Arrangement comprising means for determining the state of health and / or aging of components of a circuit or of components connected to the circuit

Abstract

The invention relates to an arrangement for determining the aging and / or health of a circuit, of at least one component of the circuit or of at least one component connected to the circuit, wherein the arrangement comprises the circuit and means for determining the aging and / or health, wherein the means are wholly or partially part of the circuit and the means for determining the aging and / or health comprise – at least two sensors (18, 28) for capturing an electrical operating variable of the component (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213), such as the voltage present at the component (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213) or the current flowing through the component (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213), and / or – at least two sensors for capturing non-electrical variables of the component (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213) or of the environment of the components (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213), such as temperature, insolation or air humidity, and – a computing unit (12, 14, 17, 27) for calculating the aging and / or health from the data captured by the sensors with the aid of a model, wherein the means for determining the aging and / or health furthermore comprise at least one sensor for capturing an electrical operating variable of the circuit, and / or at least one sensor for capturing non-electrical variables of the circuit.

Description

[0001] Arrangement with means for determining the state of health and / or ageing of components of a circuit or components connected to the circuit

[0002] Description

[0003] The invention relates to an arrangement for determining the state of health and / or the aging of a circuit, of at least one component of the circuit or of at least one component connected to the circuit.

[0004] For the purposes of this document, aging refers to changes that occur over the service life of an element, functional module, system, component, or part. These changes occur gradually or insidiously and not suddenly. However, sudden events that affect a second element, functional module, system, component, or part interacting with the element, functional module, system, component, or part can cause aging of the element, functional module, system, component, or part in question. Aging of an element, functional module, system, component, or part can sooner or later lead to failure of the element, functional module, system, component, or part.Typical phenomena for progressive aging of an element, functional module, system, component or part are gradual changes over time such as changing current consumption, changing power requirements or other gradual changes in an electrical quantity that occur in a rest state, a standby state or in an operating state in or on the element, functional module, system, component or part.

[0005] For the purposes of this document, the state of health refers to the condition of an element, functional module, system, component, or part, without considering gradual changes, which occurs due to a sudden or rapidly occurring event. This can be a sudden defect in an element, functional module, system, component, or part, which can also occur due to aging or, among other things, due to an external event.In addition, typical phenomena of a deterioration in the health of an element, functional module, system, component or part may be significantly different current consumption, a changing power requirement or another gradual change in an electrical quantity that occurs in a rest state, a standby state or in an operating state in or on the element, functional module, system, component or part.

[0006] From document DE 11 2020 006 521 T5, a method and a device for assessing the remaining service life of elements, functional modules, and systems are known. The known method comprises three essential steps: In the first step, a selection of sensitive components that are characteristic of aging indices is made from components of the element, functional module, or system in order to determine a condition measurement strategy. The selection of sensitive components includes essential components or secondary circuits. For example, components that are characteristic for determining the aging of the circuit are selected from a circuit. In a second step, a measuring circuit is applied to at least one of the sensitive components described above. The measuring circuit described above is a secondary circuit of the elements, functional modules, and systems described above.The measuring circuit records parameters of the sensitive components during operation of the element, functional module, or system. Based on physical models, empirical models, and damage accumulation models, it calculates the remaining service life for each of the aforementioned sensitive components under different stress conditions. In a third step, the remaining service life of the entire elements, functional modules, and systems is then calculated based on the remaining service life calculation results for each sensitive component and the weighting represented by all sensitive components.

[0007] The means for determining the aging of the known device include

[0008] - a sensor for detecting an electrical operating variable of the component, such as the voltage applied to the component or the current flowing through the component, and / or

[0009] - a sensor for detecting non-electrical variables of the component or the component's environment, such as temperature, solar radiation or humidity,

[0010] - a computing unit for partially calculating the ageing from the data recorded by the sensor(s) using a model stored in the computing unit or a model that can be loaded into the computing unit.

