Control method and control device for electronic fuses

Abstract

The present invention provides a control method and control device that improve computational efficiency and reduce the resource requirements of electronic fuses. [Solution] The power transmission system 2 includes the steps of: periodically detecting the current flowing through an electronic fuse at a certain time interval; storing a plurality of current values ​​detected at a plurality of time points; determining a plurality of trip currents by dividing a plurality of trip currents corresponding to a plurality of trip times into two parts based on the plurality of current values, obtaining the first part by performing a plurality of arithmetic mean operations on the stored current values, and obtaining the second part by performing a plurality of arithmetic mean operations on the current trip current and the previously calculated trip current; and generating a plurality of comparison results to control the state of the electronic fuse by comparing the plurality of trip currents with the current values ​​corresponding to a plurality of trip times in a trip current versus trip time curve.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a control method and control device for electronic fuses, and more particularly to a control method and control device that can improve computational efficiency and reduce the resource requirements of electronic fuses. [Background technology]

[0002] Electronic fuses (eFuses) play a crucial role in modern electronic systems, particularly in automotive electronics, power management, and industrial control. Unlike conventional fuses that constantly disconnect when overcurrent is detected, eFuses can provide resettable overcurrent protection via a control circuit.

[0003] Therefore, the industry's primary goal is to develop electronic fuse control methods that offer accurate overcurrent protection across various time scales, possessing high computational efficiency, low resource requirements, high flexibility, and the ability to adaptively adjust based on actual operating conditions. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023 / 0187922 [Patent Document 2] Chinese Patent Application Publication No. 118074059 Specification [Overview of the project]

[0005] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a control method and control device for electronic fuses that improve computational efficiency and reduce resource requirements.

[0006] One embodiment of the present invention discloses a method for controlling an electronic fuse. The method for controlling an electronic fuse includes the steps of: periodically detecting the current flowing through the electronic fuse at a certain time interval; storing a plurality of current values ​​detected at a plurality of time points; and determining a plurality of trip currents corresponding to a plurality of trip times that have an exponential relationship with the time interval, based on the plurality of current values, wherein for trip times of the plurality of trip times that are less than or equal to a first value, a plurality of arithmetic mean operations are performed on the plurality of current values ​​according to the exponential relationship between each trip time and the time interval to obtain a first portion of the plurality of trip currents corresponding to the current time; and for trip times of the plurality of trip times that are greater than the first value, based on the second value, the current time is The procedure includes the steps of: (b) selecting multiple acquired trip currents corresponding to each trip time from a first part of the trip current and multiple first parts of trip currents corresponding to multiple previous time points, and performing multiple arithmetic mean operations to obtain a second part of the trip current corresponding to the current time from among the multiple trip currents; (c) outputting the first part of the trip current and the second part of the trip current as multiple trip currents; and generating multiple comparison results by comparing the multiple trip currents with preset current values ​​corresponding to multiple trip times in a preset trip current versus trip time curve; and controlling the state of the electronic fuse based on the multiple comparison results.

[0007] Another embodiment of the present invention provides a control device for an electronic fuse. The control device for an electronic fuse includes a detection module configured to periodically detect the current flowing through the electronic fuse at time intervals, a storage module coupled to the detection module and configured to store a plurality of current values ​​detected by the detection module at multiple time points in time, and a trip current determination module coupled to the storage module and configured to determine a plurality of trip currents corresponding to a plurality of trip times having an exponential relationship with a time interval, wherein in order to determine the plurality of trip currents, for trip times of the plurality of trip times that are less than or equal to a first value, a plurality of arithmetic mean operations are performed on the plurality of current values ​​according to the exponential relationship between each trip time and a time interval to obtain a first portion of the plurality of trip currents corresponding to the current time, and for trip times of the plurality of trip times that are greater than the first value, based on the second value, The trip current determination module includes the steps of (b) selecting multiple acquired trip currents corresponding to each trip time from a first part of the trip current corresponding to a point in time and multiple first parts of the trip currents corresponding to multiple previous points in time, performing multiple arithmetic mean operations to obtain a second part of the trip current corresponding to the current time from the multiple trip currents, and (c) outputting the first part of the trip current and the second part of the trip current as multiple trip currents; multiple comparators coupled to the trip current determination module, each configured to compare the multiple trip currents with a preset current value corresponding to multiple trip times in a preset trip current-to-trip time curve to generate multiple comparison results; and a switch module coupled to the multiple comparators, configured to control the state of an electronic fuse based on the comparison results of the multiple comparators.

