Security monitoring of v2g charging

Abstract

An apparatus may be configured to monitoring CSMS power settings in a plurality of charging stations. The apparatus may track power transfer data reported to the CSMS. The system may detect when a station's power transfer exceeds or falls below its set. The apparatus may execute actions to protect the grid or system from a detected threat.

Description

SECURITY MONITORING OF V2G CHARGINGTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Various example embodiments generally relate to the field of electric vehicle charging stations. Some example embodiments relate to monitoring security of electric vehicle charging stations and associated electric systems.BACKGROUND

[0002] Electric vehicles (EV) are rising in popularity and with that the need for charging stations. Further, introduction of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging stations enables that the charging stations can both draw energy from the electric grid as well as supply energy back to the electric grid. However, the ability of V2G charging stations to perform charging and discharging of electric vehicles brings both benefits and challenges for the associated electric systems.SUMMARY

[0003] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0004] Example embodiments of the present disclosure enable security monitoring of charging stations. An example embodiment may enable addressing possible security vulnerabilities and upholding the security of charging stations. This and other benefits may be achieved by the features of the independent claims. Further example embodiments are provided in the dependent claims, the description, and the drawings.

[0005] According to a first aspect, an apparatus for a charging station management system, CSMS, is disclosed. The apparatus may comprise: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: monitor power settings sent by the CSMS to a plurality of charging stations, the plurality of charging stations comprising oneor more bidirectional charging stations and the power settings indicating power limits set for the plurality of charging stations; monitor actual power transfer of each of the plurality of charging stations based on meter data sent by the respective charging stations to the CSMS; detect when the actual power transfer of one or more charging stations is at least one of above an upper power limit or below a lower power limit of the respective charging station; determine, based on the detection, a power difference of the one or more charging stations based on the actual power transfer and at least one of the upper power limit or the lower power limit of the respective charging stations; detect, based on the power difference of the one or more charging stations, that there is a security issue related to at least one of electrical grid or an electrical system coupled with the one or more charging stations; and perform one or more automatic actions to protect the at least one of electrical grid or the electrical system, based on the detected security issue.

[0006] According to an example embodiment of the first aspect, the one or more automatic actions comprise at least one of transmission of a notification to a user or a shutdown of the one or more charging stations.

[0007] According to an example embodiment of the first aspect, the apparatus is caused to: estimate an urgency of the detected security issue based on a comparison of the determined power differences to one or more predetermined thresholds; and select the automatic action to be performed based on the estimated urgency.

[0008] According to an example embodiment of the first aspect, the power settings comprise at least one of an indication if the charging station is set to charge an electric vehicle, an indication if the charging station is set to discharge an electric vehicle, a power limit for charging the electric vehicle or a power limit for discharging the electric vehicle.

[0009] According to an example embodiment of the first aspect, the apparatus is further caused to: determine one or more charging station groups based on different criteria; determine a total power difference of a charging station group based on combined power differences of the one or more charging stations belonging to the charging station group; determine if the total power difference is above the one or more predetermined thresholds; and based on the determination, select theautomatic action to be performed according to the exceeded predetermined threshold of the total power difference.

[0010] According to an example embodiment of the first aspect, the apparatus is caused to: select at least the charging stations of the charging station group with the power difference to a list of charging stations to be shutdown; transmit, to the charging stations on the list, a command to stop ongoing transaction; and disable new transactions for the charging stations on the list; and reboot the charging stations on the list.

[0011] According to an example embodiment of the first aspect, the criteria comprises at least one of a bidirectional charging type of the charging stations or location information of the charging stations.

[0012] According to an example embodiment of the first aspect, at least one of the charging station groups, the automatic actions or the predetermined thresholds are configurable by a user.

[0013] According to an example embodiment of the first aspect, the automatic actions and the predetermined thresholds are configurable per charging station group.

[0014] According to an example embodiment of the first aspect, at least one of the power difference per charging station or the total power difference per charging station group is calculated at certain intervals.

[0015] According to a second aspect, a method is disclosed. The method may comprise: monitoring power setting sent by a charging station management system, CSMS, to a plurality of charging stations, the plurality of charging stations comprising one or more bidirectional charging stations and the power settings indicating power limits set for the plurality of charging stations; monitoring actual power transfer of each of the plurality of charging stations based on meter data sent by the respective charging stations to the CSMS; detecting when the actual power transfer of one or more charging stations is at least one of above an upper power limit or below a lower power limit of the respective charging station; determining, based on the detection, a power difference of the one or more charging stations based on the actual power transfer and at least one of the upper power limit or the lower power limit of the respective charging stations; detecting, based on the powerdifference of the one or more charging stations, that there is a security issue related to at least one of electrical grid or an electrical system coupled with the one or more charging stations; and performing one or more automatic actions to protect the at least one of electrical grid or the electrical system, based on the detected security issue.

[0016] According to an example embodiment of the second aspect, the one or more actions comprise at least one of transmitting a notification to a user or performing an automatic shutdown of the one or more charging stations

[0017] According to an example embodiment of the second aspect, the method further comprises estimating an urgency of the detected security issue based on a comparison of the determined power differences to one or more predetermined thresholds; and selecting the automatic action to be performed based on the estimated urgency.

