KR20230013313A - User authentication method for electric vehicle charging system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a user authentication method for an electric vehicle charging system. The user authentication method for an electric vehicle charging system, according too the present invention, comprises the steps of: (a) receiving a user authentication request message and delivering the user authentication request message to a Message Handler; (b) delivering the user authentication request message to an Authorize OCPP Controller; (c) creating an AuthorizeRequest message and returning the AuthorizeRequest message to the Message Handler; (d) putting the AuthorizeRequest message into a Sending Queue and transmitting the AuthorizeRequest message to CSMS; (e) receiving an AuthorizeResponse message and delivering the AuthorizeResponse message to the Message Handler; (f) delivering the AuthorizeResponse message to the Authorize OCPP Controller; (g) analyzing the AuthorizeResponse message to check a user authentication result and returning the user authentication result to the Message Handler; and (h) putting the user authentication result into the Control Queue and transmitting a user authentication result message to a control module. Therefore, user authentication can be performed easily and efficiently.

Description

User authentication method for electric vehicle charging system}

The present invention discloses a user authentication method of an electric vehicle charging system based on an OCPP-based communication protocol.

Recently, as the problem of depletion of fossil fuels and air pollution due to excessive use have become serious, research and development on the use of renewable energy and eco-friendly transportation are being actively conducted.

Among the eco-friendly means of transportation, electric vehicles do not emit any air pollutants and do not cause noise pollution during operation, so automobile makers around the world are scrambling to launch them into the market. In addition, countries around the world are making efforts to develop and install electric vehicle charging systems for the spread and smooth use of these eco-friendly electric vehicles.

The domestic electric vehicle charging infrastructure is led by the Korea Environment Management Corporation, and in the private sector, Korea Electric Power Corporation, Korea Land and Housing Corporation, and POSCO ICT are leading. These entities use different communication protocols to manage chargers or charging systems depending on charger manufacturers or charging systems, and are operated without mutual compatibility or operability for each charger or charging system operation.

On the other hand, in recent years, as the supply of chargers has increased rapidly, internationally compatible standard protocols have been proposed for efficient management of chargers or charging systems. demand is on the rise.

For example, the Open Charge Alliance (OCA) distributes OCPP (Open Charge Point Protocol) as a standard protocol in an electric vehicle charging system, and OCPP 2.0 is currently reflected in the IEC 63110 standard, and standardization is in progress. OCPP is an application protocol for communication between an electric vehicle charging station and a central management system, and is an open application protocol that enables an electric vehicle charging station and a central management system to communicate with multiple electric vehicle charging companies. These OCPPs are being applied and used in numerous electric vehicle charging stations and central management systems around the world.

In addition, charging of an electric vehicle through an electric vehicle charging system necessarily follows billing according to power use. User authentication is absolutely necessary for billing, and since user authentication must be performed easily and accurately not only for fixed chargers but also for mobile chargers, a user authentication method based on OCPP is also required.

Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1509079 Korean Patent Registration No. 10-2176417

An object of the present invention is to provide a user authentication system and method for an electric vehicle charging system in which user authentication can be easily and efficiently performed by processing messages and signals using a standardized OCPP-based communication protocol.

The present embodiment to solve the above problems is a method for authenticating a user according to a communication protocol provided in the charging station in an electric vehicle charging system that manages a plurality of charging stations, (a) requesting user authentication from a control module Receiving the message and passing it to the Message Handler, (b) Calling OCPP Ctrlrs and passing the received user authentication request message to the Authorize OCPP Controller, (c) Checking the user authentication request message and creating an AuthorizeRequest message and returning it to the Message Handler, (d) putting the AuthorizeRequest message into the Sending Queue and sending it to the CSMS after checking it, (e) receiving the AuthorizeResponse message from the CSMS and delivering it to the Message Handler, (f ) Checking the validity of the AuthorizeResponse message, calling OCPP Ctrlrs to deliver the AuthorizeResponse message to the Authorize OCPP Controller, (g) analyzing the AuthorizeResponse message to check the user authentication result, along with the flag setting information of the Control Queue Returning the user authentication result to the message handler, and (h) putting the user authentication result into the control queue and transmitting the user authentication result message stored in the control queue to the control module.

In the step (a), the received user authentication request information may be transmitted to the message handler along with a message requesting generation of an OCPP message matching user authentication through a signal converter.

In addition, in step (g), if Authorize is included as a result of analyzing the AuthorizeResponse message, after changing the trigger for charging operation to True, it may be configured to return the charging operation message to the message handler.

In addition, in the step (h), the user authentication result message can be converted into a control signal that can be identified by the control module through a signal converter and transmitted.

