KR102071404B1 - Apparatus and Method for implementing fail safe in Battery Management System - Google Patents

Abstract

A fail safe device of a battery management system (BMS) according to the present invention includes a plurality of battery modules; A plurality of slave controllers that monitor respective battery modules with respect to the plurality of battery modules and periodically generate status signal information informing its status; A master controller which checks the status signal information and detects a failure situation of the corresponding slave controller; And a mux connecting the plurality of slave controllers and the master controller.

Description

Fail-safe device and method of BMS {Apparatus and Method for implementing fail safe in Battery Management System}

The present invention relates to a distributed battery management system, wherein in a daisy chain distributed battery management system, a slave controller that is incapable of communication is detected, and a slave controller capable of partial communication monitors battery status normally. A fail safe apparatus and method for BMS that can be performed.

The distributed battery management system monitors the voltage and temperature of the battery module using a master controller and / or a plurality of slave controllers, and performs a control function of the battery module such as cell balancing.

By daisy-chaining a plurality of slave controllers, hardware resources of the slave controllers installed for each battery module can be minimized. Therefore, except for the best slave controller, the other slave controllers only have a sensing IC disposed therein, and each slave IC can be connected in series to configure each slave controller.

A diagram showing this is shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1, the plurality of slave controllers 120 are connected to the sensing integrated circuits 123 in series so as to be connected in a daisy chain manner.

The sensing IC 123 is disposed inside the slave controller 120 to connect the slave controllers and to monitor the information of the battery module 130. Only the best slave controller is provided with a microcontroller 121 separately to communicate with the microcontroller 111 of the master controller 110.

The microcontroller 121 receives control information for controlling the slave controllers 120 from the master controller 110 and transmits battery monitoring information collected from the sensing ICs 123 to the master controller 110. Of course, the interface IC 122 is configured between the sensing IC 123 and the microcontroller 121.

In more detail, the master controller 110 transmits control information such as address and command information of the slave controller 120 to the microcontroller 121 of the uppermost slave controller 120.

The microcontroller 121 of the slave controller 120 sequentially transmits control information from the highest to the lowest IC. Thereafter, each sensing IC 123 senses information about the battery module in response to the control information transmitted from the microcontroller 121. The sensing information is transferred sequentially from the lowest IC to the highest IC. The microcontroller 121 of the uppermost slave controller 120 transmits information on the battery module 130 collected from the best sensing IC 123 to the master controller 110.

Through this structure, the slave controllers can be connected in a daisy chain manner to apply the microcontroller only to the highest slave controller, and the remaining slave controllers exclude hardware circuits for the microcontroller, thereby reducing the number of components and the hardware design burden. This lowered the manufacturing cost.

However, when a specific slave controller or a specific communication line is damaged by external noise or physical pressure during communication in a daisy chain method, there is a limit that prevents all slave controllers from sensing the battery module. do. In other words, if any one of the communication lines or the sensing IC fails, the entire communication is in an inoperable state since the communication becomes inoperable.

This problem occurs due to a characteristic of sequentially receiving data from a lower slave controller in a daisy chain structure and transmitting the data to a higher slave controller. In addition, when a failure occurs in any slave controller, it is difficult to detect in which slave controller a failure occurs because not all slave controllers communicate.

1. Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2013-0058373 2. Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2013-0081683 3. Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2013-0065351

The present invention has been proposed to solve the problem according to the above background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a fail safe apparatus and method of a BMS that makes it possible to detect a slave controller that is incapable of communication.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fail safe device and method for a BMS that enables a slave controller capable of some communication to monitor a battery state normally.

The present invention provides a fail safe device of a battery management system (BMS) which makes it possible to detect a slave controller that has become incapable of communication in order to achieve the above-mentioned problem.

The fail safe device of the BMS,

Three or more battery modules;

Three or more slave controllers for monitoring the respective battery modules for the three or more battery modules, and periodically generating status signal information indicating their status;

A master controller which checks the status signal information and detects a failure state of the slave controller; And

And a mux connecting the three or more slave control units and the master control unit, respectively, wherein the status signal information for each of the three or more battery modules is transmitted to the master control unit through the mux. do.