[0008] These and other objects of the present invention will become undoubtedly apparent to those skilled in the art after reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments shown in various figures and drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of the trip current versus trip time curve for a fuse. [Figure 2] This is a schematic diagram of a power transmission system according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] This is a schematic diagram of the control flow for one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] This is a schematic diagram of the decision flow related to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] This is a schematic diagram illustrating the determination of the trip current in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] This is a schematic diagram of a control device according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] This is a schematic diagram of a power transmission system according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] As shown in Figure 1, this is a schematic diagram of the trip curve 10, which represents the trip current versus trip time curve of a fuse. Figure 1 is a logarithmic coordinate system that represents the overcurrent conditions that the fuse can withstand in different time windows, i.e., the allowable current in different time windows. The vertical axis represents the trip current, and the horizontal axis represents the logarithm (base 2) of the trip time T, i.e., log2(T). For example, A0 is trip time T(2 0 A0 indicates the average current value that the fuse can withstand within 1 millisecond (ms). If a current exceeding the average current value A0 flows through the fuse within 1 millisecond, the fuse will blow. Similarly, Ay is the value of the trip time T2. y This represents the average current value that the fuse can withstand within milliseconds. A current exceeding the average current value Ay is 2 y A fuse blows if current flows through it within milliseconds. In other words, a large current over a short period of time causes a rapid fuse to blow, while a smaller overcurrent can last longer, thereby avoiding unnecessary fuse blows caused by short-duration pulsed currents and ensuring that the accumulated thermal energy from lower currents over longer periods can effectively cause the fuse to blow.

[0011] From the trip curve 10 in Figure 1, it can be seen that fuses require different blowing characteristics depending on different trip times (time windows) in order to provide more accurate protection on different time scales. Implementing the trip current vs. trip time curve in Figure 1 using electronic fuses would require enormous computational resources and complex hardware circuitry. In this regard, the present invention reduces the computational resource requirements and circuit complexity by using a dual-mode determination process to determine the trip current. As shown in Figure 2, this is a schematic diagram of a power transmission system 2 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The power transmission system 2 transmits power from a power source 20 to a load 22 via a harness 24 and includes an electronic fuse 26 and a control device 28. The power source 20 may be, but is not limited to, a linear power source, a switching-mode power source, a programmable power source, a high-voltage power source, a battery power source, etc. The load 22 may be, but is not limited to, any hardware powered by the power source, for example in the field of automobiles, such as headlights, an air conditioning system, electric windows, a windshield wiper, etc. The electronic fuse 26 is electrically connected between the power supply 20 and the harness 24, has different interruption characteristics corresponding to different trip times, and can be restored to conductivity by resetting. The control device 28 is electrically connected to the electronic fuse 26 and controls the state of the electronic fuse 26 by outputting a switching signal SW based on the current Ir flowing through the electronic fuse 26, so that its operating characteristics approach or match the trip curve 10 shown in Figure 1. In the embodiments of the present invention, "controlling the state of the electronic fuse 26" means controlling the electronic fuse 26 to a conductive state or an interrupted state. In other words, the control device 28 outputs a switching signal SW to turn the electronic fuse 26 on or off based on the current Ir.

[0012] Specifically, the operation of the control device 28 can be summarized as a control flow 30, as shown in Figure 3. The control flow 30 includes the following steps 300 to 312.

[0013] Step 300 is to begin.

[0014] In step 302, the current flowing through the electronic fuse 26 is detected periodically at certain time intervals.

[0015] In step 304, multiple current values ​​detected at multiple points in time are stored.

[0016] In step 306, multiple trip currents corresponding to multiple trip times are determined based on multiple current values, and there is an exponential relationship between the multiple trip times and the time intervals.

[0017] In step 308, multiple trip currents are compared with multiple preset current values ​​corresponding to multiple trip times in a preset trip current versus trip time curve (hereinafter referred to as the preset trip curve) to generate multiple comparison results.

[0018] In step 310, the state of the electronic fuse 26 is controlled based on multiple comparison results.

[0019] Step 312 is the end.

