Expandable power device, charger, power aggregation system and power distribution method

Abstract

The application relates to the new energy technology field and provides an expandable power device, a charger, a power aggregation system and a power distribution method.The expandable power device comprises at least one power module, at least one virtual module, each virtual module occupies one power module slot or shares the power module slot with one power module, the module output interface of the corresponding power module slot of each virtual module is used for being connected with a gun line, the gun line on the corresponding charging terminal of the expanded power device is connected with the expanded power device in series, and the power of the expanded power device is acquired to realize power aggregation.The application only needs a small amount of electrical structure modification and software adaptation, realizes idle power sharing among multiple power devices at low cost on the basis of the overall structure design of the existing power device, flexibly utilizes idle gun lines, and meets the charging demands of users in different situations and different scenes.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of new energy technology, specifically to an expandable power device, a charger, a power aggregation system, and a power distribution method. Background Technology

[0002] Against the backdrop of the rapid development of new energy vehicles, chargers, as an important component of energy replenishment infrastructure, directly impact user experience and industry development through their performance and efficiency. Among these developments, the pursuit of high-power charging technology has become an industry trend.

[0003] In pursuit of higher power, more charging guns, and more flexible power distribution solutions, DC split chargers in the form of terminals plus power devices have developed rapidly. However, whether it is an integrated charger or a split charger, most chargers, once the electrical structure is fixed, have an upper limit on the number of power modules in the power device, making it difficult to meet the ever-increasing charging needs of users. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To address the aforementioned technical problems, this invention provides an expandable power device, a power aggregation system, and a power distribution method. By designing a virtual module connected to the charging gun line within the expandable power device, the virtual module can directly obtain power from ordinary power devices or other expandable power devices by disguising itself as a vehicle end through the charging gun line, thereby achieving power aggregation to meet the ever-increasing charging needs of users. This can be achieved with only minor electrical structure modifications and software adaptations, requiring minimal changes to the overall structural design of the power device. Furthermore, it allows for flexible utilization of idle charging gun lines, enabling power module sharing among multiple power devices at a relatively low modification cost, thus meeting the charging needs of users under different conditions and scenarios.

[0005] The technical solution adopted in this invention is as follows:

[0006] An expandable power device includes: at least one power module; at least one virtual module, each virtual module occupying one power module slot or sharing a power module slot with one power module, the module output interface of the power module slot corresponding to each virtual module being connected to a charging cable, the virtual module being connected in series with the expanded power device through the charging cable on the charging terminal corresponding to the expanded power device to obtain the power of the expanded power device, thereby realizing power aggregation, wherein the expanded power device is a general power device or other expandable power device.

[0007] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the module output interface and communication interface in the power module slot corresponding to the virtual module are respectively connected to the power line and communication line in the gun line.

[0008] According to one embodiment of the present invention, when the virtual module shares a power module slot with the power module, the virtual module can control the module output by means of the output circuit relay of the terminal of the extended power device. When the output voltage difference between the virtual module and the power module is less than a voltage threshold, the output circuit relay is turned on; otherwise, the output circuit relay is turned off.

[0009] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the expandable power device further includes: a power distribution unit, which allocates corresponding module requirements to the power module and the virtual module according to the vehicle-end requirements, wherein the output characteristic curve of the virtual module is determined by the output characteristics of the gun line.

[0010] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the virtual module transmits the corresponding virtual module requirements to the extended power device through a proprietary charging protocol or a modified standard charging protocol, thereby obtaining power.

[0011] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the virtual module communicates with the power distribution unit based on the power module protocol, communicates with the charging terminal corresponding to the extended power device based on the modified standard charging protocol, and realizes the conversion between the power module protocol and the modified standard charging protocol through protocol mapping. The modified standard charging protocol modifies the vehicle-side feature message into an aggregated feature message describing the extended power device based on the traditional standard charging protocol.

[0012] Specifically, the protocol mapping related to module control includes: mapping the virtual module's power-on setting command to the BHM (Vehicle Handshake Message) handshake in the standard charging protocol; mapping the virtual module's power-off setting command to sending the BST (BMS Stop Charging Message) shutdown command; mapping the virtual module's current limit point setting to modifying the maximum allowable current in the BCP (Vehicle Charging Parameter Message); and mapping the virtual module's voltage and current output settings to setting the voltage and current requirements in the BCL (Battery Charging Demand Message), while maintaining the charging mode as constant voltage charging mode, etc.

[0013] The protocol mappings related to virtual module query commands include: reading the maximum output power of the virtual module, which is mapped to parsing the CML (Charger Maximum Output Capability Message) to obtain the maximum output capacity of the charger; reading the module running time, module voltage output value, and module current output value, which are respectively mapped to reading the cumulative charging time, vehicle interface current voltage measurement value, and vehicle interface current current measurement value from the CCS (Charger Charging Status Message); and reading module faults, which are mapped to reading a custom CEM (Charger Error Message), etc.

