An integrated aviation power energy management controller and control method
By using an integrated aviation power energy management controller, the problems of low integration and insufficient reliability of existing aircraft power systems have been solved, achieving efficient energy management and aviation-grade functional safety, improving system reliability and energy utilization, and meeting the high requirements of multi-electric aircraft and all-electric aircraft.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- SUZHOU BOWO TECH INNOVATION CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2026-03-16
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-02
AI Technical Summary
Existing aircraft power systems suffer from low integration, insufficient reliability, and simplistic energy management, failing to meet the high requirements of multi-electric and all-electric aircraft. Furthermore, the lack of redundant sensor verification mechanisms results in inadequate safety and reliability.
It adopts an integrated aviation power energy management controller, including a battery management module, a bidirectional power conversion module, and a power distribution and protection module in a single modular housing. It uses a bidirectional DC/DC converter with wide bandgap semiconductor devices, a multi-core microcontroller, and a redundantly designed isolated current acquisition unit to achieve efficient bidirectional energy management and aviation-grade functional safety.
It achieves high integration, high reliability, and efficient energy management for aircraft, possesses aviation-grade functional safety, improves system reliability and energy utilization, and meets stringent aviation safety standards.
Smart Images
Figure CN122137079A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention relates to the field of aviation power electronics technology, and in particular to an integrated aviation power energy management controller and control method. Background Technology
[0002] As the aviation industry moves towards electrification, more electric and all-electric aircraft place higher demands on onboard power systems. In these advanced aircraft, high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power distribution networks become central, and energy storage battery systems are key components. To address the issues of large size and weight associated with discrete solutions, existing technologies have attempted to integrate battery packs, battery management systems, and charging modules into a single integrated structure. For example, some emergency power systems for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) integrate battery packs, battery management systems, and charging modules containing DC-DC converters and power switch protection circuits within a single structure.
[0003] However, these existing technologies are primarily geared towards unmanned or emergency scenarios, and their designs cannot yet meet the stringent standards of passenger-grade aircraft, such as electric vertical takeoff and landing (EVTOL) aircraft, in terms of performance and safety redundancy. Specific shortcomings include: First, simplistic energy management. Existing integrated units are mostly unidirectional power supply or charging designs, lacking bidirectional energy flow capabilities in their power conversion modules. This prevents energy recovery during flight or dynamic support for the bus voltage, limiting the overall energy efficiency and flight strategy flexibility. Second, insufficient functional safety levels. Their control cores typically use general-purpose microcontrollers, lacking designs compliant with aviation functional safety standards, such as lockstep cores or redundant monitoring mechanisms. In the face of complex faults, the system's reliability and predictable safety behavior cannot be guaranteed. Finally, a lack of redundancy in critical sensors. Monitoring critical parameters such as the total battery pack current usually relies on a single sensor. If this sensor fails or its data drifts, it can lead to misjudgments of the battery status by the entire battery management system, potentially causing serious safety incidents. Existing solutions lack redundant verification mechanisms for critical sensor information. Summary of the Invention
[0004] This application provides an integrated aviation power energy management controller and control method, solving the technical problems of low integration, insufficient reliability, and single energy management in existing aircraft power systems. It achieves high physical integration while providing aviation-grade functional safety, highly reliable redundant sensing, and efficient bidirectional energy management capabilities. Compared to the traditional approach where each power unit requires its own independent controller, this patent integrates and summarizes all detection and control signals, providing them through a unified dual-core controller. This not only facilitates unified control and management but also further saves space.
[0005] This application provides an integrated aviation power management controller, comprising: a single modular housing; a battery management module, a power conversion module, a power distribution and protection module, and a microcontroller; The battery management module, power conversion module, and power distribution and protection module are all integrated within the single modular housing; wherein, the power conversion module is a bidirectional DC / DC converter using wide bandgap semiconductor devices; The power distribution and protection module includes a solid-state circuit breaker unit; The battery management module includes a multi-channel battery status monitoring circuit and an isolated current acquisition unit with redundant design; The microcontroller is a multi-core microcontroller, which is electrically connected to the battery management module, power conversion module, and power distribution and protection module to coordinate the operation of each module.
[0006] Preferably, the multi-core microcontroller has a lockstep core.
[0007] Preferably, the isolated current acquisition unit with redundant design includes at least two independent current measurement channels, and the microcontroller is configured to cross-validate the measurement results of the at least two channels.