[0020] According to the control flow 30, the control device 28 detects or samples the current flowing through the electronic fuse 26 at fixed time intervals (step 302), stores the detected or sampled current values ​​to form a set of current data corresponding to multiple time points (step 304). The time interval is preferably the response time of the electronic fuse 26, such as 1 millisecond, and the method of storing the detected current values ​​may be, but is not limited to, a shift register method in which the most recently sampled current value replaces the oldest current value. Next, the control device 28 determines the trip currents corresponding to multiple trip times based on the stored current values ​​(step 306). In particular, there is an exponential relationship between the trip time and the detection time interval. After obtaining the trip current data, the control device 28 compares the data with the corresponding preset current values ​​on a preset trip curve (step 308). Specifically, the control device 28 obtains multiple comparison results corresponding to multiple trip times by comparing the actually measured trip current with the current values ​​corresponding to the same trip time on a preset trip curve. In embodiments of the present invention, a preset trip curve can be determined based on the characteristics of the harness 24 (e.g., ignition characteristics). Finally, the control device 28 determines how to control the state of the electronic fuse 26 based on the comparison result (step 310). The preset trip curve is set based on the application scenario, such as the ignition characteristics of the harness 24 or the overheat protection characteristics of the electronic fuse 26. Therefore, if the comparison result indicates that the trip current is greater than the corresponding current value on the preset trip curve, it indicates that the current could cause the harness 24 to ignite or the electronic fuse 26 to enter overheat protection mode, and thus the control device 28 can trip the electronic fuse 26 to prevent the harness 24 from overheating or the electronic fuse 26 from becoming overloaded.

[0021] In one embodiment, the current flowing through the electronic fuse 26 is detected by the control device 28. In another embodiment, the electronic fuse 26 detects the current flowing through it through an internal sensing element and generates a corresponding sensing current signal, and the control device 28 samples the sensing current signal to obtain a current value representing the current flowing through the electronic fuse 26.

[0022] Since there is an exponential relationship between the trip time corresponding to each trip current and the response time of the electronic fuse 26, the control device 28 can control the electronic fuse 26 to respond to large currents with shorter trip times and to heat accumulated from smaller currents with longer trip times. In other words, the control device 28 needs to calculate the trip currents for different trip times based on the long-time current detection results. In this case, in order to reduce the computational resource and memory capacity requirements, embodiments of the present invention further carry out step 306 using a decision flow 40. As shown in Figure 4, the decision flow 40 includes the following steps.

[0023] Step 400 is to begin.

[0024] In step 402, for trip times less than or equal to the first value among the multiple trip times, multiple arithmetic mean operations are performed on multiple current values ​​according to the exponential relationship between each trip time and time interval to obtain the first portion of the trip current corresponding to the current time among the multiple trip currents.

[0025] In step 404, for trip times greater than the first value among multiple trip times, based on the second value, multiple acquired trip currents corresponding to each trip time are selected from the first part of the trip current corresponding to the current time and multiple first parts of the trip currents corresponding to multiple previous time points, and multiple arithmetic mean operations are performed to obtain the second part of the trip current corresponding to the current time among the multiple trip currents.

[0026] In step 406, the first part of the trip current and the second part of the trip current are output as a plurality of trip currents.

[0027] In step 408, it ends.

[0028] In short, the determination flow 40 divides the trip current into two parts for determination. The first part corresponds to a trip time of not more than the first value, and is obtained by performing an arithmetic mean operation on the stored current value based on the exponential relationship between each trip time and the time interval (step 402). The second part corresponds to a trip time greater than the first value, and is obtained by performing an arithmetic mean operation on the current trip current and the previously calculated (via step 402) trip current using the second value (step 404). In other words, the arithmetic mean operation criterion for the first part of the trip current changes based on the exponential relationship of the trip time, but the arithmetic mean operation criterion (i.e., the second value) for the second part of the trip current does not change with the trip time and can be a fixed value. In such a situation, the complexity and cost of the calculation can be significantly reduced, and particularly as the trip time increases, the reduction in the calculation complexity and cost that the embodiment can achieve becomes more apparent.

[0029] Specifically, S a (x) represents the a-th current value stored (or sampled) by the control device 28 at the x-th time interval from the current time point (t0), and C T (x) is assumed to represent the trip current at the x-th time interval from the current time point when the trip time is T. For example, S1(1), S2(1)…S 64 (1) represents the 1st to 64th current values stored (or sampled) by the control device 28 at the first time interval from the current time point. Since the control device 28 replaces the data of the oldest current value with the most recently sampled data each time, in the next (latest) sampling, the previously sampled S 64 (1) is removed, and the previous S 63 (1) becomes the new S 64 (1), and the previous S62 (1) New S 63 (1) and so on, with the previous S1(1) becoming the new S2(1), and the most recently sampled current value becoming the new S1(1). The first value relates to, or depends on, the number of current values ​​that the control device 28 can store (or sample), and the second value relates to the number of trip currents in the first part of the trip current that are referenced when calculating the second part of the trip current. The first and second values ​​may be equal, related, or different. For simplicity, the first and second values ​​are 2 P Assuming they are equal, according to step 402, the first part C of the trip current 2 n (x) is as follows:

