POWER ELECTRONICS DEVICE, CONTROL METHOD, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM

• US 20160124400A1
• Filed: 10/28/2015
• Published: 05/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: DOI, Yusuke, NISHIBAYASHI, Yasuyuki, KANAYAMA, Fumiaki
• Granted Patent: US 10,175,660 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 13/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/38 Arrangements for parallely feeding a single network by two or more generators, converters or transformers
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/0012 Control circuits using digital or numerical techniques in DC/DC converters H02M3/157, H02M3/33515; in DC-AC converters H02M7/53873
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/008 Plural converter units for generating at two or more independent and non-parallel outputs, e.g. systems with plural point of load switching regulators
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/32 Means for protecting converters other than automatic disconnection
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/157 with digital control
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/1584 with a plurality of power processing stages connected in parallel
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/23 arranged for operation in parallel H02M7/2176 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/493 the static converters being arranged for operation in parallel

Abstract

According to one embodiment, a control device in a power electronics device includes a controller, a configuration determiner and a manager. The controller performs control associated with power conversion, in accordance with a first logical configuration of control between the power electronics device and other power electronics device. The configuration determiner performs determination processing of a second logical configuration when a change condition of the first logical configuration is satisfied. The manager instructs the controller to perform the control in accordance with the second logical configuration, the manager performing management such that the controller performs the control in accordance with previously given control information for a period after the change condition of the first logical configuration is satisfied and until the manager instructs the controller to perform the control associated with the power conversion in accordance with the second logical configuration.

Claims

1. A control device arranged in a power electronics device, comprising:

a controller to perform control associated with power conversion in the power electronics device, in accordance with a first logical configuration of control between the power electronics device and other power electronics device;

a configuration determiner to perform determination processing of a second logical configuration of control between the power electronics device and the other power electronics device when a change condition of the first logical configuration is satisfied; and

a manager to instruct the controller to perform the control in accordance with the second logical configuration, the manager performing management such that the controller performs the control associated with the power conversion in accordance with previously given control information for a period after the change condition of the first logical configuration is satisfied and until the manager instructs the controller to perform the control in accordance with the second logical configuration.

2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the manager determines that the change condition of the first logical configuration is satisfied when a change of characteristic information is detected in either one of the power electronics device and the other power electronics device;

when stoppage, failure or separation of one of a plurality of the other power electronics devices is detected;

or when participation of a further other power electronics device different from the other power electronics device is detected.

3. The control device according to claim 2, wherein, in response to the characteristic information of the power electronics device being changed, the configuration determiner determines the second logical configuration on basis of the changed characteristic information of the power electronics device and the characteristic information of the other power electronics device;

and

in response to the characteristic information of the other power electronics device being changed, the configuration determiner determines the second logical configuration on basis of the changed characteristic information of the other power electronics device and the characteristic information of the power electronics device.

4. The control device according to claim 2, further comprising a communicator to communicate with the other power electronics device, wherein the communicator transmits, in response to the characteristic information of the power electronics device being changed, the changed characteristic information of the power electronics device to the other power electronics device;

and

the manager instructs the controller to perform the control associated with the power conversion in accordance with the second logical configuration after a response to transmission of the changed characteristic information of the power electronics device is received by the communicator.

5. The control device according to claim 2, further comprising a communicator to communicate with the other power electronics device, wherein the manager uses the communicator to detect that the characteristic information of the other power electronics device has been changed.

6. The control device according to claim 5, wherein the communicator receives the changed characteristic information of the other power electronics device,

manager transmit notification information via the communicator to the other power electronics device, the notification information indicating that the manager has recognized the changed characteristic information of the other power electronics device, and

the manager, after the notification information has been transmitted, instructs the controller to perform the control in accordance with the second logical configuration.

7. The control device according to claim 6, wherein the communicator transmits the notification information to one of the other power electronics devices other than the other power electronics device whose characteristic information was changed, and

the manager instructs the controller to perform the control in accordance with the second logical configuration after notification information is received by the communicator from the one of the other power electronics devices, the notification information indicating that the changed characteristic information of the other power electronics device has been recognized.

8. The control device according to claim 5, wherein the manager detects that the characteristic information of the other power electronics device has been changed by receiving a characteristic information update notification from the other power electronics device via the communicator, or by comparing the characteristic information received from the other power electronics device via the communicator with already-held characteristic information of the other power electronics device.

9. The control device according to claim 5, wherein the communicator receives hash information from the other power electronics device, the hash information being based on the characteristic information of the other power electronics device;

and

the manager detects that the characteristic information of the other power electronics device has been changed, in accordance with comparison of the hash information received by the communicator with hash information of already-held characteristic information of the other power electronics device.

10. The control device according to claim 5, further comprising a storage storing the characteristic information of the power electronics device and the characteristic information of the first to N-th other power electronics devices, wherein the communicator receives hash information from the first other power electronics device, the hash information being based on the characteristic information of the power electronics device and the characteristic information of the first to N-th other power electronics devices;

and

the manager detects that the first other characteristic information of the power electronics device has been changed when the hash information received by the communicator is different from hash information computed on basis of the characteristic information of the power electronics device and the characteristic information of the first to N-th other power electronics devices in the storage.

