Apparatus and method for requesting battery information

Abstract

A battery information requesting device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a communication unit configured to be able to communicate with a battery information providing device; a target information determining unit configured to determine target information to be acquired; a target battery determining unit configured to determine an offset for a target battery for which the target information is to be acquired from a preset battery list; and a control unit configured to generate a request packet including the target information and the offset, transmit the generated request packet to the battery information providing device through the communication unit, and receive a response packet including battery information of the target battery corresponding to the target information from the battery information providing device through the communication unit as a response to the request packet.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0102748 filed on August 4, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety in the specification and drawings.

[0002] The present invention relates to a battery information requesting device and method, and more particularly, to a battery information requesting device and method capable of efficiently requesting battery information about a battery. [Background technology]

[0003] In recent years, as the demand for portable electronic products such as laptops, video cameras, and mobile phones has grown rapidly and the development of electric vehicles, energy storage batteries, robots, and artificial satellites has accelerated, active research is being conducted on high-performance batteries that can be repeatedly charged and discharged.

[0004] Currently, various types of batteries, including nickel-cadmium batteries, nickel-metal hydride batteries, nickel-zinc batteries, and lithium batteries, are commercially available. Among them, lithium batteries are attracting attention due to their advantages over nickel-based batteries, such as almost no memory effect, easy charging and discharging, a very low self-discharge rate, and a high energy density.

[0005] Meanwhile, such battery-equipped devices include various ECUs (Electronic Control Units), and the ECUs communicate with each other to provide information or receive information from other ECUs. For example, in vehicles, the number of various functions and controls is increasing, and in particular, with the commercialization of electric vehicles equipped with batteries, the amount of data transmitted and received between ECUs is increasing. Therefore, communication standards and technologies for improving the efficiency of data communication between ECUs have been proposed.

[0006] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an invention that can improve data reception stability, improve communication speed, and reduce the traffic load on the CAN bus by changing the data frame structure for CAN (Controller Area Network) communication and increasing the amount of data.

[0007] However, Patent Document 1 only discloses a configuration in which the receiving side of the data changes the reception mode to high-speed mode or normal mode depending on whether the data length exceeds 8 bytes. Patent Document 1 improves the traffic load only by changing the reception mode, so it is difficult to apply to devices such as electric vehicles in which various information on battery cells must be provided in real time. That is, according to Patent Document 1, the transmitting side must transmit each piece of information on the battery cells, which is a problem in that it takes a considerable amount of time to transmit data.

[0008] In addition, Patent Document 1 does not disclose any configuration for selectively requesting and responding to battery information from only some of the battery cells among the plurality of battery cells. Therefore, after receiving all battery information from the plurality of battery cells, only the desired battery information must be extracted, which is a problem in that it takes a considerable amount of time to obtain the desired battery information. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0009] [Patent Document 1] Korean Patent No. 10-1573637 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0010] The present invention has been devised to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a battery information requesting device and method that can efficiently request battery information about a target battery among a plurality of batteries.

[0011] Other objects and advantages of the present invention can be understood from the following description and will become more apparent from the embodiments of the present invention. Also, the objects and advantages of the present invention can be realized by the means and combinations thereof as set forth in the claims. [Means for solving the problem]

[0012] According to an aspect of the present invention, a battery information requesting device includes: a communication unit configured to be able to communicate with a battery information providing device; a target information determining unit configured to determine target information to be acquired; a target battery determining unit configured to determine an offset for a target battery for which the target information is to be acquired from a preset battery list; and a control unit configured to generate a request packet including the target information and the offset, transmit the generated request packet to the battery information providing device via the communication unit, and receive a response packet including battery information of the target battery corresponding to the target information from the battery information providing device via the communication unit in response to the request packet.

[0013] The controller may be configured to generate a request group including the target information and the offset, and generate the request packet according to an amount of request data corresponding to the generated request group.

[0014] The control unit may be configured to calculate the amount of request data corresponding to the generated request group, and generate the request packet in a packet structure corresponding to the calculated amount of request data from among a plurality of preset packet structures.

[0015] The controller may be configured to generate the request packet in a preset first packet structure if the calculated amount of request data is less than a reference amount.

[0016] The controller may be configured to generate the request packet in a preset second packet structure if the calculated amount of request data is equal to or greater than the reference amount.

[0017] The controller may be configured to calculate the amount of requested data by calculating a total size of data requested by the request group.

[0018] The controller may be configured to generate the request packet to include packet size information of the request packet, packet identification information of the request packet, and information about the request group.

[0019] The control unit may be configured to include an identifier between the target information and the offset in the request packet, the identifier being set so as not to overlap with the target information and the offset, and to calculate the amount of requested data by further taking into consideration the size of data requested by the identifier.

