VEHICLE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE POWER MANAGEMENT
A system and methods that enables enhanced vehicle communications for electric vehicle power management. In an embodiment, a system provides for communications in a power flow management system utilizing existing hardware including a smart charging module. In another embodiment, a communications module provides communication services to vehicle subsystems including a central processing unit in a vehicle and a CAN-bus transceiver. In yet another embodiment, an interface enables the installation of a charge controller for a control extensibility system including a physical interface to a vehicle's CAN-bus comprising an electrical contact plug. In an embodiment, an interface enables an electric vehicle to communicate with an electric power supply device without specific hardware by modulating the power transfer between the electrical load and an electric power supply. In another embodiment, a system provides for arbitrating a smart chargepoint includes a first smart charging module implemented on equipment located inside a vehicle.
1 . A system for communicating in a power flow management system utilizing existing hardware, comprising:
a smart charging module, the module being configured to be implemented on an server subsystem in a vehicle, the server subsystem being connected to a shared vehicle-wide communications medium for communication with at least one other subsystem in the vehicle, the module being further configured to provide a set of services using capabilities provided by the server subsystem and the at least one other subsystem, the services comprising:
sending messages, using the shared vehicle-wide communications medium to the at least one subsystem in the vehicle to implement a smart charging program.
2 . The system of claim 1 wherein the services further comprise:
embedding off-board communications protocols in shared vehicle-wide communications medium messages;
communicating with an external system coordinating the smart charging program using capabilities provided by the server subsystem or the at least one other subsystem.
3 . The system of claim 2 wherein the shared vehicle-wide communications medium is a CAN bus and the vehicle-wide communications messages are CAN bus messages.
4 . The system of claim 2 wherein the communicating with the external system is performed by an existing communications module of the server subsystem or the at least one other subsystem, the existing communications module being upgraded to include at least a portion of the smart charging module.
5 . The system of claim 4 wherein the existing communications module is related to an emergency response system.
6 . The system of claim 4 wherein the existing communications module is related to a remote vehicle diagnostic system.
7 . A communications module for providing communication services to vehicle subsystems, comprising:
a central processing unit in a vehicle;
a CAN transceiver operatively connected to the central processing unit connected to an external bus in the vehicle, the external bus being operatively connected to at least one vehicle subsystem;
a software stack operatively connected to the central processing unit configured to wrap communications packets in a CAN header for communications packets entering a vehicle from an external network, the software stack being further configured to remove CAN headers for communications packets leaving the vehicle;
software, executed by the central processing unit, configured to translate messages comprising the communications packets from a remote network format to CAN format; and,
software, executed by the central processing unit, configured to support a bonding or provisioning process required by at least one external communications protocol.
8 . The communications module of claim 7 wherein the module is further configured to establishing a communications channel between the at least one vehicle subsystem and at least one external system coordinating a smart charging program.
9 . The communications module of claim 7 wherein the messages comprising the communications packets from a remote network are forwarded unmodified to other vehicle subsystems using an encapsulation protocol.
10 . The communications module of claim 7 wherein the communications module is configured to receive packets across the external bus with at least one command specifying the current price of electricity, the communications module being further configured to transmits at least one CAN-bus message to at least one subsystem in the vehicle indicating the current price of electricity.
11 . The communications module of claim 7 wherein the external network uses the TCP/IP protocol and the communications module forwards TCP packets over the CAN-bus to at least one subsystem.
12 . An interface enabling the installation of a charge controller for a control extensibility system, comprising:
a physical interface to a vehicle's CAN-bus, comprising an electrical contact plug;
an expansion module providing a standardization of software messages sent over the CAN-bus to control charging; and
a physical location for the charge controller to reside, where the CAN interface plug is located.
13 . The interface of claim 12 wherein the physical interface provides environmental protection to the add-on modules.
14 . The interface of claim 12 wherein the interface comprises a standardized connector to the vehicle's CAN-bus, and a standardized connector to an electrical supply.
15 . The interface of claim 12 wherein the expansion module provides a communications path to external networks that enables the expansion module to participate in a smart charging program;
16 . The interface of claim 12 wherein existing modules in the vehicle have no explicit support for smart charging, and all smart charging logic is contained in the expansion module.