[0014] According to one embodiment of the present invention, when the virtual module communicates with the extended power device using a modified standard charging protocol, the BRM (BMS and vehicle identification message) it sends includes: the charging protocol version and the maximum output power of the power device of the extended power device where the virtual module is located, wherein the charging protocol version is used to identify whether the sender of the BRM message is the extended power device or the vehicle.

[0015] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the power module and the virtual module in the expandable power device realize matrix power distribution or parallel power distribution through the power distribution unit.

[0016] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the power distribution unit is connected to its corresponding charging terminal to receive virtual module requirements output by other expandable power devices, so that other expandable power devices can obtain the power of the virtual module in the expandable power device, or the power of the power module, or the power of the virtual module and the power module through the charging terminal and its charging cable, and the corresponding power distribution unit.

[0017] According to one embodiment of the present invention, when the expandable power device is connected in series with other expandable power devices, the power allocation unit of the expandable power device allocates module requirements to the power supply module and the virtual module, and organizes and manages the callable power supply module and virtual module in the expandable power device and other expandable power devices based on a tree structure.

[0018] According to one embodiment of the present invention, when the scalable power device organizes and manages callable power modules and virtual modules based on a tree structure, power modules are defined as real nodes and virtual modules as virtual nodes. Real nodes do not have child nodes, while virtual nodes may have one or more child nodes. The child nodes of a virtual node can be either real nodes or virtual nodes. Using the scalable power device as the root node, a traversal is performed. When a real node is encountered repeatedly or a leaf node is a virtual node, the traversal is backtracked and dequeued, and the tree structure is updated to ensure that all leaf nodes in the tree structure are unique real nodes, thereby finding all callable power modules.

[0019] In addition, to achieve the above objectives, the present invention also proposes a charger.

[0020] A charger includes: an expandable power device as described above, a charging terminal, a converged socket, and a converged identification unit. The charging terminal is used to send vehicle-side requests to the expandable power device. A first end of the converged socket is connected to the module output interface of a power module slot corresponding to a virtual module, and a second end of the converged socket is used to connect to an external charging cable. The converged identification unit is connected to a third end of the converged socket and is used to identify converged guidance signals to control guidance.

[0021] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the module output interface and communication interface in the power module slot corresponding to the virtual module are connected to the power line and communication line in the gun line through the first end and the second end of the aggregation socket, respectively. The aggregation identification unit is connected to the guide line of the gun line through the third end and the second end of the aggregation socket to identify the aggregation guide signal.

[0022] Furthermore, to achieve the above objectives, the present invention also proposes a power polymerization system.

[0023] A power aggregation system includes: at least two scalable power devices as described above, or at least one of the scalable power devices and at least one ordinary power device, wherein a virtual module within the scalable power device is connected in series with the power device being aggregated via a charging terminal corresponding to the power device being aggregated, and obtains the power of the power device being aggregated to achieve power aggregation, wherein the power device being aggregated is an ordinary power device or other scalable power device.

[0024] According to one embodiment of the present invention, one end of the charging cable is connected to the expandable power device of the first charger, and the other end of the charging cable is connected to the charging terminal on the second charger. The charging terminal is connected to the ordinary power device or the expandable power device of the second charger.

[0025] In addition, to achieve the above objectives, the present invention also proposes a power allocation method.

[0026] A power allocation method includes the following steps: an expandable power device acquires vehicle-side demand; the expandable power device allocates the vehicle-side demand to the power module and the virtual module based on a power allocation algorithm; the virtual module acquires power from the expanded power device according to the corresponding virtual module demand and provides it to the expandable power device, wherein the expanded power device is a general power device or other expandable power device.

[0027] According to one embodiment of the present invention, power allocation can select allocation modes such as virtual module priority allocation, virtual module last allocation, and balanced allocation to suit different application scenarios. When the power allocation algorithm adopts the virtual module priority allocation mode, the vehicle-side demand is allocated to the virtual module. If the power provided by the virtual module cannot meet the vehicle-side demand, the corresponding module demand is allocated to the power module. When the power allocation algorithm adopts the virtual module last allocation mode, the vehicle-side demand is allocated to the power module. If the power module cannot meet the vehicle-side demand, the corresponding virtual module demand is allocated to the virtual module. When the power allocation algorithm adopts the balanced allocation mode, the power module and the virtual module are no longer distinguished during power allocation, and both are treated as ordinary power modules for module demand allocation.

[0028] The beneficial effects of this invention are:

[0029] The expandable power device of this invention, through the design of a virtual module connected to the charging port, enables the virtual module to masquerade as a vehicle end and directly obtain power from a regular power device or other expandable power devices via the charging port, thereby achieving power aggregation to meet the ever-increasing charging needs of users. It requires only minor electrical structure modifications and software adaptations, with minimal changes to the overall structural design of the power device, enabling idle power sharing among multiple power devices at a low cost. Furthermore, the idle charging port of the extended power device's charging terminal does not need to be permanently connected to the expandable power device; the idle charging port can be flexibly selected for power aggregation to obtain greater power or to serve the vehicle, meeting the charging needs of users in different situations and scenarios. Attached Figure Description

[0030] Figure 1 This is a block diagram of an expandable power device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 2 This is a cross-sectional view of the gun wire according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the connection relationship between the expandable power device and the electric field lines in the gun wire according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the connection relationship between the expandable power device and the communication line in the gun wire according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the parallel connection relationship between the virtual module and the power module according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the communication protocol matching relationship of a virtual module according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the protocol mapping relationship between the power module protocol of a virtual module and the modified standard charging protocol in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] Figure 8 A flowchart illustrating power distribution in a scalable power device according to a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 9 The circuit topology diagram of the power module and virtual module using matrix power distribution is shown in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] Figure 10 The circuit topology diagram of the power module and virtual module using parallel power distribution is shown in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0040] Figure 11 This is a tree structure in one embodiment of the present invention, with the expandable power device A as the root node and the power module and the virtual module as leaf nodes.

