EP2959576A2

EP2959576A2 - Electrical architecture for converting dc voltage into ac voltage, and vice versa

Info

Publication number: EP2959576A2
Application number: EP14713156.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Hicham SADKI; Nathalie COIA; Boris Bouchez
Original assignee: Valeo Systemes de Controle Moteur SAS
Current assignee: Valeo Systemes de Controle Moteur SAS
Priority date: 2013-02-21
Filing date: 2014-02-18
Publication date: 2015-12-30
Also published as: WO2014128401A2; JP2016511626A; US10658949B2; KR102300662B1; US20180145611A1; WO2014128401A3; CN105191117B; JP6410736B2; FR3002384A1; FR3002384B1; KR20150122160A; CN105191117A; US20150381076A1; CN108365767A; US9973110B2; CN108365767B

Abstract

An electrical architecture (1) for converting DC voltage into AC voltage, and vice versa, comprising: -a DC/AC voltage converter (2), comprising a plurality of arms mounted in parallel, each arm comprising two controllable switching cells (12), in series and separated by a mid-point, the arms being paired in H-bridges (11), -for each H-bridge (11), a dedicated control member (13), such that all of the switching cells (12) of said H-bridge (11) can be controlled by this control member (13), each control member (13) being intended to communicate with a same remote control unit (14) through a potential barrier (15).

Description

Electrical architecture for converting a DC voltage to an AC voltage, and vice versa

The present invention relates to an electrical architecture for the conversion of a DC voltage to an AC voltage, and vice versa.

This architecture can be embedded in an electric or hybrid vehicle, and be used to convert the supply voltage supplied by an electrical network into a DC voltage supplying an electrical energy storage unit in order to charge the latter. As a variant, the architecture can be used to convert the DC voltage supplied by this electrical energy storage unit into an alternating voltage supplying the stator of an electric machine for propelling the vehicle or an alternating voltage transferred to the polyphase electrical network. .

For such an application to a vehicle, it is necessary to ensure that one or more anomalies that may occur within any component involved in the power supply of the engine from the storage unit of electrical energy when Vehicle taxiing will not affect the safety of vehicle users or other persons.

In the same way, it is necessary to ensure that one or more anomalies that may occur within any component involved in the charge of the electrical energy storage unit from the power grid will not affect plus the safety of people in the vicinity of the vehicle.

There is thus a need to benefit from an architecture enabling the conversion of a DC voltage into an AC voltage, and vice versa, and which meets the security requirements above, while being relatively simple and not very complex to implement. .

According to one of its aspects, the invention responds to this need with the aid of an electrical architecture for the conversion of a DC voltage into an AC voltage, and vice versa, comprising:

a DC / AC voltage converter, comprising a plurality of arms connected in parallel, each arm comprising two switching cells

controllable, in series and separated by a midpoint, the arms being matched according to H bridges,

for each H-bridge a dedicated control member, so that all the switching cells of said H-bridge are controllable by this control member, each control member being intended for, in particular, configured to communicate with a control unit distant through a potential barrier.

According to the architecture above, each H-bridge has a control member dedicated to said bridge. The architecture is thus compartmentalised into several compartments relatively independent of each other, each compartment including an H bridge and the control member which is dedicated thereto. Due to this relatively independent compartmentalisation, an anomaly occurring within a compartment does not affect the operation of the other compartments, so that the operation of the architecture and / or the safety of the people in the vicinity of the compartment These can be guaranteed.

In the case of an application of the invention to a hybrid or electric vehicle, each compartment may further comprise a phase of the electric stator winding of the electric machine for propelling the vehicle.

In what follows, "low voltage" means voltages less than or equal to 12 V and "high voltage" means voltages greater than or equal to 60 V.

The architecture may include the remote control unit. In this case, the remote control unit is in a low voltage environment while the converter and the control members of the H-bridges are in a high voltage environment, these two environments being separated by the potential barrier.

For example, a failure on the control of a phase of the electrical stator winding of the electric machine, that is to say a failure on the H-bridge dedicated to said phase or on the control member of the electric machine. switching cells of said bridge, does not prevent further propulsion by this vehicle engine or the continued charging of the electric power storage unit, when this charging operation reuses the electric stator winding of the electric machine.

Each control member may comprise a first source of electrical energy and a second source of electrical energy, distinct from the first source of electrical energy. Thanks to the availability for the power supply of two different energy sources, any anomaly affecting one of the energy sources does not prevent the operation of the controller which can then be powered by the other source of electrical energy. This can guarantee a safer operation of the architecture.

One of the sources of electrical energy is for example formed using one or more batteries while the other source of electrical energy is obtained using a high or low voltage available in the architecture. For example, the second source of electrical energy comprises the electrical energy storage unit supplying the electric motor, and a DC / DC voltage converter making it possible to adapt the value of the voltage across the terminals of this storage unit. electrical energy to a value compatible with the power supply of a control member. These include a reversible DC / DC voltage converter, for example as described in the application filed in France on September 28, 2012 under number 12 59180. The first source of voltage is for example a low voltage source, such as the electrical energy source of the on-board network when the architecture is embedded on a vehicle. If necessary, a DC / DC voltage converter can lower the value of the voltage supplied by this low voltage source. The low voltage source supplies, for example, all the control elements. When a DC / DC voltage converter is used to lower the value of the voltage supplied by this low voltage source, there may be as many such converters as there are control members. The first and second sources above are for example common to all control members.

