WO2019164203A1 - Wireless battery control system and method and battery pack for allocating id to multiple slave management modules - Google Patents

Abstract

Wireless battery control system and method and a battery pack are provided. The system comprises: a master; and a plurality of slaves positioned sequentially such that the distances from the master are different from one another. The master wirelessly transmits a ready signal when entering into an ID allocation mode. Each of the slaves wirelessly transmits the RSSI of the ready signal to the master when the ready signal is wirelessly received from the master or another slave during operation in standby mode. The master wirelessly transmits an ID associated with an operation count to a slave which has wirelessly transmitted the maximum RSSI among the RSSIs of the ready signal, and increases the operation count by 1.

Description

Wireless battery control system, method and battery pack for assigning IDs to a plurality of slave management modules

The present invention relates to a wireless battery control system, a method and a battery pack, and more particularly, to a plurality of slave management modules, a wireless battery control system, a method and a battery for sequentially assigning an ID associated with the position of each slave management module It's about the pack.

This application is a priority application for Korean Patent Application No. 10-2018-0021224, filed February 22, 2018, and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0016885, filed February 13, 2019. All the contents disclosed in the specification and drawings of this application are incorporated in this application by reference.

Recently, as the demand for portable electronic products such as laptops, video cameras, mobile phones, etc. is rapidly increased, and development of electric vehicles, storage batteries for energy storage, robots, satellites, and the like is in earnest, high-performance batteries capable of repeatedly charging and discharging Research is actively being conducted.

Currently commercialized batteries include nickel cadmium batteries, nickel hydride batteries, nickel zinc batteries, and lithium batteries. Among them, lithium batteries have almost no memory effect compared to nickel-based batteries, and thus are free of charge and discharge, and have a very high self discharge rate. Its low and high energy density has attracted much attention.

BACKGROUND Battery packs for devices with large capacity and high voltage, such as electric vehicles, typically include a plurality of battery modules and a plurality of management modules connected in series with each other. Each management module, also called a battery management system (BMS), monitors and controls the state of a battery module managed by the management module. In order to efficiently manage the state of each battery module included in such a battery pack, a battery control system having a multi-slave system is disclosed. The battery control system having a multi-slave system includes a plurality of slave management modules installed for monitoring the state of each battery module and a master management module for integrally controlling the plurality of slave management modules. In order for the master management module to collect status information of each battery module from each slave management module and to transmit control commands for each battery module to each slave management module, each slave management module is the battery module of the plurality of battery modules. You must be assigned an ID that indicates whether you are managing.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which a master sequentially assigns IDs to a plurality of slaves. By the way, the ID allocation method according to Patent Document 1 is based on the premise of the wired connection between the master and each slave, and there is a great concern about disconnection and space limitation.

(Patent Document 1) Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-2011-0013747 (published date: February 10, 2011)

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, to provide a wireless battery control system, a method and a battery pack that can be assigned wirelessly ID according to the physical location of each of the plurality of slave management module is disposed. The purpose.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention can be understood by the following description, and will be more clearly understood by the embodiments of the present invention. It will also be readily apparent that the objects and advantages of the invention may be realized by the means and combinations thereof indicated in the claims.

The wireless battery control system for a battery pack including a plurality of battery modules according to an aspect of the present invention is provided for a battery pack including first to Nth battery modules. N is a natural number of 2 or more. The wireless battery control system includes a master management module; And first to Nth slave management modules configured to monitor the states of the first to Nth battery modules and sequentially arranged such that distances from the master management modules are different from each other. The master management module is configured to initialize an operation count and wirelessly transmit a ready signal upon entering an ID assignment mode. Each slave management module is configured to wirelessly transmit the RSSI of the ready signal to the master management module upon wireless reception of the ready signal from the master management module or another slave management module during operation in a standby mode. The master management module is configured to wirelessly transmit an ID associated with the operation count to a slave management module which has wirelessly transmitted the largest RSSI among the RSSI of the ready signal. Each slave management module is configured to, in response to receiving the ID wirelessly transmitted from the master management module, wirelessly transmit the ready signal and exit the standby mode. The master management module is configured to increment the operation count by one each time an ID is wirelessly transmitted to each slave management module.

Each slave management module may include a first slave antenna; And a second slave antenna. The first slave antenna may be located closer to the master management module than the second slave antenna.

Each slave management module may be configured to wirelessly receive the ready signal through the first slave antenna. The ID may be configured to wirelessly receive the ID through the first slave antenna. And may wirelessly transmit the RSSI through the first slave antenna. The ready signal may be wirelessly transmitted through the second slave antenna.

The first slave antenna of one of the two slave management modules disposed adjacent to each other and the second slave antenna of the other may be disposed within a predetermined distance.

The first slave antenna of any one of the first to Nth slave management modules disposed closest to the master management module may be disposed within a predetermined distance from the master antenna of the master management module.

The master management module may be configured to determine whether the operation count matches a target value when the maximum RSSI is less than or equal to a threshold RSSI. The master management module may be configured to terminate the ID allocation mode when the operation count matches the target value.

The master management module may be configured to determine whether the operation count matches a target value when the maximum RSSI is less than or equal to a threshold RSSI. The master management module may be configured to wirelessly transmit a reset signal when the operation count does not match the target value. Each slave management module may be configured to invalidate an ID already assigned to itself in response to the reset signal.

Each slave management module may be configured to wirelessly transmit a response signal in response to receiving the ID wirelessly transmitted to the master management module. Each slave management module may be configured to wirelessly transmit the RSSI of the response signal wirelessly transmitted by another slave management module to the master management module. The master management module, when the response signal is wirelessly transmitted by the k-th slave management module of the first to N-th slave management module, from each of the first to k-1 slave management module And may wirelessly receive the RSSI of the response signal. k is a natural number of 2 or more and N or less. The master management module may include the RSSI of the response signal wirelessly received from the k-th slave management module and the largest RSSI of the response signal wirelessly received from each of the first to k-th slave management modules. In the same case, the operation count may be configured to increase by one.

