A hydrogen storage control unit (HSCU) for vehicles to communicate with a hydrogen filling station

Abstract

The present invention relates to a Hydrogen Storage Control Unit (HSCU) (100). The HSCU (100) is in communication with a hydrogen storage system (104) of the vehicle (102). The HSCU (100) is configurable to communicate with a hydrogen filling station (106) by driving / actuating at least one Infrared (IR) transmitter (108) located on the vehicle (102). The HSCU (100) is configured to generate a primary data stream comprising at least one parameter relating to the hydrogen storage system (104), convert the primary data stream to Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter Protocol (UART) frame to get a secondary data stream, compute / perform NOR operation on the secondary data stream and a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal to generate a driving signal, and drive / actuate the at least one IR transmitter (108) using the driving signal, characterized in that, the NOR operation is computed / performed internally by the HSCU (100) without employing any external hardware.

Description

FORM 2THE PATENTS ACT, 1970(39 of 1970) COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (See section 10; rule 13)1. Title of the invention:A HYDROGEN STORAGE CONTROL UNIT (HSCU) FOR VEHICLES TO COMMUNICATE WITH A HYDROGEN FILLING STATION2. Applicants: a. Name: Bosch Global Software Technologies Private Limited Nationality: INDIAAddress: 123, Industrial Layout, Hosur Road, Koramangala, Bangalore - 560095, Karnataka, India b. Name: Robert Bosch GmbH Nationality: GERMANYAddress: Postfach 30 02 20, 0-70442, Stuttgart, GermanyComplete specification: The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.Field of the invention:

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a Hydrogen Storage Control Unit (HSCU) for a vehicle, and specifically to a HSCU and a method to communicate with a hydrogen filling station while refueling of the vehicle.Background of the invention:

[0002] The vehicles powered by hydrogen gas, also referred as hydrogen surface vehicles comprise hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. These hydrogen surface vehicles utilize a Hydrogen Storage Control Unit (HSCU) to control and monitor the hydrogen filling, storage, and supply. The HSCU enables safe operation of the vehicle on the road as well as during service and refueling. The HSCU serves as a communication interface between the vehicle and hydrogen filling station following one of the approved standards for Hydrogen Surface Vehicle to Station Communications Hardware and Software standards.

[0003] The HSCU communicates with the hydrogen filling station using at least one Infrared (IR) transmitter located on the vehicle. Wherein, the at least one IR transmitter further communicates with at least one IR receiver disposed on refilling gun of the hydrogen filling station. The standards for Hydrogen Surface Vehicle to Station Communications Hardware and Software require mandatory signals to be conditioned and processed in a specific manner before converting it to a driving signal to drive / actuate the at least one IR transmitter. This conditioning and processing comprise signal generation, modulation, NOR operation, and other processing techniques.

[0004] The existing HSCUs require an external hardware, like Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) and / or Electronic Control Unit (ECU), for signal conditioning and processing like NOR operation. The external hardware usage along with the HSCU makes the whole architecture complex, increases the overallcost, and makes the serviceability difficult. There is a need for a HSCU which doesn’t employ any external hardware for communicating with the hydrogen filling stations along with other necessary functions.

[0005] US2021310616 discloses a hydrogen fueling system based on real-time communication of a compressed hydrogen storage system (CHSS) for a fuel cell comprises a CHSS including a hydrogen tank and a hydrogen tank valve, a dispenser including a dispenser controller receiving sensing data including a pressure and temperature inside the hydrogen tank and a hydrogen supply unit supplying hydrogen to an inside of the hydrogen tank based on the sensing data, and a data hydrogen moving device including a CHSS controller converting the sensing data into data for wireless communication and outputting the data, a wireless communication unit provided for wireless communication between the CHSS controller and the dispenser controller of the dispenser, and a receptacle transferring hydrogen from the hydrogen supply unit to the hydrogen tank valve.

[0006] The present invention solves all the above-mentioned problems in a manner as described in the claims.Brief description of the accompanying drawings:

[0007] An embodiment of the disclosure is described with reference to the following accompanying drawings.

