High-throughput electrochemical testing system based on PXI bus and intelligent scheduling
The high-throughput electrochemical testing system based on PXI bus and intelligent scheduling enables flexible routing and intelligent scheduling of multiple reaction cells and electrochemical workstations, solving the problems of insufficient channel quantity and measurement accuracy in high-throughput electrochemical testing, and improving testing efficiency and accuracy.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202511720112.9
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-11-21
- Publication Date
- 2026-02-17
AI Technical Summary
In existing electrochemical testing systems, the mismatch between the demand for high-throughput experiments and the number of channels leads to excessively long testing cycles and low equipment utilization. Multiplexing and switching equipment has a limited channel scale and simple switching control functions, which cannot meet the testing requirements for high channel numbers. Furthermore, it suffers from signal interference and insufficient accuracy in high-frequency measurements.
A high-throughput electrochemical testing system based on PXI bus and intelligent scheduling is adopted. The independent matrix switching of five-line signals is realized through the PXI matrix switching module. Combined with the host computer scheduling module, task optimization is performed to achieve flexible routing and intelligent scheduling of multiple reaction cells and electrochemical workstations.
It improves the efficiency and accuracy of high-throughput electrochemical testing, solves the problems of insufficient channel quantity, excessively long test cycle and insufficient high-frequency measurement accuracy, and realizes multi-task parallel scheduling and pipeline execution.
Smart Images
Figure CN121540779A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This application relates to the field of electrochemical testing technology, and in particular to a high-throughput electrochemical testing system and method based on PXI bus and intelligent scheduling. Background Technology
[0002] In fields such as corrosion research, material electrochemical performance evaluation, sensor testing, and battery characteristic analysis, electrochemical workstations are core testing equipment. With the increasing demand for high-throughput experiments, the number of samples (reaction cells) per batch has grown significantly. However, the number of channels in electrochemical workstations configured in laboratories or production lines is usually limited, and there are often heterogeneous configurations of DC and AC channels. For example, DC channels are used for tests such as open circuit potential (OCP) and linear polarization (LPR), while AC channels are used for tests such as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). This severe mismatch between the number of samples and the number of channels forces testing tasks to be performed sequentially, resulting in excessively long overall testing cycles and low equipment utilization.
[0003] To alleviate this contradiction, existing technologies have developed multiplexing and switching devices, such as the Gamry ECM8 and BioLogic MUX multi-channel electrochemical switching systems. Their basic principle is to switch the connection between multiple three-electrode reaction cells and a single electrochemical workstation using a multiplexer, enabling sequential testing of multiple samples. While these devices can reduce the workload of manually plugging and unplugging electrode wires to some extent, they have the following shortcomings: First, the channel capacity is limited, with most products supporting only 8 to 16 channels, making it difficult to meet the needs of high-channel-count testing; second, the switching control function is simple, only able to sequentially switch to the next sample, unable to flexibly allocate channels according to the test task type and channel characteristics; third, the hardware design is mostly based on general-purpose relay matrices, resulting in large parasitic capacitance and leakage current, which significantly affects measurement accuracy in high-frequency EIS testing.
[0004] On the other hand, general-purpose PXI matrix switches are relatively mature in the field of automated testing, enabling arbitrary connections of multiple inputs and outputs. However, these systems are primarily designed for electronic signal testing and are not optimized for the characteristics of electrochemical signals. For example, their standard relay modules often fail to meet the stringent leakage current requirements of high-impedance measurements, their wiring shielding and guard ring drive designs are inadequate, and they lack test task scheduling functions that coordinate with electrochemical workstations. Direct application in the electrochemical field would result in significant shortcomings in signal integrity and testing efficiency. Summary of the Invention
[0005] In view of this, embodiments of this application provide a high-throughput electrochemical testing system and method based on PXI bus and intelligent scheduling to improve the efficiency of high-throughput electrochemical testing.
[0006] One aspect of this application provides a high-throughput electrochemical testing system based on PXI bus and intelligent scheduling. The system includes: a reaction cell interface module, a front-end protection module, multiple matrix switching modules, a control and triggering module, multiple channel interface modules, multiple electrochemical workstations, and a host computer scheduling module.
[0007] The reaction cell interface module is used to connect to five-wire signals from multiple three-electrode systems.
[0008] The front-end protection module is used to provide ESD protection, high-resistance buffer for the reference electrode, and Guard drive.
[0009] The matrix switching module uses a cross-point network composed of relay arrays and parallel registers for flexible routing between the reaction tank and the workstation channel.
