Device for estimating battery manufacturer and operating method thereof

Abstract

A device according to an embodiment disclosed in the present document may comprise: an interface for acquiring target voltage data for a battery; and one or more processors that output battery manufacturer estimation information corresponding to the battery on the basis of at least part of the target voltage data.

Description

Device for estimating battery manufacturer and method of operation thereof

[0001] Cross-citation with related applications

[0002] The present invention claims the benefit of priority based on Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0131951 filed on September 27, 2024, and includes all contents disclosed in the document of said Korean patent application as part of this specification.

[0003] Technology field

[0004] The embodiments disclosed in this document relate to an apparatus for estimating a battery manufacturer and a method of operating the same.

[0005] Recently, active research and development on secondary batteries has been underway. Here, secondary batteries refer to rechargeable batteries, encompassing conventional Ni / Cd and Ni / MH batteries as well as the more recent lithium-ion batteries. Among secondary batteries, lithium-ion batteries have the advantage of significantly higher energy density compared to conventional Ni / Cd and Ni / MH batteries. Furthermore, lithium-ion batteries can be manufactured in a compact and lightweight form factor, making them suitable for use as power sources for mobile devices. Recently, their scope of application has expanded to include electric vehicles, drawing attention as a next-generation energy storage medium.

[0006] In addition, the secondary battery can generally be used as a battery pack comprising a battery module in which a plurality of battery cells are connected in series and / or parallel. Also, the secondary battery can be used as a battery rack comprising a plurality of battery modules and a rack frame that accommodates these battery modules.

[0007] Such battery cells, battery modules, battery packs, or battery racks can be utilized in various devices. For example, batteries can be used in mobile devices such as mobile phones, laptop computers, smartphones, and smart pads, as well as in fields such as electric vehicles (EVs, HEVs, PHEVs) and large-capacity energy storage systems (ESS).

[0008] The status and operation of these batteries can be managed and controlled by a battery management system (BMS). The battery management system can be included together with the batteries within a single device.

[0009] In addition, the battery management system can manage and control the battery while separated from the device containing the battery. For example, the battery management system can be implemented as a separate server device. In this case, the battery management system can collect battery data and vehicle data from a vehicle, etc., and manage and control the battery by utilizing the collected data.

[0010] For the smooth operation of products utilizing batteries, such as automobiles, an accurate diagnosis of the battery's State of Health (SOH) is required, and the SOH can be calculated based on an Open Circuit Voltage (OCV) table.

[0011] For example, the manufacturers of batteries installed in the same vehicle model may differ, and even if the design capacity of the batteries installed in those models is the same, the chemical composition of the batteries may vary depending on the manufacturer. Therefore, in order to accurately calculate the SOH of a specific battery installed in a specific vehicle among the vehicles of that model, information on the OCV table corresponding to that specific battery is required, and for this, information on the battery manufacturer for that specific battery is necessary.

[0012] However, since information on which battery among the batteries that can be installed in the vehicle model is actually installed in a specific vehicle of that model is not provided, conventionally, SOH has been calculated based on approximate OCV table information, which has a problem in that it is difficult to calculate the accurate SOH.

[0013] The embodiments disclosed in this document may provide an apparatus capable of estimating a battery manufacturer based on battery voltage data and a method of operating the same.

[0014] The technical problems of the embodiments disclosed in this document are not limited to those mentioned above, and other unmentioned technical problems will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description below.

[0015] An apparatus according to one embodiment disclosed in this document may include an interface for acquiring target voltage data for a battery; and one or more processors for outputting battery manufacturer estimation information corresponding to the battery based on at least a portion of the target voltage data.

[0016] In an apparatus according to one embodiment disclosed in this document, the one or more processors may output battery manufacturer estimation information based on the result of comparing at least a portion of the target voltage data with at least a portion of the first reference voltage data to the m-th reference voltage data corresponding to each of the first battery manufacturer to the m-th battery manufacturer.

[0017] In an apparatus according to one embodiment disclosed in this document, the one or more processors may output battery manufacturer estimation information based on the result of comparing at least a portion of specific first reference voltage data to specific m-th reference voltage data corresponding to specific charging cycle information of the target voltage data among the first reference voltage data to m-th reference voltage data.

[0018] In an apparatus according to one embodiment disclosed in this document, the first reference voltage data to the m-th reference voltage data may be voltage data for a first battery to a m-th battery mounted on a first reference mobile body to a m-th reference mobile body of the same type as the target mobile body on which the battery is mounted.

[0019] In an apparatus according to one embodiment disclosed in this document, the one or more processors can output battery manufacturer estimation information based on specific target voltage data corresponding to a specific SOC within a threshold SOC (State of Charge) interval among the target voltage data.

