Event time management in an electric vehicle charging station without a battery-backed real time clock
First Claim
1. A method performed in an electric vehicle charging station for time synchronization with a Real Time Clock, wherein the electric vehicle charging station does not include a battery-backed Real Time Clock, the method comprising:
- responsive to booting of the electric vehicle charging station, incrementing a value of an epoch counter which indicates the number of times the electric vehicle charging station has booted, wherein the incremented value indicates the current epoch, and wherein the booting of the electric vehicle charging system creates a boot-up event;
beginning a local system clock, wherein the local system clock is not backed up with a battery and will restart once power is lost to the electric vehicle charging station;
recording the time of the boot-up event for the current epoch in local system time format, wherein local system time format is not in real time format;
requesting real time from one of a charging station network server and a charging station network gateway;
responsive to failing to receive the requested real time, performing the following;
for each event that occurs on the electric vehicle charging station, including charging session start events and charging session stop events, recording the time of that event in local system time format for the current epoch; and
responsive to receiving the requested real time, performing the following;
recording the time of receipt of the requested real time in local system time format,synchronizing the local system clock to the real time,converting the time of each event recorded in local system time format to real time format, andcommunicating each event and its respective time of occurrence in real time format to the charging station network server.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electric vehicle charging station, which does not include a battery-backed Real Time Clock, is in a charging station network managed by a charging station network server. Upon booting, the charging station requests actual real time from a remote source. While the charging station has not received the actual real time, it records the time of charging station specific events in a local system time format that resets when the charging station loses power. The charging station maintains the events recorded in their local system time until actual time is received. When actual real time is received, the charging station synchronizes its local system clock with the actual real time and converts the time of each event into real time format. When actual time is received, the charging station converts the time of each event into real time format. After the time of the events are converted to real time format, they are communicated to the charging station network server for further processing. After synchronizing its local clock with actual real time, the charging station records the time of any subsequent events in actual real time.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method performed in an electric vehicle charging station for time synchronization with a Real Time Clock, wherein the electric vehicle charging station does not include a battery-backed Real Time Clock, the method comprising:
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responsive to booting of the electric vehicle charging station, incrementing a value of an epoch counter which indicates the number of times the electric vehicle charging station has booted, wherein the incremented value indicates the current epoch, and wherein the booting of the electric vehicle charging system creates a boot-up event; beginning a local system clock, wherein the local system clock is not backed up with a battery and will restart once power is lost to the electric vehicle charging station; recording the time of the boot-up event for the current epoch in local system time format, wherein local system time format is not in real time format; requesting real time from one of a charging station network server and a charging station network gateway; responsive to failing to receive the requested real time, performing the following; for each event that occurs on the electric vehicle charging station, including charging session start events and charging session stop events, recording the time of that event in local system time format for the current epoch; and responsive to receiving the requested real time, performing the following; recording the time of receipt of the requested real time in local system time format, synchronizing the local system clock to the real time, converting the time of each event recorded in local system time format to real time format, and communicating each event and its respective time of occurrence in real time format to the charging station network server. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An electric vehicle charging station to synchronize a local system clock with a Real Time Clock, comprising:
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an event manager to record time of events according to the local system clock, wherein the local system clock is not backed up with a battery, wherein the event manager is to record events in local system time format when the local system clock is not synchronized with real time, and record events in real time format when the local system clock is synchronized with real time, and wherein the events include charging session start events and charging session stop events; and a time synchronization module to perform the following; increment a value of an epoch counter of the charging station responsive to the charging station booting, wherein the incremented value indicates a current epoch and represents the number of times the electric vehicle charging station has booted, periodically record a length of the current epoch, request real time after the charging station boots, synchronize the local system clock with received real time, and convert times of events recorded in local system time format to real time format responsive to the local system clock being synchronized with real time. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A machine-readable storage medium that provides instructions that, if executed by a processor, will cause said processor to perform operations in an electric vehicle charging station for time synchronization with a Real Time Clock, wherein the electric vehicle charging station does not include a battery-backed Real Time Clock, the operations comprising:
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responsive to booting of the electric vehicle charging station, incrementing a value of an epoch counter which indicates the number of times the electric vehicle charging station has booted, wherein the incremented value indicates the current epoch, and wherein the booting of the electric vehicle charging system creates a boot-up event; beginning a local system clock, wherein the local system clock is not backed up with a battery and will restart once power is lost to the electric vehicle charging station; recording the time of the boot-up event for the current epoch in local system time format, wherein local system time format is not in real time format; requesting real time from one of a charging station network server and a charging station network gateway; responsive to failing to receive the requested real time, performing the following; for each event that occurs on the electric vehicle charging station, including charging session start events and charging session stop events, recording the time of that event in local system time format for the current epoch; and responsive to receiving the requested real time, performing the following; recording the time of receipt of the requested real time in local system time format, synchronizing the local system clock to the real time, converting the time of each event recorded in local system time format to real time format, and communicating each event and its respective time of occurrence in real time format to the charging station network server. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method performed in an electric vehicle charging station for time synchronization with a Real Time Clock, wherein the electric vehicle charging station does not include a battery-backed Real Time Clock, the method comprising:
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responsive to booting of the electric vehicle charging station, incrementing a value of an epoch counter which indicates the number of times the electric vehicle charging station has booted, wherein the incremented value indicates the present epoch, and wherein the booting of the electric vehicle charging system creates a boot-up event; beginning a local system clock, wherein the local system clock is not backed up with a battery and will restart once power is lost to the electric vehicle charging station; determining a locally estimated real time value that the present epoch started, wherein the locally estimated real time value is not based on actual real time, and wherein the locally estimated real time value is in a format that is persistent across reboots of the electric vehicle charging station; setting the local system clock to the determined locally estimated real time value the present epoch started; recording the boot-up event for the current epoch with a locally estimated real time value using the local system clock; requesting actual real time from one of a charging station network server and a charging station network gateway; and while the requested actual real time is not received and the communication between one of the charging station network server and the charging station network gateway is operable, performing the following for each event that occurs on the electric vehicle charging station; recording that event with a locally estimated real time value using the local system clock, and communicating that event with its locally estimated real time value to the charging station network server. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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Specification