Regional charging control service

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9789779-B2
Application number	US-201414467701-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 25, 2014
Priority date	Aug 25, 2014
Publication date	Oct 17, 2017
Grant date	Oct 17, 2017

Abstract

The disclosure includes a system and method for providing charging services to mobile client devices. The system includes a processor and a memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the system to: receive demand response event data associated with a geographic region; determine a last-mile distribution network that includes a first endpoint in the geographic region, the first endpoint associated with a mobile client device; estimate one or more last-mile power usage factors describing power usage of a set of endpoints in the last-mile distribution network, the set of endpoints including the first endpoint associated with the mobile client device; and determine a charge schedule for the mobile client device based on the demand response event data and the one or more last-mile power usage factors.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method implemented by a charge station of a first endpoint, the method comprising:
receiving demand response event data associated with a geographic region;
determining a last-mile distribution network that includes the first endpoint in the geographic region, the first endpoint associated with a mobile client device;
estimating one or more last-mile power usage factors describing power usage of a set of endpoints in the last-mile distribution network, the set of endpoints including the first endpoint associated with the mobile client device;
determining a charge schedule for the mobile client device based on the demand response event data and the one or more last-mile power usage factors;
measuring one or more electrical characteristics of a battery system of the mobile client device responsive to detecting that the mobile client device is electrically connected to the charge station, wherein the one or more electrical characteristics includes a lag time;
verifying the one or more electrical characteristics of the battery system to confirm an identity of the battery system of the mobile client device and a type of the battery system as a safety precaution before charging the battery system, wherein the lag time is used to identify the type of the battery system; and
charging, by the charge station, the battery system of the mobile client device based on the charge schedule responsive to (1) detecting that the mobile client device is electrically connected to the charge station and (2) verifying that the one or more electrical characteristics of the battery system confirms the identity of the battery system of the mobile client device and the type of the battery system.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving data describing a utility charging preference of a utility service;
receiving data describing a user charging preference of a user associated with the mobile client device; and
determining the charge schedule for the mobile client device further based on the utility charging preference and the user charging preference.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
performing a negotiation process between the set of endpoints within the last-mile distribution network to keep a total load in the last-mile distribution network below a threshold; and
determining the charge schedule further based on a negotiation result from the negotiation process.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein performing the negotiation process between the set of endpoints within the last-mile distribution network comprises:
receiving a prioritized signal from the first endpoint associated with the mobile client device, the prioritized signal indicating to charge the mobile client device during a time period;
determining a second endpoint in the last-mile distribution network that agrees to reduce power usage during the time period responsive to the prioritized signal;
estimating an amount of power saved by the second endpoint during the time period; and
generating the negotiation result that includes the amount of power saved by the second endpoint.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the charge schedule uses the amount of power saved by the second endpoint to charge the mobile client device.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
increasing a first reward value associated with the second endpoint based on the amount of power saved by the second endpoint; and
reducing a second reward value associated with the first endpoint based on the amount of power.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the demand response event data includes time-of-use pricing data, peak time rebate data, and direct load control data.

8. A system of a vehicle comprising:
one or more processors of an onboard vehicle computer included in the vehicle;
one or more non-transitory tangible computer readable mediums of the vehicle communicatively coupled to the one or more processors and storing executable instructions executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving demand response event data associated with a geographic region;
determining a last-mile distribution network that includes a first endpoint in the geographic region, the first endpoint associated with a mobile client device;
estimating one or more last-mile power usage factors describing power usage of a set of endpoints in the last-mile distribution network, the set of endpoints including the first endpoint associated with the mobile client device;
determining a charge schedule for the mobile client device based on the demand response event data the one or more last-mile power usage factors;
measuring one or more electrical characteristics of a battery system of the mobile client device responsive to detecting that the mobile client device is electrically connected to a charge station, wherein the one or more electrical characteristics includes a lag time;
verifying the one or more electrical characteristics of the battery system to confirm an identity of the battery system of the mobile client device and a type of the battery system as a safety precaution before charging the battery system, wherein the lag time is used to identify the type of the battery system; and
charging the battery system of the mobile client device based on the charge schedule responsive to (1) detecting that the mobile client device is electrically connected to the charge station and (2) verifying that the one or more electrical characteristics of the battery system confirms the identity of the battery system of the mobile client device and the type of the battery system.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions executable by the one or more processors perform operations further comprising:
receiving data describing a utility charging preference of a utility service;
receiving data describing a user charging preference of a user associated with the mobile client device; and
determining the charge schedule for the mobile client device further based on the utility charging preference and the user charging preference.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions executable by the one or more processors perform operations further comprising:
performing a negotiation process between the set of endpoints within the last-mile distribution network to keep a total load in the last-mile distribution network below a threshold; and
determining the charge schedule further based on a negotiation result from the negotiation process.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the instructions executable by the one or more processors perform the negotiation process between the set of endpoints within the last-mile distribution network by:
receiving a prioritized signal from the first endpoint associated with the mobile client device, the prioritized signal indicating to charge the mobile client device during a time period;
determining a second endpoint in the last-mile distribution network that agrees to reduce power usage during the time period responsive to the prioritized signal;
estimating an amount of power saved by the second endpoint during the time period; and
generating the negotiation result that includes the amount of power saved by the second endpoint.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the charge schedule uses the amount of power saved by the second endpoint to charge the mobile client device.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the instructions executable by the one or more processors perform operations further comprising:
increasing a first reward value associated with the second endpoint based on the amount of power saved by the sec

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Shimizu Takayuki
• Yokoyama Akihisa
• Kumita Kunihiko
• Ohno Tomoya

Classifications

• H02J3/322

  the battery being on-board an electric or hybrid vehicle, e.g. vehicle to grid arrangements [V2G], power aggregation, use of the battery for network load balancing, coordinated or cooperative battery charging · CPC title

• H02J2105/55

  according to an economic condition, e.g. tariff-based load management · CPC title

• H02J13/1335

  involving a local wireless network, e.g. Wi-Fi®, ZigBee® or Bluetooth® · CPC title

• H02J13/1333

  by means of mobile telephony · CPC title

• H04W4/027

  using movement velocity, acceleration information · CPC title