FAULT-TOLERANT BATTERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, CIRCUITS AND METHODS
First Claim
1. A battery management system for a plurality of interconnected cells wherein cells are monitorable and balanceable independently by at least two sides of redundant circuitry, the two circuitry sides respectively constituted in distinct fault domains;
- each side of circuitry being comprised of at least two mutually fault-isolated subsections, each subsection providing for the monitoring and balancing of at least two cells;
further, portions of the circuitry of a subsection of a first side, which, when activated, interfere with the ability of the opposite side'"'"'s circuitry to manage and balance a common cell, require at least two independent enables to activate;
still further, each of the at least two subsections of each of the at least two sides comprises test circuitry for subsection fault detection.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A fault tolerant battery management system includes redundancy, with applications including electric vehicles. Portions of its circuitry are constituted in distinct fault domains with control, monitoring, and balancing of cells circuitry fault-effect-isolated from the circuitry associated with built-in real-time testing. Built-in tests are orchestrated in fault domains isolated from the functional circuitry being verified. These built-in tests provide test stimulus unique for each cell measurement. Cell balancing is performed in a fault tolerant manner. It takes at least two independent faults, in two mutually distinct fault domains, to negatively affect balancing capability or to interfere with a redundant circuit'"'"'s ability to operate. The built-in tests allow operation without the requirement for data cross-compare between redundant measuring electronic elements. Testing and balancing functions are interlocked through encoded enabling methodologies and transmit enables on serial buses. The circuitry is divided into mutually fault-isolated modules, each responsible for a subset of the cells.
62 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A battery management system for a plurality of interconnected cells wherein cells are monitorable and balanceable independently by at least two sides of redundant circuitry, the two circuitry sides respectively constituted in distinct fault domains;
- each side of circuitry being comprised of at least two mutually fault-isolated subsections, each subsection providing for the monitoring and balancing of at least two cells;
further, portions of the circuitry of a subsection of a first side, which, when activated, interfere with the ability of the opposite side'"'"'s circuitry to manage and balance a common cell, require at least two independent enables to activate;
still further, each of the at least two subsections of each of the at least two sides comprises test circuitry for subsection fault detection. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
- each side of circuitry being comprised of at least two mutually fault-isolated subsections, each subsection providing for the monitoring and balancing of at least two cells;
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5. A battery management module with at least two channels each for monitoring and balancing a cell, each channel comprising an input stimulation circuit and a cell balancing circuit;
- the cell balancing circuit requiring at least two independent enables to be activated;
further, the stimulation circuits, when activated, applying a mutually unique, measurement-altering condition to each of the at least two channels. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
- the cell balancing circuit requiring at least two independent enables to be activated;
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9. A fault tolerant battery management system comprising:
- a first set of electronic circuits and a second set of electronic circuits;
each set for redundantly monitoring and managing a common plurality of interconnected battery cells;
a controller for commanding and for collecting data from the first and second set of electronics;
the first set of electronics constituted in slices of circuitry, each slice associated with and responsible for monitoring and managing one or more cells;
further, any mode of the first set of circuits'"'"' that can interfere with the second set of circuits'"'"' monitoring and management of commonly connected cells requires at least two independent enables to be activated, at least one of the enables further requiring a coded message from the controller for activation;
further, the controller, having notice of a failure in a slice of circuitry will effectively isolate that slice from interfering with its associated at least one cell. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
- a first set of electronic circuits and a second set of electronic circuits;
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14. A method for balancing two series connected, adjacent cells of a battery as a pair comprising:
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a) determining the two cells'"'"' respective individual balancing histories; b) allowing paired balancing if the respective balancing histories'"'"' mutual agreement is within a first predetermined criterion; c) taking a first predetermined action if the respective balancing histories'"'"' degree of mutual agreement is outside of the first predetermined criteria. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A battery charging apparatus comprising:
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a) an electrical connection for a battery cell; b) a charge transfer circuit operationally coupled to the electrical connection, the circuit for transferring charge from, or optionally into, a connected cell; c) a mutually distinct first and second control logic circuit each having a respective enable signal as an output, both enable signals operatively coupled to said charge transfer circuit;
the coupling of the enable signals to said charge transfer circuit such that activation of charge transfer requires both enable signals to contemporaneously be in activated states;further, the first and second control logic circuits being substantially constituted in mutually distinct fault domains. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. A battery monitor and management apparatus for connecting to at least two cells comprising:
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a) at least one analog-to-digital converter having effectively at least two analog inputs; b) a stimulus circuit for applying known test conditions to the analog inputs; c) a first control circuit operatively coupled to said stimulus circuit, the control circuit constituted and arranged as to selectively enable application of the known test condition to the analog inputs; further, at least a portion of said stimulus circuit being comprised of electronic components situated in a fault domain other than that of the analog-to-digital converter;
further,the stimulus circuit so configured as to provide a distinct stimulus to a first of the of the at least two analog inputs as compared to the stimulus provided to a distinct second of the at least two analog inputs;
still further,when connected to the associated cells, the imposition of stimulus on the inputs has no significant hindering effect on the optional concurrent monitoring and managing of the connected cells by a second, duplicate redundant battery monitor and management apparatus, or optionally has provisions for fail-safe isolation to achieve non-interference. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification