The battery swapping station management system and network system include this battery swapping station management system.

Abstract

The invention relates to a battery swapping station management system (BSS). A battery swapping station management system according to a scheme of the invention may include a connection module connected to a battery pack to monitor the battery pack's status; and a software-defined network controller (SDN) configured to manage the connection status between the battery pack and the connection module based on battery pack-related data received from the connection module.

Description

Battery exchange station management system and network system including the same

[0001] Cross-citation with related applications

[0002] This invention claims the benefit of priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2023-0142194, filed October 23, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0003] Technology field

[0004] One embodiment disclosed in this document relates to a battery exchange station management system and a network system including the same.

[0005] Research and development on secondary batteries has been actively conducted recently. Here, the term "secondary battery" refers to a rechargeable battery, encompassing both conventional Ni / Cd and Ni / MH batteries, as well as more recent lithium-ion batteries. Among secondary batteries, lithium-ion batteries have the advantage of a much higher energy density than conventional Ni / Cd and Ni / MH batteries. Furthermore, lithium-ion batteries can be manufactured in a compact and lightweight form, making them a popular power source for mobile devices. Recently, their use has expanded to include power sources for electric vehicles, drawing attention as a next-generation energy storage medium.

[0006] Battery swapping stations (BSSs) exist as a service related to these secondary batteries. These stations can provide users with a service to exchange discharged batteries for charged ones. These stations are often installed as additions to existing buildings, such as convenience stores and public institutions. Therefore, it's necessary to provide users with information about each station.

[0007] According to one embodiment disclosed in this document, a management system for managing a battery exchange station in real time and a network system including the same are provided.

[0008] The technical problems of the embodiments disclosed in this document are not limited to the technical problems mentioned above, and other technical problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains from the description below.

[0009] A battery swapping station (BSS) management system according to one embodiment disclosed in this document may include a connection module connected to a battery pack and monitoring the status of the battery pack, and an SDN (Software Defined Networking) controller managing a connection status between the battery pack and the connection module based on data related to the battery pack received from the connection module.

[0010] According to one embodiment, the SDN controller can communicate with the access module based on the Open Flow communication protocol.

[0011] According to one embodiment, the connection module includes a sensor that monitors the battery pack based on a Linux operating system, and the sensor may be configured to be virtualized as an OpenVSwitch to perform a network switch function between the connection module and the SDN controller.

[0012] According to one embodiment, the SDN controller can turn off a sensor corresponding to a connection module to limit connection based on a connection status between the connection module and the battery pack.

[0013] According to one embodiment, the SDN controller may provide data related to the battery pack connected to the connection module to an external server.

[0014] According to one embodiment, the data related to the battery pack may include data related to at least one of whether the battery pack is connected, the number of times it has been charged, the number of times it has been rented, and the charging status.

[0015] In one embodiment, the SDN controller may determine a priority of battery packs to be rented to users based on data related to the battery packs.

[0016] A network system according to an embodiment disclosed in this document includes a management system for managing a connection status between a battery swapping station (BSS) and a battery pack connected to the battery swapping station, and a cloud server for storing data related to the battery pack provided by the management system, wherein the management system may include a Software Defined Networking (SDN) controller.

[0017] According to one embodiment, the SDN controller can communicate with a connection module connecting the battery exchange station and the battery pack based on the Open Flow protocol.

[0018] According to one embodiment, the connection module includes a sensor that monitors the battery pack based on a Linux operating system, and the sensor can be configured to be virtualized as an OpenVSwitch to perform a network switch function between the connection module and the controller.

[0019] According to one embodiment, the SDN controller may turn off a sensor corresponding to a connection module that limits a connection based on a connection status between the connection module and the battery pack, and provide data related to the battery pack connected to the connection module to the cloud server.

[0020] According to one embodiment, the data related to the battery pack may include data related to at least one of whether the battery pack is connected, the number of times it has been charged, the number of times it has been rented, and the charging status.

[0021] According to one embodiment, data related to the battery pack may be provided to a user through an application (APP) linked to the cloud server.

[0022] A battery exchange station management system according to an embodiment disclosed in this document can manage a battery exchange system in real time and communicate with a server.

[0023] The effects according to the embodiments disclosed in this document are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art according to the disclosure of this document.