[0008] Preferably, the at least two independent current measurement channels are heterogeneous channels, wherein the first channel uses a shunt in conjunction with an isolated Σ-Δ modulator, and the second channel uses a high common-mode differential amplifier or a Hall effect sensor.
[0009] Preferably, the battery management module further includes a hardware secondary temperature protection circuit, which is independent of the microcontroller and configured to directly shut down the power distribution and protection module when the temperature exceeds a preset range.
[0010] Preferably, the DC / DC converter is configured with three modes: boost, buck, and power assist.
[0011] Preferably, it also includes a wake-up circuit, which supports four wake-up channels: hard wire, CAN, charging, and AFE-Fault. Each wake-up source is isolated by a diode and then converges to the SBC wake-up pin, and is then sampled and diagnosed by the MCU ADC.
[0012] This application also proposes a control method for an integrated aviation power energy management controller, applied to the aforementioned integrated aviation power energy management controller, comprising the following steps: The state information of the battery pack electrically connected to the unit is collected through the multi-channel battery state monitoring circuit and the redundant isolated current acquisition unit. The microcontroller generates control signals based on the status information and external commands to control the bidirectional DC / DC converter, thereby achieving bidirectional energy conversion between the unit and the external aircraft high-voltage DC bus. When a fault is detected, the microcontroller controls the solid-state circuit breaker to cut off the power circuit.
[0013] Preferably, the isolated current acquisition unit with redundant design includes at least two independent current measurement channels, and in the step of acquiring the status information of the battery pack electrically connected to the unit, the current value is obtained through the at least two independent current measurement channels, and the current value is cross-validated by the microcontroller.
[0014] The technical solution provided in this application embodiment has the following advantages: 1. This application fundamentally reduces the number of high-voltage wiring harnesses and connectors, as well as the volume and weight of the system, by highly integrating the battery management module, bidirectional power conversion module, and power distribution and protection module within a single modular housing, thereby significantly improving power density and inherent system reliability.
[0015] 2. This application, by employing a bidirectional DC / DC converter with wide bandgap semiconductor devices, not only significantly improves buck-boost conversion efficiency and reduces heat dissipation requirements, but also achieves energy recovery functionality, thereby improving the energy utilization rate of aircraft. The integrated solid-state circuit breaker unit has a response speed of microseconds, enabling arc-free rapid isolation under severe faults such as short circuits, achieving aerospace-grade rapid fault isolation.
[0016] 3. This application employs a multi-core microcontroller with a lockstep core architecture as the control core, combined with a redundant isolated current acquisition unit, a multi-channel battery state monitoring circuit, and hardware / software collaborative protection logic. This ensures that the system remains safe even if any single sensor or computing node fails, thereby guaranteeing system-level functional safety and meeting stringent aviation safety standards. Since it needs to handle multiple different power units while simultaneously achieving integrated control, this application uses a multi-core microcontroller to enhance the controller's computing power. A single controller can simultaneously control multiple power units, achieving signal integration, facilitating unified control and logic implementation, and further improving advantages in size, space, and weight. Attached Figure Description
[0017] Figure 1 This is a system block diagram of the integrated power unit of this application; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the power stage of the bidirectional DC / DC converter in this application. Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the redundant current acquisition unit of this application; Figure 4 This is a circuit diagram for high common-mode current acquisition in this application; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the secondary temperature protection principle in this application; Figure 6 This is a block diagram of the controller circuit of this application; Figure 7 This is the schematic diagram of the controller circuit design for this application; Figure 8 This is the schematic diagram of the controller power supply design for this application. Detailed Implementation
[0018] This application provides an integrated aviation power management controller, which achieves highly integrated, highly reliable, and highly efficient power management for aircraft.
[0019] To better understand the above technical solutions, the following will provide a detailed explanation of the technical solutions in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods.
[0020] like Figure 1 As shown, this application achieves a deep integration of multiple functions such as battery management, bidirectional power conversion, power distribution and protection within a single modular housing through the overall architecture of an integrated aviation power energy management controller.
[0021] The single modular housing integrates a battery management module, a power conversion module, and a power distribution and protection module.
[0022] like Figure 2 As shown, the power conversion module realizes bidirectional energy dispatch. The power conversion module includes a bidirectional DC / DC converter. The bidirectional DC / DC converter is used to convert energy between the externally connected battery pack and the aircraft's high-voltage DC bus. The bidirectional DC / DC converter uses wide-bandgap semiconductor devices. The bidirectional DC / DC converter uses a full-bridge topology, consisting of four power switches and one energy storage inductor. Through precise pulse width modulation control of these four switches by a microcontroller, it can both boost energy from the battery side interface to the high-voltage bus side interface for powering the aircraft load, and step down energy from the high-voltage bus side interface to the battery side interface for charging the battery pack or for energy recovery.