[0041] Figure 12 This is a block diagram of a charger according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0042] Figure 13 This is a block diagram of a split-type charger according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0043] Figure 14 This is a circuit topology diagram of charger A, charger B and gun wire in a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0044] Figure 15 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a power polymerization system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 16 This is a schematic diagram of a power aggregation system according to a specific embodiment of the present invention, showing a split-type charger connected in a single-stage series connection.

[0046] Figure 17 This is a schematic diagram of a power aggregation system according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing a split charger connected in a star-shaped series configuration.

[0047] Figure 18 This is a flowchart of a power allocation method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0048] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0049] like Figure 1 As shown, the expandable power device 10 of this embodiment includes: at least one power module 11 and at least one virtual module 12. Each virtual module 12 occupies one power module slot or shares a power module slot with one power module 11. The module output interface of the power module slot corresponding to each virtual module 12 is used to connect to the charging cable 20. The virtual module 12 is connected in series with the expanded power device 30 through the charging cable 20 on the charging terminal 40 corresponding to the expanded power device 30, and obtains the power of the expanded power device 30 to achieve power aggregation. The expanded power device 30 can be a regular power device or other expandable power devices. A regular power device may only include the power module 11 and not the virtual module 12, that is, it does not have the function of directly expanding other power devices and can only be used as the expanded power device. The expanded power device 30 and its corresponding charging terminal 40 can be integrated into one cabinet or set separately. This embodiment does not impose any restrictions.

[0050] It is understandable that, under normal circumstances, a power module slot includes the module input interface, module output interface, and communication interface of the power module 11. The expandable power device 10 in this embodiment can be implemented by simple modification of a common power device. For example, if the virtual module 12 adopts a design that directly occupies a power module slot, the power module 11 in the slot can be removed directly, leaving only the original interface in the slot. The module output interface in the original interface can be connected to the output terminal of the charging terminal 40 corresponding to the expanded power device 30, thereby completing the electrical structure modification of the expandable power device 10 and the purpose of connecting it in series with the expanded power device 30.

[0051] When the expandable power device 10 allocates power according to the vehicle's needs, since the virtual module 12 corresponds to a power module slot, the power requirement can be obtained by following the normal power module allocation algorithm, and then the power is obtained from the expanded power device 30 through the gun line 20.

[0052] Specifically, the communication protocol of the virtual module 12 can be based on the mainstream power module communication protocol, and can add commands such as reading the maximum output power of the virtual module and allowing the virtual module to output instructions, so that the virtual module 12 can communicate with the expanded power device 30 through the gun line 20 and obtain power to provide it to the expandable power device 10.

[0053] When expandable power device A distributes power according to vehicle-side requirements, a virtual module can be connected in series with expandable power device B via its charging port C. Following a traditional or simplified charger charging process, the module demand corresponding to the virtual module of expandable power device A is transferred to expandable power device B. Simultaneously, expandable power device B is triggered to distribute power and can again obtain power from other expandable power devices via its virtual module. In this case, charging port C of expandable power device B participates in the power distribution of expandable power device A as a virtual module. When there are current limitations in the charging port, multiple charging ports can be connected in series for current sharing. Based on the above, theoretically, the power demand of expandable power device A can be recursively transferred to all series-connected expandable power devices.

[0054] In scenarios where the number of guns is insufficient but the power is sufficient, the gun wires connected to the virtual module 12 can be released for use by ordinary vehicles. The expandable power device 10, which does not use serial gun wires, can still remain independent and retain its original complete functions, facilitating expansion and transportation.

[0055] According to the expandable power device 10 of this embodiment, by designing a virtual module 12 connected to the charging gun line 20, the virtual module 12 can disguise itself as a vehicle end through the charging gun line 20 to directly obtain power from ordinary power devices or other expandable power devices 10, thereby realizing power aggregation. This can be achieved with only a small amount of electrical structure modification and software adaptation. The overall structural design of the power device needs little modification, and power module sharing among multiple power devices can be achieved at a low modification cost to meet the ever-increasing charging needs of users. At the same time, the idle charging gun line of the charging terminal 40 of the expanded power device 30 does not need to be fixedly connected to the expandable power device 10. The idle charging gun line can be flexibly selected for power aggregation to obtain greater power or to serve the vehicle, meeting the charging needs of users in different situations and scenarios.