The master management module may have a largest RSSI of the response signal received from each of the first to k-1th slave management modules, which is not the same as the RSSI of the response signal received from the k-1th slave management module. If so, it may be configured to wirelessly transmit the reset signal. Each slave management module may be configured to invalidate an ID already assigned to itself in response to the reset signal.

A battery pack according to another aspect of the present invention includes the wireless battery control system.

A method according to another aspect of the present invention is for assigning IDs to first to Nth slave management modules sequentially arranged such that distances from the master management module are different from each other. N is a natural number of 2 or more. The method includes the steps of, by the master management module, entering an ID assignment mode, initializing an operation count and wirelessly transmitting a preparation signal; Receiving, by the master management module, the RSSI of the ready signal from each slave management module in a standby mode; Transmitting, by the master management module, an ID associated with the operation count to a slave management module which has wirelessly transmitted the maximum RSSI when the maximum RSSI among the RSSIs of the ready signals is greater than a threshold RSSI; And increasing, by the master management module, the operation count by 1 each time an ID is wirelessly transmitted to each slave management module.

The method may further include determining, by the master management module, whether the operation count matches a target value when the maximum RSSI is less than or equal to a threshold RSSI. When the operation count coincides with the target value, the ID allocation mode may be terminated.

The method may include: determining, by the master management module, if the maximum RSSI is less than or equal to a threshold RSSI, the operation count matches a target value; And transmitting, by the master management module, a wireless reset signal when the operation count does not match the target value. Each slave management module may be configured to invalidate its ID in response to the reset signal.

The method may further include managing the first to k-th slaves when the master management module wirelessly transmits a response signal by a slave management module to which an ID is assigned a kth ID among the first to Nth slave management modules. Wirelessly receiving the RSSI of the response signal from each module; And the RSSI of the response signal wirelessly received from the k-th slave management module is the largest among the RSSIs of the response signals wirelessly received from each of the first to k-th slave management modules. In the same case, the method may further include increasing the operation count by one. k is a natural number of 2 or more and N or less. Each slave management module may be configured to wirelessly transmit the response signal in response to receiving the ID wirelessly transmitted to the master management module. Each slave management module may be configured to wirelessly transmit the RSSI of the response signal wirelessly transmitted by another slave management module to the master management module.

The method may include: wherein the master management module is the largest of the RSSIs of the response signals wirelessly received from each of the first to k-1th slave management modules; If it is not the same as the RSSI, it may further comprise the step of transmitting a wireless reset signal. Each slave management module may be configured to invalidate an ID already assigned to itself in response to the reset signal.

According to at least one of the embodiments of the present invention, IDs may be wirelessly assigned to a plurality of slave management modules sequentially arranged such that distances from the master management module are different. As a result, there is no fear of disconnection of cables or the like, compared to the conventional ID allocation method in which a wired connection between the master management module and each slave management module is required, and space utilization can be increased.

In addition, according to at least one of the embodiments of the present invention, by selectively using the two antennas provided in each slave management module so that the distance from the master is different, to suppress signal interference in the process of assigning the ID wirelessly can do.

In addition, according to at least one of the embodiments of the present invention, each time an ID is assigned to each slave, it may be performed by verifying whether the IDs are allocated according to the physical order of the plurality of slave management modules.

Effects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description of the claims.

The following drawings attached to this specification are illustrative of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and together with the detailed description of the invention to serve to further understand the technical spirit of the present invention, the present invention is a matter described in such drawings It should not be construed as limited to.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a battery pack including a wireless battery control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a slave management module of FIG. 1.

3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a battery pack including a wireless battery control system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a slave management module of FIG. 3.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for sequentially assigning IDs to a plurality of slave management modules included in a wireless battery control system.

6 and 7 are flowcharts illustrating another method for sequentially assigning IDs to a plurality of slave management modules included in the wireless battery control system.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Prior to this, terms or words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed as being limited to the common or dictionary meanings, and the inventors should properly explain the concept of terms in order to best explain their own invention. Based on the principle that can be defined, it should be interpreted as meaning and concept corresponding to the technical idea of the present invention.

Therefore, the embodiments described in the specification and the drawings shown in the drawings are only the most preferred embodiment of the present invention and do not represent all of the technical idea of the present invention, various modifications that can be replaced at the time of the present application It should be understood that there may be equivalents and variations.

In addition, in describing the present invention, when it is determined that the detailed description of the related well-known configuration or function may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Terms including ordinal numbers such as first and second are used for the purpose of distinguishing any one of the various components from the others, and are not used to limit the components by such terms.

Throughout the specification, when a part is said to "include" a certain component, it means that it may further include other components, without excluding the other components unless otherwise stated. In addition, the term <control unit> described in the specification means a unit for processing at least one function or operation, which may be implemented in hardware or software, or a combination of hardware and software.

In addition, throughout the specification, when a part is "connected" to another part, it is not only "directly connected" but also "indirectly connected" with another element in between. Include.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a battery pack 10 including a wireless battery control system 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a slave management module of FIG. 1. The figure shows.

Referring to FIG. 1, the battery pack 10 includes a plurality of battery modules 20_1 ˜ 20_N, N is two or more natural numbers, and a wireless battery control system 30. The battery pack 10 may be mounted on an electric vehicle to supply electric power required for driving an electric motor of the electric vehicle.

The plurality of battery modules 20_1 to 20_N are connected in series or in parallel with each other. Each battery module 20 includes at least one battery cell 21.

The wireless battery control system 30 includes a master management module 100 and a plurality of slave management modules 200_1 to 200_N. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, the master management module 100 will be referred to as a 'master' and the slave management module 200 will be referred to as a 'slave'.

