Automotive power supply system

1. A power supply system comprising:

a battery module that includes a plurality of serially connected battery groups each constituted with a plurality of serially connected battery cells;

a plurality of integrated circuits each disposed in correspondence to one of the battery groups;

a control circuit;

a transmission path through which the integrated circuits are connected to the control circuit; and

a relay circuit via which an electrical current is supplied from the battery module, wherein:

in response to a start signal instructing an operation start and received via the transmission path, each integrated circuit measures terminal voltages at the battery cells in the corresponding battery group and executes an abnormality diagnosis; and

if abnormality diagnosis results provided by the integrated circuits indicate no abnormality, the control circuit closes the relay, enabling supply of electrical current from the battery module and subsequently, the control circuit receives measurement results from the integrated circuits via the transmission path.

2. A power supply system according to claim 1 , wherein:

the integrated circuit cyclically generates a selection signal to be used to measure the battery cells constituting the corresponding battery group in a predetermined order; and

the integrated circuit includes a selection circuit that selects a terminal voltage to be measured based upon the selection signal, an analog/digital converter that converts the selected terminal voltage to a digital value and a digital comparator circuit that executes an abnormal state diagnosis based upon the digital value resulting from conversion executed at the analog/digital converter, and transmits a signal indicating an abnormality to the control circuit if diagnosis results indicate an abnormal state.

3. A power supply system according to claim 1 , wherein:

the control circuit transmits the start signal to each integrated circuit upon receiving a signal generated based upon an operation of a key switch at a vehicle.

4. A power supply system according to claim 1 , wherein:

the integrated circuit includes a one-bit signal transmission/reception circuit and a serial signal transmission/reception circuit and transmits a signal indicating an abnormality from the one-bit signal transmission circuit upon detecting an abnormality.

5. A power supply system comprising:

a lithium battery module that includes a plurality of serially connected lithium battery groups each constituted with a plurality of serially connected lithium battery cells;

a plurality of integrated circuits each disposed in correspondence to one of the lithium battery groups in the battery module;

a transmission path through which the integrated circuits are connected; and

a relay via which power is supplied from the lithium battery module, wherein:

the integrated circuit cyclically generates a stage signal to be used to specify a measurement target lithium battery cell in response to an operation start signal; and

the integrated circuit includes:

a selection circuit that selects the measurement target lithium battery cell in the lithium battery group corresponding to the integrated circuit based upon the stage signal;

an analog/digital converter that converts a terminal voltage at the lithium battery having been selected by the selection circuit to a digital value;

a digital comparator circuit that compares the digitized terminal voltage value with an over-charge diagnosis threshold value; and

a transmission circuit that outputs an abnormality signal indicating an abnormality based upon comparison results provided from the digital comparator circuit and includes a one-bit signal transmission terminal used to transmit the abnormality signal, a one-bit signal reception terminal, a serial transmission terminal and a serial reception terminal.