[0056] In one embodiment of the present invention, the module output interface and communication interface in the power module slot corresponding to the virtual module 12 are respectively connected to the power line and communication line in the gun line 20. For example... Figure 2 As shown, the gun wire 20 generally includes power lines (DC+ line, DC- line), communication lines (S+ line, S- line), ground wire (PE line), and guide wires (CC1 line, CC2 line). Therefore, the module output interface (DC+ interface, DC- interface) can be directly connected to the corresponding power lines, and the ground wire (PE line) in the gun wire 20 can be connected to the ground interface of the expandable power device 10, such as... Figure 3As shown; if the CAN protocol baud rate set in power module 11 is consistent with the gun line protocol baud rate, the communication interfaces (CAN_H interface, CAN_L interface) can be directly connected to the corresponding communication lines (S+ line, S- line) of gun line 20, such as... Figure 4 As shown; if there is a discrepancy, the CAN (Controller Area Network) protocol baud rate of the communication interface of the power module slot corresponding to the virtual module 12 can be adjusted, or it can be connected to the communication line of the gun line 20 through an adapter. This embodiment does not impose any restrictions.

[0057] It should be noted that this embodiment is only an optional implementation of the connection between the virtual module 12 and the gun line 20. In some other embodiments of the present invention, the virtual module 12 can also communicate with the extended power device 30 through wireless communication, for example, by setting a wireless communication device in the power module slot to communicate with the extended power device 30 through WIFI (Wireless Fidelity), Bluetooth, etc. In this case, the virtual module only needs to be connected to the power line of the gun line through the module output interface.

[0058] In one embodiment of the present invention, when the expandable power device 10 adopts a design scheme in which the virtual module 12 and the power module 11 share the power module slot, in order to avoid excessive deviation between the output voltage output through the virtual module 12 and the output voltage of the power module 11, which could lead to equipment failure or even safety hazards, the original output circuit relay 13 of the charging terminal 40 to which the charging gun 20 belongs can be used for protection (e.g., Figure 5 (As shown). When the output voltage difference between the virtual module 12 and the power module 11 is less than the voltage threshold, the output circuit relay is activated; of course, this embodiment does not limit whether the output relay built into the gun line is used directly, or whether a relay is specially set on the output circuit. The voltage threshold can be obtained experimentally or by using an empirical value, and this embodiment does not limit it.

[0059] In one embodiment of the present invention, the expandable power device 10 may further include: a power distribution unit 14, which can allocate corresponding module requirements to the power module 11 and the virtual module 12 according to the vehicle end requirements. The virtual module can obtain power from the expanded power device according to the corresponding virtual module requirements. The output characteristic curve of the virtual module is determined by the output characteristics of the gun line.

[0060] In one embodiment of the present invention, the virtual module 12 can communicate with the charging terminal 40 corresponding to the extended power device 30 through a private charging protocol or a modified standard charging protocol (e.g., GB27930 protocol, European standard protocol, Japanese standard protocol, etc.) according to the corresponding virtual module requirements to obtain power.

[0061] like Figure 6 As shown, in one embodiment of the present invention, the virtual module 12 communicates with the power distribution unit 14 based on the power module protocol, and communicates with the charging terminal 40 corresponding to the extended power device 30 based on the modified standard charging protocol. The conversion between the power module protocol and the modified standard charging protocol is achieved through protocol mapping. The modified standard charging protocol modifies the vehicle-side feature messages into aggregated feature messages describing the extended power device, based on the traditional standard charging protocol. In the figure, the bold connecting lines between the boxes represent communication connections.

[0062] Specifically, such as Figure 7 As shown, the protocol mapping related to module control includes: mapping the power-on setting command of the virtual module to the BHM handshake in the standard charging protocol; mapping the power-off setting command of the virtual module to sending BST to stop; the power-off operation of the virtual module is equivalent to setting the current limit point of the virtual module, which is mapped to modifying the maximum allowable current in the BCP message; setting the voltage and current output of the virtual module is mapped to setting the voltage and current requirements in the BCL message, while maintaining the charging mode as constant voltage charging mode, etc.

[0063] The protocol mappings related to virtual module query commands include: reading the maximum output power of the virtual module, which is mapped to parsing CML messages to obtain the charger's maximum output capacity; reading the module's running time, module voltage output value, and module current output value, which are respectively mapped to reading the cumulative charging time, vehicle interface current voltage measurement value, and vehicle interface current measurement value from CCS messages; and reading module faults, which is mapped to reading custom CEM messages, etc. In the diagram, the commands on the left represent a portion of the power module protocol messages, and the commands on the right represent a portion of the modified standard charging protocol messages.

[0064] It is understandable that modifying the original standard charging protocol is less costly than developing a proprietary charging protocol. In this embodiment, the virtual module is disguised as a vehicle end through protocol mapping, which makes it easier to obtain power directly from the extended power device 30 in other chargers that use the standard charging protocol. This makes it more universal and effectively reduces aggregation costs.