At this time, the highest slave controller of the plurality of slave controllers, the sensing unit for monitoring the information of the battery module and generates status signal information; A slave microcontroller for transmitting status signal information to the master controller; And an interface unit connecting the sensing unit and the microcontroller.

In addition, the other slave controllers may be characterized by having only a sensing unit.

The mux may be connected in parallel with the sensing units, and the slave microphone controller may be connected in series with the master microcontroller of the master controller.

In addition, the plurality of slave controllers may be connected in a daisy chain manner.

The plurality of slave controllers may include at least one of an external communication connection switching means for turning on or off a connection between the sensing units and an internal communication connection switching means for internal communication connection.

The communication line between the abnormal slave controller corresponding to the failure among the slave controllers and the upper slave controller immediately above the abnormal slave controller may be turned off, and the communication line in the upper slave controller may be turned on.

The slave microcontroller may be initialized as the communication line is reset to set register information.

On the other hand, another embodiment of the present invention, in the fail-safe method of the BMS having three or more slave controllers connected in a daisy chain method, and the master controller, corresponding to three or more battery modules Periodically generating status signal information indicating a status of each of the battery modules; Transmitting the state signal information for each of the three or more battery modules to the master controller through a mux connecting the three or more slave controllers and the master controller, respectively; And detecting, by the master controller, a failure situation of the corresponding slave controller by checking the status signal information. It can provide a fail safe method of the BMS comprising a.

On the other hand, another embodiment of the present invention, in the fail-safe method of BMS having three or more slave controllers connected in a daisy chain method, and a master controller, for three or more battery modules Periodically monitoring the corresponding battery modules and periodically generating status signal information indicating its status; Transmitting the state signal information for each of the three or more battery modules to the master controller through a mux connecting the three or more slave controllers and the master controller, respectively; Detecting, by the master controller, a failure situation of the corresponding slave controller by checking the status signal information; And turning off a communication line between an abnormal slave controller corresponding to a failure among the three or more slave controllers and an upper slave controller immediately above the abnormal slave controller and turning on a communication line in the upper slave controller. A fail safe method of BMS can be provided.

In this case, the fail safe method of the BMS may further include initializing as the communication line is reset and setting register information.

The plurality of slave controllers may be connected to the master controller using a mux.

According to the present invention, when the slave controller fails due to an external physical shock or noise, the slave controller having a failure can be detected.

In addition, another effect of the present invention is that the slave controller capable of some communication is normally operated to enable monitoring of the battery status information.

1 is a block diagram of a typical daisy chain type battery management system.
2 is a conceptual diagram of detecting a communication incapability state of a specific slave controller in a daisy chain type battery management system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram of a fail-safe device of the BMS according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram illustrating a concept of fail safe according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a state in which a slave controller in a normal state through fail safe resumes communication in FIG. 4.
6 is a flowchart illustrating a fail safe operation process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As the present invention allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the written description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, it should be understood to include all changes, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

In describing each drawing, like reference numerals are used for like elements.

Terms such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as the second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as the first component. The term “and / or” includes any combination of a plurality of related items or any of a plurality of related items.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art.

Terms such as those defined in the commonly used dictionaries should be construed as having meanings consistent with the meanings in the context of the related art and shall not be construed in ideal or excessively formal meanings unless expressly defined in this application. Should not.

Hereinafter, a fail safe apparatus and method for BMS according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a conceptual diagram of detecting a communication incapability state of a specific slave controller in a daisy chain type battery management system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, a fail safe device 200 of a battery management system (BMS) includes a plurality of slave controllers that periodically monitor corresponding battery modules for battery modules and periodically generate status signal information indicating their statuses. 230a to 230n), the master control unit 210 for detecting a failure state of the corresponding slave control unit by checking the state signal information, the mux 220 connecting the plurality of slave control units 230a to 230n and the master control unit 210, and the like. It is configured to include.

