Systems, methods, and apparatus related to mutual detection and identification of electric vehicle and charging station

• US 10,300,805 B2
• Filed: 03/23/2018
• Issued: 05/28/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WiTricity Corporation
• Original Assignee: WiTricity Corporation
• Inventors: Halker, Ravi, Tripathi, Manish, Dimke, Bernward
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Hung T
• Application Number:
  US15/934,781
• Publication Number:
  US 20180272885A1
• Time in Patent Office: 431 Days
• Field of Search: 340455, 3406361, 340901, 340933, 320108, 320109, 320137, 701 1, 701 22, 705 5, 705 35, 705 39, 705 65
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/627 by WLAN
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2250/20 by driver identification
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/122 Circuits or methods for driving the primary coil, e.g. supplying electric power to the coil
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/124 Detection or removal of foreign bodies
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/126 Methods for pairing a vehicle and a charging station, e.g. establishing a one-to-one relation between a wireless power transmitter and a wireless power receiver
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/305 Communication interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/35 Means for automatic or assisted adjustment of the relative position of charging devices and vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/38 specially adapted for charging by inductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/65 involving identification of vehicles or their battery types
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/665 Methods related to measuring, billing or payment
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/123 indicating the position of vehicles, e.g. scheduled vehicles; Managing passenger vehicles circulating according to a fixed timetable, e.g. buses, trains, tramstransmission of navigation instructions to vehicles G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/72 Electric energy management in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/167 Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for supporting the interoperability of electric or hybrid vehicles, i.e. smartgrids as interface for battery charging of electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 30/14 Details associated with the interoperability, e.g. vehicle recognition, authentication, identification or billing

Abstract

Systems, methods, and apparatus are disclosed for communicating with a charging system comprising a plurality of charging stations configured to charge an electric vehicle. At least one first signal is transmitted to the charging system via a first communication link while the electric vehicle is a first distance from at least one charging station of the plurality of charging stations. The at least one first signal is indicative of a vehicle identifier of the electric vehicle. At least one second signal is received from the at least one charging station of the plurality of charging stations via a second communication link while the electric vehicle is a second distance from the at least one charging station, the second distance less than the first distance. The at least one second signal is indicative of a charging station identifier of the at least one charging station.

Claims

1. A method for communicating at an electric vehicle with a charging electric vehicle via a magnetic field, the method comprising:

establishing a wireless communication link with a communications controller of the charging system;

transmitting service information indicative of one or more wireless power transfer capabilities of the electric vehicle to the communications controller of the charging system;

retrieving, by a vehicle charging system of the electric vehicle, an identifier of a first wireless charging station of the one or more wireless charging stations via a mechanism different than the wireless communication link;

transmitting the identifier of the first wireless charging station to the communications controller of the charging system;

transmitting a vehicle identifier of the vehicle charging system to the communications controller of the charging system; and

transmitting a message to initiate an alignment procedure between the vehicle charging system of the electric vehicle and the first wireless charging station.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication link is a first wireless communication link, wherein the mechanism different than the first wireless communication link is a second wireless communication link different from the first wireless communications link.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a first distance associated with retrieving the identifier of the first wireless charging station via the wireless second communication link is shorter than a second distance associated with transmitting the service information via the first wireless communication link.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting another message to indicate an alignment ready state of the vehicle charging system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the mechanism different than the wireless communication link is a guidance beacon.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising scanning for the charging system and determining that the charging system is in a vicinity of the electric vehicle, wherein establishing the wireless communication link is in response to the scanning.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising validating an alignment of the electric vehicle with the first wireless charging station based on a sense current generated in the first wireless charging station.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving power at the electric vehicle via the magnetic field generated by the first wireless charging station in response to completion of the alignment procedure.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving one or more charger characteristics of the first wireless charging station in response to transmitting the identifier of the first wireless charging station to the communications controller of the charging system.

10. An apparatus for communicating at an electric vehicle with a charging system comprising one or more wireless charging stations configured to wirelessly charge the electric vehicle via a magnetic field, the apparatus comprising:

a communication transceiver circuit configured to;

establish a wireless communication link with a communications controller of the charging system; and

transmit service information indicative of one or more wireless power transfer capabilities of the electric vehicle to the communications controller of the charging system; and

a processor circuit configured to;

retrieve an identifier of a first wireless charging station of the one or more wireless charging stations via a mechanism different than the wireless communication link, wherein the communication transceiver circuit is further configured to;

transmit the identifier of the first wireless charging station to the communications controller of the charging system;

transmit a vehicle identifier of a vehicle charging system of the electric vehicle to the communications controller of the charging system; and

transmit a message to initiate an alignment procedure between the vehicle charging system of the electric vehicle and the first wireless charging station.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the wireless communication link is a first wireless communication link, wherein the mechanism different than the first wireless communication link is a second wireless communication link different from the first wireless communications link.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein a first distance associated with retrieving the identifier of the first wireless charging station via the second wireless communication link is shorter than a second distance associated with transmitting the service information via the first wireless communication link.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the communication transceiver circuit is further configured to transmit another message to indicate an alignment ready state of the vehicle charging system.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the mechanism different than the wireless communication link is a guidance beacon.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the communication transceiver circuit is further configured to scan for the charging system and determine that the charging system is in a vicinity of the electric vehicle, wherein establishing the wireless communication link is in response to the scanning.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to validate an alignment of the electric vehicle with the first wireless charging station based on a sense current generated in the first wireless charging station.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a wireless power receive circuit configured to receive power at the electric vehicle via the magnetic field generated by the first wireless charging station in response to completion of the alignment procedure.

18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the communication transceiver circuit is further configured to receive one or more charger characteristics of the first wireless charging station in response to transmitting the identifier of the first wireless charging station to the communications controller of the charging system.

19. An apparatus for communicating at an electric vehicle with a charging system comprising one or more wireless charging stations configured to wirelessly charge the electric vehicle via a magnetic field, the apparatus comprising:

means for establishing a wireless communication link with a communications controller of the charging system;

means for transmitting service information indicative of one or more wireless power transfer capabilities of the electric vehicle to the communications controller of the charging system;

means for retrieving an identifier of a first wireless charging station of the one or more wireless charging stations via a mechanism different than the wireless communication link;

means for transmitting the identifier of the first wireless charging station to the communications controller of the charging system;

means for transmitting a vehicle identifier of a vehicle charging system of the electric vehicle to the communications controller of the charging system; and

means for transmitting a message to initiate an alignment procedure between the vehicle charging system of the electric vehicle and the first wireless charging station.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising means for wirelessly receiving power at the electric vehicle via the magnetic field generated by the first wireless charging station in response to completion of the alignment procedure.