[0020] The control unit may be configured to generate a group for each of the target information based on the continuity of the offsets, determine a representative offset and the number of included offsets for each of the generated groups to generate target battery information, and generate the request group to include the target battery information corresponding to the target information.

[0021] The controller may be configured to determine one of the offsets included in each of the generated groups as the representative offset.

[0022] According to another aspect of the present invention, a battery information request method includes a target information determining step of determining target information to be acquired, an offset determining step of determining an offset for a target battery from which the target information is to be acquired from a preset battery list, a request group generating step of generating a request group including the target information and the offset, a request packet generating step of generating a request packet including the generated request group, a request packet transmitting step of transmitting the generated request packet, and a response packet receiving step of receiving a response packet including battery information of the target battery corresponding to the target information in response to the request packet.

[0023] A battery information providing system according to yet another aspect of the present invention includes: a battery information requesting device according to the aspect of the present invention; and a battery information providing device including: a communication module configured to communicate with the battery information requesting device; a battery information acquiring module configured to receive the request packet from the battery information requesting device through the communication module, determine the target battery from the request packet using the battery list, and acquire the battery information corresponding to the target information for the determined target battery; and a control module configured to generate the response packet including the target information and the battery information, and transmit the response packet to the battery information requesting device through the communication module as a response to the request packet.

[0024] The control module may be configured to generate a response group including the target information and the battery information, calculate a response data amount corresponding to the generated response group, and generate the response packet in a packet structure corresponding to the response data amount from among a plurality of preset packet structures. Effect of the Invention

[0025] According to an aspect of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently request battery information about a target battery among a plurality of batteries. In particular, since it is possible to receive only battery information about the target battery as response information, rather than battery information about all of the plurality of batteries, it is possible to efficiently request and check battery information about the target battery.

[0026] The effects of the present invention are not limited to the above effects, and other effects will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description of the claims.

[0027] The following drawings attached to this specification, together with the detailed description of the invention, serve to further understand the technical ideas of the present invention, and therefore the present invention should not be interpreted as being limited only to the matters described in the drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0028] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a battery information request device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a battery list according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a first packet structure according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a second packet structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a request packet generated by a battery information request device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 6] 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a request packet generated by a battery information request device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 7] 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a request packet generated by a battery information request device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 8]4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a request packet generated by a battery information request device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 9] 11 is a diagram illustrating a battery information request method according to another embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 10] 13 is a schematic diagram of a battery information providing system according to yet another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. [Figure 11] 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a response packet generated in a battery information providing system according to still another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 12] 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a response packet generated in a battery information providing system according to still another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0029] The terms and words used in this specification and the claims should not be interpreted limited to their ordinary and dictionary meanings, but should be interpreted in a meaning and concept that corresponds to the technical idea of ​​the present invention, based on the principle that the inventor himself can appropriately define the concept of the term in order to explain the invention in the best possible way.

[0030] Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiment described in this specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are merely the most preferred embodiment of the present invention and do not represent the entire technical idea of ​​the present invention, and that there may be various equivalents and modifications that can be substituted for them at the time of this application.

[0031] In addition, in the description of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of related known configurations or functions may make the gist of the present invention unclear, the detailed description will be omitted.

[0032] Terms including ordinal numbers such as first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one of various components from other components, and do not limit the components.

[0033] Throughout the specification, when a part "comprises" a certain element, this does not mean to exclude other elements, but means that it may further include other elements, unless otherwise specified.

[0034] Furthermore, throughout this specification, when a part is referred to as being "connected" to another part, this includes not only a "direct connection" but also an "indirect connection" through other elements.

[0035] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0036] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a battery information request device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] Referring to FIG. 1, a battery information request device 100 includes a communication unit 110, a target information determining unit 120, a target battery determining unit 130, and a control unit 140.

[0038] The communication unit 110 can be configured to be able to communicate with a battery information providing device.

[0039] Here, the battery information providing device may be a device that provides battery information requested by the battery information requesting device. For example, the communication unit 110 may be communicably connected to the battery information providing device through wired and / or wireless communication.

[0040] The target information determiner 120 may be configured to determine target information to be acquired.

[0041] Specifically, the target information may be determined from various battery information indicating the state of the battery, and one or more pieces of battery information may be determined as the target information.

[0042] For example, the battery information may include various information such as voltage, current, temperature, resistance, SOC, and SOH, and the target information determination unit 120 may determine one or more of such various battery information as the target information.

[0043] Meanwhile, a battery refers to an independent cell that has a negative terminal and a positive terminal and can be physically separated. As an example, the battery may be a lithium ion battery or a lithium polymer battery. The battery may also be a battery module having a plurality of cells connected in series and / or parallel. For the sake of convenience, the following description will be given assuming that a battery refers to an independent cell.

