Patent Description:
Recently, with the increasing global interest in environmentally friendly energy, the widespread use of electric vehicles with rechargeable batteries are increasing at a high speed.

When an electric vehicle is charged with power from Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) (especially, fast charging), it is necessary to perform data exchange according to the charging procedure between the electric vehicle and the EVSE in a sequential order.

To this end, each of the electric vehicle and the EVSE needs a communication apparatus for communication between them, and the communication apparatus of the electric vehicle may be referred to as an Electric Vehicle Communication Controller (EVCC) and the communication apparatus of the EVSE as a Supply Equipment Communication Controller (SECC).

The communication protocol standards for data transmission and reception between the electric vehicle and the EVSE include ISO/IEC <NUM> and DIN SPEC <NUM>. Each of the standards defines the exchange order of messages to be exchanged between the electric vehicle and the EVSE according to the charging procedure that starts when the electric vehicle is connected to the EVSE and information (for example, the time-out time) associated with each message. When time-out occurs, that is to say, when the electric vehicle did not receive a response message to a request message from the charging equipment within the time-out time associated with the corresponding request message from the time point when the electric vehicle transmitted the corresponding request message to the charging equipment, the charging procedure of the electric vehicle unintentionally ends.

Further background art is described in <CIT>, <CIT> and <NPL>).

The present disclosure is directed to providing a communication apparatus for performing a polling process of periodically checking whether a response message is received from charging equipment each time the communication apparatus transmits a request message to the charging equipment.

These and other objects and advantages of the present disclosure may be understood by the following description and will be apparent from the embodiments of the present disclosure. In addition, it will be easily understood that the objects and advantages of the present disclosure may be realized by the means set forth in the appended claims and a combination thereof.

A communication apparatus according to an aspect of the present disclosure is for message exchange with charging equipment and is according to claim <NUM>. The communication apparatus includes a communication unit provided to be coupled to the charging equipment through a first communication channel, and a control unit coupled to the communication unit through a second communication channel. The control unit is configured to identify a value set to a time-out flag associated with a request message, when transmitting the request message to the communication unit through the second communication channel at a first time point. The control unit is configured to determine a target polling time based on the identified value. The control unit is configured to periodically check whether a response message from the charging equipment is received by the communication unit at each target polling time for a waiting period from the first time point to a second time point at which a time-out time associated with the request message has passed from the first time point.

The communication unit is configured to transmit the request message from the control unit to the charging equipment through the first communication channel.

The control unit is configured to determine the target polling time to be equal to a sum of a default time and a previous polling time, each associated with the request message, when the identified value is equal to a first value.

The control unit is configured to determine the target polling to be equal to a reference polling time associated with the request message when the identified value is equal to a second value. The reference polling time is equal to or less than the previous polling time.

The control unit may be configured to determine the target polling time to be equal to the previous polling time when the identified value is equal to the second value.

The control unit may be configured to set the time-out flag to be equal to the first value and update the previous polling time to be equal to the target polling time when the response message is received by the communication unit within the waiting period.

The control unit may be configured to set the time-out flag to be equal to the second value when the response message is not received by the communication unit within the waiting period.

The control unit may be configured to set the time-out flag to be equal to the second value and update the previous polling time to be equal to a time calculated by subtracting the default time from the target polling time when the response message is not received by the communication unit within the waiting period.

The first communication channel may be a channel for serial peripheral interface communication. The second communication channel may be a channel for power line communication.

An electric vehicle according to another aspect of the present disclosure includes the communication apparatus.

A communication method for message exchange with the charging equipment according to still another aspect of the present disclosure uses the communication apparatus and is according to claim <NUM>. The communication method includes transmitting the request message to the communication unit through the second communication channel at the first time point, identifying the value set to the time-out flag, determining the target polling time based on the identified value, and periodically checking whether the response message from the charging equipment is received by the communication unit at each target polling time for the waiting period.

According to at least one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, it is possible to effectively manage the computational amount of the polling process by adaptively adjusting the polling time of the polling process based on the time-out occurrence history during message exchange with the charging equipment.

The effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned effect, and these and other effects will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the appended claims.