[0011] The method and device known from document DE 11 2020 006 521 T5 could be suitable for calculating the service life of complete circuits using models. However, it is not clear from the document whether the solution disclosed in the document is also transferable to circuits, i.e. whether a circuit can be an element, functional module, or system within the meaning of the document. If a circuit can be such an element, functional module, or system as mentioned in document DE 11 2020 006 521 T5, to determine the service life of the circuit, the remaining service life for individual components, namely the so-called sensitive components of these circuits, would first be calculated using a measured value obtained via the measuring circuit. From the calculated service lives of the components, the service life of the complete circuit is then calculated using another model.The focus of this well-known technique is to calculate the service life of the entire circuit. How the service life of so-called sensitive components is calculated is only partially described. The goal of the known teaching is not to calculate the aging or service life of individual components of the circuit or of components connected to the circuit.

[0012] To determine the ageing or health status of a complete circuit, the document DE 11 2020 006 521 T5 therefore suggests at most using this multi-step procedure, for the application of which several models must first be determined.

[0013] With the teaching known from the document DE 11 2020 006 521 T5, it is not possible to determine the ageing or the health of the individual components of a circuit, i.e. the individual component of the circuit (e.g. semiconductor), or of a component connected to the circuit, such as a cable, a plug or a consumer, with sufficient reliability.

[0014] This is where the present invention comes in.

[0015] The present invention is based on the object of proposing an arrangement with which the aging and / or health status of the circuit, individual, several or all components of the circuit and components connected to the circuit can be determined.

[0016] Accordingly, an arrangement mentioned at the beginning is further developed in that the means for determining the ageing are further

[0017] - at least one further sensor for detecting a further electrical operating variable of the component of the circuit, such as the voltage applied to the component or the current flowing through the component of the circuit, and / or - at least one further sensor for detecting environmental variables of the component of the circuit, such as temperature, solar radiation or air humidity,

[0018] - at least one sensor for detecting an electrical operating variable of the circuit, such as the voltage applied to the circuit, in particular an input voltage or an output voltage, or the current flowing through the circuit, in particular a current drawn from a source or a current delivered to a consumer, and / or

[0019] - have at least one sensor for detecting non-electrical variables of the circuit or the environment of the circuit, such as temperature, solar radiation or humidity,

[0020] - wherein the computing unit is suitable and configured to use the model to determine from all the determined data the ageing and health status of one or more components of the circuit, one or more components connected to the circuit and / or the circuit itself.

[0021] The use of electronic components in motor vehicles for autonomous driving requires monitoring the aging and / or health status of electrical and electronic components due to new and more extensive requirements. The objective is to identify potential fault conditions and aging-related malfunctions before they occur. This may require determining the aging and health status of an entire electronic control unit, as well as entire circuits, components of a circuit, or components connected to a circuit. Aging and health status are important parameters for predictive maintenance, which can minimize the risk of failure. This enables the planned replacement of faulty components before a serious functional failure of the element, functional module, system, component, or part occurs.Monitoring aging and health status also creates new diagnostic possibilities, for example, for analyzing the energy distribution in a vehicle and / or for energy monitoring, among other things, to determine the efficiency and losses of the on-board electrical system. By creating a load history and / or logging electrical and / or non-electrical variables, abnormalities of the element, functional module, system, component, or part can be detected in the idle state, in the standby state, and / or in the operating state of the element, functional module, system, component, or part. Furthermore, the information provided can be fed into a statistical analysis, such as artificial intelligence, to identify system behavior and state patterns.By comparing current and / or historical (recorded) values ​​with comparative values ​​from similar vehicles in a fleet, a statement can be made about the aging and / or health as well as the life expectancy and durability of the element, functional module, system, component or part.