[0044] The target battery determiner 130 may be configured to determine an offset for a target battery for which target information is to be obtained from a preset battery list.

[0045] Here, the offset means location information at a certain distance from the start address of the battery list, i.e., the offset for the target battery may mean a relative address from the start address in the battery list to an address where the identification code of the target battery is stored.

[0046] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an example battery list according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0047] For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the battery list may include a first battery to a tenth battery. The offsets of the first battery to the tenth battery may be represented as p1 to p10. Specifically, the offset of the first battery may be p1, and the offset of the second battery may be p2. Similarly, the offset of the ninth battery may be p9, and the offset of the tenth battery may be p10. That is, once an offset is determined, a target battery corresponding to the offset may be identified.

[0048] The controller 140 may be configured to generate a request packet that includes the target information and an offset.

[0049] For example, assume that the target information is "voltage" and the target battery is "battery number 5." The target information may be determined as "voltage" by the target information determination unit 120, and an "offset for the fifth battery" may be determined by the target battery determination unit 130. Referring to FIG. 2, the target battery determination unit 130 may determine the offset for the fifth battery as p5. Then, the control unit 140 may generate a request packet to include "voltage" and "offset for the fifth battery." That is, the request packet generated by the control unit 140 may be a communication packet requesting a voltage value for the fifth battery.

[0050] The control unit 140 may be configured to transmit the generated request packet to the battery information providing device through the communication unit 110. The control unit 140 may be configured to receive a response packet including battery information of a target battery corresponding to the target information from the battery information providing device through the communication unit 110 in response to the request packet.

[0051] In the above-described embodiment, when the control unit 140 transmits a request packet requesting a voltage value for the fifth battery to the battery information providing device, the control unit 140 may receive a response packet regarding the voltage value for the fifth battery from the battery information providing device.

[0052] That is, the battery information requesting device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention can identify a target battery for which target information is to be confirmed from among a plurality of batteries included in a battery list, and selectively request only the target information for the corresponding battery. That is, since the battery information requesting device 100 identifies a target battery and requests target information, a processing process of receiving target information for all batteries and selecting only the target information for the target battery can be omitted. Therefore, the battery information requesting device 100 can improve the processing speed in the process of obtaining target information for the target battery, and can save unnecessary consumption of system resources.

[0053] Meanwhile, the control unit 140 of the battery information requesting device 100 may selectively include a processor, an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit), other chipsets, logic circuits, registers, communication modems, data processing devices, etc., known in the art, to execute various control logics performed in the present invention. Also, when the control logic is embodied as software, the control unit 140 may be embodied as a collection of program modules. In this case, the program modules may be stored in a memory and executed by the control unit 140. The memory may be provided inside or outside the control unit 140, and may be connected to the control unit 140 by various known means.

[0054] Also, the battery information requesting device 100 may further include a recording unit 150. The recording unit 150 may store data required for each component of the battery information requesting device 100 to operate and function, or data generated in the process of performing a program or an operation and function. The recording unit 150 is not particularly limited in type as long as it is a known information recording means known to be capable of recording, erasing, updating, and reading data. As an example, the information recording means may include a RAM, a flash memory, a ROM, an EEPROM, a register, etc. Also, the recording unit 150 may store a program code in which a process executable by the control unit 140 is defined.

[0055] The controller 140 may be configured to generate a request group including the target information and an offset.

[0056] Specifically, the control unit 140 may generate corresponding target information and an offset as one group.

[0057] For example, assume that the target information is "voltage" and the target battery is "battery number 5" as in the above-described embodiment. The control unit 140 may generate a request group to include "voltage" and "offset for battery number 5". That is, the request group generated by the control unit 140 may include content requesting the voltage for battery number 5.

[0058] The controller 140 may be configured to generate a request packet according to the amount of request data corresponding to the generated request group.

[0059] Specifically, the control unit 140 may be configured to calculate a request data amount corresponding to the generated request group.

[0060] For example, the control unit 140 may be configured to calculate the amount of requested data by calculating the size of the total data requested by the request group.

[0061] Preferably, the data size of each of the target information and offset that may be included in the request group may be a predetermined fixed value. For example, the data size of the target information may be 2 bytes, and the data size of the offset may be 1 byte. Therefore, the control unit 140 may calculate the amount of request data corresponding to the request group by calculating the total data size required for the request group in consideration of the data sizes of the target information and offset included in the request group.

[0062] The controller 140 may be configured to generate a request packet in a packet structure corresponding to the calculated requested data amount from among a plurality of preset packet structures.

[0063] Specifically, a plurality of packet structures may be set as the request packet according to the amount of data that can be included. For convenience of explanation, the plurality of preset packet structures will be described below as including a first packet structure and a second packet structure.