Each control member may comprise at least one of:

a digital processing unit configured to communicate with the remote control unit,

a device for measuring at least one electrical quantity in the H-bridge, in particular a voltage or a current, and

- a device for measuring the temperature in the H-bridge.

The digital processing unit is for example configured to exploit the temperature measurements and / or electrical quantities in the H-bridge. If necessary, these measurements thus exploited are transmitted to the remote control unit, so that that the latter can generate instructions which, once received and processed by each control member, allow the latter to control the switches of the H bridge to which it is dedicated.

These measurements can make it possible to detect the occurrence of one or more anomalies in each compartment of the architecture and the instructions developed on the basis of these measurements make it possible to comply with the aforementioned constraints in terms of security. These setpoints are, for example, duty cycle values to be applied to the controllable switches of the switching cells.

Prior to the detection of one or more anomalies in the architecture, a first control mode can be applied to the switching cells and, due to the detection of the anomaly or anomalies, a second control mode can be developed and be then applied to all or part of the switching cells to meet the security requirements above. The second control mode can be generic, the same set being applied as soon as an anomaly is detected in the architecture, regardless of the nature of this anomaly.

Alternatively, the second control mode can be adapted to the detected anomaly, that is to say that the instructions applied may differ depending on the nature of the detected anomaly and / or according to their number. Each control member of an H bridge of the DC / AC voltage converter can communicate with the other control elements of the other H-bridges of said

converter.

The digital processing unit of each control member may be configured to communicate with a digital processing unit of the remote control unit via a common link to the control members and passing through said potential barrier.

One of the digital processing units of the control members is preferably master of this communication, the digital processing unit of the remote control unit and the other digital processing units of the other control members then being slaves. For the purposes of this application, a processing unit is master when it initiates the triggering of communication via the link.

If necessary, if the digital processing unit of a controller that is master undergoes an anomaly, another among the processing units of the other control members becomes master in its place.

Thanks to the fact that the communication between the low-voltage environment in which the remote control unit is located and the high-voltage environment in which the DC / AC voltage converter is located is carried out at the initiative of the control members. H-bridges, in the event of failure or malfunction at the remote control unit or any other component in the low-voltage environment, H-bridge controls may continue to operate and control switching of the DC / AC voltage converter by applying a mode of operation not requiring interaction with the remote control unit.

The aforementioned partitioning of the architecture also makes it possible to overcome to a certain extent anomalies occurring on components of the high-voltage environment. The control of each H-bridge may be independent of the control of the other H-bridges of the architecture.

The link allowing the communication between the remote control unit and the control devices of the DC / AC voltage converter may be a synchronous full duplex serial link. It can be a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) type link. The potential barrier can be traversed by the link.

If necessary, a single potential barrier can be interposed between the remote control unit and the control members of the H bridges of the converter.

Each switching cell can be realized using a bidirectional current switch, for example a field effect transistor or an IGBT type transistor with an antiparallel mounted diode. According to a first example of implementation of the invention, the architecture is devoid of a DC / DC voltage converter interposed between the electrical energy storage unit and the DC / AC voltage converter, so that the Continuous interface of this DC / AC voltage converter can be connected to the terminals of the electrical energy storage unit.

The digital processing units of the control members may be programmable logic circuits (FPGAs in English) and the digital processing unit of the remote control unit may be a microcontroller.

When the digital processing units of the control members are programmable logic circuits (FPGAs) and the remote control unit uses a microcontroller, the architecture then uses three FPGAs and a microcontroller to perform the entire command switching cells of the converter.

As a variant, according to a second example of implementation of the invention, the architecture may comprise a DC / DC voltage converter comprising a high voltage interface and a low voltage interface, one of the high voltage interface and the low voltage interface being connected to the DC / AC voltage converter.

According to this second example of implementation of the invention, the DC / DC voltage converter may comprise several intertwined branches, each branch comprising:

an arm extending between two terminals defining the low-voltage interface, said arm comprising two controllable switching cells, in series and separated by a mid-point,

a coil having one end connected to the midpoint of the branch and the other end connected to the positive terminal of the high voltage interface.

This embodiment in several branches interleaved DC / DC voltage converter can better distribute the power between the different branches, and thus extend the life of the switching cells of this converter.

The switching cells of the DC / DC voltage converter can be obtained or not by means of bidirectional current switches. These switching cells are for example identical to those of the DC / AC voltage converter.

The DC / DC voltage converter may comprise an even number of branches, and the branches may be paired, the coil of one branch of a pair being magnetically coupled with the coil of the other branch of said pair.

According to a first sub-mode of this second exemplary implementation of the invention, the architecture may comprise, for each pair of branches, a control member adapted to control all the switching cells of said pair of branches. According to this sub-mode, the DC / DC voltage converter and its control are compartmentalized and there is a certain independence from one compartment to another. Each compartment comprises a pair of branches and the associated control member. In this way, any anomaly in one compartment does not affect the other compartments.

Still according to this sub-mode, each control member of a pair of branches of the DC / DC voltage converter may comprise a first source of electrical energy and a second source of electrical energy distinct from the first source of electrical energy. . As mentioned above in connection with the power supply of the control member dedicated to an H bridge, this dual power supply available reduces the risk of a power supply fault of the controller.

Still according to this sub-mode, each control member of a pair of branches of the DC / DC voltage converter may comprise at least one of:

a device for measuring at least one electrical quantity in the pair of branches, and

a device for measuring the temperature in the pair of branches.

The double power supply available can thus ensure that these measurements and treatments will be carried out when needed.

