Electronic Control Device Battery Abnormality Detection Without Voltage Sensor

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing vehicle electronic control devices struggle to detect battery abnormalities during a driving cycle or self-shutdown, especially when a battery voltage sensor is not mounted, leading to potential erroneous detection due to limited abnormality detection range and reliance on management information such as write start and completion marks.

Innovation Solution

An electronic control device is designed with a flash memory configuration that includes multiple storage regions and a management information access flag storage region, allowing for the detection of battery disconnection abnormalities by writing and reading failure information across these regions, even without a battery voltage sensor, using write start and completion marks and access flags to determine normal or abnormal memory backup states.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If a battery voltage sensor is mounted to detect battery abnormalities, then detection accuracy is improved, but hardware complexity and development cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvebattery abnormality detection accuracyVSAvoidhardware configuration complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent uses management information (write start mark, write completion mark, access flag) as an intermediary to indirectly detect battery abnormalities. Instead of directly measuring battery voltage with a sensor, the system monitors the state of memory backup operations through these intermediary indicators, which reflect whether abnormality occurred during driving cycle or self-shutdown.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs self-diagnosis by using the memory backup process itself to detect abnormalities. The management information stored during memory backup operations serves as the detection target, allowing the system to monitor its own operational state without external sensors. The write start mark, write completion mark, and access flag collectively provide self-service monitoring capability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

2Device complexity

If memory backup function is implemented without adequate protection, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability deteriorates due to erroneous detection

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecontrol system simplicityVSAvoidabnormality detection reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the memory backup process into distinct phases with separate management information: write start mark indicates initiation, write completion mark indicates successful completion, and access flag indicates whether abnormality occurred. This segmentation allows the system to monitor different aspects of memory backup operations independently, improving detection reliability while maintaining simple control logic.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring the management information (write start mark, write completion mark, access flag) and using this information to determine whether battery abnormality occurred. The feedback loop compares the state of these markers to identify abnormal conditions, ensuring reliable detection without complex control mechanisms.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

3Device complexity

If abnormality detection range is limited to self-shutdown only, then device complexity is reduced, but detection capability worsens because abnormalities during driving cycle cannot be detected

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedetection system complexityVSAvoidabnormality detection coverage
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent makes the management information system universal by enabling it to detect abnormalities in both driving cycle and self-shutdown phases. The same set of management information (write start mark, write completion mark, access flag) serves dual purposes: monitoring memory backup status during normal operation and detecting battery abnormalities during both driving cycle and self-shutdown, thereby expanding detection coverage without increasing system complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentEP3754657B1Electronic control device
Publication Date: 2023.06.21 ASTEMO LTD
  • EP3754657B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3754657B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3754657B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The present invention detects a battery abnormality during a driving cycle or self-shutdown even when a battery voltage sensor is not mounted. In the present invention, a first storage region 31 is provided with a failure information storage region 131 and a second storage region management information storage region 133, a second storage region 32 is provided with a failure information storage region 132 and a first storage region management information storage region 134, and a management information access flag storage region 135 for storing access information indicating a presence or absence of an access to management information of the first storage region 31 and management information of the second storage region 32 is provided separately from the first storage region 31 and the second storage region 32.