Steering system application specific integrated circuit and operation thereof, and steering system control unit and steering system having such circuit

Abstract

This invention relates to a dedicated integrated circuit for steering systems and its operation, as well as a steering system control unit and a steering system having such circuitry. The dedicated integrated circuit for steering systems includes a main block having several functional blocks, a gate driver unit, at least one interface, and at least one analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The main block includes a steering system motor controller configured as a functional block to control the operation of a steering system motor; an actuator management unit configured to monitor the steering system during operation of the dedicated integrated circuit and trigger the shutdown of the steering system motor; a system diagnostic unit configured to monitor the functionality of the functional blocks and / or other components of the steering system control unit; and an energy management controller configured to provide desired voltages within different voltage ranges. At least one ADC is configured to provide digitized sensor signals to the steering system motor controller for control purposes.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a dedicated integrated circuit for steering systems, a steering system control unit having a dedicated integrated circuit for steering systems, and a steering system including a steering system control unit having a dedicated integrated circuit for steering systems. Background Technology

[0002] Current electromechanical steering systems in motor vehicles (particularly passenger cars) include complex steering system control units for controlling one or more motors in the steering system that translate steering commands into corresponding steering movements of the steerable wheels of the motor vehicle. For example, steering systems with steering system control units are known from WO 2021 / 198471 A1.

[0003] Steering system control units for motor vehicle steering systems typically include various components for actuating the motor, controlling its operation, and monitoring its operation. Generally, the steering system control unit is designed as an electronic control unit (ECU) with a dedicated power management chip (PMIC; PMIC: Power Management Integrated Circuit) or a system base chip (SBC), where the PMIC or SBC regulates and monitors various power supply areas of the steering system control unit. Gate driver chips (GDU; GDU: Gate Driver Unit) receive control signals and generate actuation signals for external transistors, particularly MOSFETs (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors), which are typically interconnected in a bridge circuit and ultimately drive the motor.

[0004] The entire steering system control unit is typically controlled by a dedicated microcontroller (MCU; MCU: Microcontroller Unit), which executes two software layers with several software components. These software components can be broadly categorized into lower and higher software levels. The lower software level primarily handles hardware control, motor control, and diagnostic and safety functions, while the higher software level handles application-related functions.

[0005] EP 3 676 158 B1 also discloses a motor control unit that includes an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). ASICs serve as a hardware implementation to perform low-software-level (basic software layer) functions. This enables high-speed motor control and also improves the system's NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness) performance. The motor control unit according to EP 3 676158 B1 still requires a dedicated energy management chip, an external gate driver unit, and an external MCU to perform higher-level software functions. Summary of the Invention

[0006] Against this backdrop, the object of the present invention is to provide an improved steering system control unit and an improved steering system. Advantageously, the number of independent hardware components in the steering system control unit is reduced. Furthermore, the performance requirements of the MCU in the steering system control unit can be reduced.

[0007] A steering system application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a steering system control unit, a steering system, and a method for operating the ASIC are proposed to solve this problem. Other advantageous improvements of the invention are described in the specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

[0008] The proposed solution provides a dedicated integrated circuit (ASIC) for a steering system, comprising: a main block having several functional blocks; at least one gate driver unit, particularly several gate driver units, and further particularly one gate driver unit and one relay driver unit; at least one interface; and at least one analog-to-digital (AD) converter with several inputs, wherein the interface is specifically designed for exchanging data with external units, i.e., units located outside the ASIC. The main block of the ASIC includes, as functional blocks, a steering system motor controller, an actuator management unit, a system diagnostic unit, and an energy management controller, which may also be referred to as a power management controller. The steering system motor controller is configured to control the operation of the steering system motor during operation of the ASIC, wherein at least one AD converter is configured to provide digital sensor signals for controlling the operation of the steering system motor during operation of the ASIC, wherein the sensor signals are particularly derived from external sensors, which are specifically not included in the ASIC. The actuator management unit is advantageously configured to monitor the correct function of the steering system, particularly the steering system itself, during operation of the ASIC and to trigger the shutdown of the steering system motor. The system diagnostic unit is configured to monitor the functionality of the functional blocks and / or other components of the steering system control unit during the operation of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit. The energy management controller is configured to provide the required voltage within different voltage ranges during the operation of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit. Therefore, the energy management controller is specifically an energy supply unit. Specifically, the actuator management unit is designed to monitor how the system operates. Advantageously, the actuator management unit determines whether the steering system motor must be turned off based on various input signals, particularly those received from the system diagnostic unit. Specifically, the actuator management unit can be in an ON state on one hand and an OFF state on the other, and advantageously in this way turn the gate driver unit and phase relay on or off. Specifically, the operation of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit also refers to the operation of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit in the steering system control unit of the motor vehicle's electromechanical steering system when the motor vehicle is in use.