number

[0030] Furthermore, according to step 404, the second part C of the trip current 2 m (x) is as follows:

number

[0031] For example, 17 trip times, a sampling time interval of 1 millisecond (ms), i.e., T=2 0 , 2 1 , 2 2 , ..., 2 16 Assuming that the control device 28 can store 64 current values ​​when the time interval is (ms), the current values ​​stored by the control device 28 at the first time interval from the present are S1(1), S2(1), ..., S 64 (1) The first value is 2 p =64 or p=6. According to Equation 1, the first part of the trip current C 2 0 (1), C 2 1 (1), C 2 2 (1), ..., C 2 6 (1) can be obtained as follows:

number

[0032] Specifically, the first value is 2 p That is, T=2 0 , T=2 1 , T=2 2 ..., T=2 6 For the following trip time T, Equation 1 or step 402 gives an exponential relationship between the trip time and the time interval (i.e., 2 n Based on this, determine the number of current values ​​to calculate the trip current corresponding to each trip time. For example, C 2 1 When calculating (1), the number of reference current values ​​is 2, and C 2 2 When calculating (1), the number of reference current values ​​is 4. Next, equation 1 or step 402 is used to calculate the stored current values ​​(i.e., S1(1), S2(1), ..., S 64 (1)) Select the current value corresponding to the number of current values ​​determined for each trip time. For example, C 2 1 When calculating (1), S1(1) and S2(1) are selected, C 2 2 When calculating (1), S1(1), S2(1), S3(1), and S4(1) are selected. Next, an arithmetic mean operation is performed on these selected current values. For example,

number

[0033] After completing the calculation of the first part of the trip current, Equation 2 or Step 404 then calculates the second part of the trip current. In this example, 17 trip time points are required and 6 < m < 17. According to Equation 2, the second part C 2 7 (1), C 2 8 (1), C 2 9 (1), …, C 2 16 (1) can be obtained as such.

Number

[0034] Specifically, for the first value, i.e., T = 2 7 , 2 8 , 2 9 , …, 2 16 For trip times T greater than, Equation 2 or Step 404 is based on the difference between each trip time (i.e., 2 m ) and the first value 2 p (i.e., 2 (m-p) ). From the first part of the trip current corresponding to the current point (i.e., x = 1) and the multiple first parts of the trip current corresponding to multiple previous points (i.e., 2, 3, …, 64), for each trip time, and a plurality of obtained trip currents related to the second value (i.e., 2 p ) are respectively obtained. Next, Equation 2 or Step 404 performs an arithmetic mean operation on the obtained trip currents corresponding to each trip time and related to the second value to obtain the second part of the trip current. For example, when calculating C 2 7 (1), T = 2 7 , the trip time difference with respect to the first value 2 6 is 2 1 , and the first part of the trip current to be referenced is C 2 1(x) For details, see C 2 7 (1) The calculation is the first part of the trip current corresponding to the current time, i.e., C at x=1. 2 1 (1) and the second value 2 6 The first part of the acquired trip current related to x = 2, 3, ..., 64 C 2 1 (2), C 2 1 (3), ..., C 2 1 (64) and the following are included in referring to these trip currents. 6 By performing an arithmetic mean operation using this method, the trip current C 2 7 (1) can be obtained. Similarly, the second part C of the trip current 2 7 (1), C 2 8 (1), C 2 9 (1), ..., C 2 16 (1) can be determined.

[0035] In this example, the second part C of the trip current 2 13 (1) ~ C 2 16 When calculating (1), equation 2 or step 404 is also C in the second part of the trip current. 2 7 (1) ~ C 2 10 It is important to note that refer to (1). However, as mentioned above, C 2 7 (1) ~ C 2 10 (1) The calculation is the first part C of the trip current. 2 1 (1) ~ C 2 4 (1) depends on this. Therefore, in a broader sense, C in the second part of the trip current. 2 13 (1) ~ C 2 16 (1) is still calculated by referring to the first part of the trip current. Thus, embodiments of the present invention determine the first part of the trip current by performing an arithmetic mean on the stored current values, then determine the second part of the trip current by performing an arithmetic mean on the calculated first part of the trip current, thereby completing the calculation of all trip currents for the present time (step 406).