[0008] Fig. 1 illustrates block diagram of a Hydrogen Storage Control Unit (HSCU) for a vehicle, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0009] Fig. 2 illustrates block diagram of a method for a HSCU in a vehicle for communicating with a hydrogen filling station, according to the present invention, and

[0010] Fig. 3 illustrates pictorial representation of a secondary data stream, a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal, and a driving signal along with other signals, according to an embodiment of the present invention.Detailed description of the embodiments:

[0011] Fig. 1 illustrates block diagram of a Hydrogen Storage Control Unit (HSCU) for a vehicle, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The HSCU 100 is in communication with a hydrogen storage system 104 of the vehicle 102. The HSCU 100 is configurable to communicate with a hydrogen filling station 106 by driving / actuating at least one Infrared (IR) transmitter 108 located on the vehicle 102. The HSCU 100 is configured to generate a primary data stream comprising at least one parameter relating to the hydrogen storage system 104, convert the primary data stream to Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter Protocol (UART) frame to get / generate a secondary data stream, compute / perform NOR operation on the secondary data stream and a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal to generate a driving signal, and drive / actuate the at least one IR transmitter 108 using the driving signal, characterized in that, the NOR operation is computed / performed internally by the HSCU 100 without employing any extemal / additional / dedicated / intemal hardware.

[0012] In an embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle 102 is a hydrogen surface vehicle. In another embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle 102 is selected from a group comprising a hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicle and a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. The hydrogen storage system 104 of the vehicle 102 comprises one or more hydrogen storage tanks along with other safety hardware and software components to ensure safe supply of high-pressure hydrogen fuel to the prime mover. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the hydrogen storage system 104 comprises at least one hydrogen storage tank, at least one valve, at least one tank manifold, and at least one high-pressure sensor. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the HSCU 100 is also a part of the hydrogen storage system 104.

[0013] In an embodiment of the present invention, the at least one IR transmitter 108 is located inside fuel filler cap of the vehicle 102. The hydrogen filling station 106 on the other hand comprises at least one IR receiver to receive information from the at least one IR transmitter 108. In another embodiment of the present invention, the hydrogen filling station 106 comprises the at least one IR receiver disposed on refilling gun which comes in line of sight of the at least one IR transmitter 108 during refueling for communication.

[0014] The communication between the HSCU 100 and the hydrogen filling station 106 is governed by any predetermined standard for Hydrogen Surface Vehicle to Station Communications Hardware and Software. In an embodiment of the present invention, the at least one parameter is selected based on the predetermined standard. In another embodiment of the present invention, the predetermined standard is SAE J2799. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the predetermined standard is SAE J2600. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, for SAE J2799 standard the at least one parameter comprises protocol identifier, communication software number, overall volume of the at least one hydrogen storage tank, refueling operation mode status, pressure of the at least one hydrogen storage tank, and temperature of the at least one hydrogen storage tank. The refueling operation mode status comprises static refueling, dynamic refueling, abort refueling, and halt refueling.

[0015] In an embodiment of the present invention, UART frames of the secondary data stream are converted / processed as per Infrared Data Association protocol (IrDA protocol). In another embodiment of the present invention, the UART frame comprises a start bit, eight bits of data, and a stop bit. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, width of the PWM signal is configured to generate 3 / 16 of bit time signal of the UART frames of the secondary data stream.

[0016] In an embodiment of the present invention, the primary data stream, generated by the HSCU 100, comprising the at least one parameter is in AmericanStandard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) format. The HSCU 100 converts the primary data stream, originally in ASCII format, to the UART frames with baud rate 38400 bits per second as per SAE J2799 standard to get / generate the secondary data stream. The HSCU 100 computes NOR operation on the secondary data stream and the PWM signal to generate the driving signal. In another embodiment of the present invention, the NOR operation is computed by a Dead Time Module (DTM) of the HSCU 100. The DTM generates dead time. The dead time refers to a small-time duration between required switching edges for top and bottom switch. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the driving signal is as per the predetermined standard. The driving signal is directly supplied to driving circuit of the IR transmitter 108 for driving / actuating the same for communication. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the driving circuit comprises use of a Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (MOSFET). In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the driving circuit comprises use of at least one selected from a group comprising a Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT), Field-Effect Transistor (FET), a transistor and a switching circuit.