[0009] The gate driver unit of the steering system application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) advantageously replaces at least one external chip with a gate driver unit. Specifically, a gate driver unit and a relay driver unit are provided as at least one gate driver unit. Advantageously, the gate driver unit and relay driver unit of the steering system ASIC replace two external chips with corresponding units, which in particular require transistors (especially MOSFETs) to control the bridge circuit associated with the steering system motor, as well as other switches and / or relays (especially MOSFET switches and / or relays) for system safety and protection. This advantageously reduces the number of separate hardware components required for the steering system control unit. Furthermore, an energy management controller advantageously replaces an external chip with an energy management controller, particularly a PMIC. This also advantageously reduces the number of separate hardware components required for the steering system control unit.

[0010] Another advantage is that the steering system ASIC is also configured to securely communicate with other computing units, particularly with other computing units within the steering system control unit (of which the steering system ASIC is part) and / or with units outside the steering system control unit. Advantageously, the steering system ASIC supports at least one of the following communication protocols: CAN (Controller Area Network); FlexRay; Ethernet. Advantageously, this enables direct communication that allows for higher processing speeds.

[0011] Furthermore, it is specifically stipulated that the steering system motor controller is also configured to control the power of the steering system motor by generating pulse width modulation phase voltages during the operation of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit, taking into account the signal present at the input of at least one AD converter and converted by at least one AD converter.

[0012] According to an advantageous embodiment, at least one interface of the steering system application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) includes at least one sensor interface. This is advantageously configured to receive signals from steering system sensors and, in particular, to be usable by the main block of the steering system ASIC. Specifically, so-called GPIO ports (GPIO: General Purpose Input / Output) are provided as the interface of the steering system ASIC, wherein each pin of the port can be advantageously programmed as either an input or an output. Therefore, the interface of the steering system ASIC advantageously enables direct processing of the provided sensor information, which also advantageously improves performance.

[0013] Another advantageous design specifies that at least one interface includes a peripheral interface for exchanging signals with the microcontroller unit, particularly a serial peripheral interface. Specifically, the microcontroller unit may include a steering system control unit and a steering system application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). However, the microcontroller unit may also be an external microcontroller unit located outside the steering system control unit, particularly a microcontroller unit assigned to the actuators of the steering system.

[0014] Advantageously, the steering system application-specific integrated circuit also includes a DC-DC converter (DC: direct current), which is specifically configured to supply power to the steering system from a power source provided by the vehicle or its battery, particularly from a 12 V or 48 V power source (V: volt). Specifically, the DC-DC converter can be an inductive DC-DC converter, especially a buck converter, a buck-boost converter, a capacitive switching regulator, or a buck charge pump with a defineable ratio, wherein the buck charge pump specifically drives a smaller buck converter or linear regulator to further reduce the supply voltage of the system's primary analog power rail.

[0015] Advantageously, the steering system ASIC is also designed to read these signals from at least one AD converter and / or from multiple AD converter channels (in the case of time-division multiplexed AD converters). Specifically, the at least one AD converter is designed as a time-division multiplexed AD converter with different AD converter channels. In particular, a dedicated AD converter is provided for each sensor. Digital sensors can advantageously be read via the GPIO ports of the steering system ASIC. Advantageously, the steering system ASIC is particularly versatile in this manner.

[0016] Another advantageous design provides a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing) based processor architecture for the steering system ASIC. This processor architecture advantageously includes ARM processors (ARM: Advanced RISC Machines) or RISC-V processors, also known as RISC-V cores. Specifically, the ARM or RISC-V processor is used to implement the functionality of the function blocks. According to one design variant, the steering system ASIC employs hard-wired user-defined logic to implement the logic, as in an ASIC implementation.

[0017] Another advantage is that the gate driver unit of the steering system ASIC is designed to be directly connected to the power supply area of ​​the vehicle battery, particularly to the 12V or 48V power supply area of ​​the vehicle battery. When the steering system ASIC is used in the steering system control unit of a motor vehicle steering system, the gate driver unit is therefore advantageously directly connected to the power supply section of the vehicle battery, which also advantageously reduces hardware complexity. The gate driver unit is also advantageously configured to generate an actuation signal for an external MOSFET, via which the steering system motor is actuated. The gate driver unit, particularly the high-side / low-side driver of the gate driver unit, can advantageously include a charge pump. The charge pump can advantageously be used to convert the actuation signal to the correct level.