[0022] Unlike the device known from document DE 11 2020 006 521 T5, the arrangement according to the invention not only makes it possible to determine a single electrical variable or a single environmental parameter of a component. Instead, an arrangement according to the invention can have multiple sensors for determining electrical variables of a component of the circuit or multiple non-electrical variables of a component or the environment of a component. By assigning multiple sensors to a component or by detecting multiple electrical variables of a component and / or non-electrical variables of this component or the environment, it is possible to obtain a more precise picture of the stress to which the component is exposed during operation. This can then be incorporated into the calculation of the aging and / or health status of this component.The additional sensors can also be included in the calculation of the aging and / or health status of the entire circuit, since the load on the circuit as a whole can be recorded more effectively with the additional sensors than with just one sensor for an electrical variable and one sensor for a non-electrical variable of a selected component of the circuit or the environment of these components. It can also be used to calculate the aging and / or health status of a component or the aging and / or health status of the circuit if electrical variables of the circuit or non-electrical variables of the circuit or the environment of the circuit are recorded and included in the calculation of the aging and / or health status of the components or the circuit. Finally, it is also possible with the circuit or the circuit according to the invention toUsing the computing unit, the aging and / or health status of components connected to the circuit can be determined from the recorded variables.

[0023] The circuit can be an integrated circuit.

[0024] The component connected to the circuit, for whose aging and / or health calculation the computing unit is suitable and configured, can be a connector, a cable, a driver, a power stage, and / or a load that is supplied with electrical energy and / or controlled by the circuit. Of the sensors for detecting non-electrical variables, one or more or all of the sensors can be suitable and configured for detecting non-electrical variables of the component connected to the circuit.

[0025] The components of the circuit whose aging and / or health status can be calculated by the computing unit can be a power stage, a functional block, or other component of the circuit, in particular the integrated circuit. The electrical quantities that can be detected by sensors of a circuit can be

[0026] - a voltage applied to an input of the component,

[0027] - a voltage applied to an output of the component,

[0028] - a current flowing through the input of the component,

[0029] - a current flowing through the output of the component,

[0030] - an input resistance of the component,

[0031] - an output resistance of the component,

[0032] - a power that the component absorbs, emits or converts,

[0033] - a voltage applied to an input of the circuit,

[0034] - a voltage applied to an output of the circuit,

[0035] - a current flowing through the input of the circuit,

[0036] - a current flowing through the output of the circuit,

[0037] - -an input resistance of the circuit,

[0038] - an output resistance of the circuit,

[0039] - a power that the circuit absorbs, emits, or converts, or another electrical quantity. The non-electrical quantities that are detected by sensors in a circuit can be

[0040] - a temperature,

[0041] - light irradiation,

[0042] - ambient humidity,

[0043] - a tensile or compressive load,

[0044] - or another non-electrical quantity.

[0045] The sensors can be configured to measure the electrical and / or non-electrical quantities cyclically.

[0046] The sensors can be configured to measure the electrical and / or non-electrical quantities synchronously.

[0047] Another aspect is the collection of measured values ​​(energy consumption, current, voltage) for observation over the running time of the electronic or electrical component.

[0048] The circuit may comprise a memory in which the detected variables can be stored, wherein the computing unit is connected to the memory and is suitable and configured to retrieve stored variables from the memory and to incorporate them into the calculation.

[0049] The circuit may include an error counter for counting faulty states of the circuit, one, some, or all components of the circuit, or one, some, or all components connected to the circuit. The circuit may include an error memory for storing faulty states of the circuit, one, some, or all components of the circuit, or one, some, or all components connected to the circuit.

[0050] The circuit can have a communication interface through which the memory, error counter, error log, sensor readings, and / or calculation results of the processing unit can be read from the circuit. An alarm can also be triggered via the interface as soon as a component of the circuit, the circuit as a whole, and / or a component connected to the circuit has a fault or is in a critical state.

[0051] The extracted data can then be evaluated statistically and / or with the help of artificial intelligence. For this purpose, the extracted data can be compared with data from similar circuits, for example, in other vehicles.

[0052] The computing unit can be part of the circuit or, in addition to the circuit and possibly other parts, another part of the arrangement according to the invention.