Therefore, the embodiments described herein and illustrations shown in the drawings are just a most preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, but not intended to fully describe the technical aspects of the present disclosure, so it should be understood that a variety of other equivalents and modifications could have been made thereto at the time that the application was filed.

Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, it will be understood that the term "comprises" when used in this specification, specifies the presence of stated elements, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements. Additionally, the term "control unit" as used herein refers to a processing unit of at least one function or operation, and may be implemented by hardware or software alone or in combination.

<FIG> is a diagram exemplarily showing the architecture of a charging system according to the present disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, the charging system <NUM> includes an electric vehicle <NUM> and charging equipment <NUM>.

The electric vehicle <NUM> includes a connector <NUM>, a charging circuit <NUM>, a battery B and a communication apparatus <NUM>.

The charging equipment <NUM> includes a connector <NUM>, a power source <NUM> and a communication apparatus <NUM>.

The connector <NUM> is coupled to the charging circuit <NUM> through an electric line <NUM> and an electric line <NUM>. Additionally, the connector <NUM> is coupled to the communication apparatus <NUM> through a communication channel <NUM>.

The connector <NUM> is coupled to the power source <NUM> through an electric line <NUM> and an electric line <NUM>. Additionally, the connector <NUM> is coupled to the communication apparatus <NUM> through a communication channel <NUM>.

The power source <NUM> is provided to supply charging power (for example, direct current power, alternating current power), and may be, for example, commercial power.

The connector <NUM> and the connector <NUM> are provided to be attached and detached to/from each other. When the connector <NUM> is coupled to the connector <NUM>, the communication apparatus <NUM> and the communication apparatus <NUM> are coupled to communicate with each other through the communication channel <NUM> and the communication channel <NUM>. Additionally, when the connector <NUM> is coupled to the connector <NUM>, the charging circuit <NUM> is coupled to the power source <NUM> through the electric line <NUM>, the electric line <NUM>, the electric line <NUM> and the electric line <NUM>.

While the connector <NUM> is coupled to the connector <NUM>, the charging circuit <NUM> converts the charging power from the power source <NUM> to the direct current power having a predetermined voltage level in response to a control signal from the communication apparatus <NUM>. The battery B may be charged with the direct current power supplied from the charging circuit <NUM>.

The battery B includes at least one battery cell. For example, the battery cell may be a lithium ion cell. The battery cell is not limited to a particular type if it can be repeatedly recharged.

The communication apparatus <NUM> includes a control unit <NUM> and a communication unit <NUM>.

The control unit <NUM> may be implemented in hardware using at least one of application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), microprocessors or electrical units for performing other functions. The control unit <NUM> may include a memory <NUM> therein. The memory <NUM> may store programs and data necessary to perform a method as described below. The memory <NUM> may include, for example, at least one type of storage medium of flash memory type, hard disk type, Solid State Disk (SSD) type, Silicon Disk Drive (SDD) type, multimedia card micro type, random access memory (RAM), static random access memory (SRAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) or programmable read-only memory (PROM).

The communication unit <NUM> may include known communication chip(s), for example, QCA7005.

When the connector <NUM> and the connector <NUM> are coupled to each other, the communication unit <NUM> is coupled to the communication apparatus <NUM> to communicate with each other through the communication channel <NUM> and the communication channel <NUM>. The communication unit <NUM> and the control unit <NUM> are coupled through a communication channel <NUM>.

The communication channel <NUM> may be, for example, a channel for Power Line Communication (PLC). The communication channel <NUM> may be, for example, a channel for Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) communication. When the communication unit <NUM> receives a response message from the communication apparatus <NUM> through the communication channel <NUM>, the communication unit <NUM> may transmit the received response message to the control unit <NUM> through the communication channel <NUM>.

<FIG> is a diagram exemplarily showing messages that can be exchanged between the electric vehicle <NUM> of <FIG> and the charging equipment <NUM>.

Assume that M#<NUM>~ M#<NUM> messages shown in <FIG> are exchanged between the communication apparatus <NUM> and the communication apparatus <NUM>.