The above measurements can be used to detect the occurrence of one or more anomalies in the pair of branches while a first control mode of the switching cells of the DC / DC voltage converter is applied. When this anomaly is detected, a second control mode can be developed and applied to all or part of the switching cells of said converter, similar to what has already been discussed in connection with the DC / AC voltage converter.

If applicable, the second command mode and the first command mode

apply to both:

all or part of the switching cells of the DC / AC voltage converter, and

to all or part of the switching cells of the DC / DC voltage converter. Each control member of a pair of branches may comprise a digital processing unit configured to communicate with the digital processing unit of the remote control unit and this communication can be done via the link above which is then common :

to the control elements of the switching cells of the H bridges of the DC / AC voltage converter, and to the control elements of the switching cells of the branch pairs of the DC / DC voltage converter,

said link crossing said potential barrier.

At least one of the digital processing units of a controller is preferably master for this communication.

As already explained above, the master operation of a digital processing unit assigned to the control of switching cells of the high voltage environment reduces the consequences for the anomaly converters (s) occurring in the low voltage environment.

When these digital processing units of the control members are FPGAs and the remote control unit uses a microcontroller, the architecture then uses six FPGAs and a microcontroller to perform all the control of the switching cells of the converters.

Still according to this sub-mode, the number of branches of the voltage converter

continuous / continuous can be equal to the number of arms of the DC / AC voltage converter and the architecture then comprises as many control members driving the switching cells of the DC / AC voltage converter as control members driving the cells switching of the DC / DC voltage converter.

According to a second sub-mode of the second exemplary implementation of the invention, the number of branches of the DC / DC voltage converter is equal to the number of arms of the DC / AC voltage converter, and each control member dedicated to an H bridge also drives all the switching cells of a pair of branches of the DC / DC voltage converter.

According to this second sub-mode, the control members play both the role of the control members of the architecture devoid of DC / DC voltage converter according to the first embodiment of the invention and the role of the components. control of the branch pair switching cells of the architecture according to the first sub-mode of the second exemplary implementation of the invention which has just been described.

The digital processing units of the control members may be programmable logic circuits (FPGAs in English) and the digital processing unit of the remote control unit may be a microcontroller. When each control unit comprises a processing unit being an FPGA and the remote control unit uses a microcontroller, the architecture uses three FPGAs and a microcontroller to perform all the control of the switching cells of the converters, either as many processing components as in the absence of DC / DC voltage converter, although the latter is present. According to this second sub-mode, there is a more efficient architecture with a smaller footprint and a lower cost.

According to one or other of these sub-modes, the DC / AC voltage converter may comprise six arms and the DC / DC voltage converter may comprise six branches.

According to another example of implementation of the invention, the architecture is devoid of DC / AC voltage converter, the DC / DC voltage converter being interposed between a connector adapted to be connected to an electrical network and the unit. electrical energy storage, and each pair of branches of the DC / DC voltage converter is associated with a control member dedicated to this pair and for controlling all the switching cells of this pair.

In all the foregoing, the architecture may comprise a single microcontroller, the latter being part of the remote control unit, and several FPGAs, in particular three or six, the latter forming the digital processing units of the bridge control members. in H.

In all of the above, a rotor position sensor of the electric machine and / or a temperature sensor in the electric motor, for example the stator temperature, can be arranged in the low-voltage environment and interact directly with the machine. remote control unit, without the intermediary of components of the high-voltage environment. A single position sensor can thus interact with the remote control unit, the latter using in particular a microcontroller, as mentioned above.

According to another of its aspects, the subject of the invention is also an architecture as defined above, furthermore comprising:

an electrical energy storage unit having at its terminals a DC voltage, connected directly or indirectly to the DC / DC voltage converter, and

a polyphase stator electrical winding, each electrical phase of the stator being connected between two mid-points of an H-bridge.

The architecture may comprise a power supply line capable of being connected via a connector to an external electrical network, the supply line comprising a number of conductors equal to the number of phases of the stator electrical winding and each conductor having a end connected to an intermediate point of a phase of the electric stator winding. The intermediate point of said phase may be a midpoint. The electricity grid can be an industrial grid managed by an operator. This is for example an electrical network providing a voltage at a frequency of 50 Hz or 60 Hz.

It may be a single-phase network providing a voltage of between 120 V and 240 V or a polyphase network, for example three-phase, especially a three-phase network providing a voltage between 208 V and 416 V.

The invention further relates, in another of its aspects, to a control method of the above architecture, in which:

it is detected that at least one anomaly occurs in the architecture while a first control mode is applied to the switching cells, and

a second control mode is developed when this anomaly is detected, this

second control mode is then applied to all or part of the switching cells.

When the first control mode allows power supply from the electrical energy storage unit of the stator electrical winding and the latter is polyphase, the second control mode can make it possible to short-circuit all or part of the electrical phases of said winding, particularly in the event of an anomaly in the low-voltage environment or in the event of an anomaly on the link allowing communication with the remote control unit. When the anomaly relates only to the control of a phase of the stator electrical winding, that is to say on the H-bridge dedicated to said phase or on the control member of the switching cells of said bridge, the second control mode can be used to short-circuit the other electrical phases of the stator electrical winding or temporarily remove the electrical phase in question. This temporary suppression of an electrical phase notably consists in stopping powering the control member associated with said phase and / or the switching cells of the H bridge dedicated to said phase. When the first control mode allows the charging of the electrical energy storage unit from the electrical network through, inter alia, the electric winding of the stator, the second control mode can be used to interrupt the charging or can allow that the load is performed with reduced performance.