[0018] According to an example embodiment of the second aspect, the method further comprises: determining one or more charging station groups based on different criteria; determining a total power difference of a charging station group based on combined power differences of the one or more charging stations belonging to the charging station group; determining if the total power difference is above the one or more predetermined thresholds; and based on the determination, selecting the automatic action to be performed according to the exceeded predetermined threshold of the total power difference.

[0019] According to an example embodiment of the second aspect, the method further comprises: selecting at least the charging stations of the charging station group with the power difference to a list of charging stations to be shutdown; transmitting, to the charging stations on the list, a command to stop ongoing transaction; and disabling new transactions for the charging stations on the list; and reboot the charging stations on the list.

[0020] According to a third aspect, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus may comprise means for performing the method according to the second aspect, or any example embodiment(s) thereof, as provided in the description and / or the claims.

[0021] According to a fourth aspect, a computer program, a computer program product, or a (non-transitory) computer-readable medium is disclosed. Thecomputer program, computer program product, or (non-transitory) computer-readable medium may comprise instructions, which when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus at least to perform the method according to the second aspect, or any example embodiment(s) thereof, as provided in the description and / or the claims.

[0022] Example embodiments of the present disclosure can thus provide apparatuses, methods, computer programs, computer program products, or computer readable media for improving various aspects of security related to V2G charging stations. Any example embodiment may be combined with one or more other example embodiments. These and other aspects of the present disclosure will be apparent from the example embodiment s) described below. According to some aspects, there is provided the subject matter of the independent claims. Some further aspects are defined in the dependent claims.DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the example embodiments and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate example embodiments and, together with the description, help to explain the example embodiments. In the drawings:

[0024] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging system;

[0025] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a possible malicious attack scenario to a V2G charging station system, according to one or more example embodiments;

[0026] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a charging system settings tracking, according to one or more example embodiments;

[0027] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a charging system energy tracking, according to one or more example embodiments;

[0028] FIG. 5 illustrate an example of supervising power differences in a V2G charging system, according to one or more example embodiments;

[0029] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of groups of supervised charging stations, according to one or more example embodiments;

[0030] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of possible actions to address detected power differences, according to one or more example embodiments;

[0031] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of configuring settings for a warning situation, according to one or more example embodiments;

[0032] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of configuring settings for an alert situation, according to one or more example embodiments;

[0033] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of configuring settings for n shutdown situation, according to one or more example embodiments;

[0034] FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a system configured to sending shutdown commands, according to one or more example embodiments;

[0035] FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a method for security monitoring of charging stations; and

[0036] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of an apparatus configured to practise one or more example embodiments.

[0037] Like references are used to designate like parts in the accompanying drawings.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] Reference will now be made in detail to example embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The detailed description provided below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of the present examples and is not intended to represent the only forms in which the present example may be constructed or utilized. The description sets forth the functions of the example and the sequence of steps for constructing and operating the example. However, the same or equivalent functions and sequences may be accomplished by different examples.

[0039] V2G technologies may start becoming more common and with that the possibility of security vulnerabilities. V2G technologies may be used to control energy usage, or typically charging power, during charging or discharging of an electric vehicle. For example, possible malicious actors may use the V2G technologies to cause problems with nationwide electric grids. This may be done by changing power settings to a plurality of V2G charging stations. In a worst case, a malicious actor could bring down a whole electric grid by quickly changing powersettings of a lot of charging stations such that a frequency of the electric grid is no longer in balance.

[0040] V2G charging stations may be also referred to as bidirectional charging stations. In addition to V2G, there are also different subtypes of bidirectional charging, such as vehicle-to-home (V2H), vehicle-to-load (V2L), vehicle-to-building (V2B) or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V). With the bidirectional types of charging, the charging can happen in both directions such that an electric vehicle can be the source or target of charging power. This disclosure concentrates on V2G charging stations, but the procedures described herein are also applicable to charging stations configured for V2H, V2L, V2B, V2V, or any other bidirectional type of charging.

[0041] A V2G charging system may refer to a charging system comprising a charging station management system, CSMS, and a plurality of charging stations managed by the CSMS, wherein at least part of the charging stations comprises V2G charging stations. A V2G charging system may be coupled with an electric grid. A V2G charging system may be further coupled with an electricity consumption site, such as a property, and / or one or more electric vehicles using the charging stations for charging and / or discharging.

[0042] Security in V2G systems may be divided into different parts. In one example, one part of the security comes from a centralized charging station management system (CSMS). In another example, one part of the security comes from individual charging stations distributed in various locations. Security management of a central CSMS may be easier than the management of security of a plurality of spatially spread-out individual charging stations that may be publicly available. Because the charging stations may be physically accessed by anybody, it may be difficult to manage the security of the charging stations, especially when there may be tens of thousands of charging stations distributed to different physical locations.

[0043] An objective of this disclosure is to detect security issues concerning charging stations. An apparatus is configured to monitor possibly compromised power settings of a plurality of V2G charging stations. The apparatus may be furtherconfigured to perform one or more actions to improve security in response to detecting that at least one charging station may be compromised.

[0044] The procedure performed by the apparatus may be implemented as a software feature. Hence, no custom hardware may be needed to be installed in the charging stations. Further, operations related to the security monitoring may be configured to work based on a standard protocol, such as an OCPP (open charge point protocol) protocol. This enables that the procedure may be implemented without installation of any custom non-standard features to the V2G charging stations.