[0064] For example, the first packet structure and the second packet structure may be distinguished according to the amount of data that can be included. For example, if the calculated amount of requested data is less than a reference amount, the controller 140 may generate a request packet in a preset first packet structure. On the other hand, if the calculated amount of requested data is equal to or greater than the reference amount, the controller 140 may be configured to generate a request packet in a preset second packet structure.

[0065] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a first packet structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a second packet structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0066] 3 and 4, the first packet structure may be a packet structure of a Controller Area Network (CAN) communication channel capable of accommodating 8 bytes of data according to the embodiment of FIG. 3. The second packet structure may be a packet structure of a CAN with Flexible Data Rate (CAN-FD) communication channel capable of accommodating 64 bytes of data according to the embodiment of FIG. 4. For example, if the amount of requested data is 5 bytes or less, a request packet may be generated in the first packet structure, and if the amount of requested data is more than 5 bytes, a request packet may be generated in the second packet structure.

[0067] Preferably, the controller 140 may be configured to generate a request packet to include packet size information of the request packet, packet identification information of the request packet, and information about the request group.

[0068] In the embodiments of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the first packet structure and the second packet structure may commonly include a packet size information field and a packet identification information field.

[0069] The packet size information field may include information about the total amount of data in the request packet.

[0070] The packet identification information field may include identification information for the request packet. Here, the identification information may be a service ID according to a protocol. For example, according to the UDS 14229 protocol, the service ID may be 0x22 when battery status information on voltage, current, temperature, SOC, etc. is requested as target information. In this case, the packet identification information field may include 0x22 as identification information of the corresponding request packet.

[0071] The control unit 140 can be configured to generate a group based on whether the offsets are consecutive for each piece of target information.

[0072] Here, whether the offsets are consecutive may be determined based on whether there is a target battery with consecutive offsets in the battery list. The offsets may be expressed as relative addresses with respect to a starting address, and the address distance between consecutive offsets may be set to be the same. Thus, when the control unit 140 receives multiple offsets from the target battery determination unit 130, the control unit 140 may determine whether the received multiple offsets are consecutive. Then, the control unit 140 may group consecutive offsets into one group.

[0073] For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 2, it is assumed that the first battery, the third battery to the fifth battery, the seventh battery, and the ninth battery are determined as the target batteries. The control unit 140 may receive p1, p3, p4, p5, p7, and p9 as offsets of the target batteries from the target battery determination unit 130. The control unit 140 may confirm the received offsets and generate a first group including p1. The control unit 140 may also generate a second group including p3, p4, and p5. The control unit 140 may also generate a third group including p7, and a fourth group including p9.

[0074] The control unit 140 may be configured to determine a representative offset and the number of offsets included in each generated group, and generate target battery information.

[0075] In the above-described embodiment, the control unit 140 may determine the number of offsets included in the first group to be 1, and the number of offsets included in the second group to be 3. The control unit 140 may also determine the number of offsets included in each of the third and fourth groups to be 1.

[0076] Specifically, the controller 140 may determine one of the offsets included in each of the generated groups as a representative offset.

[0077] For example, the controller 140 may be configured to determine the minimum offset among the offsets included in each of the generated groups as the representative offset. Here, the minimum offset refers to an offset that is closest to the start address of the battery list and has the smallest relative address from the start address of the battery list. In the above embodiment, since the first group, the third group, and the fourth group each include one offset, the offset included in each group may be determined as the representative offset. Since the second group includes three offsets, p3, which is the minimum offset among the three offsets, may be determined as the representative offset of the second group.

[0078] As another example, the control unit 140 may be configured to determine the maximum offset among the offsets included in each of the generated groups as the representative offset. Here, the maximum offset refers to an offset that is the furthest from the start address of the battery and has the largest relative address from the start address of the battery list. In the above embodiment, p5, which is the maximum offset among the offsets included in the second group, may be determined as the representative offset of the second group.

[0079] For convenience of explanation, it will be assumed below that the representative offset of a group is determined based on the minimum offset.

[0080] After determining the representative offset and the number of offsets, the control unit 140 may generate target battery information including the determined representative offset and the number of offsets. Then, the control unit 140 may be configured to generate a request group to include the target battery information corresponding to the target information.

[0081] That is, the request group may include target information determined by the target information determination unit 120 and target battery information (representative offset and the number of offsets for each group) generated by the control unit 140.

[0082] 5 to 8 are diagrams illustrating various examples of a request packet generated by the battery information request device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0083] Specifically, FIGS. 5 to 7 show examples of request packets generated using the first packet structure, and FIG. 8 shows an example of a request packet generated using the second packet structure.