[0036] As can be seen from the above, after determining the number of trip times, the first value is related to the ratio of the first part of the trip current to the second part of the trip current. For example, in the above-described embodiment, when there are 17 trip time points and a first value of 2 6 the first part of the trip current corresponds to trip times 2 0 ~2 6 and the second part of the trip current corresponds to trip times 2 7 ~2 16 . On the other hand, the first value is also related to the number of current values referred to when calculating the first part of the trip current, which in the above example are S1(1), S2(1), …, S 64 (1). In such a situation, a person skilled in the art can determine the first value according to the storage space of the control device 28, or first determine the first value and then design or adjust the storage space of the control device 28, etc., and determine the first value based on system requirements. Furthermore, as can be seen from Equation 1, when calculating the first part of the trip current, the arithmetic mean criterion 2 n of each trip current changes with the trip time. For example, when calculating C 2 1 (1), the arithmetic mean criterion is 2, and when calculating C 2 2 (1), the arithmetic mean criterion is 4. Therefore, when determining the first value, a person skilled in the art should also consider that as the trip current increases, the calculation requirements of the control device 28 increase exponentially.

[0037] On the other hand, from Equation 2, when calculating the second part of the trip current, the first value (the 2 2 (m-p) in the numerator C p (x) of Equation 2) determines which trip current in the first part of the trip current needs to be referred to for each trip time, while the second value (the 2 p in the summation symbol in the numerator and the 2 p in the denominator of Equation 2) determines the arithmetic mean criterion and the number of trip currents in the first part of the trip current that should be referred to (current and previous). For example, based on the difference between the trip time and the first value, i.e., 2 (m-p) =2 1 for C 2 7When calculating (1), the first part of the trip current to be referenced is C 2 1 (x), and based on the second value, the trip current referenced within C 2 1 (x) is C 2 1 (1), C 2 1 (2), …, C 2 1 (64), and the arithmetic mean criterion is 64. Further, upon examining Equation 2 in more detail, it becomes clear that the calculation for the second part of all trip currents uses 64 as the arithmetic mean criterion. In other words, unlike the calculation of the first part of the trip current where the arithmetic mean criterion 2 n varies with the trip time, embodiments of the present invention use a consistent arithmetic mean criterion to calculate all of the second part of the trip current. As a result, embodiments of the present invention ensure that the computational resources required for the second part of the trip current increase linearly with the trip time, effectively reducing the computational demand.

[0038] The above-described calculation and derivation processes can be visualized as shown in FIG. 5, which clearly shows that the arithmetic mean criterion for calculating the first part of the trip current changes with the trip time, while the arithmetic mean criterion for calculating the second part of the trip current remains fixed.

[0039] Specifically, the decision flow 40 of FIG. 4 represents an embodiment of the present invention, and those skilled in the art can make different modifications accordingly. For example, in addition to appropriately adjusting the first value based on system requirements, the second value may be different from the first value or may be dynamically adjusted. In one embodiment, the control device 28 can adjust the second value based on fluctuations in computational resources. Further, the above-described embodiments divide the calculated trip current into two parts, but it is also possible to divide the calculated trip current into three or more parts. For example, the third part of the trip current can be set to use a different second value, or the third part can be defined to use the second part of the trip current as the calculation criterion, all of which are within the scope of the present invention.

[0040] By utilizing the decision flow 40 or equations 1 and 2, embodiments of the present invention can divide the trip current into two or more parts for calculation. The first part involves arithmetic mean calculation of stored (sampled) current values, and the second part performs arithmetic mean calculation based on the calculation result of the first part. At the same time, the calculation basis for the first part of the trip current changes with the trip time, but the calculation basis for the second part of the trip current does not change with the trip time, thereby significantly reducing the complexity and cost of the calculation. Furthermore, the exponential relationship between the trip time and the sampling time interval means that the determination of the trip current becomes more frequent as it approaches the present time, ensuring simultaneous response to both short-duration large currents and long-duration small currents, thereby avoiding unnecessary shutdown of the electronic fuse 26 due to short-duration pulse currents and preventing damage to the harness 24 or overload of the electronic fuse 26.