[0045] The apparatus may be an entity which usually determines energy settings to be sent to charging stations. The apparatus may be, for example, a charging station management system configured to manage a plurality of charging stations, or a control device therein. At least part of the charging stations may comprise V2G charging stations. The apparatus may be configured to keep track of which energy settings the apparatus has sent to the charging stations. Energy settings may be also referred to as power settings. The apparatus may monitor different data sent by the charging stations to the CSMS. Based on the data, the apparatus may measure how the charging stations are actually behaving, and are the charging stations working as instructed by the CSMS. The apparatus may store an algorithm configured to detect if multiple charging stations seem to perform different things than instructed by the CSMS. When a monitored value associated with a detected anomaly in the behaviour of the charging stations is above a certain threshold, the apparatus is configured to cause part or all of the charging stations to shutdown. This enables that problems caused by the anomaly can be prevented.

[0046] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a V2G charging system according to an example embodiment. The V2G charging system may comprise at least one V2G charging station 102. The V2G charging station 102 may be connected to the electrical grid 106. The V2G charging station may be used by electric vehicles 104.

[0047] The V2G charging station 102 may be configured to instruct the electric vehicle 104 to charge or discharge the battery of the electric vehicle 104 with a certain amount of power. In one example, the V2G charging station 102 may instruct the EV to discharge with a power of 1 IkW. The EV 102 may start feedingelectricity to the V2G charging station 102 according to the instructions received from the V2G charging station 102. Based on the received instructions, the electric vehicle 104 may start feeding electricity, for example, with 1 IkW of direct current (DC) power. The V2G charging station 102 may be then configured to feed the received power towards the electric grid 106. In one example, the V2G charging station 106 does DC to AC transformation and feeds the AC current back to the electric grid 106 with 3-phase 16 A, which is equal to the 1 IkW.

[0048] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a possible attack scenario to a V2G charging system. In the example scenario, the may be a plurality of V2G charging stations 102 coupled with an electric grid 106 and a malicious actor 200. A frequency of the electric grid 106 may be tracked and compared to chosen lower and upper safe limits 204 of the frequency, as illustrated in graph 202. In one example, when the frequency of electric grid exceeds the upper safe limit 204, the electric grid 106 may be protected with the V2G charging stations 102 by lowering or stopping energy production towards the electric grid 106. However, instead of the energy production being lowered, the malicious actor 200 may be able to control a plurality of the V2G charging stations 106 to start feeding increasingly energy back to the electric grid 106. As a result of the control performed by the malicious actor 200, the frequency of the electric grid 106 may keep growing over the upper safe limit 204 which may cause problems to the electric grid.

[0049] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of tracking settings of a V2G charging system, according to one or more example embodiments. The tracking may be performed by a CSMS 300 of the V2G charging system, or by an apparatus configured to control one or more operations of the CSMS 300, when installed therein. The apparatus may be, for example, a component of the CSMS configured to perform at least the tracking of settings as described herein.

[0050] The CSMS 300 can be configured to update different kinds of charging settings to charging stations of the V2G charging system, including V2G charging stations 102. The charging settings may be updated by the CSMS 300, for example, using a standard communication protocol. For example, the charging setting updates may be performed by using charging profiles of the OCPP protocol. A charging profile may comprise a set of maximum power or current limits withdefined time intervals. The CSMS 300 can request a V2G charging station to charge a battery of an electric vehicle or to discharge power from the battery according to the charging settings.

[0051] When the CSMS 300 changes a power setting of a charging station 102, the CSMS 300 can store the current power setting to an internal data storage. This enables, that the CSMS 300 knows with how much power each charging station 102 should be charging or discharging at maximum.

[0052] For example, the CSMS 300 may have sent to a first charging station “A” a power setting of -5 kW. Hence, the charging station is instructed by the CSMS 300 to discharge power from a battery of an electric vehicle 104 with 5 kW at maximum. The CSMS 300 may have also sent to a second charging station “B” a power setting of +50 kWh and to a third charging station “C” a power setting of -10 kW. In other words, the second charging station is instructed to charge with a maximum value of 50 kW and the third charging station is instructed to discharge with a maximum value of 10 kW. The transmitted power settings are stored at the CSMS to the internal database 302, wherein each V2G charging station 102 is linked with information about the current power setting of the respective charging station. The first charging station, the second charging station and the third charging station may be V2G charging stations.

[0053] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of energy tracking of a V2G charging system, according to one or more example embodiments. The energy tracking may be performed, for example, by a CSMS of the V2G charging system, such as the CSMS 300.

[0054] Charging stations of the V2G charging system can report their meter values to the CSMS 300. The meter values may indicate at least one of an energy usage, a power transfer, or a charging power of the charging stations. A charging power may refer to a power used by a charging station from the electric grid to charge an electric vehicle, but also to a power fed by the charging station back to the electric grid by discharging power from the electric vehicle. The CSMS 300 can use the received meter values to calculate the actual (dis)charging power delivered by the respective charging stations.

[0055] Continuing with the example scenario of FIG. 3, the first charging station “A” may report at 13:00 that the electric vehicle 104 has charged 1.2 kWh and at 13:05 that the electric vehicle 104 has charged 2.7 kWh at the V2G charging station 102. Based on the reported meter values, the CSMS 300 can calculate the total charging power to be (2.7 kWh-1.2 kWh) / (5 / 60) h) = 18 kW. Similarly, based on meter values received from the second charging station and the third charging station, the CSMS 300 can calculate that the actual power transfer at the second charging station is 42 kW and at the third charging station the actual power transfer is 0 kW.

