Battery management system and communication protocol changing method therefor

Abstract

This battery management system for monitoring a battery module stores a metadata list including first metadata of at least one first communication protocol. The battery management system transmits a request to a higher device if a start sequence received from the higher device does not match a start sequence of the first metadata included in the metadata list, receives second metadata of a second communication protocol from the higher device in response to the request, and communicates with the higher device on the basis of the second metadata.

Description

Method for changing the battery management system and its communication protocol

[0001] Cross-citation with related applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit of priority based on Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0131320 dated September 27, 2024, and all contents disclosed in the document of said Korean Patent Application are incorporated herein as part of this specification.

[0003] The disclosure relates to a battery management system and a method for changing the communication protocol thereof.

[0004] Electric or hybrid vehicles are automobiles that generate power by driving a motor primarily using a battery as a power source, and research is actively underway as they serve as an alternative to solve the pollution and energy problems associated with internal combustion engine vehicles. In addition, rechargeable batteries are being used in various external devices in addition to electric vehicles.

[0005] When a battery is connected to an external device, the battery's battery management system can communicate with the upper-level device. The upper-level device may be, for example, an inverter or rectifier included in the external device (e.g., a vehicle). Since there are many types of upper-level devices and each uses different protocols, software changes or updates are required to modify the communication protocol whenever the upper-level device the battery management system communicates with changes. However, software changes are time-consuming, and costs may be incurred due to the development and certification of the modified software.

[0006] Meanwhile, although a communication protocol converter can be added to the battery management system, the same problem may arise where software changes or updates are required to modify the communication protocol of the converter when the communication protocol is changed.

[0007] Some embodiments may provide a battery management system capable of efficiently changing a communication protocol and a method for changing the communication protocol.

[0008] According to some embodiments, a battery management system for monitoring a battery module may include a communication circuit used for communication with an upper device, a storage device for storing a metadata list including first metadata of at least one first communication protocol, and a processor that, when a start sequence received from the upper device does not match the start sequence of the first metadata included in the metadata list, transmits a request to the upper device, receives second metadata of a second communication protocol from the upper device in response to the request, and performs communication with the upper device based on the second metadata.

[0009] According to some embodiments, a battery device including the battery management system described above and the battery module may be provided.

[0010] According to some embodiments, a method for changing a communication protocol of a battery management system monitoring a battery module may be provided. The method for changing a communication protocol may include: receiving a start sequence from an upper device; determining whether the start sequence received from the upper device matches a start sequence of first metadata stored by the battery management system; if the received start sequence does not match a start sequence of the first metadata, transmitting a request to the upper device; receiving second metadata of a second communication protocol from the upper device in response to the request; and performing communication with the upper device based on the second metadata.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a battery device according to some embodiment.

[0012] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a battery management system according to a certain embodiment.

[0013] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a change in a communication protocol according to a certain embodiment.

[0014] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for changing a communication protocol according to a certain embodiment.

[0015] FIGS. 5 and FIGS. 6 are drawings illustrating examples of metadata of a communication protocol according to a certain embodiment, respectively.

[0016] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a data map of a battery management system according to some embodiment.

[0017] Embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the attached drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily implement them. However, the present invention may be embodied in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. Furthermore, in order to clearly explain the present invention in the drawings, parts unrelated to the explanation have been omitted, and similar parts throughout the specification are denoted by similar reference numerals.

[0018] When it is stated that a component is "connected" to another component, it should be understood that it may be directly connected to that other component, or that there may be other components in between. On the other hand, when it is stated that a component is "directly connected" to another component, it should be understood that there are no other components in between.

[0019] Expressions written in the singular in the description below may be interpreted as singular or plural unless explicit expressions such as "one" or "singular" are used.

[0020] In the flowchart described with reference to the drawings, the order of operations may be changed, multiple operations may be merged or some operations may be divided, and specific operations may not be performed.

[0021] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a battery device according to some embodiment.

[0022] Referring to FIG. 1, the battery device (100) may include a battery module (110) and a battery management system (120). In some embodiments, the battery device (100) may be provided in the form of a battery pack.

[0023] The battery device (100) can be connected to an external device (10). When the external device (10) is a load, the battery device (100) can be discharged by operating as a power source that supplies power to the load. The external device operating as a load may be, for example, a means of transportation, an energy storage system (ESS), or an electronic device, and the means of transportation may be, for example, a vehicle such as an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, or smart mobility.

[0024] A battery module (110) may include a plurality of battery cells. The plurality of battery cells may be connected in series, for example. In some embodiments, a battery device (100) may include a plurality of battery modules (110). The plurality of battery modules (110) may be connected in series or in parallel.