[0020] In an apparatus according to one embodiment disclosed in this document, the one or more processors may output battery manufacturer estimation information based on specific target voltage data satisfying a threshold charge amount condition among the target voltage data.

[0021] In an apparatus according to one embodiment disclosed in this document, the one or more processors can diagnose the state of the battery based on the battery manufacturer's estimated information.

[0022] In an apparatus according to one embodiment disclosed in this document, the one or more processors can diagnose the State of Health (SOH) of the battery based on the battery manufacturer's estimated information.

[0023] In an apparatus according to one embodiment disclosed in this document, the one or more processors may output first battery manufacturer candidate information to n-th battery manufacturer candidate information based on each of first target voltage data to n-th target voltage data corresponding to each of first to n-th charging end times, and output battery manufacturer estimation information based on the first battery manufacturer candidate information to the n-th battery manufacturer candidate information.

[0024] A method according to one embodiment disclosed in this document may include: an operation of acquiring target voltage data for a battery; and an operation of outputting battery manufacturer estimation information corresponding to the battery based on at least a portion of the target voltage data.

[0025] In a method according to one embodiment disclosed in this document, the operation of outputting the battery manufacturer estimation information may include the operation of outputting the battery manufacturer estimation information based on the result of comparing at least a portion of the target voltage data with at least a portion of the first reference voltage data to the m-th reference voltage data corresponding to each of the first battery manufacturer to the m-th battery manufacturer.

[0026] In a method according to one embodiment disclosed in this document, the operation of outputting the battery manufacturer estimation information may include the operation of outputting the battery manufacturer estimation information based on the result of comparing at least a portion of the specific first reference voltage data to the specific m-th reference voltage data corresponding to the specific charging cycle information of the target voltage data among the first reference voltage data to the m-th reference voltage data with at least a portion of the target voltage data.

[0027] In a method according to one embodiment disclosed in this document, the operation of outputting the battery manufacturer estimation information may include the operation of outputting the battery manufacturer estimation information based on specific target voltage data corresponding to a specific SOC within a threshold SOC (State of Charge) interval among the target voltage data.

[0028] In a method according to one embodiment disclosed in this document, the operation of outputting the battery manufacturer estimation information may include the operation of outputting the battery manufacturer estimation information based on specific target voltage data satisfying a threshold charge amount condition among the target voltage data.

[0029] In a method according to one embodiment disclosed in this document, after the operation of outputting the battery manufacturer estimation information, the method may further include the operation of diagnosing the state of the battery based on the battery manufacturer estimation information.

[0030] In a method according to one embodiment disclosed in this document, the operation of diagnosing the state of the battery may include the operation of diagnosing the State of Health (SOH) of the battery based on the battery manufacturer's estimated information.

[0031] In a method according to one embodiment disclosed in this document, the operation of outputting the battery manufacturer estimation information may include outputting the first battery manufacturer candidate information to the nth battery manufacturer candidate information based on each of the first target voltage data to the nth target voltage data corresponding to each of the first charging end time to the nth charging end time, and outputting the battery manufacturer estimation information based on the first battery manufacturer candidate information to the nth battery manufacturer candidate information.

[0032] According to the embodiments disclosed in this document, the battery manufacturer can be estimated based on the voltage data of the battery.

[0033] According to the embodiments disclosed in this document, even if the manufacturers of the batteries installed in vehicles of the same vehicle type differ from vehicle to vehicle, the accurate SOH of the battery installed in the vehicle can be calculated.

[0034] In addition, various effects identified directly or indirectly through this document may be provided.

[0035] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a battery pack according to one embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0036] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an apparatus according to one embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0037] FIG. 3 is a drawing showing target voltage data of a battery according to one embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0038] FIG. 4 is a drawing showing battery manufacturer estimation information according to one embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0039] FIGS. 5A and FIGS. 5B are drawings showing battery status diagnostic information according to one embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0040] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of a device according to one embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0041] FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a computing system for performing a method of operation of a device according to one embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0042] Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments and should be understood to include various modifications, equivalents, and / or alternatives of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0043] The various embodiments of this document and the terms used therein are not intended to limit the technical features described in this document to specific embodiments, and should be understood to include various modifications, equivalents, or substitutions of said embodiments.

[0044] In relation to the description, similar reference numerals may be used for similar or related components. The singular form of the noun corresponding to an item may include one or more of the said item unless the relevant context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0045] In this document, each of the phrases such as “A or B,” “at least one of A and B,” “at least one of A or B,” “A, B or C,” “at least one of A, B and C,” and “at least one of A, B, or C” may include any one of the items listed together in the corresponding phrase, or all possible combinations thereof. Terms such as “first,” “second,” “first,” “second,” “A,” “B,” “(a),” or “(b)” may be used simply to distinguish a component from another component and, unless specifically stated otherwise, do not limit the components in any other aspect (e.g., importance or order).

