Improved Battery Management System and Monitoring Device

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a monitoring device operable to report sensor measurement data of a battery system. The monitoring device includes at least one sensor operable to obtain measurement data of one or more modules of the battery system, a receiver operable to receive from a communication controller a timing signal that defines a transmission time of a reporting frame, and a transmitter operable to report the obtained measurement data to the communication controller. The monitoring device is configured to use the received timing signal to select a sampling time of the at least one sensor, obtain measurement data of one or more modules of the battery system, and transmit the obtained measurement data to the communication controller at the transmission time defined by the received timing signal.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of battery technology and energy cells. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a battery management system and a monitoring device for monitoring a battery cell or a group of battery cells, and a communication controller for use with such a monitoring device.

Background Art

[0002] Battery systems including a plurality of battery cells are used in a wide range of modern power applications. For example, they are used to supply power to electric vehicles and are used in commercial applications such as industrial power applications, transportation, and power supply for the latest electronic devices. Considering the relatively high power demand of such applications, battery systems often comprise a plurality of battery cells coupled together to achieve the required power output. The battery cells can be coupled together to form a battery pack, and the battery system can include one or more battery packs.

[0003] It is common to connect a battery system to a battery management system configured to ensure that the battery system operates within its safe operating range. The safe operating area is generally defined as the voltage, temperature, and current conditions under which the battery system is expected to operate without self-damage.

[0004] To achieve this, typically, each battery cell of a battery system is monitored using a cell monitoring device. The function of the cell monitoring device is to measure signals from the monitored battery cell, such as cell terminal voltage, cell current, cell temperature, cell pressure, etc., and then use these signals to determine whether the cell is in a safe state. In some systems, the measurement values obtained by the cell monitoring device are collated and sent to the battery management system, which processes the measurement values to determine the current state of the monitored cell. Alternatively, the measurement values can be collated and processed within the individual cell monitoring device and reported to the battery management system, as a result of which the battery management system can maintain an overview of the current state of the battery system.

Summary of the Invention

[0005] One aspect of the present disclosure provides a battery management system, the battery management system comprising a battery management unit, one or more monitoring devices, and a communication controller operable to receive and process measurement values of one or more battery cells of a battery system received from the one or more monitoring devices and provide the processed measurement values to the battery management unit. Each of the one or more management devices may comprise one or more sensors operable to obtain measurement values of one or more battery cells of the battery system, a transmitter operable to transmit the obtained measurement values to the communication controller, and a processor operable to process the measurement values obtained from the one or more battery cells and cause the obtained measurement values to be reported to the communication controller according to a predetermined schedule.

[0006] In some embodiments, the communication controller and processor of one or more monitoring devices are configured to cause the processor or communication controller to report measurements obtained from one or more battery cells to a battery management unit in a deterministic manner that is independent of triggering any interrupts, external memory access steps, or stack usage. By restricting the processing of the communication controller and the processor of the monitoring device in such a manner, random errors resulting from non-deterministic processing can be avoided in such embodiments, and thus the reliability of the battery management system can be improved.

[0007] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a battery management system in which one or more monitoring devices are provided, each monitoring device including one or more sensors operable to obtain measurements of one or more modules of the battery system, a receiver operable to receive from a communication controller a timing signal indicating the timing of a reporting frame, and a transmitter operable to report the obtained measurements to the communication controller, each monitoring device being configured to compare previously obtained measurements with the timing indicated by the timing signal received from the communication controller and transmit them to the communication controller at one or more transmission times, and to use the received timing signal to select a sampling time of measurements obtained by one or more sensors to be reported to the communication controller in a later reporting cycle. In such a system, the sampling time of the monitoring device is adjusted by the reception of the timing signal from the communication controller, so that the adjustment of the acquisition of sensor measurements can be improved.

[0008] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a monitoring device operable to report sensor measurement data of a battery system is provided. The monitoring device includes at least one sensor operable to acquire measurement data of one or more modules of the battery system, a receiver operable to receive from a communication controller a timing signal that defines a transmission time of the measurement data, and a transmitter operable to report the acquired measurement data to the communication controller. The monitoring device is further configured to use the received timing signal to select a sampling time of the at least one sensor, acquire measurement data of one or more modules of the battery system, and transmit the acquired measurement data to the communication controller at the transmission time defined by the received timing signal. Thus, both the sensor sampling time and the transmission time for reporting sensor measurements are defined by the timing signal.

[0009] According to some embodiments, the timing signal defines a sampling time, and the at least one sensor is operable to perform measurements and generate measurement data at the sampling time defined by the received timing signal. The timing signal may define a shared sampling time for a plurality of different monitoring devices, and the at least one sensor may be operable to perform measurements and generate measurement data at the sampling time defined for the plurality of different monitoring devices that synchronize with the plurality of different monitoring devices.

[0010] According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a communication controller is provided that is operable to receive sensor measurement data from one or more monitoring devices of a battery system. The communication controller may include at least one processor operable to generate a timing signal, and a transmitter operable to transmit the timing signal to one or more monitoring devices, wherein the timing signal defines a transmission time for transmitting sensor measurement data from at least one of the one or more monitoring devices to the communication controller, and a receiver operable to receive sensor measurement data from one or more monitoring devices. The communication controller is further configured to select a sampling time of at least one of the one or more monitoring devices, wherein the sampling time defines a time at which a sensor of the at least one monitoring device acquires sensor measurement data from one or more modules of the battery system, and to incorporate the sampling time into the timing signal before transmitting the timing signal to the one or more monitoring devices. Advantageously, such a controller is capable of providing a flexible yet robust sensor measurement data reporting scheme. This is achieved by specifying both the sampling time at which the sensor acquires measurements of the battery system and the transmission time at which the acquired measurement data is transmitted to the communication controller in the timing signal generated by the communication controller. Since both the sampling time and the transmission time are specified in the timing signal by the communication controller, retrospective incorporation of additional monitoring devices in the battery system can be adapted by modifying the timing signal, more specifically, by modifying one or more transmission times and / or sampling times associated with the newly added monitoring device.

[0011] According to some embodiments, the communication controller may be configured to select a single sampling time for a plurality of monitoring devices, such that each one of the plurality of monitoring devices is enabled to acquire sensor measurement data at the same sampling time. In this way, the sampling of measurement data by the plurality of monitoring devices is synchronized.

[0012] The monitoring devices and communication controllers disclosed herein are particularly beneficial for use in battery systems that improve the functional safety of the battery system and require a deterministic battery cell data reporting process.

[0013] A further aspect of the present disclosure provides a monitoring device and a controller for use in a system as described above.

[0014] The foregoing will be described in more detail by the following more detailed description of exemplary embodiments, as shown in the accompanying drawings, which refer to the same parts throughout different figures with different reference numerals. The drawings are not necessarily to scale and instead focus on showing exemplary embodiments.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0015]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10a

Figure 10b

Figure 11

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] Here, reference is made in detail to exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The following description refers to the accompanying drawings, and like numerals in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise represented. The embodiments described in the following description of the exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with the present invention. Rather, they are merely examples of devices and methods consistent with aspects related to the present invention described in the appended claims. Note that the terms "module" and "cell" may be used interchangeably in this document and may thus relate to the same component.