[0084] In the embodiments of Figs. 5 to 8, the packet size information area may include packet size information (DLC: Data Length Code) of the request packet. For example, the packet size information area may include the amount of requested data for the first request group REQ1. As another example, the packet size information area may include the total amount of data of the request packet. Preferably, the packet size information area may include the total amount of data of the request packet. Also, the packet identification information area may include a service ID, which is identification information of the request packet. For example, the service ID may be 0x22 according to the USD 14229 standard.

[0085] In the embodiment of Fig. 5, the data field may include a first request group REQ1 generated by the control unit 140. Specifically, the target information may include voltage information, and the target battery information may include group information including a representative offset p3. Referring to Fig. 2, since the representative offset of the group is p3 and the number of offsets included in the group is one, the group may include only the third battery. That is, the request packet according to the embodiment of Fig. 5 may be a packet requesting voltage information for the third battery.

[0086] In the embodiment of FIG. 6, the data area may include a second request group REQ2 generated by the control unit 140. Specifically, the target information may include voltage information, and the target battery information may include information on a first group including a representative offset p2 and a second group including a representative offset p7. Referring to FIG. 2, the representative offset of the first group included in the second request group REQ2 is p2, and the number of offsets included in the first group is four, so the first group may include the second battery to the fifth battery. Also, the representative offset of the second group included in the second request group REQ2 is p7, and the number of offsets included in the second group is one, so the second group may include only the seventh battery. That is, the request packet according to the embodiment of FIG. 6 may be a packet requesting voltage information on the second battery to the fifth battery and the seventh battery.

[0087] In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the data field may include a third request group REQ3 generated by the control unit 140. Specifically, the target information may include voltage information, and the target battery information may include information on a group including a representative offset p1. Referring to FIG. 2, the representative offset of the group included in the third request group REQ3 is p1, and the number of offsets included in the group is three, so that the group may include the first battery to the third battery. That is, the request packet according to the embodiment of FIG. 7 may be a packet requesting voltage information for the first battery to the third battery.

[0088] 7, the third request group REQ3 may further include an identifier. Specifically, the controller 140 may be configured to include an identifier between the target information and the offset in the request packet, the identifier being set so as not to overlap with the target information and the offset, and to calculate the amount of requested data by further considering the size of data required by the identifier.

[0089] Here, the identifier may be set to a code capable of distinguishing the target information from the target battery information. That is, the identifier may be set in advance to be clearly distinguishable from the target information and the target battery information. Also, the identifier may be configured to be set to a different value when the target battery information includes one target battery and when the target battery information includes multiple target batteries.

[0090] For example, it is assumed that an identifier value of 0000 indicates that one target battery is included in the target battery information, and a value of 1111 indicates that two or more target batteries are included in the target battery information. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the target battery information may include information on the first battery to the third battery. Thus, in the embodiment of FIG. 7, the identifier may be set to a value of 1111. A receiver of the request packet can effectively separate and identify the target information and the target battery information based on the presence or absence of the identifier, and can confirm the number of target batteries included in the target battery information without omission.

[0091] In the embodiment of FIG. 8, the data area may include a fourth request group REQ4 and a fifth request group REQ5. Specifically, voltage information may be included as target information of the fourth request group REQ4, and information on a group including a representative offset p6 may be included as target battery information. Referring to FIG. 2, the representative offset of the group included in the fourth request group REQ4 is p6, and the number of offsets included in the group is three, so the group may include the sixth battery to the ninth battery. That is, the fourth request group REQ4 may be a group requesting temperature information for the sixth battery to the ninth battery.

[0092] Also, in the embodiment of FIG. 8, the target information of the fifth request group REQ5 may include temperature information, and the target battery information may include information on the first group including the representative offset p4 and the second group including the representative offset p8. Referring to FIG. 2, the representative offset of the first group included in the fifth request group REQ5 is p4, and the number of offsets included in the first group is two, so the first group may include the fourth battery and the fifth battery. Also, the representative offset of the second group included in the fifth request group REQ5 is p8, and the number of offsets included in the second group is one, so the second group may include the eighth battery. That is, the fifth request group REQ5 may be a group requesting temperature information on the fourth battery, the fifth battery, and the eighth battery.

[0093] Therefore, the request packet according to the embodiment of FIG. 8 may be a packet requesting voltage information for the sixth to ninth batteries and temperature information for the fourth, fifth and eighth batteries.

[0094] Meanwhile, in the embodiment of Fig. 8, since the fourth request group REQ4 and the fifth request group REQ5 include target battery information including a plurality of target batteries, the identifiers included in the fourth request group REQ4 and the fifth request group REQ5 may be the same. For example, referring to the above embodiment, the identifier may be set to 1111.

[0095] 8, the request packet may further include predetermined classification information for separating and identifying a plurality of request groups. For example, the classification information may be preset to a dummy value, so that the plurality of request groups may be separated and clearly identified.

