Battery Pack–Power Tool Handshake Switching on a Shared Bus
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing communication protocols between battery packs and power tools are inadequate for handling multiple communication modes, leading to communication failures and tool shutdowns due to compatibility issues and security vulnerabilities such as ease of interception and brute force cracking.
Innovation Solution
A data interaction method that enables battery packs and power tools to perform handshake communications across shared physical channels, switching between communication modes to ensure successful data transmission and incorporating encryption to enhance security, using random numbers and verification tables to prevent unauthorized connections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple communication modes coexist between battery pack and power tool, then compatibility with new and old products is improved, but communication failure and tool downtime occur due to sharing the same physical communication channel
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the communication process into distinct phases: authentication phase using first communication mode, and data transmission phase using second communication mode. This segmentation allows different communication modes to be used at different stages without interfering with each other, resolving the conflict between compatibility and communication stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs authentication and mode selection as a preliminary action before actual data transmission. The battery pack and power tool authenticate each other and determine the appropriate communication mode in advance, ensuring that the subsequent data transmission uses the correct mode and avoiding communication failures.
2Device complexity
If original single bus high-low level communication mode is used, then device complexity is reduced, but security is compromised due to ease of interception and brute force cracking
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the communication protocol into two distinct layers: a simple physical layer (single bus high-low level) for basic connectivity, and a secure authentication layer using challenge-response mechanisms. This allows the system to maintain simple hardware while adding security through protocol design, resolving the contradiction between simplicity and security.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an authentication intermediary mechanism that mediates between the simple physical communication layer and the security requirements. The challenge-response authentication protocol acts as an intermediary that adds security without requiring complex hardware changes, protecting against interception and brute force attacks.
3Reliability
If handshake communication is performed with mode switching, then communication reliability is improved, but communication time and processing overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs authentication and communication mode determination as a preliminary action during the initial connection phase. By completing these tasks before data transmission begins, the system ensures reliable communication setup without adding time overhead during the actual data transfer, as the mode selection is done in advance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic communication mode switching based on authentication results and device capabilities. The system dynamically selects between different communication modes (e.g., USB mode, wireless mode) to optimize both reliability and speed, adapting to the specific connection scenario rather than using a fixed mode.
Data Source
AI summary
A data interaction method and a system are applied for a data interaction between a battery pack and a power tool sharing a same physical communication channel for communication. One of the battery pack and the power tool has at least one communication mode and the other has at least two communication modes. When interacting data, the battery pack and the power tool perform an initial handshake communication. When the handshake communication between the battery pack and the power tool fails, one of the battery pack and the power tool with two communication modes switches a current communication mode to another communication mode. The battery pack and the power tool perform a secondary handshake communication. After the secondary handshake communication between the battery pack and the power tool is successful, the battery pack and the power tool transmit data to each other.