[0024] FIG. 1 is a drawing schematically illustrating a battery exchange station and peripheral configuration according to one embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0025] FIG. 2 is a drawing illustrating a battery exchange station according to an embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0026] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a network system according to an embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0027] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a network system according to an embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0028] FIG. 5 is a drawing for explaining a management system according to an embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0029] Hereinafter, embodiments disclosed in this document will be described in detail with reference to exemplary drawings. When designating components in each drawing, it should be noted that, where possible, identical components are given identical reference numerals, even if they appear in different drawings. Furthermore, when describing embodiments disclosed in this document, detailed descriptions of related known structures or functions will be omitted if they are deemed to hinder understanding of the embodiments disclosed in this document.

[0030] In describing the components of the embodiments disclosed in this document, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b), etc. may be used. These terms are only intended to distinguish the components from other components and do not limit the nature, order, or sequence of the components. In addition, unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art to which the embodiments disclosed in this document belong. Terms defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the meaning they have in the context of the relevant technology, and shall not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless explicitly defined in this application.

[0031] FIG. 1 is a drawing schematically illustrating a battery exchange station and peripheral configuration according to one embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0032] A battery swapping station (BSS, 10) may be configured to charge at least one battery pack (not shown) obtained from a user and provide the charged battery pack to the user. In one embodiment, the battery swapping station (10) may be configured to charge a battery pack of a target device having a removable battery pack, such as an electric vehicle (EV) and / or an electric scooter.

[0033] According to one embodiment, the battery pack may include at least one battery module, each of which includes at least one battery cell. Here, the battery cell may be, but is not limited to, a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery, a lithium-ion polymer (Li-ion polymer) battery, a nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) battery, a nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) battery, or the like.

[0034] According to one embodiment, a battery exchange station (10) may be provided and / or installed at a facility that supplies electricity. The battery exchange station (10) may receive electricity from the facility via the grid. For example, the battery exchange station (10) may be additionally installed in an existing building, such as a convenience store or public institution, to charge the battery pack based on the electricity supplied from the facility and / or may be directly connected to a renewable energy power plant to receive electricity.

[0035] The battery exchange station (10) may be connected to an external server. Here, the external server may include a cloud server (1). According to one embodiment, the battery exchange station (10) may be connected to the cloud server (1) via wired and / or wireless means and configured to provide data related to the battery pack being charged by the battery exchange station (10) to the cloud server (10).

[0036] According to one embodiment, data related to a battery pack stored in a cloud server (1) may be provided to a user through a separate application linked to the cloud server (1). For example, the cloud server (1) may be configured to provide information related to a battery pack connected to a battery exchange station (10) to multiple users through a user terminal, such as a personal computer (PC) or a smartphone.

[0037] According to one embodiment, data related to a battery pack may include data related to at least one of whether the battery pack is connected to a battery exchange station (10), the number of times the battery pack has been charged, the number of times the battery pack has been rented, and the charging status of the battery pack.

[0038] FIG. 2 is a drawing for explaining a battery exchange station according to an embodiment disclosed in this document, and FIG. 3 is a drawing for explaining a network system according to an embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0039] Referring to FIG. 2, the battery exchange station (10) may include a plurality of connection modules (110a to 110h) and a controller (120), and referring to FIG. 3, the network system (1000) may include a cloud server (1) and a plurality of battery exchange stations (10a to 10c) that are linked to the cloud server (1). According to one embodiment, each battery exchange station (10a to 10c) is illustrated as having eight connection modules, but the present invention is not limited to this example. In addition, in FIG. 3, each battery exchange station (10a to 10c) is illustrated as charging eight battery packs, but the present invention is not limited to this example, and each battery exchange station (10a to 10c) may be configured to charge n (n is a natural number) battery packs.

[0040] As described above in the description of FIG. 1, the battery exchange station (10) may be configured to charge at least one battery pack (not shown) obtained from a user and provide the charged battery pack to the user. Here, the battery pack may be connected to each of the connection modules (110a to 110h) and charged.

[0041] Each of the plurality of connection modules (110a to 110h) may include at least one sensor (111). According to one embodiment, the sensor (111) may be configured to collect data related to a battery pack (not shown) connected to the connection module (110a). For example, the sensor (111) may be configured to measure temperature, voltage, current, etc. of the battery pack (not shown) connected to the connection module (110a) and / or communicate with the battery pack (not shown) via wires and / or wirelessly.

