EV Charging Connector Coding for Station Compatibility Search
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electric vehicle charging is complicated due to varying connector types and power levels, making it difficult for users to find compatible charging stations and estimate charging times, as existing systems lack a unified communication language and user-friendly representation of charging parameters.
Innovation Solution
A standardized coding system using colors and numbers to identify charging connector types and power levels, allowing for a unified communication language between electric vehicles and charging stations, which includes a database that maps connector codes to compatible stations, reducing computational load and improving user understanding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If technical information for charging parameters (connector types, power levels) is provided in detailed technical formats, then charging station compatibility can be determined, but user understanding and ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies color coding to represent different connector types (e.g., color A for connector type 1, color B for connector type 2) and power levels (e.g., color X for power level 1, color Y for power level 2). This visual representation allows users to quickly identify charging parameters without needing to understand technical specifications, while the system maintains accurate compatibility determination through the standardized color code mapping.
2Loss of information
If users access information from multiple charging networks using separate queries, then comprehensive charging station information can be obtained, but time consumption and operational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal charging parameter representation system that works across multiple charging networks. By standardizing the color code system to represent connector types and power levels consistently across different networks, a single query using this standardized system can retrieve compatible charging stations from multiple networks simultaneously, eliminating the need for separate queries to each network.
Solution Approach 2:
The standardized color code system acts as an intermediary layer between users and multiple charging networks. Instead of users directly querying each network with different parameter formats, the color code system translates and standardizes the information, allowing a single unified query to access comprehensive charging station information across all networks.
3Reliability
If detailed technical parameters are used to identify charging options, then charging compatibility can be determined, but computational complexity and processing load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments charging parameters into distinct, standardized categories represented by color codes: connector type codes and power level codes. This segmentation allows the system to process each parameter category independently through simple code matching rather than complex technical parameter analysis, reducing computational complexity while maintaining accurate compatibility identification.
4Loss of time
If users perform separate calculations to estimate charging time, then charging time estimation can be obtained, but operational complexity and time consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The standardized color code system enables the charging station database and user interface to automatically provide charging time estimates based on the power level color codes. Instead of requiring users to manually calculate charging times using technical parameters, the system self-generates these estimates by interpreting the standardized power level representations, making the information readily available without additional user effort.
Data Source
AI summary
Examples are provided for identifying charging options for charging an electric vehicle. In one method, the charging options may be identified by receiving a charging station query including one or more parameters, accessing a charging station database, the charging station database storing connector codes identifying a connector type and a connector power level for charging connectors provided at a plurality of charging stations, and comparing parameters of the charging station query to the connector codes of the charging station database to identify a first subset of the plurality of charging stations that fit the parameters of the charging station query. The method may also include transmitting mapping data for the first subset of the plurality of charging stations to a client device.