[0046] In this document, where it is mentioned that any (e.g., 1) component is “connected,” “coupled,” or “joined” to another (e.g., 2) component, with or without the terms “functionally” or “communicationly,” or where it is mentioned as “coupled” or “connected,” it means that said component may be connected to said other component directly (e.g., by wire), wirelessly, or through a third component.

[0047] According to one embodiment, the method according to the various embodiments disclosed herein may be provided as included in a computer program product. The computer program product may be traded between a seller and a buyer as a product. The computer program product may be distributed in the form of a device-readable storage medium (e.g., compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM)), or distributed online (e.g., download or upload) through an application store or directly between two user devices. In the case of online distribution, at least a portion of the computer program product may be temporarily stored or temporarily created on a device-readable storage medium, such as the memory of a manufacturer's server, an application store's server, or a relay server.

[0048] According to various embodiments, each component (e.g., module or program) of the components described above may include a singular or multiple entities, and some of the multiple entities may be separated and placed in other components. According to various embodiments, one or more of the components or operations of the aforementioned components may be omitted, or one or more other components or operations may be added. Generally or additionally, multiple components (e.g., module or program) may be integrated into a single component. In this case, the integrated component may perform one or more functions of each of the multiple components in the same or similar manner as those performed by the corresponding component among the multiple components prior to integration. According to various embodiments, operations performed by the module, program, or other components may be executed sequentially, in parallel, iteratively, or heuristically, or one or more of the operations may be executed in a different order, omitted, or one or more other operations may be added.

[0049] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a battery pack according to one embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0050] Referring to FIG. 1, the battery pack (1) may include an upper battery unit (12), a sensor unit (14), a switching unit (16), and a battery management system (BMS) (20). At this time, the battery pack (1) may be equipped with a plurality of upper battery units (12), sensor units (14), switching units (16), and battery management systems (20).

[0051] According to an embodiment, the upper battery unit (12) can supply power to a target device (not shown). To this end, the upper battery unit (12) may be electrically connected to the target device. Here, the target device may include an electrical, electronic, or mechanical device that operates by receiving power from the battery pack (1). For example, the target device may be an electric vehicle (EV), but is not limited thereto.

[0052] According to an embodiment, the upper battery unit (12) may include at least one battery unit (10) capable of charging and discharging. In this case, the battery unit (10) may be a battery cell (10), and the battery cell (10) may be a basic unit of a battery cell capable of charging and discharging electrical energy. For example, the battery cell (10) may be a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery, a lithium-ion polymer (Li-ion polymer) battery, a nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) battery, a nickel-hydrogen (Ni-MH) battery, etc., but is not limited thereto.

[0053] According to an embodiment, a plurality of upper battery units (12) may be connected in series or in parallel. For example, the upper battery units (12) may be battery modules, battery banks, battery cells, or a set of battery cells (cell-to-pack structure).

[0054] According to an embodiment, the sensor unit (14) can obtain information related to the upper battery unit (12). According to an embodiment, the sensor unit (14) can obtain values ​​(or information) related to the state of each upper battery unit (12). In one embodiment, the values ​​related to the state may include one or more values ​​for the voltage, current, resistance, state of charge (SOC), state of health (SOH), or temperature of the battery cell, or a combination thereof.

[0055] According to an embodiment, the sensor unit (14) can provide information of each of the plurality of upper battery units (12) to the battery management system (20).

[0056] According to an embodiment, the switching unit (16) may include a component for controlling the current flow for charging or discharging the upper battery unit (12). For example, the switching unit (16) may include at least one relay and / or magnetic contactor, etc., depending on the specifications of the battery pack (1).

[0057] According to an embodiment, the battery management system (BMS) (20) can monitor the voltage, current, temperature, etc. of the battery pack (1) and control or manage the battery pack (1) to prevent overcharging and over-discharging. For example, the battery management system (20) may include a plurality of terminals as an interface that receives values ​​measured by the various parameters described above, and a circuit connected to these terminals to perform processing of the received values. Additionally, the battery management system (20) may control the sensor unit (14) and / or the switching unit (16). For example, the battery management system (20) may be connected to a plurality of upper battery units (12) to monitor the status of each of the plurality of upper battery units (12) and control the ON / OFF of relays or contactors.

[0058] According to the embodiment, the operation of the battery management system (20) can be performed by a Battery Management System (BMS) in the vehicle, as well as by various devices such as a server, cloud, charger, or charger / discharger.