In addition, the master controller 210 includes a master microcontroller 211.

The digital input / output port is used to transmit a high signal (for example, 5V or 3.3V) from the highest slave controller 230a to the lowest slave controller 230n to the outside. The transmitted high signal is received by the master microcontrol 211 or interface IC (Integrated Circuit) of the master control unit 210 through the mux 220.

The microcontroller periodically checks the high signal and sends a low signal when the slave controller 230a to 230n loses its normal function due to a communication error or an IC burnout, and thus a fault condition such as a watch dog function. To be detected.

The detection of such a failure situation is as follows.

Case 1 241: Since the signals from the slave controllers 230a to 230n are all high, the signal is detected as a normal state.

Case 2 242: The n-1 th slave control unit 230n-1 is low because it is low, and the n-2 th slave control unit 230n-2 proceeds with a failure mode.

Case 3 (243): Since the signals from the second slave controller 230b and the n-th slave controller 230n are low, the master controller 210 only deals with the second slave controller 230b which is a lower slave controller. The failure mode is determined, and the failure mode is performed by the first slave controller 230a which is the highest slave controller.

In other words, when a fault occurs, the master microcontroller 211 determines whether there is a problem in the slave controller, and performs a fail safe function.

 3 is a block diagram of a fail-safe device of the BMS according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, a master microcontroller 211 is configured in the master controller 210. In addition, the highest slave controller 230a of the plurality of slave controllers 230a to 230n may include a sensing unit 333a that monitors information of the battery module 330a and generates status signal information, and transmits status signal information to the master controller ( And a slave microcontroller 331 transmitting to the 210, an interface unit 332 connecting the sensing unit 333a and the slave microcontroller 331.

The first slave controller 230a has a slave microcontroller 331 connected in series with the master microcontroller 211 of the master controller 210 as the highest slave controller, and the other slave controllers 230b to 230n are merely sensing units ( 333b to 333n) only.

Accordingly, the mux 220 is connected in parallel with the sensing units 333a to 333n, and the slave microphone controller 331 is connected in series with the master microcontroller 211 of the master controller 210.

In addition, the receiving means Rx and the transmitting means Tx for the communication line are configured between the components configured in the master control unit 210 and the slave control units 230a to 230n.

Accordingly, the first slave controller 230a at the top receives data (for example, command and / or address information) through the Rx communication line, and monitors the state of the battery modules 330a to 330n. It serves to transmit data to Tx communication line.

The first slave control unit 230a at the top serves to connect the Rx communication line and the Tx communication line in a daisy chain communication structure. However, if any of the slave controllers 230b to 230n fails to perform normal communication, the upper slave controller 230a cannot connect the Rx communication line and the Tx communication line, and the upper slave controller of the slave controller failing. Should connect Rx communication line and Tx communication line.

It is connected to the circuit of the slave controller by using switching means, and when a fault condition occurs, a specific slave controller is set to connect the Rx communication line and the Tx communication line, so that the upper slave controllers of the slave controller in fault state can communicate normally. Done. These showing figures are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

4 is a diagram illustrating a concept of fail safe according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, the slave controllers 230n-1, 230n-2, 230n-3 have external communication connection switching means 410 for turning on and / or off the connections between the sensing units 333n-1,333n-2,333n-3. ) And internal communication connection switching means 420 for internal communication connection are optionally configured.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a state in which a slave controller in a normal state through fail safe resumes communication in FIG. 4. Referring to FIG. 5, when a failure occurs in the n-th slave controller 230n-1, the n-2 slave controller 230n-2, which is an upper slave controller thereof, must connect the Rx communication line and the Tx communication line. do.