In particular, the load is interrupted by opening one or more relays interposed between the electrical network and the DC / AC voltage converter.

In particular, a charge is performed with reduced performance by imposing, according to the second control mode, a setpoint value for the current in the electric energy storage unit that is lower than the setpoint value for said current according to the first mode of ordered. The invention will be better understood on reading the following description of non-limiting examples of implementation thereof and on examining the appended drawing in which:

FIG. 1 partially represents an electrical architecture according to a first example of implementation of the invention,

FIG. 2 is a functional representation of the architecture according to the first embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 3 is a functional representation of the digital processing unit of a control unit dedicated to an H bridge of the DC / AC voltage converter of the architecture of FIG. 1,

FIGS. 4 and 5 are representations in the form of block diagrams of scenarios producing when an anomaly occurs in the architecture according to this first example of implementation of the invention,

FIG. 6 partially represents an electrical architecture according to a first sub-mode of a second exemplary implementation of the invention,

FIG. 7 is a functional representation of the digital processing unit of a control member dedicated to a pair of branches of the DC / DC voltage converter of the architecture of FIG. 6,

FIG. 8 partially represents an electrical architecture according to a second sub-mode of the second exemplary implementation of the invention,

FIG. 9 is a functional representation of the architecture according to the second sub-mode of the second exemplary implementation of the invention, and

Figure 10 shows schematically an example of dual power supply of a controller.

There is shown in Figure 1 an electrical architecture 1 according to an exemplary implementation of the invention. The electrical architecture 1 comprises:

a DC / AC voltage converter 2,

an electrical energy storage unit 3, and

- An electric winding 4 of a stator of an electric machine.

The DC / AC voltage converter 2 is in this example disposed between the electric energy storage unit 3 and the electric winding 4 so as to allow an exchange of electrical energy between the latter.

The electric machine is in the example considered used to drive a hybrid or electric vehicle. This is for example a synchronous motor with permanent magnets. The electric machine has for example a nominal power of between 10W and 10 MW, being in particular between 100W and 200kW. In this example, the stator winding 4 is three-phase.

The electrical energy storage unit 3 may be a battery, a super-capacitor or any assembly of batteries or supercapacitors. This is for example several parallel branches of batteries in series. The electrical energy storage unit 3 may have a nominal voltage of between 60 V and 800 V, in particular between 200 V and 450 V or between 600 V and 800 V.

A capacitor 6 can be connected in parallel with the electric energy storage unit 3.

As represented in FIG. 1, the architecture 1 may comprise a connector 7 capable of being connected to an industrial electrical network delivering a voltage at 50 Hz or 60 Hz.

This connector 7 is for example connected, via a filter 9 configured to eliminate electromagnetic interference, at an intermediate point of each phase 10 of the electric winding 4 of the stator. This is for example a midpoint for the phases, as taught in the application WO 2010/057893.

In this example, the converter 2 converts the DC voltage across the electrical energy storage unit 3 into a three-phase alternating voltage supplying the stator electrical winding 4 to allow the vehicle to be propelled.

Conversely, the converter 2 can convert the AC voltage supplied by the network and passing through the electrical winding 4 of the stator into a DC voltage supplying the electric energy storage unit 3, to allow charging thereof. The connector 7 is then connected to a terminal of the electrical network.

The converter 2 here comprises three H-bridges 11, each H-bridge being formed by two arms connected in parallel between the terminals of the electrical energy storage unit 3. Each arm has in this example two reversible switching cells 12. and mounted in series. A switching cell 12 is for example formed by the antiparallel assembly of a transistor and a diode, the latter being, if appropriate, the intrinsic diode of the transistor. The transistor can be field effect, IGBT or bipolar type.

Each H-bridge 11 is associated with a control member 13 controlling the operation of all the switching cells 12 of the bridge 11. In the case where each switching cell 12 comprises a transistor, this control member 13 injects the grid current. or base for changing the state of the transistor.

The architecture 1 comprises, as shown in FIG. 2, a remote control unit

14 exchanging data with each control member 13 via a link 19 which can be a full duplex synchronous serial link, for example SPI. This data exchange can be done in the example of FIGS. 1 and 2 through a single potential barrier crossed by the This potential barrier 15 provides, for example, a galvanic isolation, notably implementing a transformer or opto-coupler. This barrier separates

the low-voltage environment to which belongs the remote control unit 14 of

the high-voltage environment to which the control members 13 belong, the DC / AC voltage converter 2, the electrical energy storage unit 3 and the stator electrical winding 4.

The remote control unit 14 may comprise one or more processing systems, for example one or more microcontrollers 16. The remote control unit 14 may

communicating with a supervisor via a CAN link 17. In an application to a vehicle, the supervisor may be the engine control unit (ECU) of the vehicle. The control unit 14 can be in charge of developing the setpoint values for the current in each arm of the bridge 11 and for the voltage across the arms of the bridge 11.

In the context of the communication via the link 19, one of the control members 13 can be master, as will be seen later, that is to say that the communication via this link 19 is managed by this organ 13. Where appropriate, the remote control unit 14 is associated with measuring devices for measuring the temperature in the stator of the electric machine and measuring devices for determining the position of the rotor of the machine. electric.

We will now describe with reference to Figure 2 each control member 13 in more detail. Each control member 13 is here identical from one H bridge to the other.

Each control member 13 comprises a digital processing unit 20 arranged to receive information on the state of the associated H 11 bridge, and to generate control signals for controlling the switching cells 12 of the bridge 11, where appropriate on the setpoint base received from the remote control unit 14.