[0056] The CSMS 300 can keep track of the actual power transfer usage of each V2G charging station 102 in the internal data storage 302 based on new meter values received by the CSMS 300 from the V2G charging stations 102. Based on a comparison of the actual power transfer and the current power setting of the charging station, the CSMS 300 can initiate at least one action to address a detected anomaly in operation of the charging station. As can be seen from the example content of the internal database 302 for the example scenario, the actual power transfer of the first charging stations, +18 kW, is significantly more and in a wrong direction (charging instead of discharging) than allowed by the power setting of -5 kW. The CSMS 300 can detect this difference between the actual and set power values, and perform one or more operations to prevent occurrence of problems caused by the compromised operation of the charging stations. For example, without the performed security monitoring, at 13 : 10 the first charging station would charge the electric vehicle with even higher charging power of 3.9 kWh. However, in response to the detected anomaly based on the previous meter values received from the first charging station, the CSMS 300 can cause the charging station to shutdown. This enables to prevent the increased power draw from the electric grid which would be on contrary to the given instructions from the CSMS 300 to discharge power to the electric grid.

[0057] FIG. 5 illustrate an example of supervised power differences in a V2G charging system, according to one or more example embodiments. The power differences occurring in the V2G charging system may be monitored, for example, by a CSMS of the V2G charging system, such as the CSMS 300.

[0058] The CSMS 300 may know what is the power setting of each charging station of the V2G charging system, and what is the actual power the charging station is delivering. The CSMS 300 may have obtained information about the power settings and the actual delivered power as described in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, and stored to the internal database 302.

[0059] The power setting may indicate to the charging station what is a maximum limit for charging or discharging. In the end, the electric vehicle connected to the charging station may control the actual charging power, and the electric vehicle can decide what power is uses, within the maximum limit given by the CSMS 300. For example, if the CSMS 300 instructs the charging station to charge with 50 kW, the electric vehicle can choose any charging power between 0 kWh and 50 kWh, but the charging power should not go below 0 kWh or over 50 kWh.

[0060] With the information, the CSMS 300 can calculate for each charging station a value indicating that is the charging station within the limits indicated by the CSMS 300, or is the charging station doing something that the charging station should not be doing. For example, the calculated value can indicate that the charging station is charging or discharging electric vehicle with an excessive power, discharging power when the charging station is instructed to charge, charging power to an electric vehicle when the charging station is instructed to discharge, or the like.

[0061] For example, the value may indicate a power difference determined based on the power setting and the actual power transfer. From the example content of the internal database 302 shown in FIG. 5, it can be seen that the actual power transfer of the second charging station and the third charging station is within the limits set by the CSMS 300. That is, the second charging station may have a power setting set to + 50 kW and the actual power is +42 kW, which is within the limits of 0 kW and +50 kW. Also, the third charging station may have a power setting set to -10 kW and the actual power is 0 kW, which is within the limits of 0 kW -10 kW. Therefore, the CSMS 300 can conclude that a difference between the monitored values is within the given limits. The calculated value is therefore 0 kW, and there is no need for security actions. However, the actual power transfer of the first charging station is 18 kW, while the actual power transfer should be between 0 kWand -5 kW. Compared to the power setting of -5 kW, the power difference is 23 kW. Based on the power difference, the CSMS 300 can conclude there is an error associated with the first charging station.

[0062] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of groups of supervised charging stations, according to one or more example embodiments.

[0063] A CSMS, such as the CSMS 300, can be configured to group charging stations based on different criteria. In one example, charging stations that belong to a single logical network can be grouped together. Each group may comprise one or more V2G charging stations 102. In one example, one or more charging station groups, or all of the charging stations groups, may comprise a plurality of V2G charging stations 102, or any other type of bidirectional charging stations. For example, in a vehicle-to-building use case, a group 600 may include all bidirectional charging stations associated with a single building. In a vehicle-to-grid use case, a group 602 may include all bidirectional charging stations in a single transmission system operator (TSO) area. In general, groups can be created based on a logic where it is desired to monitor that charging stations of the group do not provide different kind of energy amount to the electric grid than what they are instructed to.

[0064] A charging station may belong to one or more groups. The groups can be updated by an operator of the CSMS 300 by adding or removing charging stations to / from a group. An operator can also create new groups via a user interface of the CSMS 300. The CSMS 300 may be also configured to group charging stations automatically based on one or more criteria, such as based on information about location, location type or TSO area of the charging stations. The CSMS 300 may be configured to communicate with and control each charging station of a group individually, and to monitor operation of the charging stations both on an individual level as well as on a group level.

[0065] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of possible actions to address detected power differences, according to one or more example embodiments. The actions may be performed by a CSMS of a V2G charging system, such as the CSMS 300. The CSMS 300 may perform the configured actions automatically in response to the detected power differences based on set criteria. The CSMS 300 may store differentlimits associated with the detected power differences for different actions. The limits may be configurable by an operator of the CSMS 300.