Accordingly, the n-2nd slave controller 230n-2 connects the Rx communication line and the Tx communication line by turning on the internal communication connection switching means 420 so that the communication line 510 is qualitatively. Let it work Accordingly, the first slave controller 230a to the n-th slave controller 230n-3 enable monitoring of the battery modules 330a to 330n-2.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a fail safe operation process according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6, when the slave controllers 230a to 230n periodically generate status signal information indicating their status and transmit the status signal information to the master controller 210, the master controller 210 checks the status signal information and checks the corresponding slave controller. Detects a failure situation (steps S600 and S610).

As a result of the detection, when an abnormal state is detected, the master controller 210 checks the positions of the abnormal slave controllers 230a to 230n and transmits a command to the upper slave controller directly of the abnormal slave controller. The communication line is switched off and the internal communication line is connected (steps S620, S630, S640, S650, S660). Here, the command is an on and / or off command of the communication line in a fault situation.

When the communication line is newly connected, the uppermost slave controller 230a initializes and resets the information, transmits a command according thereto, and sets register information (steps S670 and S680).

Accordingly, the highest slave controller 230a checks whether the upper slave controller of the abnormal slave controller normally performs sensing (step S690).

200: fail safe device
210: master control unit 211: master microcontroller
220: MUX
230a to 230n: slave controller
330a to 330n: battery module
331: slave microcontroller
332: interface unit
333a to 333n: sensing unit
410: switching means for external communication connection
420: switching means of internal communication connection
510: communication line

Claims (12)

Three or more battery modules;
Three or more slave controllers for monitoring the respective battery modules with respect to the three or more battery modules, and periodically generating status signal information informing its status;
A master controller for detecting a failure state of the slave controller by checking the status signal information; And
A mux connecting the three or more slave controllers and a master controller, respectively;
Including;
The status signal information of each of the three or more battery modules is fail safe device of a battery management system (BMS), characterized in that transmitted to the master control unit via the mux.
The method of claim 1,
The highest slave controller of the three or more slave controllers may include: a sensing unit configured to monitor information of a battery module and to generate status signal information; A slave microcontroller for transmitting status signal information to the master controller; And an interface unit connecting the sensing unit and the slave microcontroller, wherein the other slave control units have only the sensing unit.
The method of claim 2,
The mux is connected in parallel with the sensing unit, the fail-safe device of the BMS, characterized in that the slave microphone controller is connected in series with the master microcontroller of the master control unit.
The method of claim 1,
The three or more slave control units fail-safe device of the BMS, characterized in that connected in a daisy chain method.
The method of claim 2,
The three or more slave controllers may include at least one of an external communication connection switching means for turning on or off a connection between the sensing units and an internal communication connection switching means for internal communication connection. .
The method of claim 5, wherein
And a communication line between an abnormal slave controller corresponding to a fault among the slave controllers and an upper slave controller immediately above the abnormal slave controller is turned off, and a communication line in the upper slave controller is turned on.
The method of claim 6,
And the slave microcontroller is initialized as the communication line is reset to set register information.
In the fail-safe method of BMS having three or more slave controllers connected in a daisy chain manner and a master controller,
Periodically monitoring the corresponding battery modules for three or more battery modules and periodically generating status signal information indicating their status;
Transmitting the state signal information for each of the three or more battery modules to the master controller through a mux connecting the three or more slave controllers and the master controller, respectively; And
Detecting, by the master controller, a failure situation of the corresponding slave controller by checking the status signal information;
Fail-safe method of BMS comprising a.
In the fail-safe method of BMS having three or more slave controllers connected in a daisy chain manner and a master controller,
Periodically monitoring the corresponding battery modules for three or more battery modules and periodically generating status signal information indicating their status;
Transmitting the state signal information for each of the three or more battery modules to the master controller through a mux connecting the three or more slave controllers and the master controller, respectively;
Detecting, by the master controller, a failure situation of the corresponding slave controller by checking the status signal information; And
Turning off a communication line between an abnormal slave controller corresponding to a failure among the three or more slave controllers and an upper slave controller immediately above the abnormal slave controller and turning on a communication line in the upper slave controller;
Fail-safe method of BMS comprising a.
The method of claim 9,
And initializing as the communication line is reset and setting the register information.
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