The processing unit 20 may be a programmable logic circuit (FPGA). In this case, and when the processing by the remote control unit 14 implements a

microcontroller, the communication via the link 19 is between the FPGA 20 and the microcontroller 16. The FPGA 20 can be master and the microcontroller can be slave.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control signals for controlling the switching cells 12 of the bridge 11 can be generated by a functional block 21 of the processing unit 20, this functional block 21 cooperating with another block 22 in charge of different strategies to apply in case of anomaly (s) in the bridge 11.

The control member 13 also comprises, in the example in question, means for establishing a diagnosis of the state of the bridge 11. These means make it possible, for example, to measure the voltage at the terminals of an arm of the bridge 11, the current in an arm of the bridge 11, for example by means of a shunt, or the temperature at a point situated between the two arms of the bridge 11.

The values measured by these means are then transmitted to the processing unit 20. If necessary, these values can be analyzed by the processing unit 20 autonomously and this can generate the control signals to drive the cells. In a variant, these values are sent to the remote control unit 14 via the link 19, so that the latter generates the instructions which will then be used by the processing unit 20 to generating the control signals driving the switching cells 12.

The control member 13 comprises in the example considered a double supply of electrical energy, as can be seen in FIG. 10. This dual supply is formed by a first source 200 and a second source 201.

The first source 200 is for example the source of electrical energy of the on-board network, the latter thus delivering a low voltage, for example of the order of 12 V. Each first source 200 of a control member 13 may be a source common to the control members, this common source being in particular as mentioned above the source of electrical energy of the vehicle edge network.

Where appropriate, a DC / DC voltage converter may be interposed between the electrical power source of the on-board electrical system and each control member 13 to enable the value of the voltage supplied by the electrical power source of the network. For example, it is preferable to electrically power each control member 13 with a voltage of less than 12 V, for example 6 V or less.

This first source of electrical power 200 can make it possible to supply the various components of the control member 13 and it can be provided with means enabling it to be activated, kept in service, and interrupted when it is no longer necessary for it to work or for security reasons.

The second source 201 uses in this example a high voltage source already available, forming part of the architecture 1 or being accessible from it.

In the example considered, the second source 201 uses the voltage supplied by the electrical energy storage unit 3. A DC / DC voltage converter, for example that described in the application filed in France on September 28, 2012 under the No. 12 59180 may make it possible to transform the voltage at the terminals of the electrical energy storage unit 3 into a low voltage compatible with the power supply of the control member 13.

FIG. 3 is a functional representation of the processing unit 20 of FIG. 2. This unit 20 comprises: a module 30 forming a phase locked loop receiving a clock signal from the microcontroller 16, the clock frequency being for example 10 MHz, a half duplex module 31 responsible for sending and receiving data via the link 19,

a plurality of analog / digital converters 33 connected to the measuring means mentioned above. These converters 33 allow the acquisition of the analog values measured by these measurement means and their conversion.

analog / digital,

a module 34 generating cyclic report values for the voltage supplying the drivers of the switching cells; a module 35 generating the duty cycle values that will be applied to the switching cells 12 of the bridge 11 to drive the latter, so as to control the operation of the DC / AC voltage converter 2 when the architecture 1 is used to propel the vehicle, a module 36 receiving as inputs the digital measurements provided by the measuring means described above, so as to perform a diagnosis of the state of the bridge in H

H

a module 37 generating the duty cycle values that will be applied to the switching cells 12 of the bridge 11 to drive the latter, so as to control the operation of the DC / AC voltage converter 2 when the architecture 1 is used to load the electrical energy storage unit 3],

optionally, a digital-to-analog converter 38 having a four-channel output,

optionally, a visual module 39, testifying to the activity of the processing unit 20, and

a module 40 for storage and calculation.

The interaction between the various modules above will now be described. The

information received by the analog / digital converters 33 are sent by the module 31 to the remote control unit 14 after passing through the module 40. The remote control unit 14 generates, based on at least this information, instructions transmitted via the link 19 to the module 31 and then transmitted to the modules 34 and 35 after passing through the module 40.

The information from the module 36 in charge of establishing a diagnosis on the state of the bridge 11 is transmitted to the modules 35 and 37 as well as to the remote control unit 14 via the modules 40 and 31. The case appropriate, this information shall be taken into account by the remote control 14 to generate the instructions which are then transmitted to the modules 34 and 35, as explained above.

FIGS. 4 and 5 will now describe examples of second control mode of the DC / AC voltage converter 2 by the various control members 13 when an anomaly is detected in the architecture whereas a first mode of command was applied.

FIG. 4 corresponds to the case where an anomaly is detected in the architecture 1 while the converter 2 operates as an inverter for supplying the stator electrical winding 4 from the electrical energy storage unit 3, so as to propel the vehicle.

Column 40 corresponds to the anomalies that may occur in the architecture in the case considered, while control 41 indicates how this anomaly is detected, that column 42 indicates the configuration taken by the converter 2 due to the application of the second control mode by the switching cells 12, and that the column 43 indicates the state of the propulsion of the vehicle due to the application of this second control mode. Blocks 50 and 51 respectively correspond to:

a loss of control of a component in the low-voltage environment, for example of the remote control unit 14, and

an anomaly on a passive power component, for example the capacitor 6. These anomalies are detected according to 52 by the microcontroller 16 of the remote control unit 14 and / or by the FPGA 20. For safety reasons, a second mode control is developed and applied to the switching cells 12 and this second control mode is such that the converter 2 takes a configuration according to 53 in which the three phases of the electric winding 4 of the stator are short-circuited.

