System and method for integration of redundant bus architecture into a power system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11299049-B2
Application number	US-201815917429-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 9, 2018
Priority date	Mar 10, 2017
Publication date	Apr 12, 2022
Grant date	Apr 12, 2022

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle power system. In some examples, the vehicle power system can include a plurality of redundant low-power buses coupled to respective low-power batteries. The low-power buses can be powered by a vehicle battery having a higher voltage than the voltage of the low-power batteries by way of a DCDC converter, for example. In some examples, the DCDC converter can be coupled to the low-power buses via a plurality of switches included in an Auxiliary Voltage Controller (AVC). The DCDC converter and the AVC can be housed in a common package to reduce the size, weight, and complexity of the power system while also improving the power system's durability.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A module comprising:
a housing enclosing:
a first controller comprising a plurality of switches;
a DCDC converter operatively coupled to a first battery, and operatively coupled to a second battery and operatively coupled to a third battery via the plurality of switches of the first controller, the DCDC converter configured to:
receive as an input a first voltage from the first battery; and
output a second voltage to the controller, wherein: the first battery, the second battery, and the third battery are all external to the housing; and

a second controller operatively coupled to an input/output port, the DCDC converter, and the first controller, the second controller configured to:
receive a testing protocol from the input/output port; and
execute the testing protocol on the DCDC converter and the second controller.

2. The module of claim 1 , wherein the second battery and the third battery are rechargeable.

3. The module of claim 1 , further comprising:
a positive thermal coefficient device configured to operatively couple the second battery and the third battery so that a current can flow between the second battery and the third battery when the first battery is disconnected from the second battery and the third battery.

4. The module of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of switches each comprise a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET).

5. The module of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of switches each comprise a plurality of MOSFETs coupled in parallel.

6. The module of claim 1 , wherein the second battery and the third battery are operatively coupled to a plurality of electronic components so that each electronic component can receive power from one or more of the second battery and the third battery.

7. The module of claim 1 , wherein the second battery and the third battery have the second voltage.

8. A vehicle comprising:
one or more electronic components;
an electric motor; and
a power system comprising:
a first battery having a first voltage;
a second battery having a second voltage less than the first voltage;
a third battery having the second voltage
a first controller comprising a plurality of switches; and
a DCDC converter operatively coupled to the first battery, and operatively coupled to the second battery and the third battery via the plurality of switches of the controller, the DCDC converter configured to:
receive as an input the first voltage from the first battery; and
output the second voltage to the controller; and

a second controller operatively coupled to an input/output port, the DCDC converter, and the first controller, the second controller configured to:
receive a testing protocol from the input/output port; and
execute the testing protocol on the DCDC converter and the second controller; wherein:

the DCDC converter, the first controller, and the second controller are housed in a shared package,
the one or more electronic components are powered by one or more of the second battery and the third battery, and
the electric motor is powered by the first battery.

Assignees

• Faraday & Future Inc

Inventors

• Linehan John Steven
• Schulz Steven E
• Hong Michael
• Paryani Anil
• Meadows Isaac Benjamin
• Fischer Evan Roger

Classifications

• H02J7/865

  Battery or charger load switching, e.g. concurrent charging and load supply (H02J7/50 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H02J2105/37

  exchanging power with electric vehicles [EV] or with hybrid electric vehicles [HEV] · CPC title

• H02J7/342

  The other DC source being a battery actively interacting with the first one, i.e. battery to battery charging (with circuits for polarity protection H02J7/68) · CPC title

• B60L2210/10

  DC to DC converters · CPC title

• B60L1/00 Primary

  Supplying electric power to auxiliary equipment of vehicles (circuit arrangements for charging batteries H02J7/00) · CPC title