[0017] Overview of Battery Management System Architecture FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an exemplary wired battery management system architecture in which a plurality of cell monitoring devices 10-1... 10-N are connected to a communication controller 15 via a wired harness 12. In the exemplary architecture of FIG. 1, the wired harness 12 connects the cell monitoring devices 10-1... 10-N to the communication controller 15 in the form of a star network centered on the communication controller 15. The communication controller 15 is also connected to a battery management unit 20.

[0018] In the exemplary system of FIG. 1, each cell monitoring device 10-1... 10-N is configured to monitor one or more battery cells 22-1... 22-N and obtain measurements of physical characteristics associated with the one or more cells 22-1... 22-N, such as voltage, current, temperature, pressure, strain, force, etc., and / or derived measurements such as state of charge (SoC). Next, these measurements (which may include derived measurements in some examples) are transmitted from each cell monitoring device 10-1... 10-N to the communication controller 15 via the wired harness 12.

[0019] The communication controller 15 may be configured to aggregate all messages from the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N and then pass those messages to the battery management unit 20. Alternatively, the communication controller 15 may be configured to pass individual messages directly to the battery management unit 20. The battery management unit 20 then proceeds to process the received measurements to determine the current state of the battery system.

[0020] Often, the communication controller 15 is a hardware device separate from the battery management unit 20. Alternatively, the communication controller 15 and the battery management unit 20 may be integrated into a single hardware device. The communication controller 15 may be responsive to adjusting data reception via the wired harness 12, and the battery management unit 20 may be responsive to analyzing and processing the data.

[0021] One drawback of the wired battery management system architecture shown in FIG. 1 is that such an architecture is configured to receive measurements from a predefined number of cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N. This makes it difficult to expand the system. The reason is that adding additional cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N typically requires adding extra circuitry and connections to the communication controller 15 to connect to the additional cell monitoring devices, as well as modifying the wire harness 12.

[0022] Figure 2 shows an alternative approach to the wired battery management system architecture of Figure 1. In contrast to the wired battery management system architecture of Figure 1 where the wired harness 12 connects the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N to the communication controller 15 in the form of a star network, in the exemplary architecture of Figure 2, the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N are wired by the wiring 25 in the form of a daisy chain network where the successive cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N are connected in series.

[0023] The operation of the wired battery management system architecture of Figure 2 is quite similar to the operation of the star network of Figure 1, except that instead of each cell monitoring device 10-1...10-N communicating directly with the communication controller 15, messages are relayed back and forth among the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N by traversing the daisy chain wiring 25 up and down. This means that the operation of each cell monitoring device 10-1...10-N is no longer identical. The reason is that the cell monitoring device 10-N directly connected to the communication controller 15 needs to relay messages from all the other cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N-1, while the cell monitoring device 10-1 at the end of the daisy chain has no message relay demand. The latency of the message (the time it takes to move from the source cell monitoring device to the communication controller 15) varies depending on the cell monitoring device and increases as the number of cells / cell monitoring devices increases. In some embodiments, the daisy chain wiring 25 can be formed into a loop that terminates at the communication controller 15 at both ends. In this case, the latency can vary among the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N depending on the direction around the loop that the message travels. This varying latency is a drawback of the daisy chain wired battery network.

[0024] Figure 3 shows a modified example of the battery management system architecture of Figure 1. Instead of using the wired harness 12, communication is performed wirelessly via a wireless network. For that purpose, each cell monitoring device 10-1...10-N has an antenna 30, similar to the communication controller 15. The wireless network may use a long-distance antenna or a short-distance coupling.

[0025] The wireless battery management system architecture of Figure 3 provides the advantages of a wired star network (all cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N are identical, there is a certain latency, etc.). In addition, as the number of cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N changes, neither the communication controller 15 nor any wire harness 12 needs to be changed.

[0026] Structure of the communication controller and cell monitoring device Here, the structure of the communication controller 15 and the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N of the system of Figure 3 will be described in more detail with reference to Figures 4 and 5.

[0027] First, referring to Figure 4, in one embodiment, the cell monitoring device 10 of the battery management system of Figure 3 may include one or more sensors 31, 32, 33. In Figure 4, three sensors are shown, namely a voltage sensor 31, a current sensor 32, and a temperature sensor 33. It will be appreciated that in other embodiments, more or fewer sensors or different sensors may be included in the cell monitoring device 10. For example, these may include pressure, strain, force, sound, light, etc. Such sensors may be arranged within individual cell modules 10-1...10-N, or such sensors may be installed in a group of modules or in the battery system casing.

[0028] In this embodiment, sensors 31, 32, 33 are connected to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 37 via an analog multiplexer 35, and the ADC 37 is also connected to a processor 39. In an alternative embodiment, the analog multiplexer 35 may be omitted, and instead, multiple ADCs 37 may be provided, with each of the sensors being directly connected to the processor 39 via its own dedicated ADC 37. However, it will be appreciated that by providing the analog multiplexer 35, it is possible to avoid duplication of the ADCs 37.

[0029] Also, the processor 39 is connected to a memory 40, which may be a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) or read-only memory (ROM) that stores a program containing processing instructions for processing the digital signals representing the sensor measurements received from the ADC 37. Alternatively, the memory 40 may include a static random access memory (SRAM), thereby enabling the program to be stored and then modified. Such an embodiment may facilitate the creation and debugging of programs for storage in the cell monitoring device 10 during the development of the battery management system.

[0030] In addition, the processor 39 is also connected to an antenna 30 via a wireless block 45. A clock 47 is provided within the cell monitoring device 10 to regulate the timing of sensor measurements and other processes performed by the cell monitoring device 10. In some embodiments, the clock 47 may take the form of an oscillator.

[0031] In use, sensors 31, 32, 33 are powered by one or more battery cells 22 (only one battery cell 22 is shown in FIG. 4, but typically, in multiple embodiments, the monitoring device 10 may be configured to obtain measurements from a plurality of battery cells, a plurality of battery cells, for example, from a group of 12 or more). The analog measurements from sensors 31, 32, 33 are passed to ADC 37 via analog multiplexer 35, and ADC 37 sends the digitized measurements to processor 39. Next, processor 39 executes a program stored in memory 40 that converts the received digital signal into measurements with physical meaning such as volts, amps, kelvin, etc., and packages the data for transmission. In multiple embodiments, the packaged digital measurements may be held in an internal register within processor 39 prior to transmission. Periodically, when wireless block 45 becomes active, the stored packaged measurements held internally in a register within processor 39 are wirelessly transmitted via antenna 30 to communication controller 15.

[0032] The structure of communication controller 15 is similar to that of cell monitoring device 10 in that communication controller 15 also includes antenna 30, radio block 45, processor 39, memory 40, and clock 48. However, instead of storing a program for adjusting the capture, packaging, and transmission of sensor measurements from sensors 31, 32, 33, memory 40 of communication controller 15 stores a program for causing processor 39 of communication controller 15 to transfer measurement data to battery management unit 20 for adjustment. Processor 39 of communication controller 15, in some embodiments, may detect errors in the transmission, reception, and / or packaging of sensor measurements before transferring the measurement data to battery management unit 20. Such processing may include checking for error detection or error correction codes included in transmissions received via antenna 30. Additionally, communication controller 15 also provides a communication path for control messages transmitted from battery management unit 20 via antenna 30 and a wireless communication link to cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N. Communication controller 15, in some embodiments, may generate control messages and transmit them to cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N via antenna 30.

