Rechargeable battery systems and rechargeable battery system operational methods
Rechargeable battery systems and rechargeable battery system operational methods are described. According to one aspect, a rechargeable battery system includes a plurality of rechargeable battery cells coupled between a plurality of terminals and charge shuttling circuitry configured to couple with and shuttle electrical energy between individual ones of the rechargeable battery cells, and wherein the charge shuttling circuitry is configured to receive the electrical energy from one of the rechargeable battery cells at a first voltage and to provide the electrical energy to another of the rechargeable battery cells at a second voltage greater than the first voltage.
1. A rechargeable battery system comprising:
a plurality of terminals;
a plurality of rechargeable battery cells coupled with the terminals, and wherein the rechargeable battery cells are configured to store electrical energy;
a plurality of shunting devices individually configured to shunt electrical energy around a respective one of the rechargeable battery cells;
charge shuttling circuitry configured to transfer electrical energy from one of the rechargeable battery cells to another of the rechargeable battery cells; and
wherein the charge shuttling circuitry is configured to transfer the electrical energy from the one rechargeable battery cell to the another rechargeable battery cell during transferring of electrical energy between the rechargeable battery cells and a device which is external of the rechargeable battery system.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the rechargeable battery cells are coupled in series with one another between the terminals.
3. The system of claim 2 wherein the shunting devices are configured to shunt the electrical energy to others of the rechargeable battery cells.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein the shunting devices are coupled in parallel with respective ones of the rechargeable battery cells.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein the charge shuttling circuitry is configured to transfer the electrical energy from only the one rechargeable battery cell to only the another rechargeable battery cell at a moment in time.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein the terminals are system terminals, and further comprising a plurality of cell modules which individually comprise:
a plurality of module terminals coupled with the system terminals;
at least one of the rechargeable battery cells which is coupled with the module terminals of the individual cell module; and
a portion of the charge shuttling circuitry configured to transfer electrical energy with respect to the at least one rechargeable battery cell of the individual cell module.
7. The system of claim 6 wherein the cell modules individually comprise one of the shunting devices which is configured to shunt the electrical energy around the at least one rechargeable battery cell of the individual cell module.
8. The system of claim 6 wherein the module terminals of the cell modules are coupled in series with one another between the system terminals.
9. The system of claim 6 wherein the one and the another rechargeable battery cells are within different ones of the cell modules.
10. The system of claim 6 further comprising a plurality of battery modules which individually comprise plural ones of the cell modules, and wherein the charge shuttling circuitry is configured to transfer the electrical energy from the one rechargeable battery cell of a first of the battery modules to the another rechargeable battery cell of a second of the battery modules.
11. The system of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of battery modules which individually comprise:
plural ones of the rechargeable battery cells; and
a portion of the charge shuttling circuitry which is configured to transfer the electrical energy between the one and another rechargeable battery cells of the individual battery module and to transfer electrical energy between the individual battery module and another of the battery modules.
12. The system of claim 11 wherein the portion of the charge shuttling circuitry of the individual battery module comprises storage circuitry configured to store the electrical energy being transferred by the portion of the charge shuttling circuitry of the individual battery module.
13. The system of claim 1 further comprising:
a plurality of cell modules coupled with the terminals, and wherein each of the cell modules comprises at least one of the rechargeable battery cells; and
a plurality of battery modules each comprising plural ones of the cell modules.
14. The system of claim 13 wherein the shunt devices are within respective different ones of the cell modules and are individually configured to shunt the electrical energy to one of the rechargeable battery cells of another of the cell modules.
15. The system of claim 13 wherein the charge shuttling circuitry is configured to transfer the electrical energy from the one rechargeable battery cell of a first of the battery modules to the another rechargeable battery cell of a second of the battery modules.
16. The system of claim 13 further comprising control circuitry configured to monitor states of charge of the rechargeable battery cells and to use the monitoring of the states of charge of the rechargeable battery cells to control the charge shuttling circuitry to provide a rechargeable battery cell of an individual one of the battery modules out of balance with respect to others of the rechargeable battery cells of the individual battery module.
17. The system of claim 1 further comprising control circuitry configured to monitor states of charge of the rechargeable battery cells and to use the monitoring of the states of charge of the rechargeable battery cells to control the shunting of the shunting devices and the transfer of the electrical energy by the charge shuttling circuitry.
18. The system of claim 1 further comprising control circuitry configured to monitor a temperature within the rechargeable battery system and to use the monitoring to disable one of the shunting devices while another of the shunting devices shunts electrical energy.
19. The system of claim 1 wherein the shunting devices are controlled to shunt different non-zero amounts of the shunted electrical energy at a common moment in time.
20. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the shunting devices is configured to shunt the electrical energy at the same time that the charge shuttling circuitry transfers the electrical energy.
21. The system of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of modules, and wherein the modules individually include at least one of the rechargeable battery cells, one of the shunting devices, and at least a portion of the charge shuttling circuitry.