[0042] According to one embodiment, the sensor (111) may be a monitoring sensor that operates based on a Linux operating system.

[0043] The controller (120) can control the overall operation of the battery exchange station (10). According to one embodiment, the controller (120) can be implemented as a device such as an industrial computer that controls the overall operation of the battery exchange station (10), and the controller (120) can be implemented as an SDN (Software Defined Networking) controller (e.g., ONOS). In the following description, it is assumed that the controller (120) is an SDN controller.

[0044] According to one embodiment, the controller (120) can communicate with a cloud server (1, see FIG. 1) and / or a plurality of connection modules (110a to 110h). For example, the controller (120) can receive data related to a battery pack collected from sensors included in a plurality of connection modules (110a to 110h) and / or provide the received data related to the battery pack to the cloud server (1).

[0045] According to one embodiment, the sensor (111) can be connected by wire and / or wirelessly (e.g., LAN cable, WIFI, optical communication, SIM LTE, 5G).

[0046] According to one embodiment, the controller (120) may be configured to control a sensor (111) operating based on a Linux operating system. Here, the controller (120) may communicate with a plurality of connection modules (110a to 110h) based on an OpenFlow communication protocol to control a sensor included in each of the plurality of connection modules (110a to 110h). The OpenFlow communication protocol may correspond to an SDN protocol in which the controller (120) defines a path of a network packet through a switch network. That is, the sensor (111) operating based on a Linux operating system may be configured to be virtualized as an OpenVSwitch and perform the function of a network switch between the controller (120) and the connection module (110a).

[0047] According to one embodiment, the controller (120) may control to turn off the sensor (111) corresponding to the connection module whose connection is to be restricted based on the connection status between the connection module (110a) and the battery pack (not shown). In this case, the connection module (110a) whose connection is to be restricted and the battery pack connected thereto may not be provided to the user. For example, the controller (120) may be configured to turn off the connection with the sensor corresponding to the connection module whose connection is to be restricted in response to a failure state, or to turn off the connection with the sensor whose connection is to be restricted due to inspection, etc.

[0048] According to one embodiment, each of the plurality of connection modules (110a to 110h) may be defined as having various states based on the presence or absence of a connected battery pack, the charging state of the connected battery pack, and / or the state of the battery pack. For example, a normal state may correspond to a state in which a battery pack is connected to a connection module and the battery pack is fully charged, a rental state may correspond to a state in which a battery pack is provided to a user and the battery pack is not connected to the connection module, a fault state may correspond to a state in which a battery pack is connected to a connection module but a fault has occurred in the connection module and / or the battery pack connected to the connection module, and a charging state may correspond to a state in which a battery pack is connected to a connection module but the battery pack is being charged.

[0049] As examples of the various states described above, referring to FIG. 3, the battery exchange station (10a) may have two battery packs connected to the connection modules and in a fully charged state, two battery packs provided to the user and not connected to the connection modules, and four connection modules and / or battery packs connected to four connection modules may be in a faulty state.

[0050] Similarly, the battery exchange station (10b) may have eight battery packs provided to the user and may not have the battery packs connected to any of the connection modules, the battery exchange station (10c) may have five battery packs connected to the connection modules but corresponding to a state in which the battery packs are being charged, the battery pack may be connected to one connection module and corresponding to a state in which the battery packs are fully charged, one battery pack may be provided to the user and not connected to any connection module, and one connection module and / or one battery pack connected to one connection module may be in a state in which a failure has occurred.

[0051] Referring back to FIG. 2, the controller (120) may be configured to provide a battery pack rental priority to multiple users. For example, the controller (120) may be configured to provide a priority regarding which battery pack to provide first to a user who wishes to receive a battery pack from the battery exchange station (10) based on the data related to the battery packs described above. For example, the controller (120) may be configured to provide the cloud server (1) with data related to the battery pack and a rental priority calculated based on the data related to the battery pack, thereby simultaneously providing the priority to multiple users.