[0033] The alternative architecture shown in FIG. 5 provides a more robust architecture compared to the architecture of FIG. 4. By way of example, referring to the architecture of FIG. 4, a failure of ADC 37 may not be detected. Alternatively, a failure of a software program may not be detected. "Degraded" failures can occur in many places and values that should change are not updated. If the output value of ADC 37 is not updated, the system may not notice that the value is not changing. On the other hand, a cell may exceed its voltage and cause a hazard. The processor software may not be able to update the value transmitted to radio block 45, and thus communication controller 15 may receive what appears to be a safe value but is actually inaccurate.

[0034] In view of these problems, in many applications, an alternative architecture as shown in FIG. 5 may be used.

[0035] Compared with the architecture of FIG. 4, in the alternative architecture of FIG. 5, the diagnostic source block 50 is included in the cell monitoring device 10 configured to apply a known signal to the analog multiplexer 35. Next, if a known value, or a predicted value based on a known value, is not then seen by the processor or communication controller 15 of the monitoring device 10, that value may be an indicator that something has gone wrong and a fault will be detected.

[0036] Furthermore, the architecture of FIG. 5 replaces the ADC 37 with a multiplexer 51 connected to two ADCs 37-1, 37-2. It is unlikely that both ADCs 37-1, 37-2 will show the same fault at the same time. Therefore, the outputs from ADCs 37-1, 37-2 can be compared, and if they do not substantially match (i.e., if the ADC conversions obtained substantially match), a fault flag can be set. Usually, in such a situation, if there is a discrepancy in the results of ADCs 37-1, 37-2, it is usually only possible to determine that there is a fault in one of ADCs 37-1, 37-2, but it is not determined which one has the fault. However, in some embodiments, in combination with a diagnostic source (e.g., a known value, or a predicted value based on a known value from the diagnostic source block 50), it may be possible to identify which of ADCs 37-1, 37-2 has an error. A further potential advantage of the presence of the two ADCs 37-1, 37-2 is that the outputs of ADCs 37-1, 37-2 that substantially match (i.e., the values obtained do not exceed the threshold and do not mismatch) can be averaged to obtain an average value of the digitized sensor signal. This reduces the impact of noise in the measurement and conversion process, so the accuracy of the analog-to-digital conversion of the measured analog signal can be increased. In some embodiments, this may be more preferable than simply discarding the measured signal from a single ADC.

[0037] In addition to replacing a single ADC37 with a pair of ADC37-1, 37-2 and multiplexer 51, in the architecture of FIG. 5, the processors 39 of the monitoring device 10 and the communication controller 15 are replaced by a dual-core lockstep processor 52. The dual-core lockstep processor 52, sometimes called a safety processor, is a processor that includes two (or more) processor cores, each core executing the same software program, but one core being delayed compared to the other core. In addition to this delay, the two cores are executed in lockstep. This allows the outputs of the cores to be compared (taking into account the delay). Since the cores execute the same program for the same data, the results should exactly match. Therefore, if one of the software programs is damaged in one of the cores and the results do not match, a failure can be detected.

[0038] These modifications to the architecture of FIG. 4 improve the ability to confirm that no errors occur during the conversion and transmission of sensor measurements from sensors 31, 32, 33 in the cell monitoring device 10 to the battery management unit 20, but the reliability of the data received by the battery management unit 20 can be further improved by restricting the processing performed by the dual-core lockstep processor 52.

[0039] More specifically, the applicant recognizes that software processing of data within the communication path between the acquisition of analog measurement values by sensors 31, 32, 33 in the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N and the reception of data collected by the battery management unit 20 is a significant potential cause of errors within the battery management system. Hardwired data processing, such as that performed by multiplexer 35 and ADCs 37-1, 37-2, is essentially deterministic. For example, as explained above, the results of hardwired data processing are predictable within an acceptable range, so it is possible to detect faults or errors. However, software processing, especially when dependent on factors external to the processor, may not be detected (for example, such external factors can lead to a wide range of results, and in many cases, actually result in outcomes from several possibilities that are not predictable until the processing is actually performed). Examples of such external factors include any processing based on interrupts, where the expected processing is changed by stopping a particular process while a secondary process is being performed. Additionally, actions that depend on non-deterministic external memory access (as opposed to storing values in the processor's registers) can introduce non-deterministic errors because the stack can be used when a stack overflow error can occur at an unexpected time. Conversely, when the processing is deterministic and does not include steps such as interrupts and external memory access, the processing can be expected to execute and complete within a set period, and the variation in the time taken to execute and complete the program would be expected to be relatively small. This would not be the case if the program included interrupt steps. Such interrupts introduce uncertainty in the time taken to execute and complete the program because they cause a temporary halt in the processing for an unknown period and at an unknown timing at which such interrupts are triggered, and thus cannot be known in advance.

[0040] While it may be possible to analyze software to "prove" that no errors occur, such analysis is difficult, time-consuming, and costly. The applicant recognizes that much of the potential reduction in the reliability of software processing in the data path between the set of sensors 31, 32, 33 and the battery management unit 20 can be reduced by applying some of the major principles in the construction of the programs executed by the processors 39, 52.

[0041] First, as a principle, the processing of the measurements from the set of sensors 31, 32, 33 should be limited to converting the sensor measurements into meaningful digital data (e.g., converting the sensor measurements into digital codes with physical meanings such as volts, amperes, kelvins, etc.) and packaging such data so that it can be transmitted to the battery management unit 20 for analysis (including the generation and checking of any error detection or error correction codes within the data for transmission). Other processing, such as the generation of histogram data indicating that the time cells 22-1...22-N remain in a particular state, which is not important but potentially useful, should be performed via a separate processing path using a separate processor that has no role in the processing, packaging, and transmission of the sensor measurement data.

[0042] Second, the program executed as part of this data transmission path should be designed to avoid the use of any interrupts, external memory access steps that require storing or accessing data in non-deterministic memory, or the use of a stack. This latter principle can be achieved when the program within the data transmission path is configured to store data in the internal registers of the processor 39 rather than utilize external memory storage in the process of processing and transmitting sensor data from the sensors 31, 32, 33 to the battery management unit. In this case, the scope of the program executed by the processors 39, 52 is such that it necessarily executes and completes within a time scale smaller than the time scale at which sensor measurements are acquired and reported to the battery management unit 20.

[0043] This latter criterion can be achieved when sensor measurements are sampled according to a predetermined schedule and reported to the battery management unit 20. Due to the processing capabilities and clock speeds of any of the processors 39, 52 within the data transmission path between the sensors 31, 32, 33 and the battery management unit 20, any program executed by such processors 39, 52 within the data path will execute and complete within a time scale shorter than the time scale at which the data is sampled and reported.

[0044] Thus, as an example, when cell measurements are sampled and reported at a frequency in Hertz, processors 39, 52 have a processing speed on the order of megahertz, and the programs executed by processors 39, 52 need to be programs that necessarily execute and complete within a number of clock cycles less than the ratio of the sampling frequency to the processing speed of processors 39, 52. This means that the processing capabilities of processors 39, 52 are not fully utilized, but this ensures that whenever each program executed by processors 39, 52 is completed and packaged data is required, it is available for transmission. This, along with the absence of interrupts, use of external memory access, or use of stacks, causes processors 39, 52 to operate as deterministic state machines, and thus the reliability of the processing by processors 39, 52 is comparable to that of other hardwired connection components such as cell monitors 10-1...10-N and communication controller 15.