[0018] According to another advantageous design, the steering system dedicated integrated circuit has multiple low-voltage regulators, specifically N low-voltage regulators LDO-1 to LDO-N (LDO: low differential voltage regulator). Advantageously, the low-voltage regulators are designed to provide a constant output voltage even when the input voltage is only slightly greater than the output voltage. In particular, it is specified that all sensors, transceivers, and other circuits of the steering system control unit, including the steering system dedicated integrated circuit, are powered via the low-voltage regulators LDO-1 to LDO-N. The internal LDOs of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit advantageously ensure the power supply of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit itself.

[0019] According to another advantageous embodiment, the steering system application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) includes an ASIC monitoring controller configured to provide basic management and support functions for the steering system ASIC. Advantageously, these management and support functions include monitoring the low-voltage regulator and DC-DC converter, and / or activating or deactivating energy-saving components, and / or overvoltage and undervoltage protection functions, and / or management and synchronization of the internal clock signal. Advantageously, this also improves the reliability and performance of the steering system ASIC.

[0020] Furthermore, the steering system application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) advantageously includes a current measurement circuit. In particular, this is configured to achieve closed-loop control of the steering system motor during operation of the ASIC by means of at least one additional sensor connected to the ASIC, particularly by means of a rotor position sensor assigned to the motor.

[0021] Specifically, the steering system motor controller is designed to use pulse width modulation (PWM) to control the power of the steering system motor, wherein the steering system motor controller advantageously generates PWM phase voltages at its output for actuating the motor. In particular, feedback signals are used for control, specifically including a voltage signal across an electrically measurable resistor (shunt) for detecting the phase current, and an analog signal from a rotor position sensor. Both the voltage signal for phase current measurement and the rotor position signal are advantageously fed to the steering system motor controller via at least one analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The digitized rotor position signal is advantageously used to perform a transformation of the phase current to a coordinate system used for control.

[0022] Another advantageous design feature of the steering system application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) is that the main block includes dedicated function blocks as additional function blocks. These dedicated function blocks are advantageously configured such that dedicated functions for the electromechanical steering system can be implemented within them. Alternatively, these dedicated functions are generalized so that they can also be used for other motor control applications. Advantageously, additional peripheral circuitry required for operating the electromechanical steering system is also integrated into the steering system ASIC.

[0023] Advantageously, the steering system ASIC also includes bypass functions for some sensor signals, particularly those from the steering angle sensor and / or torque sensor. The ASIC is also advantageously configured to digitally process and filter these sensor signals for reliability checks, diagnostic functions, and initialization, and to make them available to a microcontroller unit also included in the steering system control unit. Advantageously, advanced software functions can access this information. Furthermore, the ASIC has the necessary PHY interface, which advantageously enables interaction with these sensor signals during operation of the steering system within the ASIC.

[0024] A steering system control unit for an electromechanical steering system of a motor vehicle, further proposed to address the aforementioned task, includes a steering system dedicated integrated circuit (ASIC) according to the present invention. Specifically, the steering system control unit includes the ASIC, which comprises: a main block having several functional blocks; at least one gate driver unit, particularly a gate driver unit and a relay driver unit; at least one interface; and at least one AD converter. The main block includes a steering system motor controller, an actuator management unit, a system diagnostic unit, and an energy management controller as functional blocks. The steering system motor controller is configured to control the operation of the steering system motor during operation of the ASIC. Another advantage is that the steering system motor controller is configured to control the power of the steering system motor by generating a phase voltage represented by a PWM signal. For this purpose, feedback signals are advantageously used, including an analog voltage signal for measuring the phase current at an electrically measurable resistor and an analog signal from a rotor position sensor. Both the phase current signal and the position signal are fed to the steering system motor controller via the AD converter of the ASIC, wherein the digitized position signal is advantageously used for conversion to a coordinate system used by the regulator. The actuator management unit is advantageously configured to monitor the steering system during operation of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit (ASIC) and trigger the shutdown of the steering system motor. The system diagnostic unit is configured to monitor the functionality of the function blocks and / or other components of the steering system control unit during operation of the ASIC, and the energy management controller is configured to provide the required voltage within different voltage ranges during operation of the ASIC. In particular, the ASIC of the steering system control unit may have the above-described features individually or in combination. This advantageously enables the realization of the aforementioned advantages regarding the steering system control unit.

[0025] In addition, it is specifically stipulated that the steering system control unit includes multiple steering system sensors, particularly at least one of the following sensors, and in particular all of the following sensors: rotor position sensor; electrical measuring resistor, particularly shunt resistor; battery voltage monitoring sensor; temperature sensor; torque sensor; steering angle sensor.