[0052] For example, when the controller (120) calculates the rental priority based on data related to the battery pack connected to the battery exchange station (10a, see FIG. 3), the controller (120) can determine the priority so as to give priority to renting a battery pack in a normal state among the plurality of battery packs connected to the battery exchange station (10a) to the user.

[0053] As another example, when the controller (120) calculates the rental priority based on data related to the battery packs connected to the battery exchange station (10c, see FIG. 3), the controller (120) may determine the priority so that among the plurality of battery packs connected to the battery exchange station (10c), a battery pack in a normal state is given priority for rental to the user. In addition, when a battery pack in a normal state is rented to the user, the controller (120) may consider the charging states of the plurality of battery packs in a charged state and determine the battery pack expected to reach a normal state first as the next priority.

[0054] According to one embodiment, the controller (120) can transmit data and status related to a battery pack connected to the connection module (110a) to the cloud server (1) whenever the status of the connection module (110a) changes.

[0055] According to one embodiment, each of the plurality of battery exchange stations (10a to 10c) may be located in a different area.

[0056] According to one embodiment, data stored in a cloud server (1) can be provided to a user through a separate application that is linked to the cloud server (1) based on network virtualization technology (Network Function Virtualization).

[0057] For example, a separate application linked to the cloud server (1) may provide the user with information related to the location of a battery exchange station close to the user based on the user's location information, and / or may provide the user with information related to the status of a plurality of connection modules included in each of a plurality of battery exchange stations close to the user. In addition, the separate application linked to the cloud server (1) may provide the user with a priority calculated by a controller (not shown) included in a battery exchange station close to the user. In addition, the separate application linked to the cloud server (1) may provide the user with information related to the presence or absence of a failure of a component included in the battery exchange station, such as a battery pack, a sensor, an SDN controller, etc.

[0058] According to one embodiment, a separate application linked to the cloud server (1) may be configured to manage the network system and the controller (120, see FIG. 2) included in the network system.

[0059] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a network system according to an embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0060] Referring to FIG. 4, multiple layers constituting a network system (1000) are illustrated.

[0061] The network system (1000) may include a plurality of layers (Planes). According to one embodiment, the network system (1000) may include a control plane, a data plane, and an application plane.

[0062] According to one embodiment, the data plane may be related to a plurality of battery packs (first to eighth battery packs) connected to battery exchange stations (10a, 10b, 10c). For example, the data plane may be defined as an area where data related to a plurality of battery packs (first to eighth battery packs) connected to each of a plurality of connection modules (110a to 110h, see FIG. 2) is collected and transmitted to the control plane.

[0063] According to one embodiment, the control plane may be configured to identify network paths using a communication protocol. For example, the control plane may be implemented in the form of an industrial PC (Personal Computer) that controls each battery exchange station (10a to 10c) and an SDN controller (120, see FIG. 2) installed on the industrial PC. As described above, the SDN controller (120) may use the OpenFlow protocol to identify network paths and restrict connections with sensors that do not want to be connected. Here, the sensor may be the same sensor as the sensor (111) that is virtualized and operates on the Linux operating system described above in the description of FIG. 2 (OpenVSwitch).

[0064] According to one embodiment, the application layer (Application Plane) may be implemented in the form of an application that provides users with information related to the network system (1000) by linking with a cloud server (1, see FIG. 3). Furthermore, the application layer (Application) may correspond to a layer that generates commands for the user to transmit to the control layer (Control Plane).

[0065] In one embodiment, the Application Plane can communicate with other software systems, i.e., the Control Plane, based on an interface such as a Representational State Transfer Application Interface (REST API).

[0066] FIG. 5 is a drawing for explaining a management system according to an embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0067] Referring to FIG. 5, a management system (100) for managing a battery exchange station (10, see FIG. 1) may include a connection module (110) and a controller (120).

[0068] As described above, according to one embodiment, the connection module may include at least one sensor (not shown). The sensor may be configured to collect data related to a battery pack (not shown) connected to the connection module.

[0069] As described above, the controller (120) can control the overall operation of the management system (100) as well as the battery exchange station (10, see FIG. 1). According to one embodiment, the controller (120) can be implemented as a device such as an industrial computer that controls the overall operation of the battery exchange station (10), and the controller (120) can be implemented as a Software Defined Networking (SDN) controller (e.g., ONOS).