In the user authentication method of the present invention, message and signal processing are performed using a standardized OCPP-based communication protocol, so that user authentication can be performed easily and efficiently.

In addition, the user authentication method of the present invention can be applied to various types of systems constituting an electric vehicle charging system, and can exhibit high compatibility and operability.

1 is a block diagram showing an electric vehicle charging system according to this embodiment;
2 is a block diagram showing a SW module implementing a communication protocol according to this embodiment;
3 is a flow chart showing a user authentication process according to this embodiment;
Figure 4 is a flow chart showing a charging start process according to the user authentication of Figure 3;
5 is a flow chart showing a user authentication cancellation process according to the present embodiment;

The technical problems achieved by the present invention and its practice will be clarified by the preferred embodiments described below. Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It should be understood that the differences in the present embodiment, which will be described later, are not mutually exclusive. That is, it should be understood that one embodiment may be implemented in another embodiment, and the location or arrangement of individual components within each disclosed embodiment may be changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. and like reference numerals in the drawings indicate the same or similar function throughout the various aspects. In the description of the present embodiment, expressions such as first and second are expressed differently according to relative positions or orders with respect to specific configurations, and the technical meaning is not limited to the dictionary meaning.

1 is a block diagram showing an electric vehicle charging system according to this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a SW module implementing a communication protocol according to this embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the electric vehicle charging system according to this embodiment includes a Charging Station Management System (CSMS) 10 that manages charging stations and a Charging Station (CS) 20 that manages chargers. and a charger for charging an electric vehicle (EVSE: Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment, 30).

Here, the charging station management system 10 has a configuration that monitors and manages one or more charging stations, and functions as an operating server that operates an electric vehicle charging management system. and a communication server 12 that transmits and receives OCPP messages with the charging station 20.

The charging station 20 is connected to a plurality of chargers 30 to directly control and manage an electric vehicle charging process performed in the chargers 30 . For example, the charging station determines charging priority or distributes power to each charger so that the plurality of chargers 30 can be efficiently charged. The charging station 20 for this purpose includes a control module 21 that controls the charging process of the charger, a communication module 22 that transmits and receives OCPP messages with the charging station management system 10 and transmits and receives control signals with the control module 21. ) is provided. The charging station 20 is installed in a charging station equipped with one or more chargers 30. For example, the charging station may be a public parking lot, a parking lot of a highway rest area, an underground parking lot of an apartment house, and the like.

The charger 30 is configured to supply power to the electric vehicle by connecting the inlet of the electric vehicle, and may be installed in multiple units within one charging station area.

As such, the electric vehicle charging management system of the present embodiment is configured so that the charging station management system 10 directly monitors and manages the charging station.

In addition, although not shown, the electric vehicle charging system of this embodiment may further include a local controller (LC). The field controller is configured to monitor and manage charging stations in groups. For example, when a charging station is divided into multiple areas, such as an underground parking lot of an apartment house, the field controller classifies the charging station in each area into group-based charging stations, and is advantageous in monitoring and managing the group-based charging stations. The field controller for this will include a control module for managing the charging station and a communication module for transmitting and receiving OCPP messages to and from the charging station management system 10 and the charging station 20 .

In the electric vehicle charging system of this embodiment, an OCPP message and a control signal are transmitted between the charging station management system 10 and the charging station 20 through the communication server 12 and the communication module 22 to control the charging of the electric vehicle do. These communication servers 12 and communication modules 22 are configured to process messages and signals according to a communication protocol based on OCPP. Hereinafter, the communication protocol constituting the communication server 12 and the communication module 22 will be looked at in detail, and the other system that communicates with any one specific system of the charging station management system 10 or the charging station 20 It is defined as an OCPP Entity.

Referring to FIG. 2, the SW module for implementing the communication protocol 100 according to this embodiment includes a Message Handler 110, an OCPP Ctrlrs 120, a first Signal Converter 130, and a Sending Queue 140. and a Control Queue 150, a second Signal Converter 160, and Scheduled Jobs 170. Here, the 1st Signal Converter 130 and the 2nd Signal Converter 160 are the same Signal Converter, and 1st Signal Converter 130 and 2nd Signal Converter 160 ) to explain.

The message handler 110 receives an OCPP message from a counterpart OCPP entity and at the same time receives a control signal from the control module of the corresponding system through the first signal converter 130. That is, the Message Handler 110 is called from the OCPP Message thread that receives the OCPP Message through the OCPP Receiver, and at the same time, it is called from the Control Signal thread that receives the Control Signal through the Control Receiver. Also, the Message Handler (110) is called according to the condition of the Scheduler's Scheduled Jobs (170).