[0026] According to another advantageous embodiment, the steering system control unit includes a microcontroller unit, particularly an A-MCU (A-MCU: Application Microcontroller Unit). The microcontroller unit is advantageously configured to store the configuration required to operate the steering system, wherein the microcontroller unit and the steering system application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) are also advantageously configured to communicate with each other when the steering system control unit is started, thereby loading the configuration from the microcontroller unit into the steering system ASIC. Higher-level software functions can also run on the microcontroller unit.

[0027] A design variant of the steering system control unit specifies that the control unit includes a memory unit, particularly flash memory, and more specifically, external flash memory. The memory unit is advantageously configured to store the configuration required to operate the steering system, wherein the memory unit and the steering system application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) are also advantageously configured to communicate with each other when the steering system control unit is started, thereby loading the configuration from the memory unit into the steering system ASIC. This design is particularly advantageous if an external microcontroller unit located outside the steering system control unit is provided, particularly a microcontroller unit assigned to the actuator. This may be the case, for example, in implementations of intelligent actuators, where the software is relocated to a regional computer or a central computer.

[0028] To address the aforementioned problem, an electromechanical steering system for motor vehicles is further proposed, comprising: a steering shaft through which steering commands can be specified by means of a steering handle; a steering actuator having at least one motor as a steering system motor, wherein the steering actuator is designed to use the motor to convert steering commands into steering motions of the steerable wheels of the motor vehicle; and a steering system control unit designed according to the present invention.

[0029] Specifically, the electromechanical steering system includes a steering system control unit, which includes a steering system application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The ASIC includes: a main block having several functional blocks; at least one gate driver unit, particularly a gate driver unit and a relay driver unit; and at least one interface. The main block includes a steering system motor controller, an actuator management unit, a system diagnostic unit, and an energy management controller as functional blocks. The steering system motor controller is configured to control the operation of the steering system motor during operation of the ASIC, and specifically, to control its power by generating pulse-width modulated phase voltages.

[0030] At least one AD converter of the steering system application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) is advantageously configured to provide digitized sensor signals to the steering system motor controller for controlling the operation of the steering system motor during operation of the ASIC, wherein feedback signals are specifically used for control. The feedback signals advantageously include an analog voltage signal corresponding to the phase current across an electrical measuring resistor associated with the motor, and an analog signal from a rotor position sensor associated with the motor. Advantageously, the voltage signal for phase current measurement and the rotor position signal are digitized via the input of at least one AD converter and fed to the steering system motor controller. Furthermore, it is advantageous that the digitized rotor position signal is used to perform a conversion of the phase current to a coordinate system used by the regulator.

[0031] The actuator management unit, also included in the steering system dedicated integrated circuit, is advantageously configured to monitor the steering system, particularly its proper function, during operation of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit, especially during operation of the steering system in a motor vehicle, and to trigger the shutdown of the steering system motor. A system diagnostic unit, also included in the steering system dedicated integrated circuit, is configured to monitor the functionality of the functional blocks and / or other components of the steering system control unit during operation of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit, particularly during operation of the steering system in a motor vehicle, and an energy management controller is configured to provide the required voltage within different voltage ranges during operation of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit, particularly during operation of the steering system in a motor vehicle. In particular, the steering system dedicated integrated circuit of the steering system control unit can have the above-described features individually or in combination. This has the advantage of realizing the advantages of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit related to the steering system described above. In particular, according to an advantageous design variant, the electromechanical steering system is designed as a steer-by-wire system.

[0032] To address the aforementioned problem, a method for operating an integrated circuit designed according to the invention is also proposed for use in steering system applications in motor vehicles with electromechanical steering systems (particularly in motor vehicles with electromechanical steering systems designed according to the invention), wherein the steering system includes a steering system motor having an associated rotor position sensor and an associated electrical measuring resistor, wherein the method specifies that a steering system motor controller of a dedicated steering system integrated circuit regulates the operation of the steering system motor during operation of the dedicated steering system integrated circuit and controls its power by generating a pulse width modulated phase voltage. The steering system motor controller advantageously uses a feedback signal to control the steering system motor, wherein the feedback signal includes an analog voltage signal falling across the electrical measuring resistor and corresponding to the phase current, and an analog signal from the rotor position sensor. Both the voltage signal for phase current measurement and the rotor position signal are advantageously digitized via the input of at least one AD converter of the dedicated steering system integrated circuit and fed to the steering system motor controller. Furthermore, the digitized rotor position signal is advantageously used by the steering system motor controller to perform a transformation of the phase current to a coordinate system for control. Attached Figure Description

[0033] Further advantageous details, features, and design details of the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings (hereinafter referred to as Figures), in which:

[0034] Figure 1 A simplified perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of an electromechanical steering system designed according to the present invention is shown;

[0035] Figure 2 A simplified block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a steering system control unit designed according to the present invention is shown; and

[0036] Figure 3 Another block diagram of another exemplary embodiment of a steering system control unit configured according to the present invention is shown.