The master 100 is configured to integrally control the battery pack 10. The master 100 is operatively coupled to the plurality of slave management modules 200_1 to 200_N. The master 100 may communicate with an external main controller (eg, ECU of an electric vehicle) through a wired network such as a control area network (CAN).

The master 100 may include a master antenna MA and wirelessly communicate with each of the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N through the master antenna MA.

The plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N are electrically connected to the plurality of battery modules 20_1 to 20_N in a one-to-one manner. When i = 1 to (N-1), the slave 200_i is connected to the battery module 20_i, and the state of each battery cell 21 included in the battery module 20_i and the battery module 20_i. It is configured to monitor. The slave 200_i also wirelessly transmits data indicative of the monitored state to the master 100. The master 100 may be configured to diagnose whether each battery module 20 and each slave 200 are normal or abnormal based on data collected wirelessly from the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N.

The plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N are sequentially arranged such that the distances from the master 100 are different from each other. That is, when the slave 200_i refers to FIG. 1, the slave 200_i is disposed closer to the master 100 than the slave 200_i + 1 disposed adjacent to the slave 200_i. The slave 200_i may be disposed upstream of the slave 200_i + 1, and the slave 200_i + 1 may be disposed downstream of the slave 200_i.

Referring to FIG. 2, the slave 200_i includes a sensing unit 210, a wireless communication circuit 220, one slave antenna SA_i, and a controller 230.

The sensing unit 210 includes a voltage measuring circuit 211 and a temperature sensor 212. The sensing unit 210 may further include a current sensor. The voltage measuring circuit 211 includes at least one voltage sensor. The voltage measuring circuit 211 measures the module voltage of the battery module 20. The voltage measuring circuit 211 may measure the voltage of the cell 21 of each battery cell 21 included in the battery module 20. The voltage measuring circuit 211 transmits a voltage signal representing the measured module voltage and the cell 21 voltage to the controller 230. The temperature sensor 212 is disposed within a predetermined distance from the battery module 20, and transmits a temperature signal indicating the temperature of the battery module 20 to the controller 230. The current sensor is installed in the charge / discharge current path of the battery pack 10, measures the current flowing at the time of charge / discharge of the battery pack 10, and transmits a current signal indicating the measured current to the controller 230.

The wireless communication circuit 220 is connected to the slave antenna SA_i. The wireless communication circuit 220 may be implemented in hardware using an RF system on chip (RF SoC). The wireless communication circuit 220 may wirelessly transmit data to the master 100 or the other slave 200 or wirelessly receive data from the master 100 or the other slave 200 through the slave antenna SA_i. Can be. Referring to FIG. 1, the slave antenna SA_i of the slave 200_i is disposed closer to the master antenna MA of the master 100 than the slave antenna SA_i + 1 of the slave 200_i + 1. The slave antenna SA_i of the slave 200_i is disposed upstream of the slave antenna SA_i + 1 of the slave 200_i + 1, and the slave antenna SA_i + 1 of the slave 200_i + 1 is the slave 200_i. It can be said that it is disposed downstream of the slave antenna SA_i. As a result, the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) of the ready signal detected by the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N operating in the standby mode when the master 100 wirelessly transmits the ready signal is different.

The controller 230 is operatively coupled to the sensing unit 210, the power supply unit, and the wireless communication circuit 220 to individually control each of these operations. The controller 230 may be hardware-based application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and microprocessors ( microprocessors) and electrical units for performing other functions. The controller 230 may include a memory device. For example, a RAM, a ROM, a register, a hard disk, an optical recording medium, or a magnetic recording medium may be used as the memory device. The memory device may store, update, and / or erase a program including various control logics executed by the controller 230, and / or data generated when the control logic is executed.

The wireless communication circuit 220 is configured to selectively execute at least one of the predetermined functions in response to a signal from the master 100 or another slave 200 wirelessly received via the slave antenna SA_i.

When the ready signal is received through the slave antenna SA_i, the wireless communication circuit 220 may measure the RSSI of the received ready signal. The wireless communication circuit 220 may wirelessly transmit the measured RSSI to the master 100 through the slave antenna SA_i. As used herein, wirelessly transmitting the RSSI may mean wirelessly transmitting a signal indicating the RSSI. As another example, when the ID is received through the slave antenna SA_i, the wireless communication circuit 220 may store the received ID in the controller 230 and then wirelessly transmit a response signal to the master 100. The response signal is a signal for reporting to the master 100 that the ID is normally received wirelessly.

Each of the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N operates in the standby mode until its ID is assigned by the master 100, and terminates the standby mode in response to wirelessly receiving the ID from the master 100. can do. Each of the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N measures RSSI of a ready signal wirelessly received from the master 100 or another slave 200 during operation in the standby mode, and wirelessly transmits the measured RSSI to the master 100. Is configured to. On the other hand, each of the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N may be operated from the master 100 or another slave 200 when it is not operating in the standby mode (that is, when its ID is assigned from the master 100). It may be configured not to measure the RSSI of the wirelessly received ready signal.

The slave 200_i synthesizes data to be sent to the master 100 and data representing its own information (eg, address, serial number) during operation in the standby mode because the slave 200_i is not assigned an ID from the master 100. Next, wireless transmission may be performed to the master 100 through the slave antenna SA_i. The master 100 can identify the slave 200_i even before the ID is assigned to the slave 200_i by extracting unique information from the signal wirelessly transmitted by the slave 200_i.

The term operation count to be used hereinafter may mean a value updated by the master 100 whenever a predetermined condition is satisfied so that different IDs are sequentially assigned to the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N.

Hereinafter, a process of sequentially assigning IDs to the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N by the master 100 in the wireless battery control system 30 shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

The master 100 initializes the operation count as the ID assignment mode starts, and wirelessly transmits a ready signal through the master antenna MA. The ready signal wirelessly transmitted from the master antenna MA may be received by at least one of the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N through the slave antennas SA_1 to SA_N.

The plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N operating in the standby mode measure the RSSI of the ready signal from the master 100, and wirelessly transmit the measured RSSI to the master 100. Then, the master 100 determines the maximum RSSI among RSSIs from each of the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N. Since the slave 200_1 is closest to the master 100, if the slave 200_1 has not failed, the RSSI wirelessly transmitted by the slave 200_1 will be determined as the maximum RSSI. The master 100 assigns an ID associated with the current operation count to the slave 200_1 that has wirelessly transmitted the maximum RSSI, and wirelessly transmits the assigned ID to the slave 200_1. The slave 200_1 stores the ID from the master 100 in its memory device, and then wirelessly transmits a response signal indicating that the ID is normally assigned to the master 100, and ends the standby mode. In response to receiving the response signal from the slave 200_1, the master 100 increments the operation count by one.

The slave 200_1 wirelessly transmits a response signal to the master 100 through the slave antenna SA_1, and then wirelessly transmits a preparation signal through the slave antenna SA_1 on behalf of the master 100.

Each of the slaves 200_2 to 200_N operating in the standby mode measures the RSSI of the ready signal from the slave 200_1 and wirelessly transmits the measured RSSI to the master 100. Then, the master 100 determines the maximum RSSI among RSSIs from each of the slaves 200_2 to 200_N. Since the slave 200_2 is closest to the slave 200_1, if the slave 200_2 has not failed, the RSSI wirelessly transmitted by the slave 200_2 may be determined as the maximum RSSI. The master 100 assigns an ID associated with the current operation count to the slave 200_2 that has wirelessly transmitted the maximum RSSI, and wirelessly transmits the assigned ID to the slave 200_2. The slave 200_2 stores the ID from the master 100 in its memory device, and then wirelessly transmits a response signal indicating that the ID is normally allocated to the master 100, and ends the standby mode. In response to receiving the response signal from the slave 200_2, the master 100 increments the operation count by one.

In the same manner as described above, different IDs are sequentially assigned to the remaining slaves 200_3 to 200_N by the master 100. Finally, the slave 200_N to which an ID is assigned transmits a ready signal wirelessly through the slave antenna SA_N. However, when the slave 200_N wirelessly transmits the ready signal, all the slaves 200_1 to 200_N have finished the standby mode. Thus, the master 100 cannot receive an RSSI greater than the threshold RSSI.

When the master 100 fails to receive the RSSI larger than the threshold RSSI, the master 100 checks whether the operation count and the target value are the same. The target value may be a predetermined natural number and may be equal to N, for example. As described above, since the operation count is increased by one each time ID allocation is completed, if the IDs are normally assigned to all the slaves 200_1 to 200_N, the operation count will match the target value. The master 100 may end the ID assignment mode when the operation count and the target value are the same.

On the other hand, if the operation count does not match the target value even though an RSSI larger than the threshold RSSI is not received, the master 100 wirelessly transmits a reset signal to all slaves 200_1 to 200_N instead of exiting the ID assignment mode. You can restart the ID assignment mode. Each slave 200 that has already been assigned an ID may invalidate the ID stored in its memory device and re-enter the standby mode in response to a reset signal from the master 100.

3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a battery pack 10 including a wireless battery control system 30 according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a slave management module of FIG. 3. The figure shows.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, unlike FIGS. 1 and 2, when i = 1 to (N-1), the slave 200_i includes two slave antennas SA1_i and SA2_i. There are differences, and repeated descriptions of the same components will be omitted.

The slave 200_i includes a sensing unit 210, a wireless communication circuit 220, a first slave antenna SA1_i, a second slave antenna SA2_i, and a controller 230. The wireless communication circuit 220 is connected to the first slave antenna SA1_i and the second slave antenna SA2_i. The wireless communication circuit 220 selectively transmits data to the master 100 or another slave 200 by selectively using at least one of the first slave antenna SA1_i and the second slave antenna SA2_i, or the master. The data from the 100 or the other slave 200 may be wirelessly received.

Referring to FIG. 3, the first slave antenna SA1_i of the slave 200_i is disposed closer to the master 100 than the first slave antenna SA1_i + 1 of the slave 200_i + 1. In addition, the second slave antenna SA2_i of the slave 200_i is disposed closer to the master 100 than the second slave antenna SA2_i + 1 of the slave 200_i + 1. The first slave antenna SA1_i and the second slave antenna SA2_i of the slave 200_i are upstream of the first slave antenna SA1_i + 1 and the second slave antenna SA2_i + 1 of the slave 200_i + 1. The first slave antenna SA1_i + 1 and the second slave antenna SA2_i + 1 of the slave 200_i + 1 are disposed in the first slave antenna SA1_i and the second slave antenna SA2_i of the slave 200_i. It can be said that it is arrange | positioned downstream of ().

In addition, the first slave antenna SA1_i of the slave 200_i is disposed closer to the master 100 than the second slave antenna SA2_i. The first slave antenna SA1_i of the slave 200_i may be disposed upstream of the second slave antenna SA2_i, and the second slave antenna SA2_i may be disposed downstream of the first slave antenna SA1_i. have. As a result, RSSIs of the ready signals wirelessly received by two or more of the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N are different.

The second slave antenna SA2_i of the slave 200_i disposed upstream of the two slaves disposed adjacent to each other (eg, 200_i and 200_i + 1) and the first slave of the slave 200_i + 1 disposed downstream. The antennas SA1_i + 1 are arranged to face each other within a predetermined distance (for example, 5 cm). In addition, the first slave antenna SA1_1 of the slave 200-1 disposed closest to the master 100 is disposed to face each other within a predetermined distance from the master antenna MA of the master 100.

The slave 200_i may selectively activate one of the first slave antenna SA1_i and the second slave antenna SA2_i according to a signal to be wirelessly transmitted or a wirelessly received signal. When one of the first slave antenna SA1_i and the second slave antenna SA2_i is activated, the other may be deactivated.