[0053] Two examples of arrangements according to the invention are shown in the attached drawings.

[0054] Fig. 1 shows a circuit according to the invention with several consumers connected via cables and plugs and

[0055] Fig. 2 shows an integrated circuit according to the invention.

[0056] The circuit arrangement shown in Figure 1 has an input 19, via which the circuit is connected to a power supply. Within the circuit, power stages 112 are connected to input 19 via supply lines 110. The power stages 112 have outputs connected to outputs 111 of the circuit, via which loads 15 are supplied with electrical energy. Supply lines including connectors 16 are provided between the outputs 111 and the loads 15.

[0057] The voltages present at both input 19 and outputs 111 are monitored. The current flowing through input 19 and the currents flowing through outputs 111 to loads 15 are also monitored. For this purpose, the circuit shown has sensors 18 with which these currents and voltages can be measured. The detected electrical quantities are transmitted from sensors 18 via lines 113 to a multi-component processing unit 17, 11, 14.

[0058] The recorded measured values ​​are delivered via lines 113 to a measured value processor 17. The processed measured values ​​are then transmitted via an internal communication interface 11 to a digital signal processor 14 for further processing. Using a model, the aging and health status of the loads 15 and the lines, including the connectors 16, via which the loads 15 are connected to the circuit are then determined from the processed measured values.

[0059] A higher-level instance 12 of the arrangement can read out relevant information via an external communication interface 13 for the purpose of determining the age and health of consumers 15 and lines 16 including plugs, or have this information determined externally.

[0060] The integrated circuit of the arrangement shown in Figure 2 is supplied with voltage via its supply connection 21. An internal voltage supply 25, which forms a functional block of the integrated circuit, is connected to the supply connection 21. The internal voltage supply 25 generates the internal voltage supplies for further internal functional blocks 27, 28, 29 of the integrated circuit and forwards these to these functional blocks via the internal supply lines 26. Function blocks 28 are sensors for integrated measured value acquisition, which in particular record the current consumption of the further internal functional blocks 25, 29 and an externally connected power semiconductor 212. Furthermore, the voltages at the inputs and outputs of the functional blocks 25, 28 are recorded.The recorded measured values ​​are transmitted via the measured value transmission 210 to the internal logic and signal processing 27 of the integrated circuit for further processing.

[0061] The function blocks 29 are processing stages that provide the function of the integrated circuit and, for this purpose, supply signals that are output at the integrated circuit's output 211. The integrated circuit controls a power semiconductor 212 via output 211. Its output 213, in turn, represents the interface to the controlled load. Depending on the operating state of the individual function blocks 29, these can have different current consumption and different voltages can be applied to them. These are preprocessed in the logic and signal processing 27 of the integrated circuit and checked for plausibility. Possible unusual events detected by the logic and signal processing 27 trigger an interrupt via an interrupt output 24.

[0062] A higher-level instance (not shown) of the arrangement can read out relevant information via the communication interface 23 for the purpose of determining aging and / or health or have it determined externally.

[0063] List of reference symbols

[0064] 11 Internal communication interface

[0065] 12 Superior instance

[0066] 13 Communication interface to the higher-level instance

[0067] 14 Digital signal processing and conditioning

[0068] 15 consumers

[0069] 16 supply cables and plugs

[0070] 17 Measured value processing

[0071] 18 current and voltage sensors for each power output and on the power supply

[0072] 19 Input for power supply

[0073] 100 Power supply of the power stages

[0074] 111 Output to the consumer

[0075] 112 power levels

[0076] 113 Measured value transmission to the computing unit

[0077] 20 Integrated Circuit

[0078] 21 Input for power supply of the integrated circuit Signal input for function activation or function display