[0037] In various accompanying drawings, the same parts are usually given the same reference numerals, and therefore, in some cases each part is described in conjunction with only one of the accompanying drawings. Detailed Implementation

[0038] Figure 1 An exemplary embodiment of an electromechanical steering system 100 for motor vehicles, particularly passenger cars, designed according to the present invention is shown, wherein, Figure 1 A simplified perspective view of the steering system 100 is provided.

[0039] The steering system 100 includes a steering column 105 with a steering shaft 110. The steering shaft 110 is mechanically coupled to the steerable wheels 113 of the vehicle via a steering gear 115. In this exemplary embodiment, the steering gear 115 includes a pinion 116 that can be driven by a steering system motor 101. The steering system motor 101 is designed as an electric motor, particularly a three-phase permanent magnet synchronous motor. Furthermore, the steering gear 115 includes a coupling rod 117, which is designed as a rack in this exemplary embodiment. The steering gear 115 is used to convert the rotational motion of the pinion 116 into translational motion of the coupling rod 117 along its longitudinal axis.

[0040] In this exemplary embodiment, the steering wheel is rotatably fixed at the driver-facing end of the steering shaft 110, serving as a steering handle 111 for inputting steering commands, which the driver can rotate in a known manner to input. In this exemplary embodiment, coupling rods 117, linearly movable along their longitudinal axis, are mechanically coupled to tie rods 118 on both sides of the vehicle. Furthermore, each tie rod 118 is mechanically coupled to a steerable wheel 113. Therefore, the steering system 115 is designed to convert sensor-detected steering commands into steering motion of the steerable wheels 113 of the vehicle by corresponding actuation of the steering system motor 101 via a steering system control unit 10 configured for this purpose. For sensing steering commands, the steering system 100 in this exemplary embodiment includes a steering angle sensor 102 and a torque sensor 103. Specifically, the steering system control unit 10 is designed as described with reference to the following exemplary embodiment.

[0041] Despite Figure 1 As indicated in the text, the steering system 100 can also be a steer-by-wire system, especially in which there is no mechanical connection between the steering shaft 110 and the rack 117 in the steering system 100.

[0042] Figure 2 An electromechanical steering system for motor vehicles is shown, particularly for... Figure 1 The diagram shows a block diagram of the steering system control unit 10 of the steering system 100. In this exemplary embodiment, the steering system control unit 10 includes a steering system application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 1, multiple sensor units, and a microcontroller unit 12 designed as an A-MCU. The steering system ASIC 1 is an ASIC designed to perform certain functions specific to the steering system. In this exemplary embodiment, the steering system ASIC 1 includes a main block 2, a gate driver unit 3 (also simply called a GDU), a sensor interface 41 for exchanging signals 18 with the sensor units of the steering system control unit 10, and a serial peripheral interface 42 for exchanging signals 18 with the microcontroller unit 12. In this exemplary embodiment, functions at a lower software level, particularly platform-related software, are performed in the main block 2. In this exemplary embodiment, functions at a higher software level, particularly application software functions, are performed by the microcontroller unit 12.

[0043] In this exemplary embodiment, the functional blocks allocated to lower software levels and implemented in main block 2 include a steering system motor controller, an actuator management unit, a system diagnostic unit, and an energy management controller. When the steering system 100 in a motor vehicle is operated, the steering system motor controller regulates the operation of the steering system motor 101 of the steering system 100 and uses pulse width modulation to control the power of the steering system motor 101. A corresponding control signal is provided within the steering system dedicated integrated circuit 1 to which GDU 3 belongs, and the steering system motor can then be connected to GDU 3 via a corresponding inverter circuit. To control the operation of the steering system motor 101, digital sensor signals are provided as feedback signals from the AD converter 53 of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit 1 to the steering system motor controller. Specifically, to control the motor power using pulse width modulation, the steering system motor controller advantageously generates a phase voltage represented by a PWM signal at the output for actuating the steering system motor. The feedback signals required for control, including the voltage signal dropping across the electrical measuring resistor used to detect the phase current and the analog signal from the rotor position sensor, are applied as analog signals to the AD converters 53 of the steering system application-specific integrated circuit 1, and are digitized by these AD converters 53 and provided to the steering system motor controller. The digitized rotor position signal is used to convert the phase current into a coordinate system used by the regulator of the steering system motor controller.