[0066] When the CSMS 300 knows possible power differences between the set power settings and the actual power tranfers of a single charging station group, the CSMS 300 may be configured to compare the total power difference calculated for the group to the set limits. In one example, the CSMS 300 may be configured to monitor at least one of a first limit, a second limit or a third limit, wherein each limit triggers a different action. In other words, the CSMS 300 may be configured to monitor when the total power difference exceeds one or more predetermined thresholds. Based on the exceeded predetermined threshold, the CSMS 300 may determine which action to perform. The CSMS 300 may further determine based on the detected power differences of the charging stations for which charging stations the action is performed to.

[0067] When the first limit is exceeded by the total power difference, the CSMS 300 may be configured to send a warning in a form of notification 700 to a user 702. The user 702 may be the operator, or any other person that needs to be informed about the exceeded first limit. The warning notification may be sent by the CSMS 300 to a user device of the user 702. The notification 700 may be sent, for example, based on the following criteria:limitwarn < diffactual < limitalert,wherein limitwam is the configured first limit, diffactual is the calculated total power difference, and limitaiert is a configured second limit.

[0068] When the CSMS 300 detects that the total power difference exceeds the second limit, the CSMS 300 may be configured to send an alert in a form of notification 700 to the user 702. The alert notification may be sent, for example, based on the following criteria:limitalert < diffactual < limitshutdown.In other words, the alert notification may be sent when the total power difference is between the second limit, limitaiert, and the third limit, limitshutdown.

[0069] When the CSMS 300 detects that the total power difference exceeds the third limit, limitshutdown < diffactual, the CSMS 300 may be configured to initiate shutdown of one or more charging stations of the group. In one example, the CSMS300 can determine to perform automatic shutdown of charging stations for which the power difference was detected. Alternatively, the CSMS 300 can determine to perform automatic shutdown of all charging stations of the group for which the third limit was exceeded. The automatic shutdown may comprise sending one or more commands 704 to the targeted charging stations, such as V2G charging stations 102, to prepare and / or perform the shutdown. When the shutdown operation is initiated, the CSMS 300 may further send a notification about the shutdown to the user.

[0070] The notifications can be sent by the CSMS 300 in various ways. For example, the notification may be sent via an email, a SMS message, an automatic phone call, or any other suitable notification method.

[0071] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of configuring settings for a warning situation, according to one or more example embodiments. In one example, a CSMS, such as the CSMS 300, can be configured to provide a user interface 800 to configure the first limit for transmission of warnings as described in FIG. 7. The user interface 800 can be configured to provide options for the following settings:a charging station group for which the warning is configured to be sentat least one of the first limit or the second limit based on which the warning is to be sentan action to be performed when the warning is triggered based on at least one of the set first limit or the second limit.

[0072] The CSMS 300 can calculate the total power difference for each charging station group in regular basis. The calculations may be performed, for example, once a minute, every fifteen minutes, every half an hour, or any configured time interval depending on the use case. After the performed calculation, the CSMS 300 compares the result to the configured limits for transmission of the warning. For example, the user may have set the first limit to 100 kW and the second limit to 200 kW. When the CSMS 300 then detects that the calculated total power difference is between the set first limit and the second limit, such as 120 kW, the CSMS 300 can send a notification to provide the warning according to configured instructions at 806. The action to be performed may be at least one of sending an email, sending a SMS message, sending a push notification, making a robot phone call, or similaralert, based on given contact information. For example, the user may have instructed the CSMS 300 to send an email notification to a certain email address to warn about the exceeded total power difference of a certain charging station group.

[0073] The user interface 800 may have one or more user interface elements for selecting the charging station group 802, for setting the first limit and / or the second limit 804, and for selecting the action to be performed 806 by the CSMS 300. The one or more user interface elements may be, for example, in a form of a checkbox, a selection button, a dropdown menu and / or a text field. The CSMS 300 may store and provide preset charging stations groups to be selected, such as all stations of a TSO area, all stations of a certain building, all stations of a certain owner, all stations of a certain manufacturer, or the like.

[0074] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of configuring settings for an alert situation, according to one or more example embodiments. In one example, a CSMS, such as the CSMS 300, can be configured to provide a user interface 900 to configure the second limit for transmission of alerts as described in FIG. 7. The user interface 900 can be configured to provide options for the following settings:a charging station group for which the alert is configured to be sent at least one of the second limit or the third limit based on which the alert is to be sentan action to be performed when the alert is triggered based on at least one of the set second limit or the third limit.

[0075] The CSMS 300 can calculate the total power difference for each charging station group in regular basis. The calculations may be performed, for example, once a minute, every fifteen minutes, every half an hour, or any configured time interval depending on the use case. After the performed calculation, the CSMS 300 compares the result to the configured limits for transmission of the alert. For example, the user may have set the second limit to 200 kW and the third limit to 600 kW. When the CSMS 300 then detects that the calculated total power difference is between the set second limit and the third limit, such as 300 kW, the CSMS 300 can send a notification to provide an alert according to configured instructions at 906. The action to be performed may be at least one of sending an email, sending a SMS message, sending a push notification, making a robot phone call, or similaralert, based on given contact information. For example, the user may have instructed the CSMS 300 to send the notification as an SMS message to a certain phone number when the total power difference of a certain charging station group is within the configured limits. The alert notification may be more urgent than the warning notification due to the higher limit for the total power difference, and therefore the notifications with different urgencies can be configured to be transmitted via different channels for contacting the user.

[0076] The user interface 900 may have one or more user interface elements for selecting the charging station group 902, for setting the second limit and / or the third limit 904, and for selecting the action to be performed 906 by the CSMS 300. The one or more user interface elements may be, for example, in a form of a checkbox, a selection button, a dropdown menu and / or a text field. The CSMS 300 may store and provide preset charging stations groups to be selected, such as all stations of a TSO area, all stations of a certain building, all stations of a certain owner, all stations of a certain manufacturer, or the like.

[0077] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of configuring settings for a shutdown situation, according to one or more example embodiments. In one example, a CSMS, such as the CSMS 300, can be configured to provide a user interface 1000 to configure the third limit for automatic shutdown of one or more charging stations, as described in FIG. 7. The user interface 1000 can be configured to provide options for the following settings:a charging station group for which the shutdown is configured to be performedthe third limit based on which the shutdown is configured to be performedone or more actions to be performed when the shutdown is triggered based on the third limit.

[0078] The CSMS 300 can calculate the total power difference for each charging station group in regular basis. The calculations may be performed, for example, once a minute, every fifteen minutes, every half an hour, or any configured time interval depending on the use case. After the performed calculation, the CSMS 300 compares the result to the third limit configured for the respective charging stationgroup. For example, the user may have set the third limit to 600 kW. When the CSMS 300 then detects that the calculated total power difference is above the third limit, such as 650 kW, the CSMS 300 can send a notification about the initiated shutdown operation according to configured instructions at 906. The notification may be provided via at least one of sending an email, a SMS message, a push notification, a robot phone call, or similar alert, based on given contact information. For example, the user may have instructed the CSMS 300 to make an automatic robot phone call to a certain phone number when the total power difference of a certain charging station group is above the third limit.

[0079] The user interface 1000 may have one or more user interface elements for selecting the charging station group 1002, for setting the third limit 1004, and for selecting the one or more actions to be performed 1006 by the CSMS 300. The one or more user interface elements may be, for example, in a form of a checkbox, a selection button, a dropdown menu and / or a text field. The CSMS 300 may store and provide preset charging stations groups to be selected, such as all stations of a TSO area, all stations of a certain building, all stations of a certain owner, all stations of a certain manufacturer, or the like.

[0080] Although the user interfaces 800, 900 and 1000 are illustrated as separate user interfaces, functionalities provided by the user interfaces can also be provided by the CSMS 300 in a single user interface, and in various forms.

[0081] In addition to providing the notification, the CSMS 300 can be configured to send shutdown commands 1100 to the one or more charging stations, such as to the V2G charging stations 102 of the group, as illustrated in FIG. 11. In one example, the CSMS 300 can be configured to perform the following steps when the total power difference of the charging station group exceeds the third limit:list all charging stations in the monitored charging station group which are not operating in the given limits, that is, the actual power delivery of the charging station is not according to the power settings given by the CSMS 300for each charging station on the list, perform the following steps:1. send a command to stop ongoing transaction of power;2. set the charging station as to disabled so that new transactions cannot be started; and3. reboot the charging station.

[0082] The CSMS 300 can be thus configured to monitor if power settings of one or more V2G charging stations are tampered with and to automatically react and protect the electric grid if security issues are detected. Power differences of the actual power transfer of charging stations compared to the power limits of the charging stations given by a centralized CSMS may be checked at certain intervals, and if the power differences are above given limits, security actions are triggered by the CSMS 300. With the periodically performed checks and different limits for different security actions, an operator can be first notified by the CSMS 300 one or more times about the power differences exceeding the given limit(s), and if the power differences still keep growing, the CSMS 300 can determine to shutdown the charging stations with detected security issues. In one example, when the CSMS 300 detects that charging stations are widely compromised based on the total power difference of a charging station group being above a certain threshold, the CSMS 300 can automatically cause the charging stations of the group having abnormal operation to shutdown. The CSMS 300 can perform the operations without any new hardware or software required to be installed to charging stations, for example, by using standard protocols such as OCPP.

[0083] FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a method 1200 for improving security of charging stations. Method 1200 may be performed by a CSMS, or by a control apparatus configured to control the functioning thereof, when installed therein.

[0084] At operation 1202, the method may comprise monitoring power setting sent by the CSMS to a plurality of charging stations. The power settings may indicate power limits set for the plurality of charging stations, such as an upper power limit and / or a lower power limit of the charging station. At least one of the upper power limit or the lower power limit may correspond to a maximum power the charging station is allowed to use for charging or discharging an electric vehicle. The upper power limit and / or lower power limit may further indicate whether the charging station is allowed to perform charging or discharging.

[0085] At operation 1204, the method may comprise monitoring actual power transfer of each of the plurality of charging stations based on meter data sent by the respective charging stations to the CSMS.

[0086] At operation 1206, the method may comprise detecting when the actual power transfer of one or more charging stations is at least one of above an upper power limit or below a lower power limit of the respective charging station.

[0087] At operation 1208, the method may comprise determining, based on the detection, a power difference of the one or more charging stations based on the actual power transfer and at least one of the upper power limit or the lower power limit of the respective charging stations.

[0088] At operation 1210, the method may comprise detecting, based on the power difference of the one or more charging stations, that there is a security issue related to at least one of electrical grid or an electrical system coupled with the one or more charging stations.

[0089] At operation 1212, the method may comprise performing one or more automatic actions to protect the at least one of electrical grid or the electrical system, based on the detected security issue.

[0090] Further features of the method directly result for example from functionality of CSMS 300, or apparatus 1300, as described throughout the description, claims, and drawings, and are therefore not repeated here. An apparatus, for example a computing device, may be configured to perform or cause performance of any aspect of the method(s) described herein. Further, a computer program, a computer program product, or a (non-transitory) computer-readable medium may comprise instructions for causing, when executed by an apparatus, the apparatus to perform any aspect of the method(s) described herein. Further, an apparatus may comprise means for performing any aspect of the method(s) described herein. According to an example embodiment, the means comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform any aspect of the method(s).

[0091] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of an apparatus configured to practice one or more example embodiments. Apparatus 1300 may comprise a device such aserver, a network device, a computing device, or in general any apparatus configured to implement functionality described herein. Although apparatus 1300 is illustrated as a single device, it is appreciated that, wherever applicable, functions of apparatus 1300 may be distributed to a plurality of devices. In one example, apparatus 1300 may be part of a CSMS, such as a control device or a server device of the CSMS.

[0092] Apparatus 1300 may comprise at least one processor 1302. The at least one processor 1302 may comprise, for example, one or more of various processing devices, such as for example a co-processor, a microprocessor, a controller, a digital signal processor (DSP), a processing circuitry with or without an accompanying DSP, or various other processing devices including integrated circuits such as, for example, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a hardware accelerator, a specialpurpose computer chip, or the like.

[0093] Apparatus 1300 may further comprise at least one memory 1304. The memory 1304 may be configured to store, for example, computer program code or the like, for example operating system software and application software. Memory 1304 may comprise one or more volatile memory devices, one or more non-volatile memory devices, and / or a combination thereof. For example, the memory may be embodied as magnetic storage devices (such as hard disk drives, magnetic tapes, etc.), optical magnetic storage devices, or semiconductor memories (such as mask ROM, PROM (programmable ROM), EPROM (erasable PROM), flash ROM, RAM (random access memory), etc.). Memory 1304 is provided as an example of a (non-transitory) computer readable medium. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0094] Apparatus 1300 may further comprise a communication interface 1308 configured to enable apparatus 1300 to transmit and / or receive information. Communication interface 1308 may comprise, for example, a communication interface between a target system and a source system, as described herein. Communication interface may further comprise a communication interface between a management system (e.g., a target system, a source system, or the like) and oneor more charging stations or other client devices (e.g., mobile devices of users). Communication interface 1308 may comprise one or more radio transmitters or receivers, which may be coupled to one or more antennas or apparatus 1300, or be configured to be coupled to one or more antennas external to apparatus 1300.

[0095] Apparatus 1300 may further comprise other components and / or functions such as a user interface 1310 comprising at least one input device and / or at least one output device. The input device may take various forms such a keyboard, a touch screen, or one or more embedded control buttons. The output device may for example comprise a display, a speaker, or the like.

[0096] When apparatus 1300 is configured to implement some functionality, some component and / or components of apparatus 1300, such as for example the at least one processor 1302 and / or the at least one memory 1304, may be configured to implement this functionality. Furthermore, when the at least one processor 1302 is configured to implement some functionality, this functionality may be implemented using program code 1306 comprised, for example, in the at least one memory 1304.

[0097] The functionality described herein may be performed, at least in part, by one or more computer program product components such as software components. According to an example embodiment, apparatus 1300 comprises a processor or processor circuitry, such as for example a microcontroller, configured by the program code 1306, when executed, to execute the embodiments of the operations and functionality described herein. Program code 1306 is provided as an example of instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor 1302, cause performance of apparatus 1300.

[0098] Alternatively, or in addition, the functionality described herein can be performed, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components. For example, and without limitation, illustrative types of hardware logic components that can be used include field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs), application-specific standard products (ASSPs), system-on-a-chip systems (SOCs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), graphics processing units (GPUs), or the like.

[0099] Apparatus 1300 may be configured to perform, or cause performance of, method(s) described herein or comprise means for performing method(s) described herein. In one example, the means comprises the at least one processor 1302, the at least one memory 1304 including instructions (e.g., program code 1306) configured to, when executed by the at least one processor 1302, cause apparatus 1300 to perform the method(s). In general, computer program instructions may be executed on means providing generic processing functions. Such means may be embedded for example in a personal computer, a smart phone, a network device, or the like. The method(s) may be thus computer-implemented, for example, based on algorithm(s) executable by the generic processing functions, an example of which is the at least one processor 1302. The means may comprise transmission or reception means, for example one or more radio transmitters or receivers, which may be coupled or be configured to be coupled to one or more antennas.

[0100] Any range or device value given herein may be extended or altered without losing the effect sought. Also, any embodiment may be combined with another embodiment unless explicitly disallowed.

[0101] Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and / or acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as examples of implementing the claims and other equivalent features and acts are intended to be within the scope of the claims.

[0102] It will be understood that the benefits and advantages described above may relate to one embodiment or may relate to several embodiments. The embodiments are not limited to those that solve any or all of the stated problems or those that have any or all of the stated benefits and advantages. It will further be understood that reference to 'an' item may refer to one or more of those items.