[0010] The control and triggering module includes a PXI controller and a PXI backplane, which are used to drive the matrix switching module in a unified manner and enable group synchronization and Break-Before-Make timing by utilizing the reference clock and trigger bus of the PXI backplane.
[0011] The channel interface module is used to connect the output of the matrix switching module to the electrochemical workstation;
[0012] The electrochemical workstation is used to perform DC and AC tests;
[0013] The host computer scheduling module is used for task management and data storage.
[0014] In some embodiments, the five-wire signal includes a working electrode WE, a reference electrode RE, an auxiliary electrode CE, a sensitive electrode SE, and a ground line G.
[0015] In some embodiments, the matrix switching module uses a relay array and parallel registers to form an N×M×5 crosspoint network.
[0016] In some embodiments, the reaction pool interface module is connected to the front-end protection module via a shielded cable. The front-end protection module protects and buffers the five-wire signals WE, RE, CE, SE, and G before introducing them into the row bus of the matrix switching module.
[0017] In some embodiments, the matrix switching module adopts a row / column bus topology, with five-wire relay groups arranged at the intersections. The relay coils are uniformly driven by parallel registers and controlled by the decoding and timing signals issued by the control and triggering module, thereby realizing the switching operation of five-wire groups with mutual exclusion and synchronization.
[0018] The column bus of the matrix switching module is connected to each channel input terminal of the electrochemical workstation through the channel interface module.
[0019] In some embodiments, the control and triggering module is directly connected to the matrix switching module via the bus of the PXI backplane, and communicates with the host computer scheduling module through the PXI controller to realize task instruction issuance, configuration update and test data feedback.
[0020] In some embodiments, the host computer scheduling module is used for task requesting and allocation, specifically including:
[0021] The host computer scheduling module receives a task request input by the user, and the task request includes a set of N reaction pool numbers. Required set of M workstation channels Test mode , Prioritize tasks;
[0022] Represent the task as a quadruple Store in the scheduling queue ;
[0023] Define the intersection point variable of the matrix switch module as follows:
[0024] ;
[0025] The following constraints must be met:
[0026] ;
[0027] The constraint means that each row and column of the matrix switching module has only one intersection point for closed connection, so that the reaction cell and the electrochemical channel correspond one-to-one.
[0028] In some embodiments, the host computer module is used for:
[0029] A weighted priority queue combined with a shortest completion time strategy is employed to calculate the scheduling sequence based on task type and priority; the objective function is:
[0030] ;
[0031] in, For task execution time, Priority weights , For the weighting factor;
[0032] Heuristic optimization is employed, taking into account priority-driven and shortest completion time factors to generate the test order, and then dynamically adjusting it.
[0033] In some embodiments, the host computer module is used to switch between control and synchronization, specifically including:
[0034] The scheduling result is sent from the PXI controller to the control and triggering module, which then generates the corresponding control word. And through a single update via parallel registers, it drives the relay group of the matrix switching module;
[0035] The hardware logic ensures that at most one column can be selected per row and at most one row can be selected per column to close the loop. During the operation, the Break-Before-Make timing is followed, ensuring a delay after the old path is completely broken. Then close the new path.
[0036] Another aspect of this application embodiment provides a high-throughput electrochemical testing method based on PXI bus and intelligent scheduling, the method comprising the following steps:
[0037] Based on the above-mentioned high-throughput electrochemical testing system with PXI bus and intelligent scheduling, a limited number of channels can continuously serve multiple reaction cells in the optimal order to achieve high-throughput electrochemical testing.
[0038] This application includes at least the following beneficial effects:
[0039] This application enables a multi-channel multiplexing test system that supports large-scale high-throughput electrochemical testing, multiple-to-multiple dynamic switching, low leakage current and low parasitic characteristics, and combines intelligent scheduling of DC / AC heterogeneous channels, thereby simultaneously solving problems such as insufficient number of channels, excessively long test cycles and insufficient high-frequency test accuracy. Attached Figure Description
[0040] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are only some embodiments of this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.
[0041] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of a high-throughput electrochemical test based on PXI bus and intelligent scheduling provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0042] Figure 2 Example diagram of the matrix switching module provided in the embodiments of this application;
[0043] Figure 3 Example diagram of a five-wire relay group provided in the embodiments of this application;
[0044] Figure 4A flowchart illustrating the operation of the electrochemical testing system provided in this application embodiment. Detailed Implementation
[0045] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this application clearer, the following detailed description is provided in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative and not intended to limit the scope of this application.