[0096] 5 to 8, the battery information requesting device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention has an advantage that it can selectively request battery status information for one or more batteries (e.g., a plurality of batteries included in a battery list). Since it is possible to omit a process of receiving battery status information for all batteries and then selecting battery status information for a desired target battery, as in the conventional method, it is possible to effectively save time and system resources required for obtaining information for a target battery.

[0097] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a battery information request method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0098] Each step of the battery information request method according to another embodiment of the present invention may be performed by the battery information request device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. For convenience of explanation, the contents overlapping with the above explanation will be omitted or will be briefly explained below.

[0099] 9, the battery information request method includes a target information determining step S100, an offset determining step S200, a request packet generating step S300, a request packet transmitting step S400, and a response packet receiving step S500.

[0100] The target information determining step S100 is a step of determining target information to be acquired, and is executed by the target information determining unit 120.

[0101] The target information may be battery status information, such as voltage, current, temperature, resistance, and SOC, that is to be obtained in response to the request packet.

[0102] For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 5, the target information determiner 120 may determine voltage information as the target information.

[0103] The offset determining step S200 is a step of determining an offset for a target battery for which target information is to be obtained from a preset battery list, and is performed by the target battery determining unit 130.

[0104] Preferably, the offset may represent a relative address for each battery based on a start address of a preset battery list.

[0105] For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 5, the target battery may be determined to be the third battery, and the offset for the third battery may be determined to be p3 according to the battery list of FIG.

[0106] The request packet generating step S300 is a step of generating a request packet including target information and an offset, and is performed by the control unit 140.

[0107] Specifically, the controller 140 may generate a request group including target information and an offset, and generate a request packet with a packet structure corresponding to the generated request group.

[0108] For example, in the embodiment of Fig. 5, the control unit 140 may generate a first request group REQ1 to include the target information determined in the target information determining step S100 and the offset determined in the offset determining step S200. Specifically, the first request group REQ1 may include target information and target battery information. Since there is one offset determined in the offset determining step S200, the target battery information may include p3 as a representative offset and 1 may be stored as the number of offsets.

[0109] More specifically, the controller 140 may generate a request packet in a packet structure corresponding to the amount of data of the generated request group from among a plurality of preset packet structures.

[0110] For example, in the embodiment of Fig. 5, the controller 140 may calculate the request data amount for the first request group REQ1 included in the data area as 4 bytes, and may generate a request packet in a packet structure corresponding to the calculated request data amount from among a plurality of preset packet structures.

[0111] For example, assume that the preset reference amount is 6 bytes. In the embodiment of Fig. 5, the request data amount corresponding to the first request group REQ1 is 4 bytes, which is smaller than the reference amount. Therefore, the control unit 140 may generate a request packet with a first packet structure based on the calculated request data amount (4 bytes).

[0112] On the other hand, if the amount of request data corresponding to the request group is 6 bytes or more, the controller 140 may generate a request packet with a second packet structure.

[0113] The request packet transmitting step S400 is a step of transmitting the generated request packet, which is executed by the control unit 140.

[0114] Specifically, the control unit 140 may transmit the generated request packet to the device providing battery information through the communication unit 110.

[0115] The response packet receiving step S500 is a step of receiving a response packet including battery information of a target battery corresponding to target information as a response to the request packet, and is executed by the control unit 140.

[0116] Specifically, the control unit 140 may receive a response packet including battery information of the target battery from the battery information providing device through the communication unit 110. That is, the control unit 140 may receive a response (battery information of the target battery) to the target information of the target battery requested through the request packet from the battery information providing device.

[0117] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the battery information request method can selectively request only target information for a target battery among a plurality of batteries included in a preset battery list, so that battery information for a target battery can be quickly obtained. Also, the battery information request method can prevent time and system resources from being wasted in the process of obtaining target information for a target battery.

[0118] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a battery information providing system 10 according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

[0119] 10, the battery information providing system 10 includes a battery information requesting device 100 and a battery information providing device 200. Since the description of the battery information requesting device 100 would be redundant, only the battery information providing device 200 will be described below.

[0120] The battery information providing device 200 includes a communication module 210 , a battery information obtaining module 220 , a control module 230 , and a recording module 240 .

[0121] The communication module 210 may be configured to be able to communicate with the battery information request device 100 .

[0122] For example, the communication module 210 may be connected to the battery information request device 100 in a wired and / or wireless manner. Specifically, the communication module 210 may be connected to the communication unit 110 in a communicative manner.

[0123] The battery information acquisition module 220 may be configured to receive a request packet from the battery information request device 100 through the communication module 210.

[0124] The battery information acquisition module 220 may be configured to determine a target battery from the request packet using the battery list, and acquire battery information corresponding to the target information for the determined target battery.