As a result, the engine torque becomes zero, so that the vehicle is no longer propelled by the electric motor and that it decelerates slowly, according to 54. The block 55 corresponds to the case of an anomaly occurring at the link 19. This anomaly is detected according to 56 by the FPGA 20. The second control mode is developed by the control members 13 and applied to the switching cells 12, so as to then cause the passage of the

converter 2 in the same configuration as according to 53, so that one finds oneself in the state corresponding to block 54.

The block 58 corresponds to a loss of control of a component of the high-voltage environment, for example at the level of the drivers of the switching cells 12 of a bridge 11. This anomaly is detected according to 59 by the remote control unit 14 and / or the FPGA 20. The second control mode is then developed by the remote control unit 14 and / or the FPGA 20 and then applied to the switching cells 12. This second control mode is such when it is applied, the converter 2 takes a configuration according to 60 in which two phases of the stator winding 4 are short-circuited.

As a result, the engine torque becomes zero, so that the vehicle is no longer propelled by the electric motor and it decelerates slowly, always according to 54.

Alternatively, when the remote control unit 14 or the FPGA 20 detects an abnormality according to 59, the second developed control mode may be such that, when applied to the switching cells 12, the converter 2 takes a configuration 61 in which a bridge 11 is in open circuit, so that only two phases of the electric winding 4 of the stator are still used. Only two H 11 bridges are then active. As a result,

The performance of the electric motor is reduced, that is to say that the maximum power that can provide the engine is reduced, the latter being found in the state according to 62.

Block 63 corresponds to an anomaly occurring on an active power component of an H-bridge. This anomaly is detected according to 59 by the remote control unit 14 and / or by the FPGA 20, so that the converter can then find yourself in the configuration according to 60 or 61.

In summary, the DC / AC voltage converter 2 can assume the configuration according to 53 when at least one of the following anomalies is detected:

loss or degradation of communication with the supervisor, the CAN link, ie an anomaly in the low-voltage environment,

loss or degradation of the SPI link 19 or in one of the modules 31 of the FPGAs 20, loss or degradation of the microcontroller 16 of the remote control unit 14, loss or degradation of the supply of this microcontroller 16,

degradation of the power supply of a rotor position sensor of the electric machine, this sensor interacting with the remote control unit 14, or loss or degradation of the position measurement provided by this sensor,

loss or degradation of an emergency stop program of the electric motor, major fault in the electric motor,

loss of the EMC filter 9 or an EMC filter disposed between the HV battery and the inverter, loss of the capacitor 6,

loss or degradation of the power supply of the processing units 20 of the control members 13,

loss or degradation of a signal guaranteeing the good disconnection of a power connector interposed between the electrical energy storage unit 3 and the DC / AC voltage converter 2. The configurations 60 or 61 can be reached when one or more anomalies occur within a single compartment of the architecture 1, that is to say in the example considered within a single controller 13 or within a single H 11 bridge.

This anomaly is at least one of:

a loss or an error in the chain of measurement of the current in the bridge 11 and / or in the voltage measurement chain in the bridge 11,

a loss of connection of the bridge 11 to the electric winding 4 of the stator,

a loss or a degradation of the processing unit 20 of the control member 13, a loss or a degradation of the drivers associated with each switching cell 12 and transmitting thereto the instructions from the processing unit 20 ,

loss or degradation of the power supply of the processing units 20 of the control members 13.

FIG. 5 corresponds to the case where an anomaly is detected in the architecture 1 while the converter 2 operates as a rectifier to charge the electrical energy storage unit 3 from the electrical network through the stator electrical winding 4 and a first control mode is applied to the switching cells 12.

The same anomalies in blocks 50, 51, 55, 58 and 63 may occur and be detected by the remote control unit 14 or the FPGA 20 in block 65.

Two second alternative control modes can then be developed and applied by the switching cells 12 of the bridges 11 of the converter 2 in this case.

One of these second control modes causes the converter 2 to pass in a configuration according to 67 in which the control of the switching cells 12 is interrupted because of the power supply of the control elements 13 being stopped, this configuration corresponds to a state 68 of the architecture 1 in which no load of the electrical energy storage unit by the power grid occurs.

The other second control mode causes the converter 2 to pass through a configuration according to 69 in which a degraded charge occurs. This degraded charge corresponds, for example, to a load with a reduced setpoint value for the current in the electrical energy storage unit 3. The architecture 1 is then in a state 66 in which the load of the storage unit electrical energy 3 is performed in smaller performances, the charging time being notably higher.

The analysis or diagnosis of the state of the bridge 11 as well as the determination of the strategy to be applied depending on whether anomalies are detected in this bridge 11 can thus be carried out by the treatment unit 20 of the bridge in question, if applicable using information transmitted by the link 19 from the remote control unit 14. In the example just described, the architecture 1 is devoid of DC / DC voltage converter interposed between the converter 2 and the electrical energy storage unit 3, so that the voltage on the interface continuous converter 2 is substantially equal to that at the terminals of the electrical energy storage unit 3. The invention is however not limited as will now be seen.

FIG. 6 represents an architecture 1 according to a second exemplary implementation of the invention. This architecture 1 differs from that just described with reference to Figures 1 to 5 in that it further comprises a DC / DC voltage converter 70 interposed between the capacitor 6 and the energy storage unit electrical 3, that is to say that the converter 70 is also disposed between said unit 3 and the DC / AC voltage converter 2.

