Controller, system and method
Disclosed is a (safety) controller for a battery management system, a system and a method. The controller is arranged to provide control signals, receive an enable signal, receive a reset signal, and in response to the enable signal missing, perform a shutdown for the controller, and, based on the reset signal, cause a switch to be maintained in a closed position for connecting a battery to a load during the shutdown.
1 . A controller for a battery management system, the controller being arranged to:
provide one or more control signals arranged to operate a switch for connecting a battery to a load,
receive an enable signal arranged to cause the controller to be maintained operational,
receive a reset signal arranged to indicate a reset of the controller, and
in response to the enable signal missing, perform a shutdown for the controller, and, based on the reset signal, cause the switch to be maintained in a closed position for connecting the battery to the load during the shutdown.
2 . The controller according to claim 1 , arranged to cause an internal enable signal to be provided to a power management system controller for causing the controller to be powered during the shutdown and to cause the internal enable signal to be disabled while causing the switch to be maintained in the closed position.
3 . The controller according to claim 1 , arranged to cause the switch to be maintained in the closed position by maintaining an output of the one or more control signals during the shutdown.
4 . The controller according to claim 1 , wherein the reset signal comprises a digital input triggered by an external system controller.
5 . The controller according to claim 1 , wherein the reset signal comprises a signal included into a Controller Area Network (CAN) message.
6 . A system comprising the controller according to claim 1 , and a delay circuit arranged to receive the one or more control signals from the controller and, in response to the one or more control signals disappearing, maintain a switch-closing control signal for keeping the switch in the closed position for a first delay time.
7 . The system according to claim 6 , wherein the first delay time is smaller than a fault tolerant time of the battery management system minus a fault diagnostics time of the controller minus a switch-opening time of the controller.
8 . The system according to claim 6 , wherein the delay circuit comprises a watchdog and/or a pulse counter circuit.
9 . The system according to claim 6 , comprising an additional delay circuit arranged to receive one or more status signals from an external system controller indicating system status, the system being arranged to cause the switch to open unless both the delay circuit and the additional delay circuit output a switch-closing control signal.
10 . The system according to claim 9 , wherein the additional delay circuit is arranged to maintain a switch-closing control signal for keeping the switch in the closed position for a second delay time in response to the one or more status signals disappearing and in response to the one or more status signals indicating a status problem of the battery management system.
11 . A battery management system comprising the controller according to claim 1 .
12 . A method for a battery management system, the method comprising:
receiving an enable signal at a controller arranged to cause the controller to be maintained operational,
providing one or more control signals from the controller arranged to operate a switch for connecting a battery to a load,
receiving a reset signal at the controller arranged to indicate a reset of the controller, and in response to the enable signal missing, performing a shutdown for the controller, while, based on the reset signal, causing the switch to be maintained in a closed position for connecting the battery to the load.
13 . The method according to claim 12 , comprising:
causing an internal enable signal to be provided from the controller to a power management system controller for causing the controller to be powered during the shutdown, and
causing the internal enable signal to be disabled while causing the switch to be maintained in the closed position.
14 . The method according to claim 12 , comprising causing the switch to be maintained in the closed position by maintaining an output of the one or more control signals from the controller during the shutdown.
15 . A computer program product comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to cause the method of claim 12 be carried out.
16 . A battery management system comprising the system according to claim 6 .