The OCPP receiver receives a message from the counterpart OCPP entity communicating through OCPP, delivers the message to the message handler 110, and waits for the next message. The control receiver receives a control signal from the control module, creates a message requesting generation of an OCPP message matching the corresponding control signal through the first signal converter 130, delivers it to the message handler 110, and waits for the next signal or message. .

Then, the OCPP Message stored in the Sending Queue (140) is transmitted to the other OCPP Entity, and the Control Signal stored in the Control Queue (150) is transmitted to the Control Module (200) through the 2nd Signal Converter (160), Scheduled Reservation information stored in the Jobs 170 is provided to the Message Handler 110, and their operations are performed by the Scheduler.

This Scheduler performs the following operations at regular intervals. That is, the Scheduler checks the Sending Queue (140) and transmits the OCPP Message to the other OCPP Entity if there is a message and the message can be sent. In addition, the Scheduler checks the Control Queue (150), and if there is a message and is currently in a state where the message can be sent, the second Signal Converter (160) is used to convert the signal into a signal that the control module can identify and transmit. In addition, the Scheduler checks the Scheduled Jobs (170), and if there is a job and the job can be executed, the corresponding job is delivered to the Message Handler (110).

In the above-configured communication protocol 100, the interaction between the Message Handler 110 called by the OCPP Receiver, Control Receiver, and Scheduler and the OCPP Ctrlrs 120 called by the Message Handler 110 results in OCPP Message, control signal and reserved task are derived.

Looking at these configurations in detail, the Message Handler (110) checks the validity of messages received from the OCPP Receiver and classifies them, or classifies the message creation requests received from the Control Receiver and Scheduled Jobs (170) and sends them to the OCPP Ctrlrs (120). Do the work of conveying. Then, it receives and checks the work results from OCPP Ctrlrs (120), and performs the following tasks according to the contents.

First, if there is a message to be delivered to the other OCPP Entity, the Message Handler (110) puts the corresponding message into the Sending Queue (140), and if there is a message to be delivered to the control module, it puts the corresponding message into the Control Queue (150). . In addition, the Message Handler (110) puts reservation information into the Scheduled Jobs (170) if it is necessary to make a reservation for a specific operation, and calls the OCPP Ctrlrs (120) if there is content to be delivered to a specific OCPP Controller.

OCPP Ctrlrs (120) is a collection of OCPP Controllers. Each OCPP controller corresponds to one of the messages defined in OCPP, and the OCPP Ctrlrs 120 includes a plurality of OCPP controllers classified according to functions. The OCPP Controller does the following:

First, the OCPP Controller generates a message that can be put into the Control Queue (150) to deliver the OCPP message received through the OCPP Receiver to the control module, and the OCPP Controller generates a message that can be put into the Control Queue (150), and the OCPP Controller responds to the OCPP request message received from the other OCPP Entity through the OCPP Receiver. Creates an OCPP response message that can be put in the Sending Queue (140). In addition, the OCPP Controller creates an OCPP message that can be put into the Sending Queue (140) based on the contents received from the Control Receiver and Scheduled Jobs (170). In addition, the OCPP Controller performs practical tasks such as updating the DB or modifying flags or variables according to the content requested from the other OCPP Entity through the OCPP message, and sends the resulting message back to the Message Handler (110). return

The Sending Queue 140 stores completed messages to be transmitted to the counterpart OCPP Entity. Since the Sending Queue 140 is composed of queues, the order of transmission is determined. If the communication module is communicating with a plurality of peer OCPP entities, the Sending Queue 140 is composed of a number corresponding to the number of peer OCPP entities.

Control Queue (150) stores the contents to be transmitted to the control module in the corresponding system.

On the other hand, the 1st Signal Converter 130 converts the control signal of the control module in the system into a message requesting the generation of an OCPP message, and the 2nd Signal Converter 160 converts the work result of the communication module into a control signal convert to That is, the control signal received from the control module is converted into a message requesting generation of an OCPP message matching the control signal by the first signal converter 130 and transmitted to the message handler 110, and the control queue 150 The work result message stored in is converted into a signal that the control module can identify by the second signal converter 160 and transmitted to the control module. Here, the control module is a control module provided inside the system, and may be a management server, a module for managing CS, a module for controlling EVSE, or the EVSE itself, depending on the type of system. A communication means between the communication module and the control module may be a communication protocol such as CP, UDP, Websocket, http, or a proprietary protocol or electric signal.