[0044] When the steering system 100 in a motor vehicle is operated, the actuator management unit monitors the functionality of the steering system 100 and considers diagnostic results to determine whether to shut down the steering system motor 101. During the operation of the steering system 100, the system diagnostic unit monitors the functionality of the functions implemented in the main block 2 and the functionality of other components of the steering system control unit 10, and the energy management controller provides the voltage required for the operation of the steering system control unit 10, wherein the required voltage can be distributed to different voltage ranges. In particular, the sensor units of the steering system control unit 10 operate under different voltages.

[0045] In this exemplary embodiment, the sensor unit of the steering system control unit 10 includes a rotor position sensor 130, several shunts serving as electrical measuring resistors 140, a battery voltage monitoring sensor 150, a temperature sensor 160, a steering angle sensor 102 (particularly an absolute steering angle sensor), and a torque sensor 103.

[0046] Figure 3 An arrangement from another exemplary embodiment of the steering system control unit 10 and the steering system motor 101 is shown. In this exemplary embodiment of the steering system control unit 10, the steering system control unit 10 is also provided with a steering system dedicated integrated circuit 1, several sensor units, and a microcontroller unit 12. The provided sensor units are a rotor position sensor 130, an electrical measuring resistor 140, a battery voltage monitoring sensor 150, a temperature sensor 160, a steering angle sensor 102, and a torque sensor 103. However, compared to the previous exemplary embodiment, more functions are implemented in the steering system dedicated integrated circuit 1. For example, Figure 3 The steering system application-specific integrated circuit 1 shown also has a main block 2 comprising several functional blocks, a gate driver unit 3, several AD converters 53, and several interfaces 4. However, in this exemplary embodiment, the main block 2 includes more functional blocks, and more functions are also implemented outside the main block 2 via the steering system application-specific integrated circuit 1.

[0047] Therefore, main block 2 includes, as functional blocks: a steering system motor controller 21, designed to control the operation of the steering system motor 101 and control the power of the steering system motor 101 via pulse width modulation of the phase voltage through the gate driver unit 3; an actuator management unit 22, designed to monitor the steering system 100 during operation of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit 1 and trigger the shutdown of the steering system motor 101 in case of a fault; a system diagnostic unit 23, designed to monitor the functionality of the functional blocks of main block 2 and the sensor units of the steering system 100; an energy management controller 24, designed to provide the required voltage within the steering system control unit 10 in different voltage ranges; a dedicated functional block 25, in which dedicated functions for the electromechanical steering system 100 are implemented; a time measurement unit 26, which specifically uses CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) and vernier algorithms; and a calibration and error correction unit 27, which is specifically designed to compensate for system gain errors or offset errors, and is also advantageously designed to use S-curve analysis to evaluate system accuracy and / or monitor input measurements and diagnose errors that occur.

[0048] In this exemplary embodiment, main block 2 uses a RISC-based processor architecture and includes an ARM processor, a RISC-V processor, or a hardwired logic implementation. Additionally, main block 2 includes a memory unit, which is preferably designed as static random access memory (SRAM). When the steering system control unit 10 is started, configuration can be loaded from microcontroller unit 12 into memory unit 28 via interface 42.

[0049] During the operation of the steering system application-specific integrated circuit 1, the AD converter 53 of the steering system application-specific integrated circuit 1 provides feedback signals to the steering system motor controller 21 in the form of digital sensor signals for controlling the steering system motor 101, wherein these signals originate from sensor units, particularly from the rotor position sensor 130 and the measuring resistor 140.

[0050] In this exemplary embodiment, the steering system application-specific integrated circuit 1 also includes a PHY interface 43 (PHY: physical layer transceiver) for interacting with the sensor unit and a plurality of GPIO ports 44.

[0051] Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, the steering system application-specific integrated circuit 1 includes components directly connected to... Figure 3 The vehicle battery DC-DC converter 51 is not explicitly shown. An additional DC-DC converter 56 of the steering system application-specific integrated circuit 1 provides power to the microcontroller unit 12.

[0052] Furthermore, the dedicated integrated circuit 1 for the steering system has several low-voltage regulators 54 (LDOs), such as Figure 3 As shown, Figure 3 The dots “…” between the squares representing low-voltage regulator 54 indicate that there are clearly more than four low-voltage regulators provided. Low-voltage regulator 54 provides a constant output voltage that supplies the necessary operating voltages to the components of the steering system ASIC (particularly sensors, transceivers, and other circuits). The internal low-voltage regulator 55 of the steering system ASIC 1 powers the steering system ASIC 1 itself.