The slave 200_i may wirelessly receive a ready signal through the first slave antenna SA1_i. For example, the ready signal wirelessly received through the first slave antenna SA1_i of the slave 200_i is wirelessly transmitted by the slaves 200_1 to 200_i-1 or the master 100 disposed upstream of the slave 200_i. It may have been.

The slave 200_i may measure the RSSI of the wirelessly received ready signal and then wirelessly transmit the measured RSSI to the master 100 through the first slave antenna SA1_i.

The slave 200_i may wirelessly receive an ID from the master 100 through the first slave antenna SA1_i. The slave 200_i may store the wirelessly received ID and then wirelessly transmit a response signal to the master 100 through the first slave antenna SA1_i. The response signal is a signal for reporting to the master 100 that the ID is normally received wirelessly. In addition, upon receiving the ID from the master 100, the slave 200_i may terminate the standby mode simultaneously with or separately from the received ID.

The slave 200_i wirelessly transmits a response signal to the master 100 through the first slave antenna SA1_i and then wirelessly transmits a preparation signal through the second slave antenna SA2_i on behalf of the master 100. do. For example, the ready signal wirelessly transmitted through the second slave antenna SA2_i of the slave 200_i may be wirelessly transmitted to the slaves 200_i + 1 to 200_N disposed downstream of the slave 200_i.

Hereinafter, an exemplary process of sequentially assigning IDs to a plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N included in the wireless battery control system 30 illustrated in FIG. 3 will be described.

The master 100 initializes the operation count (eg, operation count = 1) as the ID assignment mode starts, and wirelessly transmits a ready signal through the master antenna MA. The ready signal wirelessly transmitted from the master antenna MA is received through at least one first slave antenna SA1 of the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N.

When i = 1 to (N-1), the slave 200_i measures the RSSI of the ready signal from the master 100 and operates the measured RSSI to the master 100 during operation in the standby mode. Wireless transmission is performed through the slave antenna SA1_i.

Then, the master 100 determines the maximum RSSI among RSSIs from each of the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N. Since the slave 200_1 is closest to the master 100, if the slave 200_1 has not failed, the RSSI wirelessly transmitted by the slave 200_1 will be determined as the maximum RSSI. The master 100 assigns an ID associated with the current operation count to the slave 200_1 that has wirelessly transmitted the maximum RSSI, and wirelessly transmits the assigned ID to the slave 200_1. The slave 200_1 wirelessly receives the ID from the master 100 through the first slave antenna SA1_1, stores the ID in the memory device thereof, and then sends a response signal indicating that the ID is normally allocated to the first slave antenna. Wirelessly transmits to the master 100 through SA1_1 and ends the standby mode. In response to receiving the response signal from the slave 200_1, the master 100 increments the operation count by one.

The slave 200_1 wirelessly transmits a response signal to the master 100 through the first slave antenna SA1_1 and then wirelessly transmits a preparation signal through the second slave antenna SA2_1. Each of the slaves 200_2 to 200_N operating in the standby mode measures the RSSI of the ready signal from the slave 200_1 and wirelessly transmits the measured RSSI to the master 100 through the first slave antenna SA1. Then, the master 100 determines the maximum RSSI among RSSIs from each of the slaves 200_2 to 200_N. Since the slave 200_2 is closest to the slave 200_1, if the slave 200_2 has not failed, the RSSI wirelessly transmitted by the slave 200_2 may be determined as the maximum RSSI. The master 100 assigns an ID associated with the current operation count to the slave 200_2 that has wirelessly transmitted the maximum RSSI, and wirelessly transmits the assigned ID to the slave 200_2. The slave 200_2 receives the ID from the master 100 through the first slave antenna SA1_2, stores the ID in the memory device, and transmits a response signal indicating that the ID is normally assigned to the first slave antenna ( Wireless transmission to the master 100 through SA1_2, and ends the standby mode. In response to receiving the response signal from the slave 200_2, the master 100 increments the operation count by one.

According to the above method, different IDs are sequentially assigned to the remaining slaves 200_3 to 200_N by the master 100. Finally, the slave 200_N to which the ID is assigned transmits a ready signal wirelessly through the second slave antenna SA2_N.

5 and 6, which will be described below, can be started by the master 100 entering an ID assignment mode. The master 100 may enter the ID assignment mode in response to a command from an external device (eg, an ECU of an electric vehicle). Hereinafter, it is assumed that the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N are all in the standby mode when the master 100 enters the ID allocation mode.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for sequentially assigning IDs to a plurality of slave management modules included in the wireless battery control system 30.

1 to 5, in step S500, the master 100 initializes an operation count. The initialized operation count has a predetermined value (eg, 1). The value of the operation count is related to the physical order of the slave (eg, 200_k) to which the ID is to be assigned among the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N.

In step S505, the master 100 wirelessly transmits the ready signal. The ready signal may be wirelessly transmitted in a broadcasting manner. The ready signal wirelessly transmitted in step S505 may be wirelessly received by each slave 200 in the standby mode. Each slave in the standby mode wirelessly transmits the RSSI of the ready signal to the master 100 in response to receiving the ready signal.

In step S510, the master 100 wirelessly receives the RSSI of the ready signal from each slave 200 operating in the standby mode. If the value of the operation count is k, the (N-k) slaves 200 will be operating in the standby mode. RSSI may be wirelessly transmitted from each slave 200 to the master 100 in a unicasting manner. 1 to 4, since the slave 200_i is closer to the master antenna MA of the master 100 than the slave 200_i + 1, the RSSI of the ready signal received by the slave 200_i is slaved. It can be easily understood that it is larger than the RSSI of the ready signal received by (200_i + 1).

