[0107] Unless otherwise specified, terms such as "including", "comprising", or "having" as described above may mean that the corresponding components may be inherent, and thus should be interpreted as further including other components rather than excluding other components. Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical or scientific terms have the same meaning as commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the embodiments disclosed herein belong. Commonly used terms such as those defined in a dictionary should be interpreted as having the same meaning as the context meaning of the related art, and should not be interpreted as having an ideal or overly formal meaning unless they are clearly defined in this document.

Claims

1. A battery diagnosis device, the battery diagnosis device comprising: An acquisition unit configured to acquire the balance execution time of a battery cell; A calculation unit configured to calculate at least one balance execution rate based on the balance execution time; And A diagnosis unit configured to diagnose an abnormality of the battery cell by comparing a specified balance execution rate corresponding to a specified period with a reference rate.

2. The battery diagnosis device according to claim 1, wherein, The calculation unit is further configured to calculate the specified balance execution rate based on a value obtained by dividing the balance execution time of the battery cell during the specified period by the specified period.

3. The battery diagnosis device according to claim 1, the battery diagnosis device further comprising a determination unit configured to determine the reference rate based on another balance execution rate corresponding to another period before the specified period.

4. The battery diagnosis device according to claim 1, the battery diagnosis device further comprising a determination unit configured to determine the reference rate based on another balance execution rate of another battery cell of the same model as the battery cell.

5. The battery diagnosis device according to claim 1, wherein, The diagnosis unit is further configured to diagnose the battery cell as an abnormal battery cell when the difference between the specified balance execution rate and the reference rate is greater than or equal to a specified value.

6. The battery diagnosis device according to claim 1, the battery diagnosis device further comprising an abnormality processing unit configured to perform an abnormality processing function based on the abnormality diagnosis result of the battery cell, Among them, The abnormality processing function includes a notification function and / or a short-circuit function.

7. The battery diagnosis device according to claim 6, wherein, The abnormality processing unit is further configured to perform the notification function regarding the abnormality diagnosis result and / or information related to the battery cell, and The information related to the battery cell includes the manufacturing information of the battery cell and / or the position information regarding the arrangement of the battery cell.

8. The battery diagnosis device according to claim 1, wherein, The battery cell is a battery cell, a battery module, a battery pack, or a battery rack.

9. A battery diagnosis method, the battery diagnosis method comprising the following steps: Acquiring the balance execution time of a battery cell; Calculating at least one balance execution rate based on the balance execution time; and Diagnosing an abnormality of the battery cell by comparing a specified balance execution rate corresponding to a specified period with a reference rate.

10. The battery diagnosis method according to claim 9, wherein, The step of calculating the at least one balance execution rate includes the following steps: calculating the specified balance execution rate based on a value obtained by dividing the balance execution time of the battery cell during the specified period by the specified period.

11. The battery diagnosis method according to claim 9, wherein the battery diagnosis method further comprises the following steps: Determining the reference rate based on another balance execution rate corresponding to another period before the specified period.

12. The battery diagnosis method according to claim 9, wherein the battery diagnosis method further comprises the following steps: Determining the reference rate based on another balance execution rate of another battery cell of the same model as the battery cell.

13. The battery diagnosis method according to claim 9, wherein, The step of diagnosing an abnormality of the battery cell includes the following steps: diagnosing the battery cell as an abnormal battery cell when the difference between the specified balance execution rate and the reference rate is greater than or equal to a specified value.

14. The battery diagnosis method according to claim 9, wherein the battery diagnosis method further comprises the following steps: Performing an abnormality processing function based on the abnormality diagnosis result of the battery cell, Among them, the abnormal handling function includes a notification function and / or a short-circuit function.

15. The battery diagnosis method according to claim 14, wherein, The steps of performing the abnormal handling function include the following steps: performing the notification function regarding the abnormal diagnosis result and / or information related to the battery cell, and The information related to the battery cell includes the manufacturing information of the battery cell and / or position information regarding the arrangement of the battery cell.

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