[0053] The steering system application-specific integrated circuit 1 also includes an ASIC monitoring controller 52. This ASIC monitoring controller 52 provides basic management and support functions for the steering system application-specific integrated circuit 1. Specifically, these include monitoring the low-voltage regulator 54 and DC-DC converters 51, 56; activating or deactivating components to save energy; protecting the circuitry from overvoltage and undervoltage; managing internal clock signals and synchronization; and / or other functions.

[0054] exist Figure 3 In the exemplary embodiment shown, the gate driver unit 3 is directly connected to the power supply section of the vehicle battery. A charge pump 31 is distributed to the gate driver unit 3. Additionally, the steering system application-specific integrated circuit 1 includes a current measurement circuit 35, which enables closed-loop control of the steering system motor 101 using at least one additional sensor of the system, particularly a rotor position sensor, and more specifically, a rotor position sensor, a temperature measurement sensor, and a current measurement sensor. The gate driver unit 3 then transmits control signals for the steering system motor 101 to the MOSFET bridge circuit 15 distributed to the steering system motor 101, thereby driving the steering system motor 101 to implement steering commands. Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, the steering system application-specific integrated circuit 1 includes a relay driver unit 14 associated with the MOSFET bridge circuit 15.

[0055] Reference Figure 3 The described steering system application-specific integrated circuit 1 is advantageously operable in a motor vehicle having an electromechanical steering system 100, particularly in vehicles having, as described above, referenced in the references. Figure 1 The described electromechanical steering system 100 operates in a motor vehicle. A rotor position sensor 130 and a plurality of electrical measuring resistors 140 are assigned to the steering system motor 101 of the steering system 100.

[0056] When the steering system dedicated integrated circuit 1 is operated, the steering system motor controller 21 controls the operation of the steering system motor 101 and controls its power by generating a pulse width modulated phase voltage. The steering system motor controller 21 uses feedback signals to control the steering system motor 101. In this exemplary embodiment, these feedback signals include an analog voltage signal that drops across the electrical measuring resistor 140 and corresponds to the phase current, and an analog signal from the rotor position sensor 130. Both the voltage signal for the phase current measurement and the rotor position signal are fed to the input of the AD converter 53 and digitized thereon, then fed to the steering system motor controller 21 as digital sensor signals. In this exemplary embodiment, the digitized rotor position signal is used by the steering system motor controller 21 to perform a transformation of the phase current to a coordinate system for control.

[0057] The exemplary embodiments shown in and described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings are used to illustrate the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. List of reference numerals 1. Steering System Dedicated Integrated Circuit 2 main blocks 21 Steering system motor controller 22 Actuator Management Unit 23 System Diagnostic Unit 24 Energy Management Controller 25 Special Function Blocks 26 Time Measurement Units 27 Calibration and Error Correction Unit 28 memory units 3 Gate driver units 31 Charge Pump 35 Current Measurement Circuit 4 Interfaces 41 Sensor Interface 42 Peripheral Interfaces 43 PHY interface 44 GPIO ports 51 DC-DC converter 52 ASIC Monitoring Controller 53 AD converter 54 Low-voltage regulator 55 Internal low-pressure regulator 56 DC-DC converter 10. Steering System Control Unit 12 microcontroller units 14 Relay driver unit 15 MOSFET bridge circuit 18 signals 100 Steering System 101 Steering System Motor 102 Steering Angle Sensor 103 Torque Sensor 105 steering column 110 steering axle 111 Steering Handle 112 steering actuator 113 steering wheels 115 Steering System 116 pinion gears 117 Coupler 118 tie rod 130 Rotor Position Sensor 140 electrical measuring resistor 150 Battery Voltage Monitoring Sensor 160 temperature sensor

Claims

1. A steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1), comprising: A main block (2) with multiple functional blocks. At least one gate driver unit (3), and At least one interface (4). At least one AD converter (53) with multiple inputs. The main block (2) includes a steering system motor controller (21), an actuator management unit (22), a system diagnostic unit (23), and an energy management controller (24) as functional blocks. in, The steering system motor controller (21) is configured to control the operation of the steering system motor (101) during the operation of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit (1). The at least one AD converter (53) is configured to provide digital sensor signals to the steering system motor controller (21) for controlling the operation of the steering system motor (101) during the operation of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit (1). The actuator management unit (22) is configured to monitor the steering system (100) during operation of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit (1) and trigger the shutdown of the steering system motor (101). The system diagnostic unit (23) is configured to monitor the functionality of the function blocks and / or other components of the steering system control unit (10) during operation of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit (1). And among them, The energy management controller (24) is configured to provide the required voltage within a different voltage range during the operation of the steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1).