17 . An interface enabling an electric vehicle to communicate with an electric power supply device without specific hardware, comprising:
transmitting information from an electrical load associated with the electric vehicle to an electric power supply by modulating the power transfer between the electrical load and an electric power supply.
18 . The interface of claim 17 wherein an electric vehicle is further enabled to communicate with the electric power supply device comprising:
receiving information by an electrical load associated with the electric vehicle from an electric power supply by detecting changes in the modulation of the power transfer between the electrical load and the electric power supply.
19 . The interface of claim 18 wherein information is transmitted by the electric power supply by providing power for an interval, represented as the binary 1 digit, or by refraining from providing power for an interval, represented as the binary 0 digit.
20 . The interface of claim 18 wherein communications time of the electric load is subdivided into seconds, wherein each second wherein the load drew power is interrupted as the binary 1 digit, and each second wherein the load device did not draw power is interrupted as the binary 0 digit.
21 . The interface of claim 20 wherein communications time of the electric supply is subdivided into seconds, wherein each second wherein the supply provided power is interrupted as the binary 1 digit, and each second wherein the supply did not provide power is the binary 0 digit.
22 . The interface of claim 20 wherein the time interval is varied to an interval lower than one second.
23 . The interface of claim 17 wherein the electrical load is supplied with a supplemental power source to remain functional during intervals when the electric power supply is not supplying power to the electrical load.
24 . The interface of claim 17 wherein the supplemental power source is selected from the group: storage battery, capacitor, and an alternative primary electrical source.
25 . The interface of claim 17 wherein the electric power supply and the electric vehicle take turns transmitting information.
26 . The interface of claim 23 wherein, the transmitted messages are structured as packets with a transmitted size and after the transmission of a packet, the direction of transmission is reversed.
27 . A system for arbitrating a smart chargepoint, comprising:
a first smart charging module, the module being configured to be implemented on equipment located inside a vehicle, the first smart charging module being configured to:
communicate with a server implementing a smart charging program, the smart charging program coordinating the charging activities of a plurality of vehicles distributed over an area;
moderate electrical load in the vehicle by reducing the power consumption of the vehicle;
communicate with at least a second smart charging module in external equipment responsible for providing electricity to the vehicle, enabling the first smart charging module and the second smart charging module to implement a charge coordination protocol to determine which of the two modules is responsible for communicating with the server implementing the smart charging program.
28 . The system of claim 27 wherein the charge coordination protocol causes one of the smart charging modules to assume a primary role and the other to enter a passive mode, following the direction of the module in the primary entity.
29 . The system of claim 27 wherein the charge coordination protocol causes one of the smart charging modules to assume a primary role and the other to enter a passive mode, following the direction of the module in the primary entity.
30 . The system of claim 27 wherein the first smart charging module is further configured to transmit a charge coordination capabilities message to a chargepoint when the vehicle is connected to the chargepoint, the message specifying charge coordination modes that the vehicle supports.
31 . The system of claim 30 wherein coordination modes that the vehicle supports are selected from a list provided by the vehicle.
32 . The system of claim 30 wherein two of the coordination modes that the vehicle supports are selected from a list provided by the vehicle.
33 . The system of claim 30 wherein one of the coordination modes is charge-equipment switching charging mode, wherein in charge-equipment switched charging mode, the electric vehicle stops smart charging and behaves as a dumb load, and the external equipment responsible for providing electricity to the vehicle controls the rate of electricity flow to the vehicle and communicates with the server implementing the smart charging program
34 . The system of claim 30 wherein one of the coordination modes is vehicle-switched charging mode, wherein the external equipment responsible for providing electricity to the vehicle does not engage in smart charging and provides electricity on-demand to the vehicle at all times, and wherein the vehicle performs the physical regulation of charge level
35 . The system of claim 27 wherein the external equipment responsible for providing electricity to the vehicle is configured to determine if the vehicle complies with charge directives, wherein the vehicle fall back to direct control of smart charging it is determined that the vehicle was non-compliant.
36 . The system of claim 27 wherein the communication between the first smart charging module and the second smart charging module is accomplished via Power Line Communications over the charging cable.
37 . The system of claim 27 wherein the communication between the first smart charging module and the second smart charging module is accomplished via wireless communications.