[0025] A battery management system (120) is connected to a battery module (110) and can monitor or manage the battery module (110). In some embodiments, the battery management system (120) can monitor the state of a battery cell included in the battery module (110) (e.g., cell voltage and / or charge state) and / or the state of the battery module (110) (e.g., voltage, temperature and / or current of the battery module (110)) and transmit the monitored data to a device (11) of an external device (10). The device (11) can be a higher-level device of the battery management system (120) in terms of communication. In some embodiments, the battery management system (120) can receive a control signal from the higher-level device (11) and control the battery module (110) in response to the control signal.

[0026] The battery management system (120) can communicate with the upper device (11) according to a communication protocol. When the communication protocol is changed at the upper device (11), the battery management system (120) receives metadata of the changed communication protocol from the upper device (11), generates a communication map based on the metadata of the changed communication protocol, and can perform communication based on the communication map.

[0027] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a battery management system according to a certain embodiment.

[0028] Referring to FIG. 2, the battery management system (200) may include a communication circuit (210), a protocol generation unit (220), a network module (230), and a storage device (240).

[0029] The communication circuit (210) can transmit data to the upper device (20) or receive data from the upper device (20). In some embodiments, the communication circuit (210) may be a transceiver, and the transceiver may provide the physical layer of the communication.

[0030] The protocol generation unit (220) can generate a communication map of the communication protocol based on the metadata of the communication protocol. In some embodiments, the protocol generation unit (220) can generate a communication map of the communication protocol based on the metadata of the communication protocol and the data map of the battery management system (200). The protocol generation unit (220) can verify changes in the communication protocol by comparing the start sequence of the stored metadata with the start sequence received from the upper device (20). The protocol generation unit (220) can perform communication based on the generated communication map by registering the generated communication map to the network module (230). The protocol generation unit (220) can generate data (or data frames) to be transmitted by converting data generated by the battery management system (200) into a format defined in the communication map.

[0031] In some embodiments, the protocol generation unit (220) and the network module (230) may be implemented as a processor. The processor may be a processing circuitry, for example, a microcontroller unit (MCU).

[0032] The storage device (240) can store metadata of the communication protocol. The storage device (240) can store a data map used by the battery management system (200). In some embodiments, the storage device (240) may be volatile memory or non-volatile memory.

[0033] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a change in a communication protocol according to a certain embodiment, FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for changing a communication protocol according to a certain embodiment, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are diagrams showing examples of metadata of a communication protocol according to a certain embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a data map of a battery management system according to a certain embodiment.

[0034] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, when the power of the battery management system is turned on, the battery management system (e.g., protocol generation unit (e.g., 220 in FIG. 2)) can check a metadata list (310) stored in the battery management system (e.g., storage device of the battery management system (e.g., 230 in FIG. 2)) (S410). The metadata list (310) may be a list of metadata of communication protocols stored in the storage device (240). In some embodiments, the metadata may include basic information for generating communication protocols, for example, a communication method, a start sequence, and a definition of data used for communication. The start sequence may be a sequence defined to distinguish communication protocols.

[0035] For example, it is assumed that the metadata list (310) includes metadata for communication protocol A and metadata for communication protocol B. For example, communication protocol A may be a CAN (controller area protocol), and communication protocol B may be an RS485-based Modbus RTU (remote terminal unit) protocol. In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 5, for example, the metadata for communication protocol A may include definitions for the communication method (CAN), the start sequence, and each data type used by the battery management system. The data type is a type of data generated by the battery management system while monitoring the battery module, and may include, for example, cell voltage, current, temperature, and / or power. In the metadata for communication protocol A, the start sequence is defined in the form of a sequence of values ​​used for communication of communication protocol A (e.g., CAN identifier (CAN ID)) and data values, and the definition for the data type may include information on the transmission format of the corresponding data type and a data ID (dataId). Information regarding the transmission format may include, for example, the CAN ID (canId) of the CAN frame used to transmit data of the corresponding data type, a start bit (startBit) indicating the bit at which the corresponding data starts in the CAN frame, a data size (size) indicating the size of the corresponding data, and a scale of the corresponding data. As another example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the metadata of communication protocol B may include a communication mode (MODBUS), a start sequence, and definitions for each data type used by the battery management system.In the metadata of communication protocol B, the start sequence is defined in the form of a sequence of values ​​(e.g., addresses) and data values ​​used for communication of communication protocol B, for example, and the definition of the data type may include information about the transmission format of the data type and a data ID (dataId). The information about the transmission format may include, for example, an address used to transmit data of the data type, a data size indicating the size of the data, and a scale of the data.