[0045] In some examples, processors 39, 52 may be provided (e.g., designed or manufactured) for the system, provided that at least one or all of the following functions, namely interrupts, external memory access, and / or use of stacks, are excluded. Alternatively, processors 39, 52 may be provided for a system with the above functions, but those functions are disabled. In yet other alternative embodiments, processors 39, 52 are provided for the system with the above functions, but any program executed therein is designed to avoid using any of those functions.

[0046] Furthermore, operations performed by processors 39 and 52 within the communication path between ADC37 or ADC37-1, 37-2 and battery management unit 20 are preferably operations such that processing is limited to conversion of the output of the ADC to data, and packaging of such data including creation and addition of an error check code or error correction code such that data representing sensor measurement values is not stored or modified. Preferably, the processing is limited to processing according to a single instruction set corresponding to this task. This should help to ensure that the operations of processors 39 and 52 are the same each time the process is performed.

[0047] Timing and Synchronization of Data Sensor Measurements Timing and synchronization of data related to sensor measurements and data transmission within the battery management system will now be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 6-11.

[0048] FIGS. 6-11 are a set of schematic diagrams for explaining the timing and scheduling of data transmission within the battery management system.

[0049] FIG. 6 shows an exemplary data report schedule. In the exemplary report schedule, each cell monitoring device 10-1... 10-N (e.g., the cell monitoring devices associated with cells 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 in FIGS. 6-9) is assigned to a group. In the case of FIG. 6, six cells / cell monitoring devices are shown, and the cell / cell monitoring devices are shown as being divided into a first group - Group 1 corresponding to cell / cell monitoring devices 1-3, and a second group - Group 2 including cell / cell monitoring devices 4-6. The explanatory diagram of FIG. 6 is exemplary, and it will be recognized that in other embodiments, there may be more or fewer cells / cell monitoring devices, and such cells / cell monitoring devices may be grouped into more or fewer groups.

[0050] In this example, at the initial time shown in FIG. 6 as the start of the first frame (frame 1 in FIG. 6), the communication controller 15 broadcasts a request to all the monitoring devices 10-1...10-N, and the cell monitoring device-group 1 (i.e., the devices that monitor cells 1 to 3) reports their acquired measurement values to the communication controller 15.

[0051] In response, the monitoring devices 10-1...10-N associated with the cells of group 1 (i.e., cells 1 to 3) proceed to report the measurement values last acquired and processed from sensors 31, 32, 33. These are processed and packaged by the processors 39, 52 of the monitoring devices 10-1...10-N and correspond to the data stored internally in the registers within the processors 39, 52. Each of the monitoring devices 10-1...10-N associated with cells 1 to 3 of group 1 is configured to report the measurement values in pre-defined time slots within the frame so that the measurement values are reported over a period of time rather than simultaneously. That is, each of the monitoring devices 10-1...10-N associated with cells 1 to 3 is configured to transmit data with different pre-defined delays after receiving the message broadcast by the communication controller 15.

[0052] When the period during which all of the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N that monitor the cells of group 1 have reported their measurement values to the communication controller 15 has elapsed, the communication controller 15 proceeds to request the measurement values from the next group (in this example, group 2, which includes the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N that monitor cells 4, 5, and 6). Similar to the first group, each cell monitoring device 10-1...10-N associated with the cells of group 2 (i.e., cells 4, 5, 6) is pre-configured to report the sensor measurement values acquired in specific time slots after receiving the request broadcast from the communication controller 15.

[0053] Next, at the end of the frame for reporting the measurement values from the second group of cells, the communication controller 15 evaluates whether all the data measurement values have been received from all the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N. The communication controller 15 also checks to determine whether any of the received data has been damaged during transmission. This can be accomplished by using the error detection code or other similar error checking code included in the messages transmitted from the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N and the communication controller 15 to determine whether the messages have been transmitted and received without the content of the messages being changed. If the communication controller 15 determines that all the expected data has been received and has not been damaged during transmission, then during the next two periods, frames 3 and 4, the communication controller 15 transmits a signal to the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N instructing them not to transmit any further data to any of the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N.

[0054] In some embodiments, rather than instructing the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N not to transmit any further data, the communication controller 15 may instead transmit a request to utilize the frame to one or more of the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N. In this case, no additional transmission of sensor measurement data is required to transmit auxiliary data, such as historical data, histograms or certification data, summary data, etc. to the communication controller 15. In embodiments where additional data (i.e., data other than sensor measurement data) is reported to the communication controller 15, the collation and transmission of such additional data is preferably processed by an auxiliary processor (not shown in FIGS. 4 and 5), which is separate from the processors 39, 52 since the management and creation of such data tends to involve external memory access steps.

[0055] For example, after the completion of a period that includes four frames (i.e., twice the number of groups of cells), the process is repeated. In some embodiments, the reporting of the measured values can occur within the same period as the sampling of the data.

[0056] In other embodiments where different numbers of groups of cells are used, it is understood that the process can be repeated after twice that different number. In still other embodiments, it should also be understood that the process can be repeated after an integer multiple of the number of groups of cells used in the process. In still other embodiments, the process can be repeated after a period that includes an integer number of frames that includes two or more additional frames. This allows the process to provide at least one additional frame for the central controller 15 to request retransmission of missing or received data, and for each of the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N, while remaining within the framework of a predetermined schedule of frames for communicating the measurement data as described above in connection with FIG. 6, to provide at least one additional opportunity to perform such retransmission. Further, the process enables each of the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N to detect that the early transmission of the measurement data has been safely received due to the absence of such a retransmission request. Next, each cell monitoring device 10-1...10-N can delete the last stored measurement data and initiate the operation of sampling measurements for the next measurement data to be transmitted to the central controller 15.

[0057] FIGS. 7 and 8 are explanatory diagrams of the process of FIG. 6 in which a transmission error occurs.

[0058] In the case of FIG. 7, in the first frame, the response from the monitoring device 10 associated with cell 2 is shown as being lost or damaged. If this is the case, when the communication controller 15 evaluates whether responses have been received from all cells at the end of frame 2, the communication controller 15 will determine that the measurement value from cell 2 is missing or was received but damaged during transit. Therefore, instead of broadcasting a signal that does not instruct any of the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N to transmit any more data, at the start of frame 3, the communication controller 15 broadcasts a signal requesting the cell monitoring device 10 associated with cell 2 to retransmit its measurement data. Next, the cell monitoring device 10 responds by retransmitting the previously acquired sensor measurement values at the same time slot (e.g., as shown in frame 3 of FIG. 7), i.e., with the same fixed delay in response to the reception of the signal from the communication controller 15 as was attempted in the previous frame.

[0059] Since no other errors were detected as having occurred, similar to the example of FIG. 7, in the final frame (frame 4), the communication controller 15 broadcasts a signal indicating that no further data transmission is required.

[0060] FIG. 8 is an example of a set of data transmissions in which a data request requesting that report data of cell monitoring devices 10-1... 10-N associated with group 2 is lost or damaged is broadcast by communication controller 15 in frame 2. In such an example, at the end of frame 2, when communication controller 15 evaluates whether data has been received from all cell monitoring devices 10-1... 10-N, communication controller 15 identifies that any of the cell monitoring devices 10-1... 10-N associated with group 2 has not reported any data, and subsequently requests that the cell monitoring devices 10-1... 10-N associated with group 2 retransmit that data in a message broadcast at the start of frame 3. The cell monitoring devices 10-1... 10-N of group 2 respond by transmitting a response in an assigned time slot within frame 3 in response to receipt of the data transmission request from communication controller 15.