[0059] The upper controller (2) can transmit control signals for a plurality of upper battery units (12) to the battery management system (20). Accordingly, the operation of the battery management system (20) can be controlled based on the signals applied from the upper controller (2).

[0060] According to an embodiment, the battery management system (20) may include the device (100) of FIG. 2. According to another embodiment, the battery management system (20) may be a different system from the device (100) of FIG. 2. That is, the device (100) of FIG. 2 may be included in the battery pack (1) or may be composed of another device outside the battery pack (1). For convenience of explanation, the following description assumes that the device (100) is composed of another device outside the battery pack (1). Furthermore, the operation of the device (100) described below may be performed by a Battery Management System (BMS) within the vehicle, as well as by various devices such as a server, cloud, charger, or charger / discharger. Additionally, the battery described below may be each of the upper battery units (12) or each of the battery cells (10), but is not limited thereto and may be the battery pack (1).

[0061] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a device according to an embodiment disclosed in this document. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing target voltage data of a battery according to an embodiment disclosed in this document, categorized by battery manufacturer. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a comparison of estimated battery manufacturer information according to an embodiment disclosed in this document with actual battery manufacturer information. FIG. 5a and FIG. 5b are diagrams showing battery status diagnostic information according to the prior art and battery status diagnostic information according to an embodiment disclosed in this document. The operation of the device (100) illustrated in FIG. 2 may be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. 5b.

[0062] First, referring to FIG. 2, a device (100) according to one embodiment disclosed in this document can output information on the manufacturer of a battery.

[0063] According to an embodiment, the device (100) may include an interface (110) and one or more processors (120) to output information regarding the manufacturer of the battery. However, it is not limited thereto, and other components may be further included in the device (100), and two or more components may be integrated into one, or one component may be divided into two or more components.

[0064] According to an embodiment, the interface (110) can obtain status information about the battery. Here, the interface (110) may refer to a configuration capable of communicating with an external device via wired and / or wireless means. For example, the status information may include voltage information, current information, temperature information, or resistance information of the battery.

[0065] According to an embodiment, the interface (110) can obtain target voltage data by communicating with the sensor unit (14, see FIG. 1). Additionally, the interface (110) can obtain target voltage data by communicating with other infrastructure such as the BMS (20, see FIG. 1) or a server and cloud.

[0066] According to an embodiment, the interface (110) can acquire target voltage data of a battery. For example, the interface (110) can acquire voltage data for a specific battery installed in a specific vehicle among a plurality of vehicles of a specific vehicle type as target voltage data. For example, the interface (110) can acquire target voltage data of the battery at unit time intervals. As another example, the interface (110) can acquire target voltage data of the battery at unit driving distance intervals. According to an embodiment, the interface (110) can continuously acquire target voltage data in the charging section, the resting section after charging, the discharging section, and / or the resting section after discharging according to time and / or driving distance. According to an embodiment, the interface (110) may include a voltage monitoring circuit or a sensor.

[0067] According to an embodiment, one or more processors (120) can perform operations of the device (100). According to an embodiment, one or more processors (120) can output battery manufacturer estimation information based on at least some of the target voltage data obtained from the interface (110).

[0068] According to an embodiment, the target voltage data may be voltage data corresponding to the SOC at the time of charging termination. According to another embodiment, the target voltage data may be voltage data from the time of charging start to the time of charging termination. For example, if a specific battery installed in a specific vehicle is charged to an SOC of 80%, the target voltage data may be data measuring the voltage of the specific battery at the time when the SOC of the specific battery reaches 80%. For reference, since the voltage of the battery drops rapidly during the rest time after charging is terminated, accurate target voltage data can be obtained only by accurately distinguishing the time of charging termination through current direction verification.

[0069] FIG. 3 is a drawing showing target voltage data of a battery according to one embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0070] Referring to FIG. 3, it is possible to see first target voltage data (21) for a first target battery of a first battery manufacturer installed in a specific vehicle type (first vehicle) and second target voltage data (22) for a second target battery of a second battery manufacturer installed in a specific vehicle type (second vehicle). For reference, the target voltage data shown in FIG. 3 may be voltage data corresponding to the SOC at each end of charging. For example, in the case of the first target battery, it can be seen that the target voltage data corresponding to the SOC at the end of the first charging (e.g., 60%) is 3.88V, and the target voltage data corresponding to the SOC at the end of the second charging (e.g., 80%) is 4.07V. However, as previously mentioned, the target voltage data may be voltage data from the start of charging to the end of charging. For example, in the case of the first target battery, voltage data corresponding to each SOC from voltage data corresponding to the SOC at the start of charging (e.g., 5%) (e.g., 3.38V) to voltage data corresponding to the SOC at the end of charging (e.g., 95%) (e.g., 4.18V) may be included in the target voltage data.

[0071] According to an embodiment, one or more processors (120) can output battery manufacturer estimation information based on specific target voltage data corresponding to a specific SOC within a threshold SOC (State of Charge) interval among target voltage data. For example, if the threshold SOC interval is a interval of 50% to 90% SOC, one or more processors (120) can output battery manufacturer estimation information based on specific target voltage data corresponding to 75% SOC among target voltage data corresponding to 30%, 45%, and 75% SOC, respectively.

[0072] According to an embodiment, one or more processors (120) can output battery manufacturer estimation information based on specific target voltage data that satisfies a threshold charge amount condition among target voltage data. For example, if the threshold charge amount condition is set such that the SOC at the end of charging is 10% or more greater than the SOC at the start of charging, one or more processors (120) can output battery manufacturer estimation information based on specific target voltage data corresponding to 20% of the charge amount among target voltage data corresponding to 5%, 9%, and 20% of the charge amount, respectively.

[0073] For reference, the critical SOC range may be set based on the vehicle model, battery type, battery capacity, and / or charging method. For example, at least some of the SOC ranges in which the battery voltage difference between manufacturers is 40mV or more during slow charging and the battery voltage difference between manufacturers at the end of charging is 20mV or more may be set as the critical SOC range.

[0074] Referring again to Figure 3, it can be seen that the voltage difference between battery manufacturers in the range where the SOC is 50% or higher is relatively larger than the voltage difference between battery manufacturers in the range where the SOC is less than 50%. Therefore, if the SOC range where the voltage difference is relatively large is set as the critical SOC range, the accuracy of distinguishing battery manufacturers can be increased.

[0075] According to an embodiment, one or more processors (120) may output battery manufacturer estimation information based on the result of comparing at least a portion of the target voltage data with at least a portion of the first reference voltage data to the m-th reference voltage data corresponding to each of the first battery manufacturer to the m-th battery manufacturer. For example, one or more processors (120) may output battery manufacturer estimation information based on the result of comparing specific target voltage data (e.g., target voltage data where the SOC at the end of charging is 80%) corresponding to a specific SOC within a threshold SOC interval (e.g., SOC 55% to 85% interval) among the target voltage data with at least a portion of the first reference voltage data to the fourth reference voltage data corresponding to each of the first battery manufacturer to the fourth battery manufacturer. As another example, one or more processors (120) may output battery manufacturer estimation information based on the result of comparing specific target voltage data (e.g., target voltage data where the SOC at the end of charging is 20% greater than the SOC at the start of charging) that satisfies a threshold charge amount condition (e.g., when the SOC at the end of charging is 15% or more greater than the SOC at the start of charging) among the target voltage data with at least some of the first reference voltage data to third reference voltage data corresponding to each of the first battery manufacturer to third battery manufacturer. As yet another example, one or more processors (120) may output battery manufacturer estimation information based on the result of comparing specific target voltage data that satisfies a threshold charge amount condition among the target voltage data where the SOC at the end of charging is within the threshold SOC range and satisfies the threshold charge amount condition with at least some of the first reference voltage data to fifth reference voltage data corresponding to each of the first battery manufacturer to fifth battery manufacturer.

[0076] According to an embodiment, the first reference voltage data to the m-th reference voltage data may be voltage data for the first to m-th batteries mounted on the first to m-th reference mobile bodies of the same type as the target mobile body equipped with the battery. For example, the first reference voltage data to the m-th reference voltage data may be voltage data that has been measured and acquired in advance for the first to m-th batteries mounted on each of the first to m-th vehicles of the same vehicle type as the target vehicle equipped with the target battery for which the battery manufacturer is to be estimated.

[0077] For reference, the target battery and the first to m batteries may have the same or similar design capacity, and the battery manufacturers of each of the first to m batteries may be different. For example, each of the first reference voltage data to the m reference voltage data may correspond to each of the first battery manufacturer to the m battery manufacturer.

[0078] According to an embodiment, one or more processors (120) can compare at least a portion of target voltage data with at least a portion of first reference voltage data to m reference voltage data based on a kNN (k-Nearest Neighbor) algorithm, and can output battery manufacturer estimation information based on the comparison result. For example, if the specific target voltage data at a specific SOC (e.g., 80%) located within the threshold SOC range (e.g., 50% to 95%) among the target voltage data is 4.09V, and among the nine reference voltage data located within a reference distance from the specific target voltage data, there are two first reference voltage data (e.g., (i) a first reference voltage data at 80% SOC that is 4.08V and (ii) a first reference voltage data at 79% SOC that is 4.07V), and one second reference voltage data (e.g., a second reference voltage data at 80% SOC that is 4.01V), then one or more processors (120) can output the first battery manufacturer as battery manufacturer estimation information. For reference, the reference distance may be one of various distance measurement methods such as Euclidean distance or Manhattan distance. For reference, the kNN algorithm is merely an example to aid understanding and is not limited to the example above.