[0065] In one embodiment of the present invention, when the virtual module 12 communicates with the extended power device 30 using a modified standard charging protocol, the BRM message sent may also include, in addition to the modified standard charging protocol, the charging protocol version, the maximum output power of the power device of the extended power device where the virtual module is located, and instructions to allow the virtual module to output, etc., wherein the charging protocol version is used to identify whether the sender of the BRM message is the extended power device or the vehicle end.

[0066] Understandably, besides the charging protocol version number, the BRM message can also be directly used to add arbitrary values ​​or fill in information for scalable power device identification. If it is identified as a scalable power device, all fields of the BRM can be customized for scalable power device identification, which facilitates power aggregation. It should be noted that the power device at this time has vehicle attributes, so the field design is based on the characteristics of this power device, such as the number of power modules, module type, maximum output power of the power device, and power device identification code (such as using the original VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) field).

[0067] like Figure 8 As shown, in a specific embodiment of the present invention, when the expandable power device A receives a vehicle-side demand, it can allocate the corresponding module power demand to the power module 11 and the virtual module 12 based on the power module protocol through the power allocation unit 14. The virtual module 12 can convert its corresponding virtual module demand into a BMS message through protocol mapping, and communicate with the charging terminal of the expanded power device based on the charging protocol. After the expanded power device obtains the virtual module demand from the virtual module 12 in the expandable power device A, it can allocate its available power modules according to normal power allocation. In the figure, the expanded power device is the expandable power device B, which can also allocate power to the internal virtual module 12 (not shown) at the same time, and repeat the above steps to dynamically obtain power from other connected expanded power devices.

[0068] In one embodiment of the present invention, the power module 11 and virtual module 12 within the expandable power device 10 can achieve matrix power distribution (e.g., through a power distribution unit 14) Figure 9 (as shown) or parallel power distribution (such as Figure 10 As shown in the figure, O1~On represent the 1st~nth charging guns, and KM1~KMn-1 represent the 1st~n-1st relays. Specifically, the power distribution unit 14 may include a PDU (Power Distribution Unit) control board 141 and a PDU component 142. The power module 11 and virtual module 12 in the expandable power device 10 can achieve matrix power distribution or parallel power distribution through the PDU component 142 under the control of the PDU control board 141.

[0069] For power distribution using a fully connected matrix power distribution unit, any gun line can directly obtain power from any power module 11 or virtual module 12. The specific power distribution method can refer to existing power distribution algorithms, such as the distribution method used in patent number CN112590605B entitled "A Full Matrix Distribution Method for High Power DC Chargers", etc. This embodiment will not elaborate further.

[0070] For power allocation using parallel power distribution units, it can be implemented based on segmented relays KM. When searching for available power modules or virtual modules, power allocation can be performed based on traditional power allocation algorithms using ring relay connections. For example, in the BFS (Breadth First Search) module path optimization algorithm, the parallel virtual module 12 and power module 11 are treated as a module group and abstracted as a node for traversal.

[0071] In some embodiments of the present invention, when the expandable power device 10 is used as an expanded power device, the power distribution unit 14 can be used to obtain the virtual module requirements output by other expandable power devices. Specifically, the power distribution unit 14 receives the virtual module requirements output by other expandable power devices from the charging terminal through the communication line within the expandable power device 10, enabling other expandable power devices to obtain the power of the virtual module 12, or the power of the power module 11, or the power of the virtual module 12 and the power module 11 in the expandable power device 10 through the charging line and the power distribution unit 10. This embodiment is not limited to this.

[0072] like Figure 11 As shown, in a specific embodiment of the present invention, to avoid repeated calls to virtual modules 12 and power modules 11 among multiple expandable power devices 10, when expandable power device A is connected in series with other expandable power devices, the power modules and virtual modules of these expandable power devices can be regarded as a tree structure with expandable power device A as the root node, and the power modules and virtual modules of expandable power device A, and the power modules and virtual modules of other expandable power devices as child nodes. When the power allocation unit of expandable power device A allocates module requirements for power modules and virtual modules, it can organize and manage the callable power modules and virtual modules in expandable power device A and other expandable power devices based on the tree structure. Figure 11 In order to distinguish between power modules and virtual modules of different power devices, a module sequence is defined for each power module and virtual module. The first variable in each module sequence distinguishes the power device, the second variable distinguishes the module type, and the third variable distinguishes the module electrical address. Thus, the address of power module 1 of expandable power device A is (A,R,1), the address of virtual module 2 of expandable power device D is (D,V,2), and so on.

[0073] Specifically, the callable power modules and virtual modules can be identified using tree traversal algorithms such as pre-root, post-root, and level-order traversal. The child nodes containing the power modules are defined as real nodes, and the child nodes containing the virtual modules are defined as virtual nodes. Real nodes have no child nodes, while virtual nodes can have one or more child nodes. The child nodes of a virtual node can be either real or virtual nodes. Figure 10 As shown, taking preorder traversal as an example, the following steps may be included:

[0074] 1. First, visit the first root node of the forest.

[0075] 2. Recursively preorder traverse the subtree forest of the first tree, enqueue the child nodes, and store the information in the module information maintenance table of the root node, repeating until the leaf nodes.