The DC / DC voltage converter 70 makes it possible to adapt the value of the voltage at the terminals of the electrical energy storage unit 3 to the value of the voltage able to feed the stator electrical winding 4, and vice versa. This converter 70 is here interlaced, comprising several branches. Each branch includes in this example:

an arm connected in parallel with the capacitor 6 and comprising two commutation cells 71 in series controllable and separated by a midpoint 73,

a coil 74 having one end connected to the midpoint 73 of the arm and the other end connected to the positive high voltage terminal of the electric energy storage unit 3.

In the example considered, the number of branches of the converter 70 is equal to the number of arms of the converter 3, that is to say six, and the branches are matched, the coil 74 of a branch of a pair 75 being in magnetic coupling with the coil 74 of the other branch of said pair 75.

In this example, each pair of branches 75 is associated with a controller not shown in this figure and in charge of controlling all the switching cells 71 of this pair 75. Each control member is dedicated to a pair 75 of branches and it may be at any point or not identical to a control member 13 of a bridge 11 of the converter 2 described above. Each control member dedicated to a pair of branches 75 comprises in particular a digital processing unit 77, close to or identical to the digital processing unit 20 previously described.

This processing unit 77 is for example made using an FPGA and it can differ from that described with reference to FIG. 3 only by the absence of the module 37. Each processing unit 77 then communicates with the remote control unit 14 via the link 19, the latter being shared with the processing units 20 of the control members 13. The link 19 comprises for example several son and one is assigned to the exchange of data between the units 20 and the remote control unit 14 while another wire is assigned to the data exchange between the processing units 77 and the remote control unit 14.

Similar to what has been described above, when each processing unit 20 and each processing unit 77 are made using FPGAs and the processing by the remote control unit 14 implements a microcontroller, the communication via the link 19 is between the FPGA and the microcontroller 16, and one of the FPGA is master.

In the example of FIG. 6, the architecture 1 comprises six control members, namely: three control members 13, each being dedicated to an H 11 bridge of the DC / AC voltage converter 2, and

three control members, each being dedicated to a pair 75 of branches of the

DC / DC voltage converter 70.

In this architecture, there are thus three processing units 20 and three processing units 77, ie six FPGAs, when each processing unit 20 or 77 is produced using an FPGA. The presence of a dedicated control member for each pair 75 of branches of the converter 70 can make it possible to remedy the following anomalies occurring within said pair 75 or within the control member of said pair 75:

a loss or error in the current measurement chain in the pair 75 or in the voltage measurement chain in the pair 75,

a loss or a degradation of the processing unit 77 of the control member of the pair 75,

a loss or a degradation of the drivers associated with each switching cell 71 and transmitting thereto the instructions coming from the processing unit 77,

loss of the auxiliary power source of the control member of said pair 75 when it uses the electric energy storage unit 3.

With reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, an architecture 1 differing from that just described will be described by the fact that instead of having:

a control member 13 dedicated to each H 11 bridge of the DC / AC voltage converter 2, and

a control member dedicated to each pair of branches 75 of the DC / DC voltage converter 70,

that is to say six control units in total, the architecture 1 comprises only three.

As represented in FIG. 8, according to this exemplary implementation, a control member 13, in addition to driving the switching cells 12 of an H bridge 11 of the DC / AC voltage converter 2, also drives the cells 71 of a pair 75 of branches of the DC / DC voltage converter 70. The The treatment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 then also play the role of the treatment units 77 described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIG. 9 is a representation similar to that of FIG. 2 for the architecture of FIG. 8. As can be seen, each processing unit 20 is functionally split in two, a first part 80 being assigned to the control of the cells of FIG. switching 12 of an H bridge 11 of the DC / DC voltage converter 2, this part 80 performing the tasks of the processing unit 20 described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 while a second part 81 is assigned to the control switching cells 71 of a pair 75 of branches of the DC / DC voltage converter 70, this portion 81 performing the tasks of the processing unit 77 described with reference to Figures 6 and 7.

In this example, link 19 makes it possible to convey between the remote control unit 14 and the control members 12 both data related to the control of the switching cells 71 of the DC / DC voltage converter 70, and data related to FIG. control of the switching cells 12 of the DC / AC voltage converter 2. A wire 82 of the link 19 is for example dedicated to the exchange of data between the remote control unit 14 and the first parts 80 while another wire 84 is dedicated to the exchange of data between the remote control unit 14 and the second parts 81.

Two separate insulators 18 providing the potential barrier 15 between the remote control unit and the converters 2 and 70 may each be traversed by one of the son 82 or 84. Alternatively, a single multichannel isolator 18 traversed by the son 82 and 84 can be used.

When the data processing from the converters 2 and 70 by the remote control unit 14 implements a microcontroller and each control member 13 comprises an FPGA, the architecture 1 according to Figures 8 and 9 has the advantages mentioned herein. above in terms of security while using only four digital processing elements. The invention is not limited to the examples which have just been described.

The expression "comprising one" shall be understood as meaning "comprising at least one", except when the opposite is specified.

Claims

claims

An electrical architecture (1) for converting a DC voltage to an AC voltage, and vice versa, comprising:

- a DC / AC voltage converter (2), comprising a plurality of arms connected in parallel, each arm comprising two switching cells (12) controllable, in series and separated by a midpoint, the arms being paired according to bridges in H (11),

for each H-bridge (11), a dedicated control member (13), so that all the switching cells (12) of said H-bridge (11) are controllable by said control member (13), each member control unit (13) for communicating with the same remote control unit (14) through a potential barrier (15).