[0041] After completing the determination of the trip current according to the determination flow 40 or equations 1 and 2, the control device 28 returns to the control flow 30 and compares the determined trip current with a preset current value of a preset trip curve (step 308), and can control the state of the electronic fuse 26 accordingly (step 310). The control flow 30 allows the control device 28 to prevent burnout of the harness 24 or damage to the electronic fuse 26 by controlling the electronic fuse 26 to conduct or interrupt based on the current flowing through the electronic fuse 26. Note that the power transmission system 2 in Figure 2 is one embodiment of the present invention, and those skilled in the art can make different modifications accordingly. For example, Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of the control device 28. The control device 28 includes a detection module 600, a storage module 602, a trip current determination module 604, comparators CMP_0 to CMP_y, and a switch module 606. In this embodiment, the detection module 600 is configured to detect the current Ir flowing periodically through the electronic fuse 26 at time intervals, which may be implemented by a combination of one or more resistors and one or more analog-to-digital converters. The resistors can convert the current into a voltage signal, and the analog-to-digital converters can perform sampling to convert the sampled signal into a digital current value. In an alternative embodiment, the electronic fuse 26 may utilize an internal sensing element to detect the current flowing through it and generate a corresponding sensing current signal, and the detection module 600 may then sample the sensing current signal at time intervals to obtain a current value representing the current flowing through the electronic fuse 26. The storage module 602 is coupled to the detection module 600 and includes storage units D1 to Da, which preferably store current values ​​detected by the detection module 600 at multiple point in time using a shift register method, i.e., each sampling replaces the oldest current value data with the most recently sampled current value data. The trip current determination module 604 is coupled to the memory module 602 and determines multiple trip currents C corresponding to multiple trip times based on the current values ​​stored in the memory module 602. TThe trip current determination module 604 can perform the determination flow 40 or equations 1 and 2 and their derivative variations, which means dividing the trip current into two or more parts for calculation. The first part involves arithmetic mean calculation of the current values ​​stored in the memory module 602, and the second part performs arithmetic mean calculation based on the calculation result of the first part. Comparators CMP_0 to CMP_y are connected to the trip current determination module 604, and each trip current C T x is used to generate a corresponding comparison result by comparing it with corresponding preset current values ​​A0 to Ay, which correspond to each trip time in a preset trip curve. The switch module 606 is coupled to comparators CMP_0 to CMP_y and is configured to output a switching signal SW to control the state of the electronic fuse 26 based on the comparison result of comparators CMP_0 to CMP_y.

[0042] In one embodiment, when the electronic fuse 26 is in a conductive state, if the comparison result of any of the comparators CMP_0 to CMP_y indicates that the corresponding trip current exceeds the corresponding preset current value in a preset trip curve, the switch module 606 outputs a switching signal SW to control the electronic fuse 26 to enter a tripped state. For example, if the comparison result of comparator CMP_1 indicates that the trip current C 2 1 If (1) indicates that it exceeds a preset current value Ap, the switch module 606 outputs a switching signal SW to control the electronic fuse 26 to enter the tripped state. The condition for controlling the electronic fuse 26 to enter the tripped state is that the number of comparison results indicating that the trip current exceeds the corresponding preset current value in the preset trip curve is equal to 1.

[0043] For detailed operation of the trip current determination module 604, refer to the above description of the determination flow 40 and equations 1 and 2. Note that the first value 2 PThe number "a" of memory units D1 to Da may be related, and the number "y" of comparators CMP_0 to CMP_y may be related to the trip current versus trip time curve. Therefore, the designer can appropriately adjust the implementation of the control device 28 according to the system requirements, without being limited to this.

[0044] Furthermore, the power transmission system 2 shown in Figure 2 includes only a single electronic fuse. However, those skilled in the art can appropriately derive multiple electronic fuses and potentially share certain components. For example, Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a power transmission system 7 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The power transmission system 7 is used to transmit power from power sources PWR_1 to PWR_n to loads LD_1 to LD_n and includes an input protection module 70, an output protection module 72, and a control device 74. Power sources PWR_1 to PWR_n may include, but are not limited to, linear power sources, switch-mode power sources, programmable power sources, high-voltage power sources, and battery power sources. Loads LD_1 to LD_n may be any hardware devices powered by the power sources. For example, in automotive applications, loads LD_1 to LD_n may include vehicle lights, air conditioning systems, electric windows, windshield wipers, etc. The input protection module 70 and the output protection module 72 constitute a power transmission network from power supplies PWR_1 to PWR_n to loads LD_1 to LD_n, and the power transmission network consists of electronic fuses EF1_1 to EF1_n and EF2_1 to EF2_n, respectively. The electronic fuses EF1_1 to EF1_n and EF2_1 to EF2_n can have different shutdown characteristics corresponding to different trip times and can be restored to a conduction state by reset. The control device 74 is electrically connected to the electronic fuses EF1_1 to EF1_n and EF2_1 to EF2_n and is configured to control the state of the electronic fuses EF1_1 to EF1_n and EF2_1 to EF2_n based on the current flowing through the electronic fuses EF1_1 to EF1_n and EF2_1 (i.e., to maintain each electronic fuse in either a conduction state or an interruption state). The control method of the control device 74 for each electronic fuse can be made to realize or approximate the trip current vs. trip time curve shown in Figure 1 by referring to the above-described explanation of the control device 28.