When the connector <NUM> and the connector <NUM> are connected to each other, the communication apparatus <NUM> and the communication apparatus <NUM> may exchange M#<NUM> message to M#<NUM> message in a sequential order according to the charging procedure for the battery B. Each message may be for notifying/acquiring information associated with the state of the electric vehicle <NUM> and the charging equipment <NUM> and the charging procedure.

The type of message that may be exchanged between the electric vehicle <NUM> and the charging equipment <NUM> is not limited to those shown in <FIG>, and some of M#<NUM> to M#<NUM> messages may be omitted or different types of messages may be added.

A message that the electric vehicle <NUM> transmits to the charging equipment <NUM> is referred to as a 'request message', and a message that the charging equipment <NUM> transmits to the electric vehicle <NUM> in response to the request message from the electric vehicle <NUM> is referred to as a 'response message'.

When the communication apparatus <NUM> transmits a request message of a specific queue to the communication apparatus <NUM> and receives a response message from the communication apparatus <NUM> without time-out, the communication apparatus <NUM> may transmit the next request message to the communication apparatus <NUM>.

Communication methods according to first to third embodiments of the present disclosure will be hereinafter described with reference to <FIG>. Each of the communication methods for message exchange according to the first to third embodiments may be performed for each of messages that can be exchanged between the electric vehicle <NUM> and the charging equipment <NUM>.

<FIG> is a flowchart exemplarily showing a method for message exchange between the communication apparatus <NUM> of the electric vehicle <NUM> and the charging equipment <NUM> according to the first embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, in step S310, the control unit <NUM> transmits a request message to the communication unit <NUM> through the communication channel <NUM>.

In step S320, the control unit <NUM> determines whether a time-out flag associated with the request message is set to be equal to a first value. The time-out flag set to be equal to the first value indicates that the time-out of the corresponding message did not occur at the charging procedure of the previous cycle. In contrast, the time-out flag set to be not equal to the first value indicates that the time-out of the corresponding message occurred at the charging procedure of the previous cycle. When a value of the step S320 is "Yes", step S330 is performed. When the value of the step S320 is "No", step S340 is performed.

In step S330, the control unit <NUM> determines a target polling time to be equal to the sum of the previous polling time and a default time.

In step S340, the control unit <NUM> determines the target polling time to be equal to a reference polling time.

In step S350, the control unit <NUM> checks whether a response message from the charging equipment <NUM> is received by the communication unit <NUM> at each target polling time until a waiting period ends.

In step S360, the control unit <NUM> determines whether a response message from the charging equipment <NUM> is received by the communication unit <NUM> within the waiting period. That is, the control unit <NUM> determines whether the time-out did not occur. When a value of step S360 is "Yes", step S370 is performed. When the value of the step S360 is "No", step S380 is performed.

In step S370, the control unit <NUM> sets the time-out flag to the first value, and updates the previous polling time to be equal to the target polling time.

In step S380, the control unit <NUM> sets the time-out flag to a second value.

<FIG> is a flowchart exemplarily showing a method for message exchange between the communication apparatus <NUM> of the electric vehicle <NUM> and the charging equipment <NUM> according to a second embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, in step S410, the control unit <NUM> transmits a request message to the communication unit <NUM> through the communication channel <NUM>.

In step S420, the control unit <NUM> determines whether a time-out flag associated with the request message is set to be equal to a first value. When a value of step S420 is "Yes", step S430 is performed. When the value of the step S420 is "No", step S440 is performed.

In step S430, the control unit <NUM> determines a target polling time to be equal to the sum of the previous polling time and the default time.

In step S440, the control unit <NUM> determines the target polling time to be equal to the previous polling time.

In step S450, the control unit <NUM> checks whether a response message from the charging equipment <NUM> is received by the communication unit <NUM> at each target polling time until the waiting period ends.

In step S460, the control unit <NUM> determines whether a response message from the charging equipment <NUM> is received by the communication unit <NUM> within the waiting period. That is, the control unit <NUM> determines whether the time-out did not occur. When a value of the step S460 is "Yes", step S470 is performed. When the value of the step S460 is "No", step S480 is performed.

In step S470, the control unit <NUM> sets the time-out flag as a first value, and updates the previous polling time to be equal to the target polling time.