[0061] As will be appreciated, in accordance with the signal system outlined above, each of the cell monitoring devices 10-1... 10-N is requested to transmit data, and if the data is not received by communication controller 15 within a period set from the request, a retransmission is requested. Further, it will be appreciated that scheduling of responses is achieved by communication controller 15 periodically broadcasting a data request signal and the cell monitoring devices 10-1... 10-N responding to such a data request. Here, the cell monitoring devices 10-1... 10-N within the same group are configured to transmit a response within a pre-assigned time slot within the frame. In some embodiments, the time slot is variable and can be changed upon receipt of a timing signal from communication controller 15.

[0062] By providing the possibility of requesting retransmission of data when transmission is interrupted, data is usually received from the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N during most reporting cycles, and a reasonable guarantee is provided that the data measurement values are lost only if both the transmission request (or response) and the subsequent retransmission request (or response) are lost or damaged.

[0063] In the above, the data has been described as being requested in the case of transmission of lost or damaged data, but in multiple embodiments, either retransmission of the entire data packet or only retransmission of a part of the data packet can be requested in the case of loss or damage, and in this case, it will be recognized that only a part of the data transmission (for example, data corresponding to one or more measurement values from sensors 31, 32, 33) was damaged or lost.

[0064] Since the data needs to be reported to the communication controller 15 at least once during the period set for data request and transmission (and possible retransmission), the period for acquiring and reporting the data is known in advance, and thus, the memory 40 of the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N and the communication controller 15, as well as the processing capabilities of the processors 39, 52 of the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N and the communication controller 15, can all be selected to be processed until completion before all processed results need to report any new data.

[0065] To identify whether a data packet has been damaged during transmission, the processors 39, 52 of the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N may be configured to add an error detection or error correction code to the data packet. Alternatively, the processors 39, 52 of the communication controller 15 or the battery management unit 20 may be configured to process the added code to determine whether the data packet has been damaged during transmission. Including an error detection code and the processing of such a code by the battery management unit 20 may be preferable because it will enable the battery management unit 20 to identify whether there is received or damaged data at the communication controller 15 by such processing and checking of the code by the battery management unit 20.

[0066] In some embodiments, the processors 39, 52 of the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N may be configured to include in the data transmission a code that identifies the source of the data. Such a code may include, in some embodiments, a code that identifies the cell 22 to which a particular data measurement pertains. In other embodiments, the code may include a code corresponding to the identifier of a particular cell monitoring device 10-1...10-N.

[0067] In some embodiments, the processors 39, 52 of the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N may include timestamp data in the data transmitted to the communication controller 15. Such timestamp data may identify the local time associated with the data transmission and / or sensor measurements identified by the clock 47. Further or alternatively, the processors 39, 52 of the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N may include a counter value in the data transmission from the monitoring devices 10-1...10-N to the communication controller 15, and the counter value is incremented each time new data is transmitted to the communication controller 15. By including cell or cell monitor ID data, timestamp data, and / or counter data, it can be used by the communication controller 15 to detect received data that is not damaged but received out of order, data repetition, and / or reception of data from the wrong source.

[0068] In some embodiments, the scheduling of data transmission in the manner described above can also be utilized to improve the accuracy of adjusting the timing of sensor measurements obtained by the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N, as described here with reference to FIGS. 9-11.

[0069] When scheduled in the manner described above, each reporting period from the battery management system includes the number of cycles corresponding to each frame, as described in FIGS. 6-8. In each cycle, first, the communication controller 15 broadcasts a data request to the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N, and then, subsequently, there is a period (Rx92 in FIG. 9) during which the communication controller 15 receives signals from the selected cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N, where each of the individual cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N associated with a particular group transmits data during a set period after receiving the data transmission request (time slot Tx90 of each cell in FIGS. 9 and 10).

[0070] The scheduling of this data transmission, as well as the division of frames into transmission periods and reception periods, is shown in FIG. 9. More specifically, FIG. 9 shows such a division in relation to an exemplary system including eight cell monitoring devices 10-1... 10-N. In this example, divided into three groups, the individual cell monitoring devices 10-1... 10-N associated with cells assigned to a particular group transmit data in response to a data transmission request in a particular pre-assigned time slot (Tx90 in FIGS. 9 and 10) within a frame (Cycle 1, Cycle 2, Cycle 3, etc. in FIG. 9) associated with reporting measurement values for the particular group of cells.

[0071] In some embodiments, the scheduling of data transmission can be configured such that a particular period is assigned to transmission by one of the devices in direct communication. For example, the scheduling in FIG. 9 is such that there is no overlap over the entire period assigned to the three frame cycles 1, 2, and 3 during the transmission period. In other words, only one of the central controllers 15 in FIG. 3, and one or more cell monitoring devices 10-1... 10-N are assigned for transmission during a particular period. In such a system, this can enable the system (or the central controller 15 or the battery management unit 20) to more reliably detect a faulty component or error, for example, by identifying which device is likely to have a fault or error based on the received data and the timing of its transmission.

[0072] In another embodiment, the scheduling of data transmission can be managed such that the response period (Rx92) of the communication controller 15 results in receiving measurement data (Meas IV / Rx94) from all cells 10-1... 10-N in a single time frame.

[0073] The broadcast data transmission request transmitted by the communication controller 15 may have the main purpose of adjusting the timing for reporting sensor measurement values (Meas IV / Rx94) by the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N according to a predetermined schedule. However, the applicant also recognizes that the signal can be used to improve the adjustment of the timing of sensor measurements across the entire battery management system.

[0074] FIG. 10a shows an exemplary diagram showing the information content of a timing signal 99 generated by the communication controller 15 and relayed to the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N to adjust the acquisition of sensor measurement values (Meas IV / Rx94) according to an embodiment. The timing signal 99 may include a plurality of different information. For example, the timing signal 99 may include a preamble and a synchronization slot 100, and the synchronization slot 100 includes synchronization markers that enable two or more different cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N to synchronize their operations. For example, this may enable two or more different cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N to substantially synchronize the acquisition of sensor measurement data. Similarly, it may include adjusting their internal clocks, which may help ensure that each cell monitoring device transmits its measurement data at the correct transmission time. In some embodiments, this may include synchronizing the internal clocks of two or more different monitoring devices 10-1...10-N.

[0075] In some embodiments, the timing signal 99 may also include a designated measurement slot 102. The designated measurement slot 102 effectively establishes the sampling times of at least one of the sensors 31, 32, 33 associated with each of the one or more monitoring devices 10-1... 10-N in order to collectively acquire measurement data. In some embodiments, the measurement slot 102 may be defined with respect to the time delay measured from the reception of the timing signal 99 by the one or more monitoring devices 10-1... 10-N. The timing signal 99 may also include information specifying one or more measurement result transmission slots 104, 106, 108, each slot specifying the time when a particular monitoring device 10-1... 10-N transmits its sensor measurement data using the measurement signal 134. In this regard, the measurement result transmission slots 104, 106, 108 may specify a particular time slot when a particular monitoring device reports measurement data for its corresponding battery cell 10-1... 10-N. If each cell monitoring device 10 is associated with a different battery cell, each of the transmission slots 104, 106, 108 may be associated with a different battery cell. The monitoring devices 10-1, 10-2, 10-N are associated with the associated battery cells and transmit their measurement data in the order specified by the transmission slots 104, 106, 108 defined by the timing signal 99. The transmission slots 104, 106, 108 may alternatively be referred to as time slots, transmission slots / channels, and result slots interchangeably.