[0076] 3. If a duplicate real node is found, or a leaf node is a virtual node, backtrack and dequeue the node, and update the tree structure.

[0077] 4. Repeat the above steps until the root node finds all callable power modules.

[0078] By pruning the results during the traversal process, we ensure that all leaf nodes in the tree structure are real nodes.

[0079] In addition, to solve the above problems, the present invention also provides a charger.

[0080] like Figure 12 As shown, the charger of this embodiment includes: an expandable power device 10 as described above, a charging terminal 40, a aggregation socket 50, and an aggregation identification unit 60. The charging terminal 40 is used to send vehicle-side requests to the expandable power device 10. The first end of the aggregation socket 50 is connected to the module output interface of the power module slot corresponding to the virtual module 12, and the second end of the aggregation socket 50 is used to connect to the external charging cable 20. The aggregation identification unit 60 is connected to the third end of the aggregation socket 50 and is used to identify the aggregation guidance signal to control the guidance.

[0081] It is understood that the charger in this embodiment of the invention can be a separate charger or an integrated charger. When the charger is a separate charger, the charging terminal 40 and the expandable power device 10 are set independently. The aggregation socket 50 and the aggregation identification unit 60 can be set inside the expandable power device 10, or set in the same cabinet as the expandable power device 10. The expandable power device 10 can be connected to one or more charging terminals 40 via the charging pile power line and the charging pile communication line (e.g., ...). Figure 13As shown, the charging terminal 40 can also be connected to a conventional power device via a power line and a communication line used for the charging pile. Idle charging lines on the charging terminals of other chargers can be used to connect to the expandable power device 10, allowing the expandable power device 10 to directly simulate the power of the vehicle and obtain the power from the corresponding conventional or expandable power device 10 of other chargers. When the charger is an integrated charger, the expandable power device 10, charging terminal 40, aggregation socket 50, and aggregation identification unit 60 are integrated into a single cabinet. Idle charging lines on the integrated charger can be directly connected to the module output interfaces corresponding to the virtual modules on other integrated chargers.

[0082] Specifically, the module output interface (DC+ interface, DC- interface) and communication interface (CAN_H interface, CAN_L interface) in the power module slot corresponding to the virtual module 12 can be connected to the power lines (DC+ line, DC- line) and communication lines (S+ line, S- line) in the gun line 20 through the first and second ends of the aggregation socket 50, respectively, to obtain the power of the extended power device. The aggregation identification unit 60 is connected to the guide lines (CC1 line, CC2 line) of the gun line 20 through the third and second ends of the aggregation socket 50 to identify the aggregation guide signal.

[0083] like Figure 14 As shown, in a specific embodiment of the present invention, the charging cable 20 of charger B can adopt an electrical structure design similar to that of a standard charging cable. A series resistor R2 and a switch S are connected on the CC1 line, and a resistor R3 is connected on the CC2 line. The aggregation socket 50 of charger A can adopt an electrical structure design similar to that of a standard vehicle charging cable socket. A resistor R4 is provided on the CC1 interface in the aggregation socket 50. The DC+ interface, DC- interface, S+ interface, S- interface and CC1 interface of the charging terminal 40 of charger B are connected to the aggregation socket 50 through the charging cable 20. The charging terminal 40 of charger B detects the voltage at detection point 1 where resistor R4 is located through the pull-up resistor R1. The charging terminal 40 of charger B is also equipped with a controller, which is used to identify the aggregation guide according to the voltage at detection point 1, and can also be used to control the power transmission between the extended power device 30 and the charging cable 20 in charger B. The aggregation identification unit 60 is connected to the CC2 interface of the aggregation socket 50. In the diagram, U1 and U2 represent the pull-up voltage of pull-up resistor R1 and pull-up voltage of pull-up resistor R5, respectively.

[0084] In one specific embodiment of the present invention, the charging cable 20 adopts a national standard charging cable. The resistance of R1, R2, and R3 in the charging cable is 1000Ω, and the resistance of R4 is changed from 1000Ω to 500Ω, so that the voltage at detection point 1 becomes 2V, thereby distinguishing it from the 4V of national standard charging and realizing the aggregation connection confirmation and identification. When the charging cable 20 is connected to the aggregation socket 50 on the charger A, the controller in the charging terminal 40 of the charger B locks the charging cable 20 according to the voltage at detection point 1, closes the switch connected in series with resistor R2, and sends a CHM handshake message to the expandable power device 10; the aggregation identification unit detects the voltage at detection point 2 where resistor R3 is located through the pull-up resistor R5. When the voltage at detection point 2 is half of the pull-up voltage U2, it is determined that the charging cable 20 and the aggregation socket 50 are fully connected, and waits for the controller in the charging terminal 40 of the charger B to start calling the power-on interface of the virtual module of the charger A and start the BHM handshake.

[0085] To differentiate it from the standard charging lead voltage, the resistance value of resistor R4 can be adjusted so that charger B recognizes that the voltage at detection point 1 is different from the standard charging lead voltage.