In step S515, the master 100 determines the maximum RSSI among RSSIs wirelessly received from each slave 200 in the standby mode. For example, when the value of the operation count is k, the master 100 wirelessly receives up to (N-k) RSSIs. The master 100 may determine the largest value among the (N-k) RSSIs by comparing the RSSIs wirelessly received in step S510. When all the slaves 200_i to 200_N are not operating in the standby mode, none of the plurality of slaves 200_i to 200_N wirelessly transmit the RSSI to the master 100. Accordingly, the master 100 may determine that the maximum RSSI is 0 when only one RSSI is not wirelessly received.

In step S520, the master 100 determines whether the maximum RSSI is greater than the threshold RSSI. The maximum RSSI may be less than or equal to the threshold RSSI when (i) ID allocation for all of the plurality of slaves 200_i to 200_N is completed or (ii) an error occurs during the transmission or reception of the ready signal or RSSI. If the value of step S520 is "YES", step S530 proceeds. If the value of step S520 is "NO", step S560 proceeds.

In operation S530, the master 100 wirelessly transmits an ID to one slave 200 that has wirelessly transmitted the maximum RSSI. Each ID wirelessly transmitted by the master 100 corresponds to the current operation count and is information indicating a relative positional relationship among the plurality of slaves 200_i to 200_N. In other words, the ID indicates an order in which each of the plurality of slaves 200_i to 200_N is near or far from the master 200. The master 100 may identify which of the plurality of battery modules 20 is managed by each slave 200 based on an ID assigned to each slave 200 by the master 100. The slave 200 wirelessly receiving the ID from the master 100 may wirelessly transmit a ready signal and terminate the standby mode. For example, when the slave 200_i wirelessly receives the ID, the slave 200_i stores the ID in its memory device and wirelessly transmits a response signal to the master 100. Subsequently, the slave 200_i may wirelessly transmit the ready signal to the slaves 200_i + 1 to 200-N by broadcasting, and may terminate the standby mode. The ready signal wirelessly transmitted by the slave 200_i may be received by the remaining slaves still operating in the standby mode. Accordingly, after the master 100 enters the ID allocation mode and is first assigned an ID to any one of the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N (eg, 200_1), the ready signal is not the master 100 but most recently. Is wirelessly transmitted by the slave 200 to which an ID is assigned.

In step S540, the master 100 wirelessly receives a response signal from one slave 200 that has wirelessly transmitted the maximum RSSI. The wireless reception of the response signal by the master 100 indicates that an ID for one slave that has wirelessly transmitted the maximum RSSI has been normally assigned.

When IDs are sequentially assigned from the slave 200_1 to the slave 200_i, each of the remaining slaves 200_i + 1 to 200_N wirelessly transmits the RSSI of the ready signal wirelessly received from the slave 200_i to the master 100. Can be.

In step S550, in response to receiving the response signal, the master 100 increments the operation count by one. After step S550 is performed, the process may return to step S510. Since the operation count is increased by one each time an ID is assigned to each slave 200, different IDs may be assigned to the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N.

In step S560, the master 100 determines whether the operation count matches the target value. The target value corresponds to N, which is the total number of slaves 200 included in the wireless battery control system 30. When IDs are assigned to all of the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N, the operation count and the target value coincide with each other. On the other hand, if the ID has not yet been assigned to at least one slave, the operation count is smaller than the target value. If both the value of step S520 and the value of step S560 are "NO", it means that an error has occurred during the transmission or reception of the ready signal or RSSI. If the value of step S560 is "YES", the ID assignment mode of the master 100 ends. If the value of step S560 is "NO", step S570 proceeds.

In step S570, the master 100 wirelessly transmits reset signals to the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N. The reset signal may be wirelessly transmitted to all of the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N in a broadcasting manner. In response to the reset signal, each slave 200 may invalidate an ID already assigned to the slave 200 and enter a standby mode. After returning to step S500 after step S570, ID allocation for the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N may be restarted.

6 and 7 are flowcharts illustrating another method for sequentially assigning IDs to a plurality of slave management modules included in the wireless battery control system 30.

3, 4, 6 and 7, in step S600, the master 100 initializes the operation count. The initialized operation count may be equal to a predetermined natural number (eg, 1).

In step S605, the master 100 wirelessly transmits a ready signal. The ready signal may be wirelessly transmitted in a broadcasting manner. The ready signal wirelessly transmitted in step S605 may be wirelessly received by at least one first slave antenna SA1 or second slave antenna SA2 of the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N in the standby mode. At least one of the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N wirelessly transmits the RSSI of the ready signal to the master 100 through the first slave antenna SA1 in response to receiving the ready signal in the standby mode.

In step S610, the master 100 wirelessly receives the RSSI of the preparation signal from at least one of the slaves 200_k to 200_N belonging to the first group. The master 100 may wirelessly receive up to (N-k + 1) RSSIs in step S610. Reference numeral 'k' used to describe the method of FIG. 6 denotes an operation count. The first group includes slaves 200_k to 200_N for which IDs have not been assigned among the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N. For example, when the operation count is 1, all of the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N may belong to the first group. As another example, when the operation count is 3, only the slaves 200_3 to 200_N of the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N may belong to the first group.

In step S615, the master 100 determines the maximum RSSI of the first group. Specifically, the master 100 determines the maximum RSSI among RSSIs of the ready signals from at least one of the slaves 200_k to 200_N belonging to the first group. When two or more RSSIs are received by the master 100 in step S610, the largest RSSI of the first group may be determined to be the largest of the two or more RSSIs. When only one RSSI is received by the master 100 in operation S610, the received one RSSI may be determined as the maximum RSSI of the first group. If there is no RSSI of the ready signal received by the master 100 in step S610, it may be determined that the maximum RSSI of the first group is zero.