[0125] Specifically, the battery information acquisition module 220 may determine a target battery and target information corresponding to the received request packet. For example, the battery information acquisition module 220 may determine the target battery by matching an offset included in the target battery information to a battery list.

[0126] The battery information acquisition module 220 may then access the recording module 240 to acquire battery information of the target battery corresponding to the target information included in the request packet.

[0127] Here, the recording module 240 is not particularly limited in type as long as it is a known information recording means capable of recording, erasing, updating, and reading data. For example, the recording module 240 may include various battery information that can be measured by a measurement unit (not shown), and the battery information may include voltage, current, temperature, resistance, SOC, SOH, etc.

[0128] The control module 230 may be configured to generate a response packet that includes the target information and the obtained battery information.

[0129] Specifically, the control module 230 may generate a response group including the battery information acquired by the battery information acquisition module 220, and generate a response packet including the generated response group.

[0130] For example, the control module 230 may be configured to calculate a response data amount corresponding to the generated response group, and generate a response packet in a packet structure corresponding to the response data amount among the first packet structure and the second packet structure. Here, the target information may be the same as the target information included in the request packet, and the battery information may be a value of the target information for the target battery.

[0131] For example, as in the above-described embodiment, it is assumed that the battery information providing device 200 receives a request packet requesting a voltage (target information) for a fifth battery (target battery) from the battery information requesting device 100. The battery information acquiring module 220 may access the recording module 240 to acquire a voltage value (battery information) for the fifth battery. Then, the control module 230 may generate a response packet including the voltage (target information) and the voltage value (battery information).

[0132] 11 and 12 are diagrams illustrating various examples of a response packet generated in the battery information providing system 10 according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

[0133] Specifically, the response packet according to the embodiment of Fig. 11 may correspond to the request packet according to the embodiment of Fig. 7. Referring to Fig. 11, the response packet may include packet size information, packet identification information, and a first response group RES1. The first response group RES1 may include target information (voltage) and voltage values ​​for the first battery, the second battery, and the third battery. For example, the voltage value for the first battery may be 3V, the voltage value for the second battery may be 3.01V, and the voltage value for the third battery may be 3V.

[0134] Also, the response packet according to the embodiment of Fig. 12 may correspond to the request packet according to the embodiment of Fig. 8. Referring to Fig. 12, the response packet may include packet size information, packet identification information, a second response group RES2, and a third response group RES3. The second response group RES2 may include target information (voltage) and voltage values ​​for the sixth battery, the seventh battery, and the eighth battery. The third response group RES3 may include target information (temperature) and temperature values ​​for the fourth battery, the fifth battery, and the eighth battery. For example, the temperature value for the fourth battery may be 20°C, the temperature value for the fifth battery may be 20°C, and the temperature value for the sixth battery may be 20.2°C.

[0135] Meanwhile, predetermined classification information is included between the second response group RES2 and the third response group RES3, so that the second response group RES2 and the third response group RES3 can be clearly separated from each other. Therefore, the battery information request device 100 that receives the response packet can separately identify the second response group RES2 and the third response group RES3 based on the classification information.

[0136] The control module 230 may be configured to transmit a response packet as a response to the request packet to the battery information requesting device 100 through the communication module 210. Thus, the battery information requesting device 100 may obtain a value of target information for the target battery by receiving a response packet corresponding to the request packet from the battery information providing device 200.

[0137] The battery information providing system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is configured to request and respond to only target information for a target battery among a plurality of batteries included in a battery list, thereby saving time required for the battery information requesting device 100 to obtain desired battery information. In addition, since the target information for the target battery is not selected after the target information for all batteries is requested and responded to, it is possible to prevent unnecessary waste of system resources of the battery information providing system 10 in the process of requesting and responding to battery information.

[0138] The above-described embodiments of the present invention may be embodied not only by an apparatus, method, and system, but also through a program that realizes functions corresponding to the configuration of the embodiments of the present invention or a recording medium on which the program is recorded, and such implementation would be easily embodied by a person skilled in the art from the description of the above-described embodiments.

[0139] As described above, the present invention has been described using limited embodiments and drawings. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and it goes without saying that various modifications and variations can be made by a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention belongs within the technical spirit of the present invention and the equivalent scope of the claims.