11. The control device according to claim 10, wherein the communicator receives the changed characteristic information of the first other power electronics device, and transmits hash information to the second to N-th other power electronics devices, the hash information being computed on basis of:

the changed characteristic information of the first other power electronics device;

the characteristic information of the power electronics device in the storage; and

the characteristic information of the second to N-th other power electronics devices in the storage.

12. The control device according to claim 11, wherein the manager instructs the controller to perform the control associated with the power conversion in accordance with the second logical configuration after the hash information has been transmitted to the second to N-th other power electronics devices.

13. The control device according to claim 2, wherein the configuration determiner, in response to stoppage, failure, or separation of one of the other power electronics devices, determines the second logical configuration of control between the power electronics device and the other power electronics devices in operation other than the power electronics device that has been stopped, failed, or separated.

14. The control device according to claim 13, wherein the manager instructs the controller to perform the control associated with the power conversion in accordance with the second logical configuration when notification information has been received from the other power electronics device in operation, the notification information indicating that stoppage, failure or separation of the one of the other power electronics devices has been detected.

15. The control device according to claim 2, wherein the configuration determiner, when the further other power electronics device has been participated, determines the second logical configuration of control among the power electronics device, the other power electronics device, and the further other power electronics device.

16. The control device according to claim 15, wherein the communicator receives the characteristic information of the further other power electronics device;

and

the manager instructs the controller to perform the control in accordance with the second logical configuration when notification information has been received from the other power electronics device, the notification information indicating that the other power electronics device has recognized the characteristic information of the further other power electronics device.

17. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control information is:

information instructing to keep an output of the power electronics device at a time point within a predetermined time period, wherein the time period being defined with reference to a time point at which the change condition is satisfied;

information instructing to output in accordance with a profile defining time variation of output;

or

information instructing to keep tendency of output that were made prior to the change condition being satisfied.

18. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the first logical configuration is either one of:

a centrally controlled configuration that there exists a central control device for the power electronics device and the other power electronics device, the central control device controls the power electronics device and the other power electronics device;

a quasi-autonomous distributed configuration that a master selected from the power electronics device and the other power electronics device controls the power electronics devices other than the master; and

a fully autonomous distributed configuration that the power electronics device and the other power electronics device operate autonomously in a distributed manner with respect to each other.

19. The control device according to claim 18, wherein the second logical configuration is a configuration different from the first logical configuration and is any one of the centrally controlled configuration, the quasi-autonomous distributed configuration, and the fully autonomous distributed configuration.

20. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the configuration determiner determines a lower-layer logical configuration and determines an upper-layer logical configuration as the second logical configuration on basis of the lower-layer logical configuration;

the lower-layer logical configuration is either one of the centrally controlled configuration, the quasi-autonomous distributed configuration, and the fully autonomous distributed configuration; and

the upper-layer logical configuration is either one of the centrally controlled configuration, the quasi-autonomous distributed configuration, and the fully autonomous distributed configuration.

21. The control device according to claim 20, wherein the lower-layer logical configuration is a configuration different from the upper-layer logical configuration.

22. The control device according to claim 20, wherein the lower-layer logical configuration and the upper-layer logical configuration are the same configuration.

23. The control device according to claim 18, wherein the first logical configuration and the second logical configuration are same configuration of any one of the centrally controlled configuration, the quasi-autonomous distributed configuration, and the fully autonomous distributed configuration.

24. The control device according to claim 18, wherein, in the quasi-autonomous distributed configuration, the master is determined from a plurality of power electronics devices including the power electronics device and the other power electronics device.

25. The control device according to claim 18, wherein, in the quasi-autonomous distributed configuration, the master is determined per type of control between the power electronics device and the other power electronics device.

26. The control device according to claim 18, wherein, in the capacity of the quasi-autonomous distributed configuration, for each set of two power electronics devices from the plurality of power electronics devices including the power electronics device and the other power electronics device, either one of the two power electronics devices is determined as the master of the other of the two power electronics devices.

27. The control device according to claim 2, wherein a failure of the other power electronics device includes a failure of a communicator provided in the other power electronics device.

28. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control device is provided in a processing device performing processing associated with input and output of gas or water, instead of being provided in the power electronics device;

and the controller performs control associated with the input and output of gas or water in the processing device.

29. A control method performed in a power electronics device, comprising:

performing control associated with power conversion in the power electronics device, in accordance with a first logical configuration of control between the power electronics device and other power electronics device;

performing determination processing of a second logical configuration of control between the power electronics device and the other power electronics device when a change condition of the first logical configuration is satisfied;

performing the control associated with the power conversion in accordance with the second logical configuration determined; and

performing the control associated with the power conversion in accordance with previously given control information for a period after the change condition of the first logical configuration is satisfied and until performing the control associated with the power conversion in accordance with the second logical configuration.

30. A non-transitory computer readable medium having a program stored therein which causes a processor performed in a power electronics device to execute processing of steps comprising:

performing control associated with power conversion in the power electronics device, in accordance with a first logical configuration of control between the power electronics device and other power electronics device;

performing determination processing of a second logical configuration of control between the power electronics device and the other power electronics device when a change condition of the first logical configuration is satisfied;

performing the control associated with the power conversion in accordance with the second logical configuration determined; and

performing the control associated with the power conversion in accordance with previously given control information for a period after the change condition of the first logical configuration is satisfied and until performing the control associated with the power conversion in accordance with the second logical configuration.