Scheduled Jobs (170) stores all scheduled jobs defined by OCPP. For example, the Scheduled Jobs (170) includes a TransactionEvent message triggered to report the meter value of a charger being charged at regular intervals, a Heartbeat message triggered to synchronize time with the server at regular intervals, a registered Timeout of various ongoing tasks, etc. content can be stored.

The communication protocol 100 configured as described above can be equally applied to communication modules such as the charging station management system 10, the charging station 20, and the field controller to implement a standardized communication module of the electric vehicle charging system. It can indicate high compatibility or operability between systems.

Hereinafter, a process in which user authentication is performed through a communication protocol in the electric vehicle charging system of the present embodiment and a charging process is started or terminated by user authentication will be described in detail. In this embodiment, the charging station management system 10 and the charging station 20 are referred to as CSMS and CS, respectively.

Figure 3 is a flow chart showing a user authentication process according to this embodiment, Figure 4 is a flow chart showing a charging start process according to the user authentication of Figure 3, Figure 5 is a flow chart showing a user authentication cancellation process according to this embodiment .

Referring to FIG. 3 , in order for a user to charge an electric vehicle, first, the CS will request user authentication using an RF card or PIN number. This user authentication request is transmitted to the communication module through the control module, and the control receiver receives the user authentication request information and delivers it to the message handler (S111, S112). At this time, the received user authentication request information is delivered to the message handler along with messageName:Authorize through the first signal converter. Here, messageName is one of the parameters transmitted to Message Handler, and messageName:Authorize defines a message requesting creation of an OCPP message matching user authentication.

Then, the message handler receiving MessageName:Authorize calls OCPP Ctrlrs and transfers the message to the Authorize OCPP Controller (S113). Here, the Authorize OCPP Controller is an OCPP Controller that processes the Authorize message. Upon receiving the message, the Authorize OCPP Controller creates an AuthorizeRequest message including user authentication request information and returns it to the Message Handler (S114). The Message Handler puts it into the Sending Queue (S115), and the Scheduler checks the Sending Queue and transmits the stored message to the CSMS (S116).

Meanwhile, CSMS will create an AuthorizeReponse message for the AuthorizeRequest message received from the CS and transmit it to the CS again.

The OCPP Receiver receives the AuthorizeReponse message from CSMS and delivers it to the Message Handler (S117, S118). The Message Handler checks the validity of the message and calls OCPP Ctrlrs to deliver the received message to the Authorize OCPP Controller (S119).

The Authorize OCPP Controller analyzes the message, checks the user authentication result, sets the flag to put the content in the Control Queue to True, and returns it to the Message Handler along with the result (S120). In addition, as a result of analysis, Authorize OCPP Controller changes the trigger for follow-up to True if TxStartPoint of the received message contains Authorized, which means user authentication, and messageName: TransactionEvent, eventType: Started for message creation and user information together. It is returned to the Message Handler (S120). Here, TransactionEvent defines a charging operation message, and eventType: Started defines a charging start message. Therefore, the Authorize OCPP Controller creates a message so that the charging operation can be performed after user authentication.

Then, the Message Handler stores the user authentication result in the Control Queue, and the Scheduler checks the Control Queue, converts the user authentication result into a signal that the control module can identify through the 2nd Signal Converter, and transmits it to the control module (S122 ).

Meanwhile, the message handler receives a message including messageName: TransactionEvent from the Authorize OCPP Controller, and accordingly, the charging process continues.

Looking at the charging start process with reference to FIG. 4 , the message handler receiving the message including the TransactionEvent calls OCPP Ctrlrs again and transfers the message to the TransactionEvent OCPP Controller (S211). The TransactionEvent OCPP Controller generates a TransactionEventRequest message and returns it to the Message Handler (S212), and the Message Handler puts the TransactionEventRequest message into the Sending Queue (S213).

In addition, in the communication protocol of this embodiment, the message handler registers Authorization timeout in Scheduled Jobs (S214). Here, Authorization timeout defines the valid time of user authentication. If the user does not connect the EV to the charger within the valid time, user authentication is canceled and other users can use it.

In general, electric vehicle charging is operated so that charging is performed by distributing power of a predetermined size to each charger requesting charging in order of efficient use of limited supply power. Therefore, by defining the valid time of user authentication as in the communication protocol of this embodiment, when the user does not connect the electric vehicle within the valid time, the user authentication can be canceled and other users can use it, so power can be distributed more efficiently. .

Then, the Scheduler checks the Sending Queue and transmits the TransactionEventRequest message to CSMS (S215). CSMS will generate a TransactionEventResponse message for the TransactionEventRequest message received from CS and transmit it to CS again.