[0036] The protocol generation unit (220) can identify a start sequence among the contents stored in each metadata of the metadata list (310) (S420). The battery management system (e.g., communication circuit (e.g., 210 in FIG. 2)) can receive a start sequence from the upper device (S430). The protocol generation unit (220) can determine whether the start sequence received from the upper device matches the metadata (i.e., the start sequence of the metadata) (S440). If the start sequence received from the upper device matches the metadata (S440: yes), the protocol generation unit (220) can generate a communication map (330) based on the matched metadata and the data map (320) stored in the battery management system (e.g., storage device (240)) (S450). The battery management system can perform communication with the upper device based on the communication map (330) (S460). The communication map (330) may be a map that defines how data will be transmitted. In some embodiments, the protocol generation unit (220) can register the generated communication map (330) with the network module (340) and perform communication through the communication circuit (350).

[0037] For example, when the battery management system receives a start sequence consisting of a CAN ID of 0x100 and data values ​​of [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] from an upper device, since the received start sequence matches the start sequence of the metadata of communication protocol A, the protocol generation unit (220) can generate a communication map (330) for communication protocol A based on the metadata of communication protocol A. In some embodiments, the protocol generation unit (220) can generate a communication map (330) for communication protocol A by concatenating the metadata of protocol A with a data map (320) stored in the battery management system (e.g., storage device (240)). The data map (320) may include a mapping between each data variable (i.e., data type) used in the battery management system and a corresponding data ID. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the data map may include a mapping between cell voltage and data ID 1, a mapping between current and data ID 2, a mapping between temperature and data ID 3, and a mapping between power and data ID 4. The protocol generation unit (220) can generate a communication map (330) by connecting the metadata of communication protocol A and the data map (320) based on the data ID. Thus, referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 7, since the cell voltage is connected to the metadata with DATA ID 1, the protocol generation unit (220) can transmit the cell voltage through the first and second bytes (data[0, 1]) of a CAN frame having a CAN ID of 0x100. Since the current is connected to metadata with a DATA ID of 2, the protocol generation unit (220) can transmit the current through the third to sixth bytes (data[2, 3, 4, 5]) of a CAN frame having a CAN ID of 0x100.Since the temperature is connected to the metadata with a DATA ID of 3, the protocol generator (220) can transmit the temperature through the seventh and eighth bytes (data[6, 7]) of a CAN frame having a CAN ID of 0x100. Since the power is connected to the metadata with a DATA ID of 4, the protocol generator (220) can transmit the power through the first to fourth bytes (data[0, 1, 2, 3]) of the next CAN frame having a CAN ID of 0x101.

[0038] If the start sequence received from the upper device matches the start sequence of the metadata of communication protocol B, referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, since the cell voltage is connected to the metadata with a DATA ID of 1, the protocol generator (220) can transmit the cell voltage via 2 bytes at the address 40001. Since the current is connected to the metadata with a DATA ID of 2, the protocol generator (220) can transmit the current via 4 bytes at the address 40002. Since the temperature is connected to the metadata with a DATA ID of 3, the protocol generator (220) can transmit the temperature via 2 bytes at the address 40004. Since the power is connected to the metadata with a DATA ID of 4, the protocol generator (220) can transmit the power via 4 bytes at the address 40005.

[0039] Meanwhile, if metadata matching the start sequence received from the upper device does not exist in the metadata list (S440: No), the protocol generation unit (220) may request metadata of the latest communication protocol from the upper device (S470). That is, if the upper device changes the communication protocol, the battery management system may request metadata of the changed communication protocol. For example, when the battery management system receives a start sequence consisting of a CAN ID of 0x100 and data values ​​of 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 from the upper device, since metadata matching the received start sequence is not stored, the protocol generation unit (220) may request metadata of the latest communication protocol from the upper device.

[0040] In some embodiments, the upper device may generate metadata (380) of the latest communication protocol based on the data ID of the communication protocol (i.e., the latest communication protocol) (360) and the data map (370) of the battery management system. The upper device transmits the metadata (380) of the latest communication protocol (360) to the battery management system, and the battery management system (e.g., protocol generation unit (220)) may update the metadata list by storing the received metadata in the battery management system (e.g., storage device (240)) (S480). As a result of updating the metadata list, there is metadata that matches the start sequence received from the upper device (S410-S440), so the battery management system may perform communication based on the communication map generated based on the metadata of the latest communication protocol (S450, S460).

[0041] In some embodiments, the processor can perform the communication protocol change method described with reference to FIG. 4 by executing an instruction.

[0042] In this way, in some embodiments, if the start sequence received from the upper device does not match the start sequence of the first metadata included in the metadata list stored in the battery management system, the processor transmits a request to the upper device (i.e., a request for metadata of the latest communication protocol), receives second metadata of the second communication protocol (i.e., the latest communication protocol) from the upper device in response to the request, and can perform communication with the upper device based on the second metadata.

[0043] As described above, according to some embodiments, even if the communication protocol is changed in the upper device, the battery management system can perform communication according to the changed communication protocol by receiving and storing metadata of the changed communication protocol from the upper device. Therefore, since there is no need to change (or update) the software due to the change in the communication protocol, the time and cost associated with software changes can be reduced.

[0044] Although embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and improvements by those skilled in the art using the basic concept of the present invention as defined in the following claims also fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. As a battery management system that monitors battery modules, Communication circuit used for communication with a higher-level device, A storage device for storing a metadata list including first metadata of at least one first communication protocol, and A processor that, if the start sequence received from the upper device does not match the start sequence of the first metadata included in the metadata list, transmits a request to the upper device, receives second metadata of a second communication protocol from the upper device in response to the request, and performs communication with the upper device based on the second metadata. A battery management system including 2. In Paragraph 1, A battery management system in which the processor includes the second metadata in the metadata list.

3. In Paragraph 1, The above storage device stores a data map including a mapping between a data type used by the battery management system and a first data identifier, and If the start sequence received from the upper device matches the start sequence of the second metadata, the processor generates a communication map based on the second metadata and the data map, and performs communication with the upper device based on the communication map. Battery management system.

4. In Paragraph 3, The above data type is a battery management system, wherein the above data type is a type of data generated by the battery management system monitoring the battery module.

5. In Paragraph 3, The second metadata includes a start sequence of the second communication protocol and a definition of the data type used by the battery management system, and The definition of the above data type includes information regarding the transmission format of the above data type and a second data identifier, The processor generates the communication map by connecting the second metadata and the data map based on the first data identifier and the second data identifier. Battery management system.

6. In Paragraph 3, A battery management system in which the start sequence of the second communication protocol is a sequence defined to distinguish the second communication protocol.

7. In Paragraph 3, A battery management system in which the start sequence of the second communication protocol is a sequence consisting of values ​​and data values ​​used for communication of the second communication protocol.

8. In Paragraph 1, A battery management system in which, when a start sequence received from the above-mentioned upper device matches a start sequence of the above-mentioned first metadata, the processor communicates with the above-mentioned upper device based on the above-mentioned first metadata.

9. A battery management system pursuant to Paragraph 1, and The above battery module A battery device including 10. A method for changing the communication protocol of a battery management system that monitors a battery module, Step of receiving a start sequence from an upper device, A step of determining whether the start sequence received from the upper device matches the start sequence of the first metadata stored by the battery management system, If the received start sequence does not match the start sequence of the first metadata, the step of transmitting a request to the upper device, The step of receiving second metadata of a second communication protocol from the upper device in response to the above request, and A step of communicating with the upper device based on the second metadata above. A method for changing a communication protocol including 11. In Paragraph 10, A method for changing a communication protocol, comprising the steps of receiving the second metadata and storing the second metadata in the battery management system.

12. In Paragraph 10, The step of communicating with the above-mentioned upper device is, If the received start sequence matches the start sequence of the second metadata, the step of generating a communication map based on the second metadata and a data map stored in the battery management system, and It includes the step of communicating with the upper device based on the communication map above, The above data map includes a mapping between a data type used in the battery management system and a first data identifier. Method for changing communication protocols.

13. In Paragraph 12, A method for changing a communication protocol, wherein the above data type is a type of data generated by the battery management system monitoring the battery module.

14. In Paragraph 12, The second metadata includes a start sequence of the second communication protocol and a definition of the data type used by the battery management system, and The definition of the above data type includes information regarding the transmission format of the above data type and a second data identifier, The step of generating the communication map includes the step of generating the communication map by connecting the second metadata and the data map based on the first data identifier and the second data identifier. Method for changing communication protocols.

15. In Paragraph 12, A method for changing communication protocols, wherein the start sequence of the second communication protocol is a sequence defined to distinguish the second communication protocol.

16. In Paragraph 12, A method for changing a communication protocol, wherein the start sequence of the second communication protocol is a sequence consisting of a value and a data value used for communication of the second communication protocol.

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