[0079] FIG. 4 is a drawing showing battery manufacturer estimation information according to an embodiment disclosed in this document. For reference, reference numeral 31 represents first reference voltage data, and reference numeral 33 represents second reference voltage data. That is, reference numerals 31 and 33 correspond to reference voltage data obtained in advance for the first battery of the first battery manufacturer and the second battery of the second battery manufacturer, which are installed in each of the first and second vehicles of the same vehicle model as the target vehicle of which the target battery for which the battery manufacturer is to be estimated is installed. At this time, the first reference voltage data may include label information for the first battery manufacturer, and the second reference voltage data may include label information for the second battery manufacturer. Additionally, reference numeral 32 represents battery manufacturer estimation information corresponding to the first target voltage data, and reference numeral 34 represents battery manufacturer estimation information corresponding to the second target voltage data. That is, reference numeral 32 represents the result of estimating the battery manufacturer for the voltage data of the target battery of the first battery manufacturer installed in the target vehicle (i.e., the first target voltage data), and reference numeral 34 represents the result of estimating the battery manufacturer for the voltage data of the target battery of the second battery manufacturer installed in the target vehicle (i.e., the second target voltage data).

[0080] Referring to FIG. 4, for the first target voltage data, a rectangle representing the first battery manufacturer is displayed for voltage data within the critical SOC range (e.g., SOC 50% to 95%), so it can be confirmed that the first battery manufacturer is accurately output as battery manufacturer estimation information (32). Similarly, for the second target voltage data, a triangle representing the second battery manufacturer is displayed for voltage data within the critical SOC range, so it can be confirmed that the second battery manufacturer is accurately output as battery manufacturer estimation information (34).

[0081] According to an embodiment, one or more processors (120) can output battery manufacturer estimation information based on the result of comparing at least a portion of specific first reference voltage data to specific m-th reference voltage data corresponding to specific charging cycle information of target voltage data among first reference voltage data to m-th reference voltage data and at least a portion of target voltage data. For example, with reference voltage data from the 1_1 to the m_1 reference voltage data corresponding to the 1st charging cycle, reference voltage data from the 1_2 to the m_2 reference voltage data corresponding to the 2nd charging cycle, ..., reference voltage data from the 1_k to the m_k reference voltage data corresponding to the kth charging cycle stored in memory or a database, one or more processors (120) may specify reference voltage data from the 1_100 to the m_100 reference voltage data among the total reference voltage data by referring to specific charging cycle information of the target voltage data (e.g., the 100th charging cycle), and output battery manufacturer estimation information based on the result of comparing at least some of the reference voltage data from the 1_100 to the m_100 reference voltage data with at least some of the target voltage data.

[0082] According to an embodiment, one or more processors (120) can increase the estimation accuracy by outputting final battery manufacturer estimation information based on battery manufacturer estimation information corresponding to each of a plurality of charging end times.

[0083] For example, one or more processors (120) may output first battery manufacturer candidate information to n-th battery manufacturer candidate information based on each of the first target voltage data to n-th target voltage data corresponding to each of the first to n-th charging end times, and may output battery manufacturer estimation information based on the first to n-th battery manufacturer candidate information. For example, one or more processors (120) may output first battery manufacturer candidate information based on the first target voltage data corresponding to the first charging end time, output second battery manufacturer candidate information based on the second target voltage data corresponding to the second charging end time, and output battery manufacturer estimation information based on the first battery manufacturer candidate information and the second battery manufacturer candidate information.

[0084] According to an embodiment, one or more processors (120) can diagnose the state of a battery based on battery manufacturer estimation information. For example, one or more processors (120) can diagnose the SOH of a battery based on battery manufacturer estimation information. For instance, if a first battery manufacturer is estimated as the battery manufacturer of a target battery, one or more processors (120) can obtain first OCV table information corresponding to the first battery manufacturer based on the battery manufacturer estimation information and diagnose the SOH of the target battery based on the first OCV table information.

[0085] FIGS. 5a and 5b are drawings showing a comparison of battery status diagnostic information according to the prior art and battery status diagnostic information (SOHc; Capacity SOH) according to one embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0086] First, referring to FIG. 5a, it can be seen that, according to the prior art, when the battery condition is diagnosed regardless of the battery manufacturer, there is no tendency for SOHc (41) to decrease even as the driving distance increases.