[0017] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the HSCU 100 is provided with necessary signal detection, acquisition, and processing circuits. The HSCU 100 comprises input interface, output interfaces having pins or ports, the memory element (not shown) such as Random Access Memory (RAM) and / or Read Only Memory (ROM), Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) and a Digital-to- Analog Convertor (DAC), clocks, timers, counters and at least one processor (capable of implementing machine learning) connected with each other and to other components through communication bus channels. As per requirement, the memory element is pre-stored with logics or instructions or programs or applications or modules / models and / or threshold values / ranges, reference values, predefined / predetermined criteria / conditions, which is / are accessed by the at least one processor as per the defined routines. The internal components of the HSCU 100 are not explained for being state of the art, and the same must not be understood in a limiting manner. The HSCU 100 may also comprise communication units suchas transceivers to communicate through wireless or wired means such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), 3G, 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, serial networks, and the like. The HSCU 100 is implementable in the form of System-in-Package (SiP) or System-on-Chip (SOC) or any other known types.

[0018] Fig. 2 illustrates block diagram of a method for a HSCU in a vehicle for communicating with a hydrogen filling station, according to the present invention. The HSCU 100 communicates with the hydrogen filling station 106 by driving / actuating the at least one IR transmitter 108 located on the vehicle 102. The HSCU 100 is in communication with the hydrogen storage system 104. The method comprises a plurality of steps some of which are illustrated in Fig. 2 using blocks 202 to 208, according to the present invention. The method steps represented by blocks 202 to 208 are executed by the HSCU 100. The step 202 comprises generating, by the HSCU 100, the primary data stream comprising the at least one parameter relating to the hydrogen storage system 104.

[0019] The step 204 comprises converting, by the HSCU 100, the primary data stream to the UART frame to get / generate the secondary data stream. The step 206 comprises computing / performing the NOR operation, by the HSCU 100, on the secondary data stream and the PWM signal to generate the driving signal. The method is characterized by the step 206. The step 206 is characterized by the NOR operation being computed / performed internally by the HSCU 100 without employing any extemal / additional / dedicated / internal hardware. The step 208 comprises driving / actuating the at least one IR transmitter 108 using the driving signal. According to the method, the driving signal is directly supplied to the driving circuit of the at least one IR transmitter 108 for driving / actuating the same for communication.

[0020] According to the method, the NOR operation is computed / performed by the DTM of the HSCU 100. According to the method, the primary data stream is in ASCII format. According to the method, the driving signal is generated as per thepredetermined standard. The predetermined standard is selected from approved standards for Hydrogen Surface Vehicle to Station Communications Hardware and Software standards. According to the method, the predetermined standard is SAE J2799. According to the method, the predetermined standard is SAE J2600.

[0021] Fig. 3 illustrates pictorial representation of a secondary data stream, a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal, and a driving signal along with other signals, according to an embodiment of the present invention. An X-axis represents time domain, whereas a Y-axis represents Boolean amplitude for various signals between 0 and 1. The waveform A represents the secondary data stream generated by the HSCU 100. The waveform D represents the PWM signal generated by the HSCU 100. The waveform E represents the driving signal generated by the HSCU 100 by computing / performing the NOR operation on the waveform A and the waveform D. The waveform B and the waveform C represents the internal signals of the HSCU 100. In an embodiment of the present invention, the waveform B represents Timer Input Event (TIM 1) signal which is triggered at first falling edge of the waveform A. The TIM 1 signal is triggered for first bit of every UART frame of the secondary data stream. In another embodiment of the present invention, the waveform C represents Timer Output Module 1 (ATOM 1) signal which upon detecting trigger of the TIM 1 signal further triggers generation of the PWM signal or the waveform D in sync with the waveform A.