[0076] According to some embodiments, the timing signal 99 may also include additional payload slots 110. The payload slot 110 may define a time slot in which additional information may be provided depending on the context in which the present embodiment is implemented. Thus, it enables customizability. Finally, the timing signal 99 may include a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) for error detection, which may be part of the payload slot 110 in some embodiments. The CRC enables the cell monitoring device to detect errors in the received timing signal.

[0077] According to some embodiments, the measurement slot 102 may define when sensor measurements associated with different battery cells are to be performed. In some embodiments, the measurement slot 102 may effectively instruct each cell to perform sensor measurements substantially simultaneously. That is, the measurement slot 102 causes cells 10-1...10-N to synchronize their measurements, resulting in substantially simultaneous measurements (Meas IV / Rx94 in FIG. 9) being performed at all the requested cells 10-1...10-N. In some embodiments, the timing signal 99 may also instruct which of the cells 10-1...10-N are to perform a measurement, and more specifically, which measurement is to be performed by one or more sensors associated with the cells 10-1...10-N. This information may also be included in the measurement slot 102. In further embodiments, the timing signal 99 may also selectively instruct specific measurement cells to perform specific measurements. For example, the measurement slot 102 may also identify which of the cells 10-1...10-N of the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N are to have measurements performed on them and when to report it, according to the transmission cell slots 104, 106, 108. Thus, the behavior of all the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N may be controlled by the communication controller 15 via the timing signal 99, and embodiments are envisioned where different cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N acquire sensor measurement data at different times.

[0078] When the necessary sensor measurements are made according to the timing signal 99, the acquired measurement data is packaged into a signal and reported to the communication controller 15 at time slots 104, 106, 108 designated for a given cell 10-1...10-N in the timing signal 99.

[0079] Figure 10b is a schematic data flow chart showing the exchange of data signals between the communication controller 15 and a plurality of cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N. In the embodiment shown, the timing signal 99 transmitted by the communication controller 15 is assumed to include a measurement slot 102 that commands all cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N to acquire sensor measurements substantially simultaneously. Thus, in this embodiment, the information of the timing signal 99 synchronizes the sensor measurements of the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N. To achieve this, the measurement slot 102 of the timing signal 99 defines a shared time for all cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N to acquire sensor measurement data. First, to adjust this synchronized measurement, the communication controller 15 transmits the timing signal 99 to all cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N. In step 120, the information contained in the preamble and synchronization slot 100 of the timing signal 99 received by each cell monitoring device 10-1...10-N is used to synchronize the internal clocks of the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N. In some embodiments, this may also include synchronizing their internal clocks with the clock of the communication controller 15. Thus, the communication controller 15, and each cell monitoring device 10-1...10-N, are equipped with synchronized clocks, which helps to implement a deterministic communication system. The reason is that the communication controller 15 can anticipate when it will receive sensor measurement data from each cell monitoring device 10-1...10-N, and failure to receive the expected data may indicate a system malfunction.

[0080] Returning to the description of FIG. 10b, when the internal clock is synchronized, at step 120, each cell monitoring device 10-1...10-N, at step 122, uses the information provided in the measurement slot 102 of the received timing signal 99 to obtain measurement data from one or more sensors associated therewith. As described above, this can result in sensor measurements being taken almost simultaneously. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, it is also contemplated that the timing signal 99 may specify which type of measurement data should be obtained. For example, the data may relate to the voltage, temperature, pressure, or any other physical characteristic of the battery cell. These sensor measurement signals 132 may be stored in the local memory 40 of the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N at step 124. Each cell 10-1...10-N may generate a transmission signal 134 including the stored sensor measurement signal 132. The transmission signal 134 may further include a CRC for error detection. The transmission signal 134 is transmitted to the communication controller 15 in the appropriate time slots 104, 106, 108 specified by the timing signal 99 at steps 126, 128, 130, depending on which of the cells 10-1...10-N is transmitting the transmission signal. When the transmission signal 134 is transmitted to the communication controller 15, the memory 40 may be cleared in a subsequent reporting cycle in preparation for subsequent sensor measurement data. Storing the measured values of the sensors in this way reduces the possibility of memory-related errors such as stack overflow or loss of information.

[0081] As shown in FIG. 10b, the cell monitoring device 10-1 transmits its transmission signal 134 to the communication controller 15 in step 126 associated with time slot 104 by the timing signal 99. Similarly, the cell monitoring device 10-2 transmits its transmission signal 134 to the communication controller 15 in step 128 associated with time slot 106 by the timing signal 99. The cell monitoring device 10-N transmits its transmission signal 134 to the communication controller 15 in step 130 associated with time slot 108 by the timing signal 99.

[0082] In some embodiments, the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N may directly transmit the acquired sensor measurement signal 132 to the communication controller 15 without preparing a transmission signal 134 that includes an additional payload such as CRC. Such embodiments are also envisioned.

[0083] According to the disclosed embodiments, the single cell monitoring devices 10-1, 10-2, 10-N may be directly attached to individual battery cell modules that may include individual battery cells. This configuration enables the individual battery cells to be monitored in response to a request by the timing signal 99 transmitted from the communication controller 15.

[0084] As described above, according to some embodiments, the transmission signal 134 intended for transmission from the cell monitoring devices 10-1, 10-2, 10-N to the communication controller 15 may include different types of information such as CRC. In addition, the transmission signal 134 may include a preamble slot, a measurement data result slot, and a CRC slot. Using the CRC, the communication controller 15 can perform error detection on the measurement data included in the received signal and ensure the correct transmission of the measurement results. When all the cell monitoring devices 10-1, 10-2, 10-N (defined by the timing signal 99) have completed the transmission of their transmission signals 134 or measurement signals 132 to the communication controller 15, in some cases, the method is completed and can be repeated when the cell monitoring devices 10-1, 10-2, 10-N receive a new timing signal.

[0085] According to some embodiments, the timing signal 99 may specify the sensor sampling frequency of each cell 10-1...10-N. The sampling frequency may specify the frequency at which sensor measurements are acquired for subsequent transmission to the communication controller 15.

[0086] It should be recognized that the information content of the timing signal 99 can be changed as needed. For example, the measurement slot 102 can be changed to adapt to a newly added cell in the battery system. Similarly, any other information can also be changed to adapt to the newly introduced cell. Therefore, the timing signal 99 provides a certain degree of flexibility in that it can be adapted and changed as needed according to the requirements of the battery management system 20. In practice, this flexibility allows additional battery cell modules 10-1...10-N to be added to the battery system as needed without compromising the integrity of the system.

[0087] When communication controller 15 detects an error in the measurement data received by transmission signal 134, a retransmission request signal may be sent to cells 10-1...10-N, requesting that the cell associated with the detected error retransmit its sensor measurement data, i.e., the controller requests that transmission signal 134 including the sensor measurement data be retransmitted. For example, this may occur when the measurement data received by communication controller 15 is corrupted. Similarly, if communication controller 15 does not receive transmission signal 134 from a particular cell within its time slot, as defined by timing signal 99, communication controller 15 may send a retransmission request.

[0088] FIG. 11 shows a method by which cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N use signals received from communication controller 15 to adjust the acquisition (e.g., acquisition by sampling of measurement data) of sensor measurements from sensors 31, 32, 33 of cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N. In some embodiments, sensors 31, 32, 33 of cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N are synchronized to acquire measurements simultaneously.