[0046] Before providing a detailed description of the embodiments of this application, the technical problem that this application aims to solve will first be explained:
[0047] To address the problem in existing high-throughput electrochemical testing systems where the number of reaction cells far exceeds the number of electrochemical workstation channels, resulting in test tasks having to be queued sequentially and low equipment utilization, this application integrates a large-scale programmable matrix switch module on the PXI platform to achieve rapid and independent routing and combination of multiple sets of three-electrode signals. This allows a limited number of channels to continuously serve multiple reaction cells in the optimal order, significantly improving channel utilization.
[0048] To address the issues of high signal interference, high parasitic parameters, and difficulty in balancing DC and AC measurement accuracy in existing multiplexing switching schemes during switching, this application employs a low-parasitic, high-isolation relay array, a differentiated guard ring drive circuit, and a PXI bus high-speed control method to achieve independent matrix switching of the three channels of the working electrode, reference electrode, and counter electrode. This ensures that there is no cross-interference during the switching process and maintains the signal integrity of high-frequency EIS and weak current testing.
[0049] To address the issue that existing test process scheduling relies on manual intervention or a fixed sequence, and cannot be dynamically optimized based on task type and channel status, this application deploys a heterogeneous channel intelligent scheduling algorithm on a host computer. This algorithm generates the optimal switching sequence based on test type, task duration, and priority, and executes it synchronously with the global clock of the PXI platform. This enables pipelined parallel scheduling and periodic online calibration of DC / AC channels, thereby balancing test efficiency, measurement accuracy, and long-term stability.
[0050] Reference Figure 1 This application provides a high-throughput electrochemical testing system based on PXI bus and intelligent scheduling, specifically including:
[0051] This system mainly consists of a reaction cell interface module, a front-end protection module, a matrix switching module, a control and triggering module, a channel interface module, an electrochemical workstation, and a host computer scheduling module. The reaction cell interface module is used to connect five-wire signals (working electrode WE, reference electrode RE, auxiliary electrode CE, sensitive electrode SE, and ground G) from multiple three-electrode systems. The front-end protection module provides ESD protection, high-impedance buffering for the reference electrode, and Guard drive. The matrix switching module uses a relay array and parallel registers to implement an N×M×5 cross-point network, responsible for flexible routing between the reaction cell and workstation channels. The control and triggering module utilizes the reference clock and trigger bus on the PXI backplane to uniformly drive the matrix switching module and ensure group synchronization and Break-Before-Make timing. The channel interface module reliably connects the matrix output to the electrochemical workstation. The electrochemical workstation performs DC and AC tests. The host computer scheduling module is responsible for task management and data storage.
[0052] Specifically, in terms of functional configuration, the reaction cell interface module and the front-end protection module together constitute the input layer, completing signal access and preliminary conditioning; the matrix switching module is located in the core layer of the system, undertaking dynamic switching between multiple cells and multiple channels; the control and triggering module serves as the control layer, ensuring the synchronization and safety of all switching actions; the channel interface module and the electrochemical workstation constitute the test layer, completing excitation and measurement; and the host computer scheduling module serves as the management layer, coordinating resource allocation, issuing control commands, and processing test data. These layers are sequentially connected, forming a complete system structure from input to core switching, and then to testing and scheduling.
[0053] In terms of physical connection, the reaction tank interface module is connected to the front-end protection module via a shielded cable. The front-end protection module protects and buffers the five signals (WE, RE, CE, SE, G) before introducing them into the row bus of the matrix switching module. (Refer to...) Figure 2 The matrix switching module internally adopts a row / column bus topology, with five-wire relay groups arranged at the intersections (refer to...). Figure 3 The relay coils are uniformly driven by parallel registers and controlled by decoding and timing signals issued by the control and triggering module, thereby achieving five-wire grouping and mutually exclusive synchronous switching operations. The column bus of the matrix switching module is connected one-to-one with each channel input terminal of the electrochemical workstation through the channel interface module. The control and triggering module maintains a direct hardware connection with the matrix switching module via the PXI backplane bus, and communicates with the host computer scheduling module through the PXI controller to realize task command issuance, configuration update, and test data feedback. This constitutes a closed measurement link from the reaction cell to the electrochemical workstation, and a complete control link from the host computer to the matrix switching module.