[0045] The power transmission system 7 in Figure 7 can implement a power network such as a power distribution module (PDM) in an automotive setting. When applied to an automotive system, the control device 74 of the present invention can appropriately trip specific electronic fuses to prevent overheating of the corresponding harness or overload of the electronic fuses. Furthermore, in automotive applications, in addition to appropriately calculating the trip current, it is necessary to consider how the operating environment affects the harness characteristics. In such cases, the trip current versus trip time curve (such as the preset trip curve mentioned above) may be updated to meet the actual operating requirements.

[0046] In detail, with the continuous advancement of automotive technology, the complexity of vehicle electronic systems has increased significantly. Conventional harness protection methods can no longer meet the safety requirements of modern vehicles, especially when dynamically adjusting protection parameters based on the aging state of the harness. Generally, the relationship between the rate of wire aging and temperature can be expressed by the following Arrhenius equation.

number

[0047] This equation shows that wire degradation over time is closely correlated with ambient temperature and the temperature generated by the flow of current. Automotive harnesses, exposed to high temperatures during operation and strong sunlight while parked, are a significant concern regarding degradation over time. To address this, manufacturers can record the current values ​​of each load at specific speeds and ambient temperatures after vehicle manufacturing. For example, a PDM microcontroller can record and store such data, which can then be returned during periodic vehicle maintenance or uploaded to the manufacturer's server via a network and used as a baseline for future harness or load condition evaluation. For instance, as a vehicle is used, harnesses gradually degrade due to frequency of use and environmental factors. This degradation process reduces the harness's allowable current capacity and increases safety risks. Embodiments of the present invention can evaluate the degree of aging of the harness based on driving distance (e.g., 10km / 20km / 30km) or other relevant parameters, and update the trip curve (e.g., the preset current value in step 308) used to control the electronic fuse by multiplying it by a derating coefficient, and can update the trip curve via wireless technology or a wired connection (such as a controller area network).

[0048] Furthermore, in order to achieve such update operations, the power transmission system 7 should have wired or wireless connectivity and should appropriately update the trip curve stored in the control device 74. Such derivative variations are within the realm of common knowledge for those skilled in the art and therefore do not need to be described in detail.

[0049] In short, in automotive applications, embodiments of the present invention can enhance the safety and reliability of electronic systems by monitoring harness conditions in real time and dynamically adjusting protection parameters, thereby not only preventing potential safety hazards but also providing important decision-making information for vehicle maintenance.

[0050] In summary, prior art regarding electronic fuse control methods suffers from high computational complexity, significant hardware resource requirements, and a lack of flexibility to adapt to dynamic operating environments and load characteristics. In contrast, the present invention provides accurate overcurrent protection across various time scales, characterized by high computational efficiency, low resource requirements, high flexibility, and the ability to be updated and adjusted based on actual operating conditions.

[0051] Those skilled in the art will readily see that many modifications and changes can be made to the apparatus and method while maintaining the teachings of the present invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be interpreted as being limited only by the boundaries and scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A step of periodically detecting the current flowing through an electronic fuse at certain time intervals, A step of storing multiple current values ​​detected at multiple points in time, A step in which, based on the plurality of current values, a plurality of trip currents corresponding to a plurality of trip times are determined, and there is an exponential relationship between the plurality of trip times and the time interval, Step (a) of obtaining a first portion of the trip current corresponding to the current time from among the multiple trip times, for trip times of the first value or less among the multiple trip times, by performing multiple arithmetic mean operations on the multiple current values ​​according to the exponential relationship between each trip time and the time interval, For trip times among the multiple trip times that are greater than the first value, step (b) selects multiple acquired trip currents corresponding to each trip time from the first part of the trip current corresponding to the current time and multiple first parts of the trip currents corresponding to multiple previous time points, based on the second value, and performs multiple arithmetic mean operations to obtain the second part of the trip current corresponding to the current time from the multiple trip currents. Step (c) includes outputting a first portion of the trip current and a second portion of the trip current as the plurality of trip currents, The steps include: comparing the plurality of trip currents with preset current values ​​corresponding to the plurality of trip times in a preset trip current versus trip time curve to generate a plurality of comparison results; A method for controlling an electronic fuse, comprising the step of controlling the state of the electronic fuse based on the aforementioned comparison results.