[0022] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the HSCU 100 and the method to communicate with the hydrogen filling station 106, during refueling, by driving / actuating the at least one IR transmitter 108 is disclosed herewith. The HSCU 100 generates the primary data stream which comprises the at least one parameter relating to the hydrogen storage system 104. The HSCU 100 then converts the primary data stream to the UART frames to get / generate the secondary data stream. The secondary data comprises multiple UART frames. The TIM 1 upon detecting first bit of every UART frame triggers the ATOM 1 which further triggers generation of the PWM signal in sync with the secondary data stream. TheHSCU 100 then computes / performs the NOR operation of the secondary data stream and the PWM signal, using the DTM, to generate the driving signal. The driving signal is then supplied to the driving circuit of the at least one IR transmitter 108 for driving / actuating the at least one IR transmitter 108 for communication with the hydrogen filling station 106. Based on the communication, safe refueling of the vehicle 102 is executed by the HSCU 100 as per the predetermined standard.

[0023] According to the present invention, the HSCU 100 for the vehicle 102, and the method to communicate with the hydrogen filling station 106 while refueling are disclosed. The present invention solves all the problems discussed above. The present invention does not require any additional hardware, like Application- Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or Electronic Control Unit (ECU), for signal conditioning and processing including the NOR operation. The present invention neither internally integrates the additional hardware into the HSCU 100 nor externally connect the additional hardware (external hardware) to the HSCU 100 to communicate with the hydrogen filling station 106. The present invention by not employing any additional hardware keeps the architecture of the HSCU 100 simple, the serviceability easy and the overall cost down. Therefore, the present invention discloses a novel, simple, easily serviceable, and a low-cost HSCU and a method to communicate with the hydrogen filling station.

[0024] It should be understood that the embodiments explained in the description above are only illustrative and do not limit the scope of this invention. Many such embodiments and other modification and changes in the embodiment explained in the description are envisaged. The scope of the invention is only limited by the scope of the claims.

Claims

We claim:

1. A Hydrogen Storage Control Unit (HSCU) (100) for a vehicle (102), said HSCU (100) in communication with a hydrogen storage system (104) of said vehicle (102), said HSCU (100) configurable to communicate with a hydrogen filling station (106) by driving at least one Infrared (IR) transmitter (108) located on said vehicle (102), said HSCU (100) configured to:- generate a primary data stream comprising at least one parameter relating to said hydrogen storage system (104);- convert said primary data stream to Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter Protocol (UART) frame to get a secondary data stream;- compute NOR operation on said secondary data stream and a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal to generate a driving signal; and- drive said at least one IR transmitter (108) using said driving signal, characterized in that, said NOR operation is computed internally by said HSCU (100) without employing any external hardware.

2. The HSCU (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said NOR operation is computed by a Dead Time Module (DTM) of said HSCU (100).

3. The HSCU (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said primary data stream is in American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) format.

4. The HSCU (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said driving signal is generated as per a predetermined standard.

5. A method for a Hydrogen Storage Control Unit (HSCU) (100) in a vehicle (102) for communicating with a hydrogen filling station (106) by driving at least one Infrared (IR) transmitter (108) located on said vehicle (102), saidHSCU (100) in communication with a hydrogen storage system (104) of said vehicle (102), said method comprising steps of:- generating a primary data stream comprising at least one parameter relating to said hydrogen storage system (104);- converting said primary data stream to Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter Protocol (UART) frame to get a secondary data stream;- computing NOR operation on said secondary data stream and a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal to generate a driving signal; and- driving said at least one IR transmitter (108) using said driving signal, characterized by, said NOR operation is computed internally by said HSCU (100) without employing any external hardware.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein said method comprises computing said NOR operation using a Dead Time Module (DTM) of said HSCU (100).

7. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein said primary data stream is in American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) format.

8. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein said method comprises generating said driving signal as per a predetermined standard.Dated 24 September 2024 (Digitally signed)Siddharth Karkhanis (IN / PA- 1195) On-behalf of the Applicants

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