[0087] On the other hand, referring to FIG. 5b, when estimating the battery manufacturer according to one embodiment disclosed in this document and diagnosing the battery condition based on the estimation result, it can be seen that a clear tendency for SOHc (42) to decrease as the driving distance increases is observed.

[0088] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of a device according to one embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0089] Referring to FIG. 6, the device (100) can acquire target voltage data for a battery (405) and output battery manufacturer estimation information corresponding to the battery based on at least some of the target voltage data (410).

[0090] In operation 410, the device (100) may output battery manufacturer estimation information based on the result of comparing at least a portion of the target voltage data with at least a portion of the first reference voltage data to the m-th reference voltage data corresponding to each of the first battery manufacturer to the m-th battery manufacturer. According to an embodiment, the device (100) may output battery manufacturer estimation information based on the result of comparing at least a portion of the target voltage data with at least a portion of the specific first reference voltage data to the specific m-th reference voltage data corresponding to the specific charge cycle information of the target voltage data among the first reference voltage data to the m-th reference voltage data. According to an embodiment, the device (100) may output battery manufacturer estimation information based on specific target voltage data corresponding to a specific SOC within a threshold SOC (State of Charge) interval among the target voltage data. According to an embodiment, the device (100) may output battery manufacturer estimation information based on specific target voltage data satisfying a threshold charge amount condition among the target voltage data. According to an embodiment, the device (100) outputs first battery manufacturer candidate information to n-th battery manufacturer candidate information based on each of the first target voltage data to n-th target voltage data corresponding to each of the first charging end time to n-th charging end time, and outputs battery manufacturer estimation information based on the first battery manufacturer candidate information to n-th battery manufacturer candidate information.

[0091] After operation 410, the device (100) can diagnose the state of the battery based on information estimated by the battery manufacturer. According to an embodiment, the device (100) can diagnose the State of Health (SOH) of the battery based on information estimated by the battery manufacturer.

[0092] FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a computing system for performing a method of operation of a device according to one embodiment disclosed in this document.

[0093] Referring to FIG. 7, a computing system (200) according to one embodiment disclosed in this document may include an MCU (210), memory (220), an input / output I / F (230), and a communication I / F (240).

[0094] The MCU (210) may be a processor that executes various programs stored in memory (220) (e.g., battery data collection program, graph generation program, data analysis program, data decomposition algorithm, normalization program, battery cell diagnosis program, etc.), processes various information including characteristic data of the battery cell, potential variables, etc. through these programs, and performs the functions of the device (100) shown in FIGS. 1 to 6.

[0095] The memory (220) can store various programs such as a battery data collection program, a graph generation program, a data analysis program, a data decomposition algorithm, a normalization program, and a battery cell diagnosis program.

[0096] These memories (220) may be provided in multiple quantities as needed. The memories (220) may be volatile memories or non-volatile memories. As volatile memories, the memory (220) may use RAM, DRAM, SRAM, etc. As non-volatile memories, the memory (220) may use ROM, PROM, EAROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, etc. The examples of the memories (220) listed above are merely examples and are not limited to these examples.

[0097] The input / output I / F (230) can provide an interface that enables data transmission and reception between an input device (not shown), such as a keyboard, mouse, or touch panel, and an output device (not shown), such as a display, and the MCU (210).

[0098] The communication I / F (240) is configured to transmit and receive various data with a server and may be various devices capable of supporting wired or wireless communication. For example, the device (100) can transmit and receive various information, including battery status data, from a separately provided external server through the communication I / F (240).

[0099] In this way, a computer program according to one embodiment disclosed in this document may be implemented as a module that performs, for example, the functions illustrated in FIG. 2, by being written to memory (220) and processed by an MCU (210).

[0100] In the foregoing, although all components constituting the embodiments disclosed in this document have been described as being combined or operating in combination, the embodiments disclosed in this document are not necessarily limited to such embodiments. That is, within the scope of the purposes of the embodiments disclosed in this document, all components may be selectively combined in one or more ways to operate.

[0101] Furthermore, terms such as "include," "compose," or "have" as described above, unless specifically stated otherwise, mean that the relevant component may be inherent; thus, they should be interpreted as allowing for the inclusion of additional components rather than excluding them. All terms, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as generally understood by those skilled in the art to which the embodiments disclosed in this document pertain, unless otherwise defined. Commonly used terms, such as those defined in advance, should be interpreted in accordance with their meaning in the context of the relevant technology and, unless explicitly defined in this document, should not be interpreted in an ideal or overly formal sense.