Referring to FIG. 3, when x = 1 to N-1, y = 2 to N, and x <y, the slave 200_x is closer to the master antenna MA of the master 100 than to the slave 200_y. The RSSI of the ready signal received by the slave 200_x should be larger than the RSSI of the ready signal received by the slave 200_y. However, due to noise from the outside, an abnormal situation may occur in which the RSSI of the ready signal received by the slave 200_x is equal to or smaller than the RSSI of the ready signal received by the slave 200_y. Therefore, it is necessary to verify whether the maximum RSSI of the first group determined in step S615 is detected by the slave 200_k located closest to the master 100 among the slaves 200_k to 200_N belonging to the first group. .

In step S620, the master 100 determines whether the maximum RSSI of the first group is greater than the threshold RSSI. The maximum RSSI of the first group may be determined when (i) ID assignment is completed for all of the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N, or (ii) when a problem (for example, signal interference) occurs during transmission or reception of a ready signal or RSSI. May be less than or equal to the threshold RSSI. If the value of step S620 is "YES", step S630 proceeds. If the value of step S620 is "NO", step S660 proceeds.

In operation S630, the master 100 wirelessly transmits an ID to the slave 200_m that has wirelessly transmitted the maximum RSSI of the first group. The ID wirelessly transmitted in step S630 is related to the operation count k and may be referred to as a 'kth ID'. The slave 200_m may be any one of the slaves 200_k to 200_N belonging to the first group. The slave 200_m may store the ID wirelessly transmitted by the master 100 in its memory device in step S630 and wirelessly transmit the response signal in a broadcasting manner. Subsequently, the slave 200_m may wirelessly transmit the ready signal in a broadcasting manner on behalf of the master 100 and end the standby mode. Since the slave 200_k is the closest to the master 100 among the slaves 200_k to 200_N of the first group, the ID may be properly assigned only when the slave 200_m is the slave 200_k. Whether the slave 200_m is the slave 200_k is verified through steps S642, S644, S646, and S648, which will be described later.

The response signal wirelessly transmitted by the slave 200_m may be received by the master 200 and the slaves 200_1 to 200_k-1 belonging to the second group. Each of the slaves 200_1 to 200_k-1 belonging to the second group wirelessly receives a response signal from the slave 200_m through its second slave antenna SA2 and detects the RSSI of the received response signal. The detected RSSI may be wirelessly transmitted to the master 100 through its first slave antenna SA1. The slaves 200_1 to 200_k-1 of the second group are disposed upstream of the k-th slave 200_k.

The ready signal wirelessly transmitted by the slave 200_m may be received by the slaves 200_k + 1 to 200_N belonging to the first group. Accordingly, after the ID of the slave 200_1 is assigned by the master 100, the slave 200_m to which the ID is most recently assigned transmits a ready signal wirelessly on behalf of the master 100. Accordingly, at least one of the slaves 200_k + 1 to 200_N of the first group may wirelessly transmit the RSSI of the ready signal wirelessly transmitted by the slave 200_m to the master 100.

In operation S640, the master 100 wirelessly receives a response signal from the slave 200_m that has wirelessly transmitted the maximum RSSI of the first group.

In step S642, the master 100 determines whether the operation count is equal to one. If the value of step S642 is "NO", step S644 proceeds. If the value of step S642 is "YES", step S650 proceeds.

In step S644, the master 100 wirelessly receives the RSSI of the response signal from each of the slaves 200_1 to 200_k-1 belonging to the second group.

In step S646, the master 100 determines the maximum RSSI of the second group. Specifically, the master 100 determines the largest of the RSSIs of the response signals wirelessly received from each of the slaves 200_1 to 200_k-1 belonging to the second group as the maximum RSSI of the second group.

In step S648, the master 100 determines whether the RSSI of the response signal wirelessly received from the k-1 th slave 200_k-1 is equal to the maximum RSSI of the second group. If the value of step S648 is "YES", step S650 proceeds. If the value of step S648 is "NO", step S670 may proceed.

In step S650, the master 100 increments the operation count k by one. After step S650 is performed, the method may return to step S610. When the IDs are sequentially assigned to the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N, the operation count increases by one, and thus different IDs may be assigned to the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N.

In step S660, the master 100 determines whether the operation count matches the target value. The target value may be a natural number that is one greater than N, which is the total number of slaves 200 included in the wireless battery control system 30. When IDs are assigned to all of the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N, the operation count and the target value coincide with each other. On the other hand, when the ID is not yet assigned to at least one slave (eg, 200_N), the operation count is smaller than the target value. If both the value of step S620 and the value of step S660 are "NO", it means that an error has occurred in the process of assigning the k-th ID to the slave 200_k. If the value of step S660 is "NO", step S670 proceeds. If the value of step S660 is "YES", the method ends.

In step S670, the master 100 wirelessly transmits a reset signal. The reset signal may be wirelessly transmitted to the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N in a broadcasting manner. Each of the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N may invalidate an ID already assigned to itself in response to the reset signal and may enter the standby mode. After returning to step S600 after step S670, ID allocation for the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N may be restarted.

The master 100 may perform an operation of increasing the reset count by one each time the reset signal is wirelessly transmitted. When the reset count reaches a predetermined fault value, the master 100 transmits an error message to an external device indicating that it is impossible to sequentially assign IDs for the plurality of slaves 200_1 to 200_N, or the plurality of batteries. Charging and discharging of the modules 20_1 to 20_N may be stopped.

The embodiments of the present invention described above are not implemented only through the apparatus and the method, but may be implemented through a program for realizing a function corresponding to the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention or a recording medium on which the program is recorded. Implementation may be easily implemented by those skilled in the art from the description of the above-described embodiments.

Although the present invention has been described above by means of limited embodiments and drawings, the present invention is not limited thereto and will be described below by the person skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. Of course, various modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the claims.

In addition, the present invention described above is capable of various substitutions, modifications, and changes within the scope without departing from the spirit of the present invention for those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains to the above-described embodiments and attached Not limited by the drawings, all or part of the embodiments may be selectively combined to enable various modifications.