[0089] As shown at the top of FIG. 11, these signals are periodically received by cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N that process the signals to identify whether the signal is one that requires a response, such that communication controller 15 is configured to broadcast a data transmission request signal at the start of each reporting frame. This results in a deterministic system that requires appropriately coordinated timing and reporting among the individual battery cells, their sensors, and the communication controller.

[0090] However, in addition, the reception of a specific portion of the signal from the communication controller 15 (shown as a dotted line in FIG. 11) can be used by the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N to adjust the timing of the sensor measurements (e.g., as shown by Meas IV / Rx in FIG. 11, to adjust when to acquire or sample the output from a particular sensor(s) or group of sensors(s)).

[0091] In some embodiments, a specific period having a frame is allocated for acquisition or sampling by all cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N. For example, the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N may be configured to acquire or sample the output from the sensor(s) during a period when the central controller 15 does not expect to receive a signal from the selected cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N (e.g., Meas IV / Rx in FIGS. 9 and 11), and each of the individual cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N associated with a specific group transmits data during a set period after receiving a data transmission request (e.g., at the time slot Tx of each cell in FIGS. 9 and 11). Thus, each cell monitoring device 10-1...10-N need not acquire or sample and, at the same time, need not transmit. In one example, the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N may be configured to acquire or sample the output from the sensor(s) during a period allocated for the central controller 15 to broadcast a data request to the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N. Alternatively, the cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N may be configured to acquire or sample the output from the sensor(s) during a period not allocated for transmission by any of the directly communicating devices (e.g., either the central controller 15 or a cell (cells 1...8)), such that all cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N need not acquire or sample and, at the same time, need not transmit or receive. Such an approach may be desirable because by causing data acquisition and data transmission and / or data reception to occur at different times, the likelihood that the acquired data may be adversely affected by interference resulting from data transmission or reception is reduced.

[0092] In some embodiments, the reception and identification of a specific portion of the signal from communication controller 15 may directly trigger the acquisition of sensor measurements by cell monitoring device 10. Alternatively, the timing of the acquisition (e.g., capture or sampling) of sensor measurements by cell monitoring device 10 may be triggered by clock 47, and the acquisition of sensor measurements by cell monitoring device 10 is periodically reset based on a comparison of the timing indicated by clock 47 and the reception of a predefined portion of the signal from communication controller 15.

[0093] Alternatively, the timing of the acquisition (e.g., sampling) of sensor measurements by cell monitoring device 10 may be triggered after a predefined period from the reception and identification of a specific portion of the signal from central controller 15, the predefined period being determined using clock 47, and the acquisition (e.g., sampling) of sensor measurements by cell monitoring device 10 is then substantially periodically reset as the predefined period resumes each time a predefined portion of the signal from central controller 15 is received.

[0094] Such a configuration may reduce timing mismatches that may occur due to differences between clocks 47 within different cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N. Additionally, or alternatively, to improve the adjustment of the timing of the measurement of sensor measurements, in some embodiments, the identification of the timing of the reception of the signal broadcast from communication controller 15 may be used for other purposes. Thus, for example, in a system where cell monitoring devices 10-1...10-N trigger or actuate improvement measures within a battery system, the timing of the reception of the signal broadcast from communication controller 15 may be used to facilitate the adjustment of the actuation of such improvement measures.

[0095] In the above-described embodiment, a system has been described in which the processors 39 and 52 of the cell monitoring device 10 process digitized signals and convert the signals into measurement values having physical meaning. However, it will be appreciated that other alternative configurations may be used. Thus, for example, in other embodiments, the cell monitoring device 10 may be configured to transmit raw digitized signal data to the communication controller 15. In such an embodiment, the communication controller may be configured to store conversion function parameters for converting the raw data into measurement values having physical meaning. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the cell monitoring device 10 may be configured to transmit the conversion function parameters to the communication controller 15 together with the raw digitized signal data.

[0096] In the prior embodiment, the timing signal 99 includes a measurement slot 102 that effectively defines when sensor measurements are to be taken, and time slots 104, 106, 108 that define time slots when each cell monitoring device transmits its measurement results in an alternative embodiment where the timing signal may not contain any of that information. Instead, the measurement sampling time and the transmission time slots can be predefined and stored in a memory local to each cell monitoring device. For example, each cell monitoring device can be provided with instructions that define the measurement sampling time. In other words, each cell monitoring device can be provided with instructions that define when one or more sensors associated with the cell are to acquire sensor measurement values. The timing signal transmitted by the communication controller 15 can simply provide a cue to start a predefined process. The predefined measurement sampling time can be defined with respect to the reception of the timing signal. For example, the predefined instructions can indicate that measurements should be taken n seconds after receiving the timing signal. Similarly, the transmission slots can be defined in a similar manner, for example, x seconds after receiving the timing signal. In other words, both the measurement sampling time and the transmission slots can be defined with respect to a time delay or the elapsed time since the cell monitoring device received the timing signal from the communication controller 15. This reduces the information size of the timing signal. Since the timing signal can still be broadcast to a plurality of different cell monitoring devices, it is still possible to synchronize sensor measurements across the plurality of cell monitoring devices if each cell monitoring device includes the predefined measurement sampling time. The content of the transmission signal including the measurement data transmitted by the cell monitoring device to the communication controller 15 can have the same structure as that described above with respect to the prior embodiment. For example, the transmission signal can include a CRC so that the communication controller 15 can perform error detection.

[0097] The description of the exemplary embodiments provided in this specification is presented for illustrative purposes. This description is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the exemplary embodiments to the exact form disclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various alternatives to the provided embodiments. The principles and properties of various exemplary embodiments are described, and examples are selected and described herein to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the exemplary embodiments in various manners and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. The features of the embodiments described herein may be combined in all possible combinations of methods, apparatus, modules, systems, and computer program products. It should be recognized that the exemplary embodiments presented herein may be practiced in any combination with each other.

[0098] Note that the word "comprising" does not necessarily exclude the presence of other elements or steps than those listed, and the words "a" or "an" preceding an element do not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. Further, any reference signs do not limit the scope of the claims, that the exemplary embodiments may be implemented at least in part by both hardware and software, and that several "means", "units", or "devices" may be represented by the same item of hardware.

[0099] The various exemplary embodiments described herein are described in the general context of method steps or processes, which, in one aspect, may be implemented by a computer program product embodied on a computer-readable medium that includes computer-executable instructions, such as program code, executed by a computer in a network environment. The computer-readable medium may include removable storage devices and non-removable storage devices, which may include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), flash memory, etc. Generally, program modules may include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The computer-executable instructions, associated data structures, and program modules represent examples of program code for executing the steps of the methods disclosed herein. A particular sequence of such executable instructions or associated data structures represents an example of corresponding acts for implementing the functions described in such steps or processes.

[0100] It should be understood that the processors 39, 52 described herein may be implemented using at least one processing unit (or at least one core) and one or more internal registers. It should also be understood that the processors 39, 52 described herein may be implemented using circuitry configured to perform the operations described herein.