[0070] According to an embodiment disclosed in this document, a management system (100, see FIG. 5), a battery exchange station (10) including the same, and a network system including the same can operate under the control of a software-based controller (SDN controller) as a Software Defined Network (SDN) system, which is different from existing network systems that control network traffic using hardware devices such as routers or switches. Therefore, according to the network system disclosed in this document, communication with the battery exchange station can be achieved based on less cost and fewer resources than existing network systems that require many resources and costs. In addition, the status of the battery exchange station and various components included therein can be provided to the user in conjunction with a cloud server, thereby enabling monitoring and / or controlling the battery exchange station in real time.

[0071] In the above, all components constituting the embodiments have been described as being combined or operating in combination as one. However, this is not necessarily limited to such embodiments, and within the scope of the purpose, all components may be selectively combined and operated in one or more combinations. Furthermore, terms such as "include," "comprise," or "have" described above, unless specifically stated to the contrary, imply that the corresponding component may be inherent, and therefore should be interpreted to include other components rather than excluding other components.

[0072] The above description is merely an example of the technical idea disclosed in this document, and those skilled in the art to which the embodiments disclosed in this document pertain may make various modifications and variations without departing from the essential characteristics of the embodiments disclosed in this document.

[0073] Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed in this document are intended to illustrate, rather than limit, the technical concepts disclosed in this document, and the scope of the technical concepts disclosed in this document is not limited by these embodiments. The scope of protection of the technical concepts disclosed in this document should be interpreted by the claims below, and all technical concepts within the equivalent scope should be interpreted as being included within the scope of the rights of this document.

[0074] [Explanation of symbols]

[0075] 1: Cloud Server

[0076] 10: Battery exchange station

[0077] 100: Management System

[0078] 110: Access module

[0079] 120: Controller

[0080] 1000: Network System

Claims

1. A connection module connected to a battery pack and monitoring the status of the battery pack; and A battery swapping station (BSS) management system including an SDN (Software Defined Networking) controller that manages a connection status between the battery pack and the connection module based on data related to the battery pack received from the connection module.

2. In the first paragraph, the SDN controller, A battery exchange station management system that communicates with the above-mentioned connection module based on the Open Flow communication protocol.

3. In the first paragraph, the connection module, Includes a sensor for monitoring the battery pack based on a Linux operating system, A battery exchange station management system in which the above sensor is configured to be virtualized as an OpenVSwitch and perform a network switch function between the connection module and the SDN controller.

4. In the third paragraph, the SDN controller, A battery exchange station management system that turns off a sensor corresponding to a connection module that limits connection based on the connection status between the connection module and the battery pack.

5. In the third paragraph, the SDN controller, A battery exchange station management system that provides data related to the battery pack connected to the above connection module to an external server.

6. In the fifth paragraph, the data related to the battery pack is: A battery exchange station management system comprising data related to at least one of whether the battery pack is connected, the number of times it has been charged, the number of times it has been rented, and the charging status.

7. In the fifth paragraph, the SDN controller, A battery exchange station management system that determines the priority of battery packs to be rented to users based on data related to the above battery packs.

8. A management system that manages the connection status between a battery swapping station (BSS) and a battery pack connected to the battery swapping station; and A cloud server storing data related to the battery pack provided by the management system; The above management system, A network system that includes an SDN (Software Defined Networking) controller.

9. In the 8th paragraph, the SDN controller, A network system that communicates based on the Open Flow protocol and a connection module that connects the above battery exchange station and the above battery pack.

10. In paragraph 9, The above connection module includes a sensor that monitors the battery pack based on a Linux operating system, A network system in which the above sensor is configured to be a virtual switch (OpenVSwitch) and to perform a network switch function between the above connection module and the above controller.

11. In the 10th paragraph, the SDN controller, Turn off the sensor corresponding to the connection module that limits the connection based on the connection status between the connection module and the battery pack, A network system that provides data related to the battery pack connected to the above connection module to the cloud server.

12. In the 11th paragraph, the data related to the battery pack is: A network system comprising data related to at least one of whether the battery pack is connected, the number of times it has been charged, the number of times it has been rented, and the charging status.

13. In paragraph 12, A network system in which data related to the above battery pack is provided to the user through an application (APP) linked to the above cloud server.

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