[0023] The power distribution and protection module is responsible for the safe switching of the power path; the power distribution and protection module includes a solid-state circuit breaker unit; in this embodiment, the solid-state circuit breaker unit is constructed using a silicon carbide field-effect transistor. Based on the fast switching characteristics of semiconductor devices and in conjunction with a high-speed drive circuit, the fault breaking time of this solid-state circuit breaker unit is short. In the event of a severe short-circuit fault, it can achieve rapid and reliable arc-free breaking, which is crucial for ensuring the safety of aviation high-voltage DC systems. The power distribution and protection module also includes a pre-charging circuit, used to smoothly charge downstream capacitors when the system is powered on, to avoid surge current impacting devices and connectors.
[0024] The battery management module ensures the safe and long-term operation of the battery pack, and includes monitoring and protection circuitry. To achieve aerospace-grade reliability, this embodiment employs a redundant design, using two cascaded analog front-end chips to form a dual-analog front-end redundant monitoring system.
[0025] like Figure 3 As shown, the battery management module also includes an isolated current acquisition unit with redundant design; the current acquisition unit includes at least two independent current measurement channels. The first current measurement channel, as the main measurement channel, uses a high-precision manganese copper shunt in conjunction with an isolated Σ-Δ modulator, which can convert the current signal into a high-frequency digital code stream, possessing extremely high accuracy and anti-interference capability. Figure 4 As shown, the second current measurement channel serves as a redundant verification channel, employing a high common-mode differential amplifier. The microcontroller simultaneously acquires and processes the measurement results from both channels, performing real-time cross-verification. Once the deviation between the two results exceeds a preset threshold, the system determines that the sensor has malfunctioned and takes corresponding safety measures.
[0026] like Figure 5 As shown, the battery management module also includes a hardware secondary temperature protection circuit. This hardware secondary temperature protection circuit is completely independent of the microcontroller and consists of a simple comparator and a reference voltage source. The hardware secondary temperature protection circuit continuously monitors the battery temperature, and when the temperature exceeds a preset hardware protection threshold, it directly outputs a fault signal. This signal can directly force the shutdown of the main circuit in the power distribution and protection module without going through the microcontroller's software logic, thus providing an ultimate protection layer unaffected by software failures.
[0027] The microcontroller communicates with the multi-channel battery state monitoring circuit via a serial peripheral interface, receives data from the isolated current acquisition unit through its analog-to-digital converter or digital filter interface, controls the power conversion module through its pulse width modulation module, and controls the power distribution and protection module through general-purpose input / output ports. Simultaneously, the microcontroller interacts with an external flight control computer through at least two redundant Controller Area Network (CLAN)-Flexible Data Rate (FDR) communication interfaces. To further enhance system reliability, the microcontroller is also monitored by an external system base chip that integrates watchdog timer, power monitoring, and other functions, forming a master-slave monitoring system.
[0028] like Figure 6 The diagram shown is a schematic of the microcontroller circuit of this application. Figure 7 As shown, this application adopts the core-level architecture of the TC837 chip. The TC837 chip is a TriCore v1.6E+ lockstep core with a main frequency of 300 MHz, DMIPS>1200, and meets ISO26262 ASIL-D. The chip has 1.5 MB SRAM and 6 MB Flash, with full ECC coverage. It features a hardware HSM independent core + encrypted RAM, supports AES-256, SHA-256 and a true random number generator, and provides information security support for over-the-air upgrades and key storage. like Figure 8 The diagram shows the power supply decoupling and redundant clock design for the microcontroller. The core power supply is generated by the internal LDO, resulting in 1.3V. The I / O and analog sections are powered by a system-level +5V after π-type filtering with a ferrite bead. A 100nF + 4.7µF decoupling capacitor is placed near each VDD, VDDA, and VDDP3 pin, and a partial copper trace is added on the second layer of the PCB to reduce impedance. An external automotive-grade 40MHz passive crystal oscillator is used, multiplied to 300MHz by an on-chip PLL. An independent internal crystal oscillator is also integrated on-chip, automatically switching when the external crystal oscillator fails, ensuring fault-safe operation.
[0029] This embodiment also provides a control method for an integrated power management controller for aircraft usage scenarios, the workflow of which is as follows.