2. Architecture according to claim 1, each control member (13) comprising a first source of electrical energy and a second source of electrical energy, distinct from the first source of electrical energy.

3. Architecture according to one of the preceding claims, each control member (13) having at least one of:

a digital processing unit (20) configured to communicate with the remote control unit (14),

a device for measuring at least one electrical quantity in the H bridge, and

- a device for measuring the temperature in the H-bridge.

An architecture according to claim 3, each controller (13) comprising a digital processing unit (20) configured to communicate with a digital processing unit (16) of the remote control unit (14) via a link ( 19) common to the control members (13) and passing through said potential barrier (15), one of the digital processing units (20) of a control member (13) being master for this communication.

5. Architecture according to any one of the preceding claims, each control member (13) being configured to communicate with the other control members (13).

An architecture according to any one of the preceding claims comprising a DC / DC voltage converter (70) comprising a high voltage interface and a low voltage interface, one of the high voltage interface and the low voltage interface. being connected to the DC / AC voltage converter (2).

An architecture according to claim 6, the DC / DC voltage converter (70) comprising a plurality of interleaved branches, each branch comprising:

an arm extending between two terminals defining the low-voltage interface and comprising two controllable switching cells (71), in series and separated by a mid-point (73), a coil (74) having one end connected to the midpoint of the branch and the other end connected to the positive terminal of the high voltage interface.

8. Architecture according to claim 7, the DC / DC voltage converter (70) comprising an even number of branches, and the branches being matched, the coil (74) of a branch of a pair (75) being in coupling magnet with the coil (74) of the other branch of said pair (75).

9. Architecture according to claim 8, comprising for each pair (75) of branches a control member adapted to control all the switching cells (71) of said pair (75) of branches.

10. Architecture according to claim 9, each control member of a pair (75) of branches of the DC / DC voltage converter (70) comprising a first source of electrical energy and a second source of electrical energy, distinct from the first source of electrical energy.

11. Architecture according to claim 10, each control member of a pair (75) of branches of the DC / DC voltage converter (70) comprising at least one of:

a digital processing unit (77) configured to communicate with the remote control unit (14),

a device for measuring at least one electrical quantity in the pair (75) of branches, and

a device for measuring the temperature in the pair (75) of branches.

The architecture according to claims 4 and 11, each control member of a pair (75) of branches comprising a digital processing unit (77) configured to communicate with the digital processing unit (16) of the communication unit. remote control (14) via a link (19) common to the control members (13) of the switching cells (12) of the H bridges (11) of the DC / AC voltage converter (2) and to the control members of the cells switching (71) a pair (75) of branches of the DC / DC voltage converter (70), said link (19) passing through said potential barrier (15), one of the digital processing units (20, 77) of a control member being master for this communication.

13. Architecture according to claim 11 or 12, the number of branches of the DC / DC voltage converter (70) being equal to the number of arms of the voltage converter.

DC / AC (2) and the architecture (1) comprising as many control members (13) driving the switching cells (12) of the DC / AC voltage converter (2) as control members driving the cells switching circuit (71) of the DC / DC voltage converter (70).

14. Architecture according to claim 8, the number of branches of the DC / DC voltage converter (70) being equal to the number of arms of the DC / AC voltage converter. (2), and each control member (13) dedicated to an H-bridge (11) also being able to drive all the switching cells (71) of a pair (75) of the arm of the DC / DC voltage converter (70).

15. Architecture according to claim 13 or 14, the DC / AC voltage converter (2) comprising six arms and the DC / DC voltage converter (70) comprising six branches.

Architecture (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising:

- an electrical energy storage unit (3) having at its terminals a DC voltage connected directly or indirectly to the DC voltage converter / alernative (2),

a stator electrical winding (4), each electrical phase of the stator being connected between two mid-points of an H-bridge (11), and

the remote control unit (14).

17. Architecture according to claim 16, comprising only one microcontroller, the latter being part of the remote control unit (14), and several programmable logic circuits (20) (FPGA), in particular three or six, the latter forming the digital processing units of the control members (13) of the H bridges (11).

18. The method of controlling the architecture (1) according to claim 16 or 17, wherein:

-on detects that at least one anomaly occurs in the architecture (1) while a first control mode is applied to the switching cells (12, 71), and

a second control mode is developed when this anomaly is detected, this second control mode then being applied to all or some of the switching cells (12, 71).

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first control mode allows, in particular corresponds to, the supply from the electrical energy storage unit (3) of the stator electrical winding (4), the latter being polyphase, and the second control mode applied makes it possible to put, in particular corresponds to the setting, short circuit all or part of the electrical phases of said winding (4).

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the first control mode allows, in particular corresponds to, the supply from the electrical energy storage unit (3) of the stator winding (4), the latter being polyphase, in which it is detected that the anomaly relates only to the control of a phase of the electric winding (4) of the stator, and in which the second control mode applied allows to put, in particular corresponds to the setting , in short circuit the other electrical phases of the stator electrical winding (4), or allows to temporarily remove, in particular corresponds to the temporary suppression of, the electrical phase in the control of which occurs the failure.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the first control mode allows, in particular corresponds to, the charge of the electrical energy storage unit (3) from a electrical network through among others the electric winding (4) of the stator, and wherein the second control mode applied allows to interrupt, in particular corresponds to the interruption of, said load or to reduce the, in particular corresponds to the reduction of its performance.