Embeddable EV Charger Communication Module for Secure Back-End Billing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing EV charging equipment faces limitations in reliability, efficiency, and safety in communications between the EVSE and the back-end system, which is crucial for implementing smart functionalities like user access control and energy billing.
Innovation Solution
An embeddable communication module is provided for EV charging equipment, featuring a processing means, physical interface, and optional components like energy metering, cryptography, and secure key storage, configured for reliable and efficient communication with a back-end system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional communication approaches are used in EV charging equipment, then basic communication functionality is achieved, but reliability, efficiency, and safety conditions in communications with the back-end system are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The communication module is divided into distinct functional components: a processing means for handling communication logic and data processing, a physical interface for signal transmission, and optional specialized components (energy metering means, cryptography chip, secure key storage). This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently for its specific function, improving overall communication reliability while managing complexity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The embeddable communication module acts as an intermediary between the EV charging equipment and the back-end system. It provides a dedicated communication interface with standardized protocols, ensuring reliable and secure data exchange without requiring complex integration logic in the main charging equipment, thus improving communication reliability while keeping the overall system complexity manageable.
2Productivity
If smart functionalities are implemented in EV charging equipment, then user access control management and energy consumption billing are enabled, but communication efficiency and safety conditions with the back-end system need improvement
Solution Approach 1:
The communication module is designed with multi-functionality to handle various communication tasks required for smart EV charging: user access control data exchange, energy consumption billing information transmission, and operational status reporting. By integrating multiple communication functions into a single embeddable module with standardized interfaces, the system achieves high communication efficiency for diverse smart functionalities while avoiding the complexity of multiple separate communication systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The processing means within the communication module is configured to autonomously handle communication protocols, data formatting, and error correction. This self-service capability allows the module to efficiently manage communication tasks without requiring constant intervention from the main charging equipment processor, thereby improving communication efficiency while keeping the overall system architecture simple and manageable.
3Reliability
If communication capabilities are enhanced for back-end system integration, then user access control and energy billing functionalities are improved, but overall safety conditions in communications require enhancement
Solution Approach 1:
The communication module incorporates proactive security measures including cryptography chip for encrypted data transmission and secure key storage for protected authentication credentials. These security features are built into the module beforehand, providing cushioning against potential security threats before they can compromise the communication between the EV charging equipment and the back-end system, thereby enhancing both reliability and security simultaneously.
Data Source
Figure 1~3
Figure 4
Figure 5
AI summary
The present invention provides an embeddable communication module (10) for an electric vehicle (EV) charging equipment (100), the embeddable communication module including a processing means, configured and adapted to implement logical and functional software means, and a physical interface, wherein the processing means, the software means and the physical interface are configured and adapted for communication with a back-end system (20) for user access control management and energy consumption billing. The present invention further provides an electric vehicle (EV) charging equipment comprising, inter alia, the embeddable communication module (10) described above.