IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,447,860
Granted Patent B2
US 12,447,860 · App. 17/587,748 · Granted Oct 21, 2025

Controller integrated circuit for electric vehicle applications

Inventors: Sumegh Kadam (Gothenburg, SE); Hicham Sadoun (Gothenburg, SE); Avishek Kumar Mohanty (Gothenburg, SE); Narendar Rao Gannamaneni (Gothenburg, SE)
Assignee: Volvo Car Corporation
B60L58/13B60L53/20B60L58/16B60L58/22B60L1/00B60L2210/10B60L2210/40
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,447,860
App. No.
17/587,748
Granted
Oct 21, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

Power and controller integrated circuits for electric vehicle applications are enabled. For example, a system can comprise a plurality of battery cells, and a plurality of application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) electrically coupled to the plurality of battery cells, wherein one or more ASICs of the plurality of ASICs comprises a respective control ASIC, and wherein the ASICs comprise respective bidirectional direct current to alternating current (DC-AC) converters and charge or discharge the plurality of battery cells.

Claims (50)

1. A system, comprising:

a battery pack comprising:

a plurality of smart battery cells, wherein each smart battery cell comprises:

an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), wherein the ASIC comprises:

a bidirectional direct current to alternating current (DC-AC) converter,

a bidirectional direct current to direct current (DC-DC) converter, and

a control ASIC that controls the bidirectional DC-AC converter and the bidirectional DC-DC converter, wherein the control ASIC selectively controls:

 charging of the smart battery cell via at least one of the bidirectional DC-AC converter or the bidirectional DC-DC converter, and

 discharging of the smart battery cell via at least one of the bidirectional DC-AC converter or the bidirectional DC-DC converter.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an electric motor electrically coupled to the ASICs of the plurality of smart battery cells, wherein the respective bidirectional DC-AC converters of the plurality of smart battery cells supply alternating current to the electric motor.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the ASICs of the plurality of smart battery cells are communicatively coupled to each other via wireless connections.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the respective bidirectional DC-AC converters of the plurality of smart battery cells comprise respective metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor switches (MOSFETs).

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the respective bidirectional direct current to direct current (DC-DC) converters of the plurality of smart battery cells supply direct current to a direct current component of the system.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein

the ASIC further comprises a battery cell impedance sensor, and

the control ASIC further determines a health status of the smart battery cell, according to a defined health metric, based on an output of the respective battery cell impedance sensor.

7. A battery, pack comprising:

a plurality of battery packs, where each battery pack comprises:

a plurality of smart battery cells, wherein each smart battery cell comprises:

an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), wherein the ASIC comprises:

a bidirectional direct current to direct current (DC-DC) converter,

a bidirectional direct current to alternating current (DC-AC) converter, and

a control ASIC that controls the bidirectional DC-AC converter and the bidirectional DC-DC converter, wherein the control ASIC selectively controls:

 charging of the smart battery cell via at least one of the bidirectional DC-AC converter or the bidirectional DC-DC converter, and

 discharging of the smart battery cell via at least one of the bidirectional DC-AC converter or the bidirectional DC-DC converter.

8. The battery of claim 7 , wherein the smart battery cell further comprises:

a transceiver that transmits signals and receives signals.

9. The battery of claim 8 , wherein transceiver transmits wireless signals to and receives wireless signals from another transceiver of another smart battery cell of the battery.

10. The battery of claim 8 , wherein the control ASIC further:

a encrypts the transmitted signals, and decrypts the received signals.

11. The battery of claim 7 , wherein the smart battery cell further comprises:

a battery cell impedance sensor, and

wherein the control ASIC further:

determines a health status of the smart battery cell, according to a defined health metric, based on an output of the battery cell impedance sensor.

12. The battery of claim 11 , wherein the defined health metric comprises a difference between a previous impedance of the smart battery cell and a current impedance of the smart battery cell.

13. The battery of claim 11 , wherein the defined health metric comprises a difference between an impedance of the smart battery cell and an impedance of another smart battery cell of the battery.

14. The battery of claim 11 , wherein the control ASIC electrically decouples the smart battery cell from the battery pack in response a determination that the health status comprises a battery cell failure based on the output of the battery cell impedance sensor being determined to satisfy a defined impedance criterion.

15. A method, comprising:

controlling, by a control application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) of a smart battery cell of a battery pack comprising a plurality of smart battery cells, a bidirectional direct current to direct current (DC-DC) converter of the smart battery cell and a bidirectional direct current to alternating current (DC-AC) converter of the smart battery cell, wherein the controlling comprises:

selectively controlling charging of the smart battery cell via at least one of the bidirectional DC-AC converter or the bidirectional DC-DC converter, and

selectively controlling discharging of the smart battery cell via at least one of the bidirectional DC-AC converter or the bidirectional DC-DC converter.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the control ASIC is a first control ASIC, the smart battery cell is a first smart battery cell, and wherein the method further comprises:

transmitting, by the first control ASIC, a signal to a second control ASIC of a second smart battery cell of the battery pack.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

encrypting, by the first control ASIC, the signal transmitted to the second control ASIC.

18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

determining, by the control ASIC, a health status of the smart battery cell, according to a defined health metric, based on an output of a battery cell impedance sensor of the smart battery cell.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the defined health metric comprises a difference between a previous impedance of the smart battery cell and a current impedance of the smart battery cell.

20. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

electrically decoupling, by the control ASIC, the smart battery cell from the battery pack in response a determination, by the control ASIC, that the health status comprises a battery cell failure based on the output of the battery cell impedance sensor being determined to satisfy a defined impedance criterion.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 28, 2022
From: KADAM, SUMEGH; SADOUN, HICHAM; MOHANTY, AVISHEK KUMAR; GANNAMANENI, NARENDAR RAO
To: VOLVO CAR CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 058814/0531 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63152115 · Feb 22, 2021
Related Publication 20220266717A1 · Aug 25, 2022
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