[0140] Furthermore, the present invention described above is susceptible to various substitutions, modifications and alterations by those having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains, within the scope not departing from the technical spirit of the present invention, and is not limited to the above-described embodiments and the accompanying drawings, but may be configured by selectively combining all or part of each embodiment for various modifications. [Explanation of symbols]

[0141] 10: Battery information system 100: Battery information request device 110: Communications Department 120: Target information determination unit 130: Target battery determination unit 140: Control unit 150: Recording section 200: Battery information providing device 210: Communication module 220: Battery information acquisition module 230: Control module 240: Recording module

Claims

1. A communication unit capable of communicating with the battery information providing device; a target information determination unit that determines target information to be acquired; a target battery determination unit that determines an offset, which is a relative address from a start address of a preset battery list to an address in which an identification code of a target battery for which the target information is to be obtained is stored; a control unit that generates a request packet including the target information and the offset, transmits the generated request packet to the battery information providing device through the communication unit, and receives a response packet including battery information of the target battery corresponding to the target information from the battery information providing device through the communication unit in response to the request packet; Including, The control unit is generating a request group including the target information and the offset, and generating the request packet according to a request data amount corresponding to the generated request group; a battery information requesting device that includes, in the request packet, an identifier that is set to be able to distinguish the target information and the offset so as not to overlap with the target information and the offset, between the target information and the offset, and calculates the amount of requested data by further taking into consideration the size of data requested by the identifier.

2. A communication unit capable of communicating with a battery information providing device; a target information determination unit that determines target information to be acquired; a target battery determination unit that determines an offset, which is a relative address from a start address of a preset battery list to an address in which an identification code of a target battery for which the target information is to be obtained is stored; a control unit that generates a request packet including the target information and the offset, transmits the generated request packet to the battery information providing device through the communication unit, and receives a response packet including battery information of the target battery corresponding to the target information from the battery information providing device through the communication unit in response to the request packet; Including, The control unit is generating a request group including the target information and the offset, and generating the request packet according to a request data amount corresponding to the generated request group; a battery information requesting device that generates a group for each of the target information based on continuity of the offsets, determines a representative offset and a number of offsets included in each of the generated groups to generate target battery information, and generates the request group to include the target battery information corresponding to the target information.

3. The control unit is 3. The battery information request device of claim 1, further comprising: a step of: calculating the amount of request data corresponding to the generated request group; and generating the request packet in a packet structure corresponding to the calculated amount of request data from among a plurality of preset packet structures.

4. The control unit is If the calculated amount of request data is less than a reference amount, the request packet is generated in a first packet structure that is preset; The battery information requesting device of claim 3 , further comprising: generating the request packet in a second packet structure that is preset when the calculated amount of request data is equal to or greater than the reference amount.

5. The control unit is The battery information requesting device of claim 3 , further comprising: a step of calculating the amount of requested data by calculating a total size of data requested by the request group.

6. The control unit is The battery information requesting device of claim 3 , further comprising: generating the request packet to include packet size information of the request packet, packet identification information of the request packet, and information about the request group.

7. The control unit is The battery information requesting device of claim 2 , wherein any one of the offsets included in each of the generated groups is determined as the representative offset.

8. a target information determination step of determining target information to be acquired; determining an offset, which is a relative address from a start address of a preset battery list to an address in which an identification code of a target battery for which the target information is to be obtained is stored; generating a request packet including the target information and the offset; a request packet transmitting step of transmitting the generated request packet; receiving a response packet including battery information of the target battery corresponding to the target information as a response to the request packet; The request packet generating step includes: generating a request group including the target information and the offset; calculating an amount of request data corresponding to the generated request group, wherein an identifier set so as to be able to distinguish the target information and the offset from each other is included between the target information and the offset in the request packet so as not to overlap with the target information and the offset, and the amount of request data is calculated taking into consideration a size of data required by the identifier; generating the request packet according to the calculated amount of requested data; 4. A method for requesting battery information, including:

9. A target information determination step of determining target information to be acquired; determining an offset, which is a relative address from a start address of a preset battery list to an address in which an identification code of a target battery for which the target information is to be obtained is stored; generating a request packet including the target information and the offset; a request packet transmitting step of transmitting the generated request packet; receiving a response packet including battery information of the target battery corresponding to the target information as a response to the request packet; The request packet generating step includes: generating a request group including the target information and the offset, generating a group for each of the target information based on continuity of the offset, determining a representative offset and a number of offsets included in each of the generated groups to generate target battery information, and generating the request group to include the target battery information corresponding to the target information; generating the request packet according to an amount of request data corresponding to the generated request group; 4. A method for requesting battery information, including:

10. The battery information request device according to claim 1 or 2; a communication module capable of communicating with the battery information request device; a battery information acquisition module that receives the request packet from the battery information request device through the communication module, determines the target battery from the request packet using the battery list, and acquires the battery information corresponding to the target information for the determined target battery; a control module that generates the response packet including the target information and the battery information, and transmits the response packet to the battery information requesting device through the communication module as a response to the request packet. Battery information system.

11. The control module includes:

11. The battery information providing system of claim 10, further comprising: generating a response group including the target information and the battery information; calculating a response data amount corresponding to the generated response group; and generating the response packet in a packet structure corresponding to the response data amount from among a plurality of preset packet structures.

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