Power Storage Communication Error Recovery via Dynamic State Switching

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Solution Overview

Problem

Communication errors in power storage management systems due to magnetic noise and other disturbances can lead to disrupted communication between master and slave units, affecting communication quality and causing delays or disabled states, especially when recovery processes shift communication timing, leading to increased errors and delays.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a time-division communication scheme where all information acquisition devices maintain communication with the information collection device in specific periods, ensuring continuous communication by alternating states between different devices, thereby minimizing the impact of communication errors and maintaining quality.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If time-division communication is used to reduce communication errors, then communication reliability improves, but communication timing flexibility deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecommunication reliabilityVSAvoidcommunication timing control complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies dynamics by making the communication state of slave units changeable between first state (time-division communication) and second state (full-duplex communication). The master unit dynamically adjusts which slave units operate in which state based on communication error conditions, allowing the system to adapt its communication timing control complexity to actual needs while maintaining reliability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the communication parameter (communication state) of slave units between two distinct modes: first state with time-division communication for reduced errors, and second state with full-duplex communication for flexibility. This parameter change allows the system to optimize between reliability and timing control complexity depending on operational requirements.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

2Reliability

If communication error recovery process is executed, then communication quality improves, but communication timing synchronization deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecommunication qualityVSAvoidcommunication timing synchronization
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The master unit monitors communication errors between itself and slave units, and based on this feedback, dynamically adjusts the communication state of affected slave units. When communication errors are detected, the master unit transitions those slave units to the first state (time-division communication) to improve quality, while maintaining other slave units in the second state to preserve timing synchronization, thus resolving the contradiction through selective feedback-based control.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

3Adaptability or versatility

If full-duplex communication is used for all slave units, then communication flexibility improves, but communication error rate increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecommunication flexibilityVSAvoidcommunication error rate
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by assigning different communication states to different slave units based on their individual performance and error conditions. Instead of uniformly applying full-duplex communication to all slave units, the master unit selectively transitions specific slave units to the first state (time-division communication) when errors occur, while maintaining the second state (full-duplex) for units without errors, thus optimizing the balance between flexibility and error rate locally rather than globally.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentEP3217464B1Electricity storage management system
Publication Date: 2020.11.04 HITACHI LTD
  • EP3217464B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3217464B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3217464B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

An object of the invention is to improve communication quality in a power storage management system. The above-mentioned problem may be solved by the following one solution. When a communication error where transmission, reception, or both transmission and reception of a signal is not allowed occurs between one or a plurality of a plurality of information acquisition devices that acquires states of a plurality of power storage cells and an information collection device that communicates with the plurality of information acquisition devices in a time-division manner, and collects information related to the states of the plurality of power storage cells acquired by the plurality of respective information acquisition devices, a process for resolving a communication error is executed by putting all the plurality of information acquisition devices in a state in which communication with the information collection device is allowed at all times. Here, the plurality of information acquisition devices is in a state in which communication with the information collection device is allowed in a first period in which the plurality of information acquisition devices communicates with the information collection device, and is in a state in which the state, in which communication with the information collection device is allowed, is canceled in a second period in which other information acquisition devices communicate with the information collection device in a relation of n to 1 (n is a positive natural number indicating the number of communication channels of the information collection device).