[0101] Various embodiments are described herein with reference to a system, method, process, device, or computer-readable medium. It is not intended that one disclosure be all disclosures. For example, the disclosure of a computer-readable medium described herein also constitutes the disclosure of a method implemented using that computer-readable medium, as well as the disclosure of a system and device for implementing those methods using at least one processor or circuit configured to implement those methods. The form of the present disclosure is for ease of explanation only, and it should be understood that one or more aspects of one embodiment herein may be combined with one or more aspects of other embodiments herein within the intended scope of the present disclosure.

[0102] In the drawings and the specification, exemplary embodiments are disclosed. However, many changes and modifications can be made to these embodiments. Accordingly, specific terms are employed, but they are used only in a general and descriptive sense and not for purposes of limitation, and the scope of the plurality of embodiments is defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A monitoring device capable of reporting sensor measurement data from a battery system, One or more sensors capable of operating to obtain measurements from one or more modules of a battery system, A receiver capable of receiving from a communication controller a measurement signal indicating the adjusted timing of measurements of one or more modules of the battery system, and a timing signal indicating the instantaneous timing of a reporting frame, The system includes a transmitter that can operate to report the acquired measurement values ​​to the communication controller, The monitoring device is continuous The previously acquired measurement values ​​are transmitted to the communication controller with respect to the timing signal at one or more transmission times, Using the received measurement signal, select the sampling time of the measured values ​​acquired by one or more sensors, which are reported to the communication controller. The monitoring device is configured to perform the following.

2. The monitoring device is The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring device is configured to transmit previously acquired measurements to the communication controller within a predetermined period of time in response to the timing of receiving a message from the communication controller requesting the transmission of previously acquired measurements to the communication controller, and the reception of the received measurement signal triggers the monitoring device to select the measurements acquired by one or more sensors at the time of reception of the measurement signal as measurements to be reported to the communication controller in a subsequent reporting cycle.

3. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring device includes a clock, and the selection of the sampling time of the measurement values ​​obtained by one or more sensors reported to the communication controller is performed at a time corresponding to a period measured by the clock with respect to the measurement signal received from the communication controller, and the one or more transmission times correspond to a period measured by the clock with respect to the measurement signal received from the communication controller.

4. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprises one or more sensors that are operable to measure one or more of the voltage, current, temperature, pressure, strain, or force associated with the one or more modules of the battery system.

5. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring device is operable to transmit and receive the acquired measurement values ​​via a wireless communication link.

6. A monitoring system for monitoring the status of one or more modules of a battery system, One or more monitoring devices according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The system includes a communication controller, and the communication controller is To transmit a measurement signal indicating the measurement timing of the measured values ​​of one or more modules of the battery system, Transmitting a timing signal indicating the timing of the reporting frame to one or more monitoring devices, Receiving reported measurement values ​​of one or more modules of the battery system reported by one or more monitoring devices, The monitoring system is operable to perform the following actions.

7. Each of the one or more monitoring devices is assigned to a group and associated with a time slot in a reporting frame for reporting measurements to the communication controller. The monitoring system according to claim 6, wherein the communication controller is operable to transmit a request to one or more monitoring devices for a designated group of the monitoring devices to report measurements taken by one or more sensors during a reporting cycle, and the monitoring devices associated with the designated group respond to the receipt of the request to report measurements taken in each time slot for the timing indicated by the timing signal received from the communication controller.

8. Each of the one or more monitoring devices is capable of packaging the acquired measurement values ​​before transmission and adding error detection codes to the acquired and packaged measurement values. The monitoring system according to claim 6, wherein the communication controller is operable to use the error detection code to detect errors in the acquired and packaged measurements, or the communication controller is operable to detect corrupted packets.

9. The monitoring system according to claim 6, wherein the communication controller is operable to, after requesting the report of data from all of the one or more monitoring devices, determine whether the measured values ​​have been received from all of the one or more monitoring devices within each time slot, and if not received, transmits a retransmission request to request the retransmission of the measured values ​​that were determined to be missing or corrupted.

10. The monitoring system according to claim 6, wherein the communication controller and the one or more monitoring devices are operable to transmit and receive the acquired measurement values ​​via a wireless communication link.

11. It is a battery management system, Battery management unit, A communication controller is configured to transmit measurement signals for adjusting the measurement values ​​of one or more battery cells in a battery system, receive and process the measurement values ​​of the one or more battery cells in the battery system received from one or more monitoring devices, and provide the processed measurement values ​​to the battery management unit. Each of the one or more monitoring devices is: One or more sensors that are operable to acquire measurement values ​​of one or more battery cells of the battery system in response to the measurement signal, A transmitter capable of transmitting acquired measurement values ​​to the communication controller, A processor capable of processing measurements obtained from one or more battery cells and causing the obtained measurements to be reported to the communication controller according to a predetermined schedule, is provided. A battery management system in which the communication controller and processor of one or more monitoring devices are configured to cause the processor or the communication controller to report measurements obtained from one or more battery cells to the battery management unit in a deterministic manner independent of any interrupt, external memory access step or stack usage.

12. The battery management system according to claim 11, wherein the processor of the one or more monitoring devices is configured to process measurements from the one or more battery cells according to a predefined program, and the processing power and clock speed of the processor, as well as the frequency at which the measurements are reported to the communication controller according to a predetermined schedule, are reported to be completed before the processing of the measurements according to the predefined program is completed before the measurement that needs to be reported according to the predetermined schedule.

13. The battery management system according to claim 11, wherein the processor of one or more monitoring devices is configured to package the measurements obtained from one or more battery cells for transmission before transmission by the transmitter, according to a predetermined schedule, and the processor of one or more monitoring devices is further configured to add error detection codes to the measurements obtained and packaged from the one or more battery cells for transmission by the transmitter.

14. The battery management system according to claim 11, wherein the communication controller is operable to determine whether a measurement of one or more battery cells of a battery system received from one or more monitoring devices has not been received within a predefined period following a data transmission request or has been corrupted during transmission, and to request retransmission of the requested measurement when it is identified that the measurement has not been received within a predefined period or that the measurement has been corrupted during reception and / or transmission.

15. The battery management system according to claim 11, wherein the communication controller and the one or more monitoring devices are operable to transmit and receive the acquired measurement values ​​via a wireless communication link.

16. The battery management system according to claim 15, wherein the communication controller comprises a wireless manager that is operable to receive measurement values ​​of one or more battery cells of the battery system from one or more monitoring devices and to provide the processed measurement values ​​to the battery management unit of the battery management system.

17. The battery management system according to claim 11, wherein each of the processors in the one or more monitoring devices includes a multicore processor, and the multiple cores are configured to execute the same program in lockstep with respect to each other.

18. A monitoring device for use in a battery management system according to any one of claims 11 to 17, One or more sensors capable of operating to obtain measurements of one or more battery cells in a battery system, A transmitter capable of transmitting acquired measurements to a communication controller, A processor capable of processing measurements obtained from one or more battery cells and causing the obtained measurements to be reported to the communication controller according to a predetermined schedule, is provided. The monitoring device is configured to cause the processor to report measurements obtained from one or more battery cells to the battery management unit in a deterministic manner independent of any interrupt, external memory access step, or stack usage by the processor.

19. A communication controller for use in a battery management system according to any one of claims 11 to 17, A receiver capable of receiving measurements from one or more battery cells of a battery system from one or more monitoring devices, A processor capable of processing received measurements and providing the processed measurements to a battery management unit, The communication controller is configured to cause the processor to report measurements obtained from one or more battery cells to the battery management unit in a deterministic manner independent of triggering any interrupt, external memory access step, or stack usage.

Images