[0102] The foregoing disclosure outlines the features of several embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to better understand aspects of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will understand that the present disclosure can be readily used as a basis for designing or modifying other structures to perform the same purpose or achieve the same advantages as the embodiments introduced herein. Furthermore, those skilled in the art will recognize that such equivalent configurations do not depart from the scope of the present disclosure and that various changes, substitutions, and modifications may be made in the present disclosure without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0103] [Explanation of the symbol]

[0104] 1: Battery pack

[0105] 2: Higher-level controller

[0106] 10: Battery unit

[0107] 12: Upper battery unit

[0108] 14: Sensor section

[0109] 16: Switching section

[0110] 20: BMS

[0111] 100: Device

[0112] 110: Interface

[0113] 120: One or more processors

[0114] 200: Computing System

[0115] 210: MCU

[0116] 220: Memory

[0117] 230: Input / Output I / F

[0118] 240: Communication I / F

Claims

1. An interface for acquiring target voltage data for a battery; and A device comprising one or more processors that output battery manufacturer estimation information corresponding to the battery based on at least some of the above target voltage data.

2. In Claim 1, The above one or more processors, A device that outputs battery manufacturer estimation information based on the result of comparing at least a portion of the above target voltage data with at least a portion of the first reference voltage data to the m-th reference voltage data corresponding to each of the first battery manufacturer to the m-th battery manufacturer.

3. In Claim 2, The above one or more processors, A device that outputs battery manufacturer estimation information based on the result of comparing at least a portion of specific first reference voltage data to specific m-th reference voltage data corresponding to specific charging cycle information of the target voltage data among the first reference voltage data to m-th reference voltage data.

4. In Claim 2, A device wherein the first reference voltage data to the m-th reference voltage data are voltage data for the first battery to the m-th battery mounted on the first reference mobile body to the m-th reference mobile body of the same type as the target mobile body equipped with the battery.

5. In Claim 1, The above one or more processors, A device that outputs battery manufacturer estimation information based on specific target voltage data corresponding to a specific SOC within a threshold SOC (State of Charge) interval among the above target voltage data.

6. In Claim 1, The above one or more processors, A device that outputs battery manufacturer estimation information based on specific target voltage data satisfying a threshold charge amount condition among the above target voltage data.

7. In Claim 1, The above one or more processors, A device for diagnosing the condition of the battery based on the battery manufacturer's estimated information.

8. In Claim 7, The above one or more processors, A device for diagnosing the State of Health (SOH) of the battery based on the battery manufacturer's estimated information.

9. In Claim 1, The above one or more processors, A device that outputs first battery manufacturer candidate information to n-th battery manufacturer candidate information based on each of first target voltage data to n-th target voltage data corresponding to each of first to n-th charging end times, and outputs battery manufacturer estimation information based on said first battery manufacturer candidate information to said n-th battery manufacturer candidate information.

10. An operation to acquire target voltage data for the battery; and A method comprising the operation of outputting battery manufacturer estimation information corresponding to the battery based on at least a portion of the above target voltage data.

11. In Claim 10, The operation of outputting the above-mentioned battery manufacturer estimated information is, A method comprising the operation of outputting battery manufacturer estimation information based on the result of comparing at least a portion of the above target voltage data with at least a portion of the first reference voltage data to the m-th reference voltage data corresponding to each of the first battery manufacturer to the m-th battery manufacturer.

12. In Claim 11, The operation of outputting the above-mentioned battery manufacturer estimated information is, A method comprising the operation of outputting battery manufacturer estimation information based on the result of comparing at least a portion of specific first reference voltage data to specific m-th reference voltage data corresponding to specific charging cycle information of the target voltage data among the first reference voltage data to m-th reference voltage data and at least a portion of the target voltage data.

13. In claim 10, The operation of outputting the above-mentioned battery manufacturer estimated information is, A method comprising the operation of outputting battery manufacturer estimation information based on specific target voltage data corresponding to a specific SOC within a threshold SOC (State of Charge) interval among the above target voltage data.

14. In Claim 10, The operation of outputting the above-mentioned battery manufacturer estimated information is, A method comprising the operation of outputting battery manufacturer estimation information based on specific target voltage data satisfying a threshold charge amount condition among the above target voltage data.

15. In Claim 10, After the operation of outputting the above-mentioned battery manufacturer estimated information, A method further comprising diagnosing the state of the battery based on the battery manufacturer's estimated information.

16. In Claim 15, The operation of diagnosing the condition of the above battery is, A method comprising diagnosing the State of Health (SOH) of the battery based on the battery manufacturer's estimated information.

17. In Claim 10, The operation of outputting the above-mentioned battery manufacturer estimated information is, A method comprising the operation of outputting first battery manufacturer candidate information to n-th battery manufacturer candidate information based on each of first target voltage data to n-th target voltage data corresponding to each of first to n-th charging end time points, and outputting battery manufacturer estimation information based on said first battery manufacturer candidate information to said n-th battery manufacturer candidate information.

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