[0079] Communication interface to the higher-level component

[0080] Interrupt output to signal exceptional events

[0081] Internal power supply of the integrated circuit

[0082] Voltage outputs for internal function blocks

[0083] Internal logic and signal processing of the integrated circuit

[0084] Sensors for current and voltage measurement

[0085] - centrally, at the output of the internal power supply

[0086] - locally at each function block

[0087] - for one or more outputs 211

[0088] Internal functional blocks and processing stages of the integrated circuit for realizing the functions of the integrated circuit

[0089] Measured value transmission to the internal logic and signal processing of the integrated circuit

[0090] Output of the integrated circuit

[0091] Power semiconductors

[0092] Function output to the consumer

Claims

Patent claims: 1 . Arrangement for determining the aging and / or health status of a circuit, of at least one component (112, 25, 29) of the circuit or of at least one component (15, 16, 212, 213) connected to the circuit, wherein the arrangement comprises means (11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 27, 28) for determining the aging and / or health status and these means (11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 27, 28) are wholly or partly part of the circuit and the means (11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 27, 28) for determining the aging and / or health status - a sensor (18, 28) for detecting an electrical operating variable of the component (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213), such as the voltage applied to the component (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213) or the current flowing through the component (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213), and / or - a sensor for detecting non-electrical variables of the component (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213) or the environment of the components (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213), such as temperature, solar radiation or humidity, and - a computing unit (12, 14, 17, 27) for partially calculating the aging and / or health from the data acquired by the sensor (18, 28) or the sensors (18, 28) with the aid of a model stored in the computing unit (12, 14, 17, 27) or loadable into the computing unit (12, 14, 17, 27), characterized in that the means of determining ageing and / or health further - at least one further sensor (18, 28) for detecting a further electrical operating variable of the component (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213), such as the voltage applied to the component (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213) or the current flowing through the component (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213), and / or - at least one further sensor for detecting non-electrical variables of the component (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213) or the environment of the components (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213), such as temperature, solar radiation or air humidity, - at least one sensor (18, 28) for detecting an electrical operating variable of the circuit, such as the voltage applied to the circuit or the current flowing through the circuit, and / or - have at least one sensor for detecting non-electrical variables of the circuit or the environment of the circuit, such as temperature, solar radiation or humidity, - wherein the range unit (12, 14, 17, 27) is further suitable and configured to use the model to determine from all determined variables the aging and / or health of one or more components (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213) of the circuit, one or more components (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213) connected to the circuit and / or the circuit itself.

2. Arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that the circuit is an integrated circuit.

3. Arrangement according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the component (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213) connected to the circuit, for whose aging and / or health calculation the computing unit (12, 14, 17, 27) is suitable and set up, is a cable, plug or a consumer which can be supplied with electrical energy and / or controlled by the circuit.

4. Arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the electrical quantities detected by sensors (18, 28) - a voltage applied to an input of the component (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213), - a voltage applied to an output of the component (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213), - a current flowing through the input of the component (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213), - a current flowing through the output of the component (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213), - an input resistance of the component (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213), an output resistance of the component (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, - a voltage applied to an input of the circuit, - a voltage applied to an output of the circuit, - a current flowing through the input of the circuit, - a current flowing through the output of the circuit, - an input resistance of the circuit, - an output resistance of the circuit - or another electrical quantity.

5. Arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the non-electrical quantities detected by sensors - a temperature, - light irradiation, - ambient humidity, - a tensile or compressive load, - or another non-electrical quantity.

6. Arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the sensors (18, 28) detect the electrical quantities or environmental parameters cyclically.

7. Arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the sensors (18, 28) detect the electrical quantities or environmental parameters synchronously.

8. Arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the components (15, 16, 112, 25, 29, 212, 213) of the circuit, the aging and / or health of which can be calculated by means of the computing unit, is a power stage, a functional block or other.

9. Arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the circuit has a memory in which the detected variables can be stored, wherein the computing unit (12, 14, 17, 27) is connected to the memory and is suitable and configured to retrieve stored variables from the memory and to incorporate them into the calculation.

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