[0086] In some other embodiments of the present invention, the gun wire 20 for polymerization may also be specially designed, and a corresponding polymerization socket 50 may be designed accordingly. This embodiment does not impose any limitations.

[0087] Since the charger of this embodiment includes the expandable power device as described above, it should also have corresponding beneficial effects, which will not be repeated here.

[0088] In addition, to address the above-mentioned problems, the present invention also provides a power polymerization system.

[0089] like Figure 15 As shown, the power aggregation system of this embodiment may include at least two expandable power devices 10 as described above, or at least one expandable power device 10 and at least one ordinary power device. The virtual module 12 within the expandable power device 10 is connected in series with the expanded power device via a charging terminal 40 corresponding to the expanded power device, and acquires the power of the expanded power device to achieve power aggregation. The expanded power device can be an ordinary power device or other expandable power device 10. The expanded power device and its corresponding charging terminal 40 can be integrated into a single cabinet or installed separately; this embodiment does not impose any limitations. Since the power aggregation system of this embodiment includes the expandable power device 10 as described above, it should also possess corresponding beneficial effects, which will not be elaborated upon here.

[0090] Specifically, one end of the charging cable 20 is connected to the expandable power device 10 of the first charger, and the other end of the charging cable 20 is connected to the charging terminal 40 on the second charger. The charging terminal 40 is connected to the ordinary power device or the expandable power device 10 of the second charger, so that the power demand of the expandable power device 10 of the first charger can be transmitted to the charging terminal 40 of the second charger through the charging cable 20. The charging terminal 40 can obtain the power of the ordinary power device or the expandable power device 10 in the second charger and provide it to the charging cable 20, and then provide it to the expandable power device 10 of the first charger.

[0091] In one embodiment of the present invention, the expandable power device 10 is a component of a split-type charger. The charging terminal 40 and the expandable power device 10 are independently configured, and the connection method of each split-type charger can be a single-stage series connection (see...). Figure 16 ), star-shaped series connection (see Figure 17 One end of the gun wire 20 is connected to the expandable power device 10, and the other end of the gun wire is connected to the charging terminal 40. The charging terminal 10 is connected to the ordinary power device or other expandable power devices 10 through the power line and the communication line.

[0092] exist Figure 16 The diagram also illustrates the power acquisition of a vehicle in a specific embodiment. In the diagram, arrows represent the current transmission direction between the vehicle, power device, and charging terminal during aggregated charging. Power device A and power device B are both expandable power devices. A1…An…Am represent the first charging terminal…nth charging terminal…mth charging terminal corresponding to power device A, respectively. B1…Bn…Bm represent the first charging terminal…nth charging terminal…mth charging terminal corresponding to power device B, respectively. C1 represents the charging terminal of power device C (not shown in the diagram). Power device C can be a regular power device or an expandable power device. MA1~MA12 represent the first to twelfth modules in power device A. These modules may contain multiple power modules and virtual modules. The module output interface of MA1 is used to connect to the idle charging line of charging terminal B1 of power device B. MB1~MB12 represent the first to twelfth modules in power device B. These modules may contain multiple power modules and virtual modules. The module output interface corresponding to the virtual module is used to connect to the idle charging line of charging terminal C1 of power device C.

[0093] Corresponding to the power aggregation system described above, this invention also proposes a power distribution method. Since the method embodiments of this invention correspond to the system embodiments described above, details not disclosed in the method embodiments can be found in the system embodiments described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0094] like Figure 17As shown, the power allocation method of this invention includes the following steps:

[0095] S1 is an expandable power device that can meet vehicle-side requirements.

[0096] Specifically, the expandable power device can obtain vehicle-side requirements directly or indirectly from the vehicle via wired or wireless means, and this embodiment does not impose any limitations. When other expandable power devices are connected in series with this expandable power device via a gun wire and send virtual module requirements to this expandable power device through a virtual module, this expandable power device will also treat the virtual module requirements transmitted via the gun wire as vehicle-side requirements, and then perform power allocation.

[0097] S2, the expandable power device, allocates vehicle-side requirements to the power module and virtual module based on a power allocation algorithm.

[0098] Specifically, power allocation can select from various modes such as virtual module priority allocation, virtual module last allocation, and balanced allocation to suit different application scenarios. When the power allocation algorithm adopts the virtual module priority allocation mode, the vehicle-side demand is allocated to the virtual module. If the power provided by the virtual module cannot meet the vehicle-side demand, the corresponding module demand is allocated to the power module. When the power allocation algorithm adopts the virtual module last allocation mode, the vehicle-side demand is allocated to the power module. If the power module cannot meet the vehicle-side demand, the corresponding virtual module demand is allocated to the virtual module. When the power allocation algorithm adopts the balanced allocation mode, the power module and virtual module are no longer distinguished during power allocation, and both are treated as ordinary power modules for module demand allocation.

[0099] S3, the virtual module obtains power from the expanded power device according to the corresponding virtual module requirements and provides it to the expandable power device. The expanded power device can be a general power device or other expandable power device. The specific power acquisition method has been described in detail above and will not be repeated here.