In step S480, the control unit <NUM> sets the time-out flag as a second value, and updates the previous polling time to be equal to the time calculated by subtracting the default time from the target polling time.

<FIG> is a flowchart exemplarily showing a method for message exchange between the communication apparatus <NUM> of the electric vehicle <NUM> and the charging equipment <NUM> according to a third embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, in step S510, the control unit <NUM> transmits a request message to the communication unit <NUM> through the communication channel <NUM>.

In step S520, the control unit <NUM> determines whether a time-out flag associated with the request message is set to be equal to a first value. When a value of step S520 is "Yes", step S530 is performed. When the value of the step S520 is "No", step S540 is performed.

In step S530, the control unit <NUM> determines a target polling time to be equal to a smaller one of (i) the sum of the previous polling time and the default time and (ii) a maximum polling time.

In step S540, the control unit <NUM> determines a target polling time to be equal to a larger one of the previous polling time and the minimum polling time.

The target polling time determined in step S530 or S540 is between the minimum polling time and the maximum polling time. The reference polling time is also between the minimum polling time and the maximum polling time.

In step S550, the control unit <NUM> checks whether a response message from the charging equipment <NUM> is received by the communication unit <NUM> at each target polling time until the waiting period ends.

In step S560, the control unit <NUM> determines whether a response message from the charging equipment <NUM> is received by the communication unit <NUM> within the waiting period. That is, the control unit <NUM> determines whether the time-out did not occur. When a value of the step S560 is "Yes", step S570 is performed. When the value of the step S560 is "No", step S580 is performed.

In step S570, the control unit <NUM> sets the time-out flag as a first value, and updates the previous polling time to be equal to the target polling time.

In step S580, the control unit <NUM> sets the time-out flag as a second value, and updates the previous polling time to be equal to the time calculated by subtracting the default time from the target polling time.

According to the first to third embodiments, when the time-out of the message did not occur at the charging procedure of the previous cycle, the target polling time determined at the current cycles may be longer than the target polling time determined at the previous cycle. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the computational amount of the control unit <NUM> for the polling process.

In contrast, when the time-out of the message occurred at the charging procedure of the previous cycle, the target polling time determined at the current cycle may be set to be equal to or less than the target polling time determined at the previous cycle.

The terms used to describe the first to third embodiments, 'previous polling time', 'default time', 'reference polling time', 'maximum polling time', 'minimum polling time' and 'waiting period', will be additionally described.

<FIG> is a timing chart referenced in describing a polling process associated with the methods according to first to third embodiments.

When i = <NUM>~<NUM>, <FIG> exemplarily shows an exchange process of ith message M#i among M#<NUM> to M#<NUM> messages.

At the time point Ti_1, the control unit <NUM> transmits the ith request message to the communication unit <NUM> through the communication channel <NUM>.

At the time point Ti_2, the communication unit <NUM> transmits the ith request message from the control unit <NUM> to the charging equipment <NUM> through the communication channel <NUM>.

At the time point Ti_3, the communication apparatus <NUM> transmits the ith response message to the communication unit <NUM> through the communication channel <NUM>.

At the time point Ti_4, the communication unit <NUM> transmits the ith response message from the communication apparatus <NUM> to the control unit <NUM> through the communication channel <NUM>.

However, as the control unit <NUM> does not receive the ith response message from the communication unit <NUM> due to a malfunction of at least one of the control unit <NUM> or the communication unit <NUM>, there is a possibility that the time-out of the ith message M#i will occur.

The control unit <NUM> may perform the ith polling process at the time point Ti_1 to prevent the time-out of the ith message M#i, and its detailed description will be provided below.

The control unit <NUM> waits for the ith response message to be received for the ith waiting period Pi from the time point Ti_1 to the time point Ti_5. The time point Ti_5 may be a time point at which the ith time-out time associated with the ith message has passed from the time point Ti_1. The ith time-out time is a preset ith default value (for example, <NUM> sec), and may be stored in the memory <NUM>.