The OCPP Receiver receives the TransactionEventResponse message from CSMS and delivers it to the Message Handler (S216, S217). The Message Handler calls OCPP Ctrlrs and transfers the TransactionEventResponse message to the TransactionEvent OCPP Controller (S218).

TransactionEvent OCPP Controller checks the information included in the message. For example, it is checked whether there is a ChargingProfile in the message, and if there is a ChargingProfile, the corresponding variable is set to be applied to future charging, and the processing result is returned to the message handler (S219). The Message Handler puts the message into the Control Queue (S220), and the Scheduler checks the Control Queue and delivers the message converted through the Signal Converter to the control module (S221).

In the charging process of this embodiment, the electric vehicle must be connected and charged within the user authentication valid time. Therefore, if the electric vehicle is not accessed within the user authentication valid time, the user authentication is canceled and the charging process is terminated.

Looking at this process with reference to FIG. 5, the Scheduler checks the Authorization timeout registered in Scheduled Jobs (S311), and if it is confirmed that the valid time has passed, it delivers the contents including messageName: TransactionEvent, eventType: Ended to the Message Handler, (S312), Authorization timeout is deleted from Scheduled Jobs (S313). Here, eventType: Ended defines a charging end message.

Then, the message handler calls OCPP Ctrlrs and transfers the message received from the Scheduler to the TransactionEvent OCPP Controller (S314). The TransactionEvent OCPP Controller creates a TransactionEventRequest message that notifies the end of the TransactionEvent according to the received content, and also creates information to put in the Control Queue and returns it to the Message Handler (S315).

The Message Handler puts the TransactionEventRequest message into the Sending Queue and puts the TransactionEvent end message into the Control Queue (S316, S317).

Subsequently, the Scheduler checks the Sending Queue and transmits the TransactionEventRequest message to CSMS, and checks the Control Queue and transmits the TransactionEvent message to the control module through the 2nd Signal Converter (S318 and S319). CSMS will generate a TransactionEventResponse message for the TransactionEventRequest message received from CS and transmit it to CS again.

The OCPP Receiver receives the TransactionEventResponse message from CSMS and delivers it to the Message Handler (S320, S321). The Message Handler calls OCPP Ctrlrs and transfers the TransactionEventResponse message to the TransactionEvent OCPP Controller (S322).

TransactionEvent OCPP Controller The TransactionEventResponse message is checked to set or reset the corresponding variable. At this time, since there will be no message to be returned to the message handler according to the end of the TransactionEvent, an empty result is returned to the message handler (S323). Therefore, the message handler receives the processing result and does nothing, and the CS terminates the charging process.

Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described as described above, various modifications and other embodiments may be made by those skilled in the art. All of these modifications and other embodiments are to be considered and included in the appended claims without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

10: Charging station management system
20: charging station
30: charger
100: communication protocol
110: Message Handler 120: OCPP Ctrlrs
130: 1st Signal Converter 140: Sending Queue
150: Control Queue 160: 2nd Signal Converter
170: Scheduled Jobs

Claims (4)

A method for authenticating a user according to a communication protocol provided in the charging station in an electric vehicle charging system managing a plurality of charging stations,
(a) receiving a user authentication request message from a control module and passing it to a message handler;
(b) calling OCPP Ctrlrs and transferring the received user authentication request message to Authorize OCPP Controller;
(c) checking a user authentication request message, generating an AuthorizeRequest message, and returning it to the message handler;
(d) Putting the AuthorizeRequest message into the Sending Queue, checking it, and transmitting it to CSMS;
(e) receiving an AuthorizeResponse message from the CSMS and passing it to the Message Handler;
(f) checking the validity of the AuthorizeResponse message and transmitting the AuthorizeResponse message to Authorize OCPP Controller by calling OCPP Ctrlrs;
(g) checking the user authentication result by analyzing the AuthorizeResponse message, and returning the user authentication result to the Message Handler together with flag setting information of Control Queue; and
(h) putting a user authentication result into a control queue and transmitting a user authentication result message stored in the control queue to a control module; a user authentication method of an electric vehicle charging system based on OCPP. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a),
A user authentication method of an electric vehicle charging system based on OCPP, configured to transmit received user authentication request information to the message handler along with a message requesting generation of an OCPP message matching user authentication through a signal converter. The method of claim 1, wherein the (g) step,
A user authentication method of an electric vehicle charging system based on OCPP, which is configured to return the AuthorizeResponse message to the message handler along with a charging operation message after changing the trigger for charging operation to True when Authorized is included as a result of analysis. The method of claim 1, wherein the (h) step,
A user authentication method of an electric vehicle charging system based on OCPP that converts a user authentication result message into a control signal that a control module can identify through a signal converter and transmits the message.

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