[0100] According to the power allocation method of the present invention, the corresponding module demand is allocated to the power module and the virtual module by the expandable power device, and the virtual module obtains power from the expanded power device and provides it to the expandable power device. This method can make full use of the idle power in the power pool formed by the expandable power device and the expanded power device to meet the user's ever-increasing charging demand.

[0101] In the description of this invention, "a plurality of" means two or more, unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0102] The execution order of the steps shown in the flowchart is the preferred implementation. In other embodiments of the present invention, the order can be adjusted according to the functions involved in each step, for example, they can be executed simultaneously or in the reverse order.

[0103] The logic and / or steps represented in the flowchart or otherwise described herein, for example, can be considered as a sequential list of executable instructions for implementing logical functions, and can be embodied in any computer-readable medium for use by, or in connection with, an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. For the purposes of this specification, "computer-readable medium" can be any means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transmit a program for use by, or in connection with, an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0104] Those skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the steps of the methods in the above embodiments can be implemented by a program instructing related hardware. The program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and when executed, the program includes one or a combination of the steps of the method embodiments.

[0105] Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present invention can be integrated into a processing module, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into a module. The integrated module can be implemented in hardware or as a software functional module. If the integrated module is implemented as a software functional module and sold or used as an independent product, it can also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.

Claims

1. An expandable power device, characterized in that, include: At least one power supply module; At least one virtual module is provided, each virtual module occupying one power module slot or sharing a power module slot with a power module. The module output interface of the power module slot corresponding to each virtual module is used to connect to the charging port. The virtual module is connected in series with the extended power device through the charging port on the charging terminal corresponding to the extended power device to obtain the power of the extended power device, thereby realizing power aggregation. The extended power device is a general power device or other expandable power device. When the virtual module shares a power module slot with the power module, the virtual module and the power module are connected in parallel and then connected to the module output interface through an output circuit relay. When the output voltage difference between the virtual module and the power module is less than a voltage threshold, the output circuit relay is turned on; otherwise, the output circuit relay is turned off. It also includes a power distribution unit, which allocates corresponding module requirements to the power module and the virtual module according to the vehicle-side requirements, wherein the output characteristic curve of the virtual module is determined by the output characteristics of the gun line.

2. The expandable power device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The module output interface and communication interface in the power module slot corresponding to the virtual module are respectively connected to the power line and communication line in the gun line.

3. The expandable power device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The virtual module transmits its corresponding virtual module requirements to the extended power device via a proprietary charging protocol or a modified standard charging protocol, thereby obtaining power.

4. The expandable power device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The virtual module communicates with the power distribution unit based on the power module protocol, and communicates with the charging terminal corresponding to the extended power device based on the modified standard charging protocol. The conversion between the power module protocol and the modified standard charging protocol is achieved through protocol mapping. The modified standard charging protocol modifies the vehicle-side feature message into an aggregated feature message describing the extended power device based on the traditional standard charging protocol.

5. The expandable power device according to claim 1, characterized in that, When the expandable power device is connected in series with other expandable power devices, the power allocation unit of the expandable power device allocates module requirements to the power modules and the virtual modules, and organizes and manages the callable power modules and virtual modules in the expandable power device and other expandable power devices based on a tree structure.

6. The expandable power device according to claim 5, characterized in that, When the scalable power device organizes and manages the callable power modules and virtual modules based on a tree structure, the power modules are defined as real nodes and the virtual modules are defined as virtual nodes. The scalable power device is used as the root node for traversal. When a real node is encountered repeatedly or a leaf node is a virtual node, the traversal is backtracked and dequeued, and the tree structure is updated until all callable power modules are found.

7. A charger, characterized in that, include: Expandable power device according to any one of claims 1-6; A charging terminal, which is used to send vehicle-side requests to the expandable power device; The aggregation socket has its first end connected to the module output interface of the power module slot corresponding to the virtual module, and its second end is used to connect the charging gun cable to the outside of the charger. A convergence identification unit is connected to the third terminal of the convergence socket. The convergence identification unit is used to identify convergence guidance signals in order to control guidance.

8. The charger according to claim 7, characterized in that, The module output interface and communication interface in the power module slot corresponding to the virtual module are connected to the power line and communication line in the gun line through the first and second ends of the aggregation socket, respectively. The aggregation identification unit is connected to the guide line of the gun line through the third and second ends of the aggregation socket to identify the aggregation guide signal.

9. A power aggregation system, characterized in that, include: At least two expandable power devices according to any one of claims 1-6, Alternatively, at least one of the aforementioned expandable power devices and at least one conventional power device. The virtual module within the expandable power device is connected in series with the expanded power device via the charging terminal corresponding to the expanded power device, and obtains the power of the expanded power device to achieve power aggregation. The expanded power device can be a regular power device or other expandable power devices.

10. A power allocation method based on the power aggregation system of claim 9, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: Expandable power devices can meet vehicle-side requirements. The scalable power device allocates the vehicle-side demand to the power module and the virtual module based on a power allocation algorithm; The virtual module obtains power from the expanded power device according to the corresponding virtual module requirements and provides it to the expandable power device, wherein the expanded power device is a general power device or other expandable power device.

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