2. The control method according to claim 1, wherein the first value is related to the number of the plurality of current values.

3. Step (a) above is, For trip times less than or equal to the first value among the plurality of trip times, the step of determining the number of current values ​​used in calculating the trip current corresponding to each trip time based on the exponential relationship between each trip time and the time interval, The control method according to claim 1, comprising the steps of selecting a current value from the plurality of current values ​​corresponding to the number of current values ​​for each trip time, and performing an arithmetic mean operation on each of the selected current values ​​to obtain a first portion of the trip current corresponding to the current time.

4. Step (b) above is: For trip times among the plurality of trip times that are greater than the first value, the step of obtaining the plurality of acquired trip currents corresponding to each trip time and related to the second value, based on the difference between each trip time and the first value, from the first portion of the trip current corresponding to the current time and the plurality of first portions of the trip current corresponding to the plurality of previous time points, The control method according to claim 1, comprising the step of performing an arithmetic mean calculation by the second value on the plurality of acquired trip currents corresponding to each trip time and related to the second value to obtain a second portion of the trip current.

5. The control method according to claim 1, wherein the electronic fuse is electrically connected to the harness, and the preset trip current versus trip time curve is related to the ignition characteristics of the harness.

6. The process further includes updating the trip current versus trip time curve, The control method according to claim 1, wherein the electronic fuse is electrically connected to the harness, and the step of updating the trip current versus trip time curve is performed based on the usage of the harness.

7. A detection module configured to periodically detect the current flowing through an electronic fuse at certain time intervals, A storage module coupled to the detection module and configured to store multiple current values ​​detected by the detection module at multiple points in time, A trip current determination module coupled to the memory module and configured to determine a plurality of trip currents corresponding to a plurality of trip times based on the plurality of current values, wherein there is an exponential relationship between the plurality of trip times and the time interval, and the trip current determination module determines the plurality of trip currents, Step (a) of obtaining a first portion of the trip current corresponding to the current time from among the multiple trip times, for trip times of the first value or less among the multiple trip times, by performing multiple arithmetic mean operations on the multiple current values ​​according to the exponential relationship between each trip time and the time interval, For trip times among the multiple trip times that are greater than the first value, step (b) selects multiple acquired trip currents corresponding to each trip time from the first part of the trip current corresponding to the current time and multiple first parts of the trip currents corresponding to multiple previous time points, based on the second value, and performs multiple arithmetic mean operations to obtain the second part of the trip current corresponding to the current time from the multiple trip currents. A trip current determination module that performs the step (c) of outputting the first part of the trip current and the second part of the trip current as the plurality of trip currents, Multiple comparators, each configured to generate multiple comparison results by comparing the multiple trip currents with preset current values ​​corresponding to the multiple trip times in a preset trip current versus trip time curve, are coupled to the trip current determination module. A control device for an electronic fuse, comprising a switch module coupled to the plurality of comparators and configured to control the state of the electronic fuse based on the comparison results of the plurality of comparators.

8. The control device according to claim 7, wherein the first value relates to the number of the plurality of current values ​​stored by the memory module.

9. Step (a) above is, For trip times less than or equal to the first value among the plurality of trip times, the step of determining the number of current values ​​used in calculating the trip current corresponding to each trip time based on the exponential relationship between each trip time and the time interval, The control device according to claim 7, comprising the steps of selecting a current value from the plurality of current values ​​corresponding to the number of current values ​​for each trip time, and performing an arithmetic mean operation on each of the selected current values ​​to obtain a first portion of the trip current corresponding to the current time.

10. Step (b) above is: For trip times among the plurality of trip times that are greater than the first value, the step of obtaining the plurality of acquired trip currents corresponding to each trip time and related to the second value, based on the difference between each trip time and the first value, from the first portion of the trip current corresponding to the current time and the plurality of first portions of the trip current corresponding to the plurality of previous time points, The control device according to claim 7, comprising the step of performing an arithmetic mean calculation by the second value on the plurality of acquired trip currents corresponding to each trip time and related to the second value to obtain a second portion of the trip current.

11. The control device according to claim 7, wherein the electronic fuse is electrically connected to the harness, and the preset trip current versus trip time curve relates to the ignition characteristics of the harness.

12. The system further includes an update module configured to update the trip current versus trip time curve, The control device according to claim 7, wherein the electronic fuse is electrically connected to the harness, and the update module updates the trip current versus trip time curve based on the usage of the harness.

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