[0054] Reference Figure 4 Next, the workflow of this testing system will be explained:
[0055] 1. Task Request and Assignment:
[0056] The host computer scheduling module receives a task request input by the user. The task contains a set of N reaction pool numbers. Required set of M workstation channels Test mode , This represents task priority. The system represents tasks as quadruples. Store in the scheduling queue Define the intersection point variable for the matrix switch module:
[0057] ;
[0058] Satisfy constraints:
[0059] ;
[0060] The above constraints mean that each row and column of the matrix switch module has only one intersection point for closed connection, ensuring that the reaction cell and the electrochemical channel correspond one-to-one.
[0061] 2. Scheduling Algorithms and Optimization:
[0062] The scheduling module employs a weighted priority queue combined with a shortest completion time strategy, calculating the scheduling sequence based on task type and priority. Its objective function is:
[0063] ;
[0064] in For task execution time, Priority weights , To balance the factors, the scheduling module employs heuristic optimization, considering priority-driven and shortest completion time factors to generate the test order, and dynamically adjusts it.
[0065] 3. Switching control and synchronization:
[0066] The scheduling result is sent from the PXI controller to the control and triggering module, and the control module generates the corresponding control word. The relay group of the matrix switching module is updated all at once through parallel registers. The hardware logic ensures that at most one column is selected per row and at most one row is selected per column for closure. During the operation, the Break-Before-Make (BBM) timing is followed to ensure a delay after the old path is completely disconnected. Then close the new path to avoid short-term intersections.
[0067] 4. Signal routing and testing:
[0068] After the switching is completed, the five-wire signal from the reaction cell is sent to the electrochemical workstation through the matrix switching module and the channel interface module. Once a stable connection is established, the electrochemical workstation performs constant potential, constant current, or AC impedance measurements according to the task instructions issued by the host computer, and uploads the test data, such as voltage, to the host computer in real time.
[0069] 5. Anomaly detection and protection:
[0070] During testing, the system monitors indicators such as reference electrode drift, loop continuity, and leakage current in real time. When an anomaly is detected, the control module immediately disconnects the relevant relay group to protect the equipment and sample.
[0071] 6. Resource release and data storage:
[0072] After the test is completed, the system releases the corresponding pool-channel mapping relationship, writes the results to the database, generates traceable logs, and supports subsequent task optimization and historical data management.
[0073] Beneficial effects:
[0074] I. This system enables programmable switching of five independent matrices (WE, RE, CE, SE, G) on the PXI platform, allowing the three-electrode signals of any reaction cell to be flexibly assigned to any electrochemical workstation channel without manual plugging and unplugging, thus achieving arbitrary switching of the "cell-channel" relationship. This design not only eliminates the tediousness and errors caused by manual wiring changes but also significantly improves the automation level of the testing process and the overall flexibility of the system.
[0075] II. Utilizing intelligent scheduling algorithms, the system can automatically generate switching sequences based on task type and channel status, enabling parallel scheduling and pipelined execution of multiple tasks. Users do not need to manually specify the correspondence between channels and samples; the system can achieve efficient and reasonable testing arrangements even when the number of reaction cells far exceeds the number of workstation channels, significantly improving channel utilization and experimental efficiency.
[0076] Furthermore, although this application is described in the context of functional modules, it should be understood that, unless otherwise stated, one or more of the described functions and / or features may be integrated into a single physical device and / or software module, or one or more functions and / or features may be implemented in a separate physical device or software module. It is also understood that a detailed discussion of the actual implementation of each module is unnecessary for understanding this application. Rather, given the properties, functions, and internal relationships of the various functional modules in the apparatus disclosed herein, the actual implementation of the module will be understood within the scope of conventional technology for an engineer. Therefore, those skilled in the art can implement the application set forth in the claims using ordinary techniques without excessive experimentation. It is also understood that the specific concepts disclosed are merely illustrative and not intended to limit the scope of this application, which is determined by the full scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
[0077] It should be understood that various parts of this application can be implemented using hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. In the above embodiments, multiple steps or methods can be implemented using software or firmware stored in memory and executed by a suitable instruction execution system. For example, if implemented in hardware, as in another embodiment, it can be implemented using any one or a combination of the following techniques known in the art: discrete logic circuits having logic gates for implementing logical functions on data signals, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) having suitable combinational logic gates, programmable gate arrays (PGAs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc.
[0078] In the description of this specification, the references to terms such as "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "example," "specific example," or "some examples," etc., indicate that a specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of this application. In this specification, the illustrative expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples.