[0103] The steps or operations of the methods described herein may be carried out in any suitable order, or simultaneously where appropriate. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from any of the methods without departing from the scope of the subject matter described herein. Aspects of any of the example embodiments described above may be combined with aspects of any of the other exampleembodiments described to form further example embodiments without losing the effect sought.

[0104] The term 'comprising' is used herein to mean including the method, blocks, or elements identified, but that such blocks or elements do not comprise an exclusive list and a method or apparatus may contain additional blocks or elements.

[0105] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0106] Although subjects may be referred to as ‘first’ or ‘second’ subjects, this does not necessarily indicate any order or importance of the subjects. Instead, such attributes may be used solely for the purpose of making a difference between subjects.

[0107] As used in this application, the term ‘circuitry’ may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and (b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable):(i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software / firmware and (ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and (c) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation. This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims.

[0108] As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integratedcircuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0109] It will be understood that the above description is given by way of example only and that various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art. The above specification, examples and data provide a complete description of the structure and use of exemplary embodiments. Although various embodiments have been described above with a certain degree of particularity, or with reference to one or more individual embodiments, those skilled in the art could make numerous alterations to the disclosed embodiments without departing from scope of this specification.

Claims

CLAIMS1. An apparatus for a charging station management system, CSMS, comprising:at least one processor; andat least one memory including instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:monitor power settings sent by the CSMS to a plurality of charging stations, the plurality of charging stations comprising one or more bidirectional charging stations and the power settings indicating power limits set for the plurality of charging stations;monitor actual power transfer of each of the plurality of charging stations based on meter data sent by the respective charging stations to the CSMS;detect when the actual power transfer of one or more charging stations is at least one of above an upper power limit or below a lower power limit of the respective charging station;determine, based on the detection, a power difference of the one or more charging stations based on the actual power transfer and at least one of the upper power limit or the lower power limit of the respective charging stations;detect, based on the power difference of the one or more charging stations, that there is a security issue related to at least one of electrical grid or an electrical system coupled with the one or more charging stations; andperform one or more automatic actions to protect the at least one of electrical grid or the electrical system, based on the detected security issue.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more automatic actions comprise at least one of transmission of a notification to a user or a shutdown of the one or more charging stations.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the apparatus is caused to: estimate an urgency of the detected security issue based on a comparison of the determined power differences to one or more predetermined thresholds; andselect the automatic action to be performed based on the estimated urgency.

4. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the power settings comprise at least one of an indication if the charging station is set to charge an electric vehicle, an indication if the charging station is set to discharge an electric vehicle, a power limit for charging the electric vehicle or a power limit for discharging the electric vehicle.

5. The apparatus of any preceding claim, further caused to:determine one or more charging station groups based on different criteria; determine a total power difference of a charging station group based on combined power differences of the one or more charging stations belonging to the charging station group;determine if the total power difference is above the one or more predetermined thresholds; andbased on the determination, select the automatic action to be performed according to the exceeded predetermined threshold of the total power difference.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein apparatus is caused to:select at least the charging stations of the charging station group with the power difference to a list of charging stations to be shutdown;transmit, to the charging stations on the list, a command to stop ongoing transaction; anddisable new transactions for the charging stations on the list; andreboot the charging stations on the list.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the criteria comprises at least one of a bidirectional charging type of the charging stations or location information of the charging stations.

8. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein at least one of the charging station groups, the automatic actions or the predetermined thresholds are configurable by a user.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the automatic actions and the predetermined thresholds are configurable per charging station group.

10. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein at least one of the power difference per charging station or the total power difference per charging station group is calculated at certain intervals.

11. A method, comprising:monitoring power setting sent by a charging station management system, CSMS, to a plurality of charging stations, the plurality of charging stations comprising one or more bidirectional charging stations and the power settings indicating power limits set for the plurality of charging stations;monitoring actual power transfer of each of the plurality of charging stations based on meter data sent by the respective charging stations to the CSMS;detecting when the actual power transfer of one or more charging stations is at least one of above an upper power limit or below a lower power limit of the respective charging station;determining, based on the detection, a power difference of the one or more charging stations based on the actual power transfer and at least one of the upper power limit or the lower power limit of the respective charging stations;detecting, based on the power difference of the one or more charging stations, that there is a security issue related to at least one of electrical grid or an electrical system coupled with the one or more charging stations; and performing one or more automatic actions to protect the at least one of electrical grid or the electrical system, based on the detected security issue.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more actions comprise at least one of transmitting a notification to a user or performing an automatic shutdown of the one or more charging stations.

13. The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein the method further comprises:estimating an urgency of the detected security issue based on a comparison of the determined power differences to one or more predetermined thresholds; and selecting the automatic action to be performed based on the estimated urgency.

14. The method of any of claims 11 to 13, further comprising: determining one or more charging station groups based on different criteria; determining a total power difference of a charging station group based on combined power differences of the one or more charging stations belonging to the charging station group;determining if the total power difference is above the one or more predetermined thresholds; andbased on the determination, selecting the automatic action to be performed according to the exceeded predetermined threshold of the total power difference.

15. The method of claim 14, comprising:selecting at least the charging stations of the charging station group with the power difference to a list of charging stations to be shutdown;transmitting, to the charging stations on the list, a command to stop ongoing transaction; anddisabling new transactions for the charging stations on the list; and reboot the charging stations on the list.

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