When the ith polling process starts, the control unit <NUM> identifies a value set to the ith time-out flag associated with the ith request message. That is, the control unit <NUM> determines whether the ith time-out flag is set to equal to the first value among the first value (for example, <NUM>) and the second value (for example, <NUM>). The ith time-out flag may be stored in the memory <NUM>. As described above, the ith time-out flag set to be equal to the first value indicates that the time-out of the ith message M#i did not occur in the charging procedure of the previous cycle. In contrast, the ith time-out flag set to be equal to the second value indicates that the time-out of the ith message M#i occurred in the charging procedure of the previous cycle.

The control unit <NUM> may differently set the ith target polling time ΔTi_tg, depending on which the ith time-out flag is set to be equal to the first value or the second value.

In detail, when the ith time-out flag is set to be equal to the first value, the ith target polling time ATi_tg may be determined to be equal to (<NUM>) the sum of the ith default time and the ith previous polling time or (<NUM>) the ith maximum polling time.

In contrast, when the ith time-out flag is set to be equal to the second value, the ith target polling time ΔTi_tg may be determined to be equal to (<NUM>) the ith reference polling time, (<NUM>) the ith previous polling time or (<NUM>) the ith minimum polling time.

The ith previous polling time may be equal to the ith target polling time determined by the control unit <NUM> in the charging procedure of the previous cycle and stored in the memory <NUM>. When the exchange of the ith message with the charging equipment <NUM> is performed for the first time, the control unit <NUM> may use the ith reference polling time as the ith previous polling time.

Each of the ith default time, the ith reference polling time, the ith maximum polling time, the ith minimum polling time and the ith time-out time are preset default values for the ith polling process, and may be stored in the memory <NUM> of the control unit <NUM>.

The ith reference polling time (for example, <NUM> sec) may be longer than the ith default time (for example, <NUM> sec) and shorter than the ith time-out time (for example, <NUM> sec).

The ith maximum polling time (for example, <NUM> sec) is the upper limit of the polling time that may be used in the ith polling process, and may be longer than the ith reference polling time and shorter than the ith time-out time.

The ith minimum polling time (for example, <NUM> sec) is the lower limit of the polling time that may be used in the ith polling process, and may be longer than the ith default time and shorter than the ith reference polling time.

After the ith target polling time ΔTi_tg is determined, until the time point Ti_5 is reached, the control unit <NUM> may periodically check whether the ith response message is received by the communication unit <NUM> at each ith target polling time ΔTi_tg. Accordingly, even though the control unit <NUM> does not receive the ith response message transmitted by the communication unit <NUM> at the time point Ti_4, it is possible to check whether the control unit <NUM> received the ith response message within the remaining period from the time point Ti_4 to the time point Ti_5.

The embodiments of the present disclosure described hereinabove are not implemented only through the apparatus and method, and may be implemented through programs that realize the functions corresponding to the configurations of the embodiments of the present disclosure or recording media having the programs recorded thereon, and such implementation may be easily achieved by those skilled in the art from the disclosure of the embodiments previously described.

While the present disclosure has been hereinabove described with regard to a limited number of embodiments and drawings, the present disclosure is not limited thereto and it is obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made thereto within the technical aspects of the present disclosure and the equivalent scope of the appended claims.

Claim 1:
A communication apparatus (<NUM>) for message exchange with charging equipment, comprising:
a communication unit (<NUM>) provided to be coupled to the charging equipment through a first communication channel (<NUM>); and
a control unit (<NUM>) coupled to the communication unit through a second communication channel (<NUM>),
characterised in that the control unit is configured to:
identify a value set to a time-out flag associated with a request message, when transmitting the request message to the communication unit through the second communication channel at a first time point,
determine a target polling time based on the identified value, and
periodically check whether a response message from the charging equipment is received by the communication unit at each target polling time for a waiting period from the first time point to a second time point at which a time-out time associated with the request message has passed from the first time point,
wherein when the identified value is equal to a first value indicating that time-out of the corresponding message did not occur at a charging procedure of a previous cycle, the control unit is configured to determine the target polling time to be equal to a sum of a default time and a previous polling time, each associated with the request message, and
wherein when the identified value is equal to a second value indicating that time-out of the corresponding message occurred at a charging procedure of a previous cycle, the control unit is configured to determine the target polling time to be equal to a reference polling time associated with the request message, the reference polling time being equal to or less than the previous polling time.