<Description of the code>

10: Battery Pack

20: battery module

30: wireless battery control system

100: master management module

200: slave management module

Claims (15)

1. In the wireless battery control system for a battery pack including the first to Nth battery module,

   Master management module; And

   A first to Nth slave management module configured to monitor the states of the first to Nth battery modules, and sequentially arranged such that distances from the master management module are different from each other,

   The master management module is configured to initialize an operation count and wirelessly transmit a preparation signal upon entering an ID allocation mode,

   Wherein each slave management module is configured to wirelessly transmit the RSSI of the ready signal to the master management module upon wireless reception of the ready signal from the master management module or another slave management module during operation in a standby mode,

   The master management module is configured to wirelessly transmit an ID associated with the operation count to a slave management module which has wirelessly transmitted the largest RSSI among the RSSI of the ready signal,

   Wherein each slave management module is configured to wirelessly transmit the ready signal and exit the standby mode in response to receiving an ID wirelessly transmitted to the master management module from the slave management module.

   The master management module is configured to increase the operation count by 1 each time an ID is wirelessly transmitted to each slave management module.

   N is a natural number of 2 or more, the wireless battery control system.
2. The method of claim 1,

   Each slave management module,

   A first slave antenna; And

   Including a second slave antenna,

   The first slave antenna is located closer to the master management module than the second slave antenna.
3. The method of claim 2,

   Each slave management module,

   And wirelessly receive the ready signal through the first slave antenna,

   And wirelessly receive the ID via the first slave antenna,

   Is configured to wirelessly transmit the RSSI via the first slave antenna,

   And wirelessly transmit the ready signal via the second slave antenna.
4. The method of claim 2,

   And the first slave antenna of one of the two slave management modules disposed adjacent to each other and the second slave antenna of the other are disposed within a predetermined distance.
5. The method of claim 2,

   The first slave antenna of any one of the first to Nth slave management modules disposed closest to the master management module is disposed within a predetermined distance from the master antenna of the master management module. .
6. The method of claim 1,

   The master management module,

   If the maximum RSSI is less than or equal to a threshold RSSI, determine whether the operation count matches a target value,

   And terminate the ID assignment mode when the operation count matches the target value.
7. The method of claim 1,

   The master management module,

   If the maximum RSSI is less than or equal to a threshold RSSI, determine whether the operation count matches a target value,

   If the operation count does not match the target value, wirelessly transmit a reset signal,

   Each slave management module,

   In response to the reset signal, invalidate an ID already assigned to the wireless battery control system.
8. The method of claim 1,

   Each slave management module

   In response to receiving the ID wirelessly transmitted to the master management module, wirelessly transmitting a response signal,

   Is configured to wirelessly transmit the RSSI of the response signal wirelessly transmitted by another slave management module to the master management module,

   The master management module,

   When the response signal is wirelessly transmitted by the k-th slave management module among the first to N-th slave management modules, RSSI of the response signal is received from each of the first to k-1 slave management modules. Wireless reception,

   The operation count when the largest of the RSSIs for the response signals wirelessly received from each of the first to k-th slave management modules is the same as the RSSI of the response signals wirelessly received from the k-th slave management module; Configured to increase by 1,

   k is a natural number equal to or greater than 2 and less than or equal to N.
9. The method of claim 8,

   The master management module,

   If the largest of the RSSI of the response signal received from each of the first to k-th slave management modules is not the same as the RSSI of the response signal received from the k-th slave management module, a reset signal is wirelessly transmitted. Configured to send,

   Each slave management module,

   In response to the reset signal, invalidate an ID already assigned to the wireless battery control system.
10. A battery pack comprising the wireless battery control system according to any one of claims 1 to 9.
11. A method for allocating IDs to first to Nth slave management modules sequentially arranged such that distances from a master management module are different from each other,

    Initializing, by the master management module, an ID allocation mode, an operation count, and wirelessly transmitting a preparation signal;

    Receiving, by the master management module, the RSSI of the ready signal from each slave management module in a standby mode;

    Transmitting, by the master management module, an ID associated with the operation count to a slave management module which has wirelessly transmitted the maximum RSSI when the maximum RSSI among the RSSIs of the ready signals is greater than a threshold RSSI; And

    Increasing, by the master management module, the operation count by one each time an ID is wirelessly transmitted to each slave management module, where N is a natural number of two or more.
12. The method of claim 11,

    Determining, by the master management module, whether the operation count matches a target value when the maximum RSSI is less than or equal to a threshold RSSI,

    If the operation count coincides with the target value, the ID assignment mode ends.
13. The method of claim 11,

    Determining, by the master management module, if the maximum RSSI is less than or equal to a threshold RSSI, the operation count matches a target value; And

    When the master management module does not match the operation value with the target value, wirelessly transmitting a reset signal;

    Each slave management module is configured to invalidate its ID in response to the reset signal.
14. The method of claim 11,

    When the master management module wirelessly transmits a response signal by the k-th slave management module to which the ID is assigned, the first to the k-th slave management modules respectively. Wirelessly receiving the RSSI of the response signal; And

    The master management module has the largest RSSI of the response signal wirelessly received from each of the first to k-th slave management modules, which is the same as the RSSI of the response signal wirelessly received from the k-th slave management module. If it is, further comprising the step of increasing the operation count,

    Each slave management module

    In response to receiving the ID wirelessly transmitted to the master management module, wirelessly transmitting the response signal,

    Is configured to wirelessly transmit the RSSI of the response signal wirelessly transmitted by another slave management module to the master management module,

    k is a natural number of 2 or more and N or less.
15. The method of claim 14,

    The master management module has the largest RSSI of the response signal wirelessly received from each of the first to k-th slave management modules, the same as the RSSI of the response signal wirelessly received from the k-th slave management module. If not, further comprising the step of wirelessly transmitting a reset signal,

    Each slave management module is configured to invalidate an ID already assigned to itself in response to the reset signal.

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