2. The dedicated integrated circuit (1) for steering systems according to claim 1, characterized in that, The steering system motor controller (21) is also configured to control the power of the steering system motor (101) by generating a pulse width modulation phase voltage during the operation of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit (1).

3. The steering system dedicated integrated circuit (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The at least one interface (4) includes at least one sensor interface (41) configured to receive signals from steering system sensors (102, 103) and make the signals available to the master block.

4. The steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, The at least one interface (4) includes a peripheral interface (42) for exchanging signals (5) with the microcontroller unit (12).

5. The steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that: A DC-DC converter (51) specifically configured to power the steering system (100) from a 12 V or 48 V power supply range.

6. The steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, The at least one AD converter (53) is designed as a time-division multiplexed AD converter with different AD converter channels.

7. The steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that: Processor architectures based on RISC principles, specifically including ARM processors or RISC-V processors.

8. The steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, The gate driver unit (3) is designed to be directly connected to the power supply area of ​​the vehicle battery.

9. The steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that: Multiple low-voltage regulators (54).

10. The steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that: An ASIC monitoring controller (52) is configured to provide basic management and support functions for the steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1). The management and support functions specifically include monitoring the low-voltage regulator (54) and the DC-DC converter (51, 56). Activate or deactivate components to save energy. Overvoltage and undervoltage protection functions, and / or Management of internal clock signals and synchronization of the internal clock signals.

11. The steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that: A current measurement circuit (35) is configured to achieve closed-loop control of the steering system motor (101) during operation of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit (1) by means of at least one additional sensor connected to the steering system dedicated integrated circuit.

12. The steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, The main block (2) includes a dedicated function block (25) as an additional function block, wherein the dedicated function block (25) is configured such that a dedicated function for the electromechanical steering system (100) can be implemented in the dedicated function block (25).

13. The steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that: Bypass function for some sensor signals, particularly sensor signals from steering angle sensor (SAS) and / or torque sensor (TS), wherein the steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1) is also configured to digitally process and filter these sensor signals, and to use the sensor signals for reliability checks, diagnostic functions and initialization and / or to enable the sensor signals to be used by the microcontroller unit (12).

14. A steering system control unit (10) for an electromechanical steering system (100) of a motor vehicle having a dedicated integrated circuit, characterized in that, The application-specific integrated circuit is the steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims.

15. The steering system control unit (10) according to claim 14, characterized in that, The steering system control unit includes a microcontroller unit (12), wherein the microcontroller unit (12) is configured to store configurations required to operate the steering system (100), wherein the microcontroller unit (12) and the steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1) are also configured to communicate with each other when the steering system control unit (12) is started, thereby loading the configurations from the microcontroller unit (12) into the steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1).

16. The steering system control unit (10) according to claim 14, characterized in that, The steering system control unit (10) includes a memory unit configured to store configurations required to operate the steering system (100), wherein the memory unit and the steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1) are also arranged to communicate with each other when the steering system control unit (10) is started, thereby loading the configurations from the memory unit into the steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1).

17. An electromechanical steering system (100) for a motor vehicle, comprising: The steering shaft (110) allows steering commands to be specified via the steering handle (111); A steering actuator (112) having at least one motor as a steering system motor (101), wherein the steering actuator (112) is designed to use the motor to convert steering commands into steering motions of the steerable wheels (113) of a motor vehicle; and a steering system control unit (10) characterized in that the steering system control unit (10) is designed according to any one of claims 14 to 16.

18. A method for operating a steering system application-specific integrated circuit (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 13 in a motor vehicle having an electromechanical steering system (100), particularly in a motor vehicle having an electromechanical steering system (100) according to claim 17, wherein, The steering system (100) includes a steering system motor (101) with an associated rotor position sensor (130) and an associated electrical measuring resistor (140). in, The steering system motor controller (21) controls the operation of the steering system motor (101) during the operation of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit (1), and controls the power of the steering system motor (101) by generating pulse width modulation phase voltage. The steering system motor controller (21) uses feedback signals to control the steering system motor (101). The feedback signal includes: an analog voltage signal that drops across the electrical measuring resistor (140) and corresponds to the phase current, and an analog signal from the rotor position sensor (130). The voltage signal used for phase current measurement and the rotor position signal are both digitized and fed to the steering system motor controller (21) via the input of at least one AD converter (53) of the steering system dedicated integrated circuit (1). The digital rotor position signal is used by the steering system motor controller (21) to perform a transformation of the phase current to a coordinate system for control.

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