[0030] Step S1: System power-on and initialization self-test. During this stage, the microcontroller checks all hardware modules, including memory, sensors, and communication interfaces, to ensure they are functioning correctly. Subsequently, the system enters a continuous operating loop.
[0031] Step S2: Collect battery status information. The microcontroller collects various status information of the battery pack at high frequency through the battery management module, including the voltage of all individual cells, the temperature at multiple points, and the total current value after being collected and cross-validated through redundant channels.
[0032] Step S3: Perform charge state estimation. Based on the collected data, the microcontroller runs an advanced estimation algorithm to calculate the charge state and health state of the battery in real time.
[0033] In step S4, during the flight control command reception, the microcontroller receives power commands from the flight control computer via the communication interface.
[0034] Step S5: Determine the operating mode. The microcontroller combines the current state of the battery and external instructions to determine the current operating mode to be executed, such as discharging, charging, or standby.
[0035] Step S6: Generate and output pulse width modulation control signal. The microcontroller calculates the pulse width modulation duty cycle required to control the switch in the power conversion module according to the determined operating mode and power target, and outputs it through the pulse width modulation drive unit.
[0036] The microcontroller's software and independent hardware protection circuitry continuously monitor for any fault conditions, such as individual unit overvoltage / undervoltage, overtemperature / undertemperature, system overcurrent, and abnormal sensor data. If no fault is detected, the process returns to step S2 and continues the loop; if a fault is detected, the fault protection logic is executed immediately.
[0037] The embodiments described herein are preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, all equivalent changes made to the structure, shape, and principle of the present invention should be covered within the scope of protection of the present invention. Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, those skilled in the art, once they understand the basic inventive concept, can make other changes and modifications to these embodiments. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including the preferred embodiments as well as all changes and modifications falling within the scope of the present invention. Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents, the present invention also intends to include these modifications and variations.
Claims
1. An integrated aviation power management controller, characterized in that, include: Single modular housing; Battery management module, power conversion module, power distribution and protection module, microcontroller; The battery management module, power conversion module, and power distribution and protection module are all integrated within the single modular housing; wherein, the power conversion module is a bidirectional DC / DC converter using wide bandgap semiconductor devices; The power distribution and protection module includes a solid-state circuit breaker unit; The battery management module includes a multi-channel battery status monitoring circuit and an isolated current acquisition unit with redundant design; The microcontroller is a multi-core microcontroller, which is electrically connected to the battery management module, power conversion module, and power distribution and protection module to coordinate the operation of each module.
2. The integrated aviation power management controller according to claim 1, characterized in that, The multi-core microcontroller has a lockstep core.
3. The integrated aviation power management controller according to claim 1, characterized in that, The isolated current acquisition unit with redundant design includes at least two independent current measurement channels, and the microcontroller is configured to cross-validate the measurement results of the at least two channels.
4. The integrated aviation power management controller according to claim 3, characterized in that, The at least two independent current measurement channels are heterogeneous channels, wherein the first channel uses a shunt in conjunction with an isolated Σ-Δ modulator, and the second channel uses a high common-mode differential amplifier or a Hall effect sensor.
5. The integrated aviation power management controller according to claim 1, characterized in that, The battery management module also includes a hardware secondary temperature protection circuit, which is independent of the microcontroller and is configured to directly shut down the power distribution and protection module when the temperature exceeds a preset range.
6. The integrated aviation power management controller according to claim 1, characterized in that, The DC / DC converter is equipped with three modes: boost, buck, and power assist.
7. The integrated aviation power management controller according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a wake-up circuit, which supports four wake-up channels: hard wire, CAN, charging, and AFE-Fault. Each wake-up source is isolated by a diode and then converges to the SBC wake-up pin, and is then sampled and diagnosed by the MCU ADC.
8. A control method for an integrated aviation power energy management controller, applied to the integrated aviation power energy management controller as described in claim 1, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: The state information of the battery pack electrically connected to the unit is collected through the multi-channel battery state monitoring circuit and the redundant isolated current acquisition unit. The microcontroller generates control signals based on the status information and external commands to control the bidirectional DC / DC converter, thereby achieving bidirectional energy conversion between the unit and the external aircraft high-voltage DC bus. When a fault is detected, the microcontroller controls the solid-state circuit breaker to cut off the power circuit.
9. The control method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The isolated current acquisition unit with redundant design includes at least two independent current measurement channels, and in the step of acquiring the status information of the battery pack electrically connected to the unit, the current value is obtained through the at least two independent current measurement channels, and the microcontroller performs cross-validation on the current value.