[0079] Although embodiments of this application have been shown and described, those skilled in the art will understand that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of this application, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.
[0080] The above is a detailed description of the preferred embodiments of this application, but this application is not limited to the embodiments described. Those skilled in the art can make various equivalent modifications or substitutions without departing from the spirit of this application, and these equivalent modifications or substitutions are all included within the scope defined by the claims of this application.
Claims
1. A high throughput electrochemical test system based on PXI bus and intelligent scheduling, characterized in that, The system comprises a reaction cell interface module, a front-end protection module, a plurality of matrix switching modules, a control and trigger module, a plurality of channel interface modules, a plurality of electrochemical workstations and an upper computer scheduling module. The reaction cell interface module is configured to access five-line signals of a plurality of three-electrode systems. The front-end protection module is configured to provide ESD protection, reference electrode high resistance buffering and Guard driving. The matrix switching module comprises a cross-point network composed of a relay array and parallel registers, and is configured to flexibly route between the reaction cell and the workstation channel. The control and trigger module comprises a PXI controller and a PXI backplane, and is configured to uniformly drive the matrix switching module by using a reference clock and a trigger bus of the PXI backplane, and to make the group synchronization and Break-Before-Make timing. The channel interface module is configured to access the output of the matrix switching module to the electrochemical workstation. The electrochemical workstation is configured to perform direct current and alternating current tests. The upper computer scheduling module is configured to task management and data storage.
2. The PXI bus based and smart-scheduled high throughput electrochemical test system of claim 1, wherein, The five-line signals comprise a working electrode WE, a reference electrode RE, an auxiliary electrode CE, a sensitive electrode SE and a ground wire G.
3. The PXI bus based and smart-scheduled high throughput electrochemical test system of claim 1, wherein, The matrix switching module comprises an N×M×5 cross-point network composed of a relay array and parallel registers.
4. The PXI bus based and smart-scheduled high throughput electrochemical test system of claim 2, wherein, The reaction cell interface module is connected to the front-end protection module through a shielded cable.
5. The PXI bus based and smart-scheduled high throughput electrochemical test system of claim 1, wherein, The matrix switching module internally adopts a row / column bus topology, and a five-line relay group is arranged at the cross point. The column bus of the matrix switching module is connected to each channel input end of the electrochemical workstation through the channel interface module.
6. The PXI bus based and smart-scheduled high throughput electrochemical test system of claim 1, wherein, The control and trigger module directly connects the matrix switching module by using the bus of the PXI backplane, and communicates with the upper computer scheduling module through the PXI controller to realize task instruction issuing, configuration updating and test data returning.
7. The PXI bus based and smart-scheduled high throughput electrochemical test system of claim 1, wherein, The upper computer scheduling module is configured to task request and distribution, and specifically comprises: The host computer scheduling module receives a user inputted task request, the task request including a set of N reaction cell numbers , a set of M required work station channels , a test mode , a task priority representing a task as a four tuple , stored in a dispatch queue ; The cross-point variable of the matrix switch module is defined as: ； The following constraints are met: ； The constraints represent that each row and each column of the matrix switching module has only one cross point closed and connected, so that the reaction cell and the electrochemical channel are one-to-one corresponding.
8. The PXI bus based and smart-scheduled high throughput electrochemical test system of claim 1, wherein, The upper computer module is configured to: A priority queue with weights is adopted to calculate the scheduling sequence according to the task type and priority by using the shortest completion time strategy; wherein, the objective function is: ； wherein, is the task execution time, is the priority weight, , is the trade-off coefficient; A heuristic optimization is adopted to generate a test sequence considering priority driving and shortest completion time, and to dynamically adjust.
9. The PXI bus based and smart-scheduled high throughput electrochemical test system of claim 1, wherein, The upper computer module is configured to switching control and synchronization, and specifically comprises: The scheduling result is issued to the control and trigger module through the PXI controller, and the control and trigger module generates a corresponding control word and drives the relay group of the matrix switching module through parallel registers in one time. Hardware logic causes at most one column per row and at most one row per column to be closed, following Break-Before-Make timing during the course of the action, causing the old path to be completely broken before the new path is closed The new path is reclosed.
10. A high throughput electrochemical test method based on PXI bus and intelligent scheduling, characterized in that, The method comprises the following steps: The PXI bus-based and intelligent scheduling-based high-throughput electrochemical test system according to claim 1 makes limited channels continuously serve multiple reaction cells in an optimal order to realize high-throughput electrochemical test.