Patent Description:
In general, a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV)/electric vehicle (EV) is a motor-driven vehicle using a motor that is driven through an inverter. The motor for the vehicle includes a rotor and a stator.

The resolver receives an excitation signal, that is, a sine wave of several kHz, as an input signal, and detects an angle of the rotor of the motor. In this case, the excitation signal is a signal that is applied to the resolver of the motor in order to obtain information on the angle of the rotor.

In order to generate the excitation signal, an excitation signal generation circuit amplifies the sine wave signal that is received through a voltage amplifier thereof at a steady amplification ratio. A current amplifier of the excitation signal generation circuit generates the excitation signal by amplifying the amplified sine wave signal at a steady amplification ratio. If the excitation signal is applied to the resolver, however, an overcurrent that is out of an actual application range may flow in a transient response due to characteristics of the resolver before the state of the excitation signal reaches a normal state.

In order to supplement such a problem, conventionally, the size of a driver that applies the excitation current to the resolver has been implemented to be relatively large, which causes to increase a cost price.

The Background Technology of the present disclosure was disclosed in <CIT>) entitled "APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING MOTOR".

Various embodiments are directed to providing an apparatus and method for generating an excitation signal for a resolver, which prevent an overcurrent greater than an actual application range from flowing into a coil by increasing a voltage of an excitation signal up to a target voltage step by step based on a transient current that flows into the coil.

In an embodiment, an apparatus for generating an excitation signal for a resolver includes a sine wave generation unit configured to generate a sine wave by using a square wave, an amplification unit configured to amplify the sine wave generated by the sine wave generation unit, a differential signal generation unit configured to convert, into a differential signal, the sine wave amplified by the amplification unit, a driver configured to input, to a coil, the differential signal generated by the differential signal generation unit, and a processor configured to increase a voltage of the sine wave from a start voltage to a target voltage through at least one of the sine wave generation unit and the amplification unit based on a transient current that flows into the coil in a transient response interval.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, when a maximum current of the transient current in the transient response interval is a preset threshold current or more, the processor increases the voltage of the sine wave up to the target voltage through at least one of the sine wave generation unit and the amplification unit.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor increases the voltage of the sine wave step by step by a set voltage from a preset start voltage whenever one cycle elapses.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the start voltage is adjusted based on the target voltage.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor adjusts an amplification ratio of the sine wave generation unit.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor adjusts an amplification ratio of the amplification unit.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor divides the start voltage into a plurality of voltage ranges, and controls at least one of the sine wave generation unit and the amplification unit based on a voltage range to which the start voltage belongs, among the voltage ranges.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, when the start voltage belongs to a first voltage range, the processor fixes an amplification ratio of the amplification unit and adjusts an amplification ratio of the sine wave generation unit.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor fixes the amplification ratio of the amplification unit to a minimum value.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, when the start voltage belongs to a second voltage range, the processor fixes an amplification ratio of the sine wave generation unit and adjusts an amplification ratio of the amplification unit.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor fixes the amplification ratio of the sine wave generation unit to a maximum value.

In an embodiment, a method of generating an excitation signal for a resolver includes calculating, by a processor, a transient current that flows into a coil in a transient response interval, and increasing, by the processor, a voltage of a sine wave from a start voltage to a target voltage through at least one of a sine wave generation unit and an amplification unit based on the transient current.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, in the increasing of the voltage of the sine wave from the start voltage to the target voltage, when a maximum current of the transient current is a preset threshold current or more, the processor increases the voltage of the sine wave up to the target voltage through at least one of the sine wave generation unit and the amplification unit.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, in the increasing of the voltage of the sine wave from the start voltage to the target voltage, the processor increases the voltage of the sine wave step by step by a set voltage from a preset start voltage whenever one cycle elapses.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, in the increasing of the voltage of the sine wave from the start voltage to the target voltage, the processor adjusts an amplification ratio of the sine wave generation unit.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, in the increasing of the voltage of the sine wave from the start voltage to the target voltage, the processor adjusts an amplification ratio of the amplification unit.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, in the increasing of the voltage of the sine wave from the start voltage to the target voltage, the processor divides the start voltage into a plurality of voltage ranges, and controls at least one of the sine wave generation unit and the amplification unit based on a voltage range to which the start voltage belongs, among the voltage ranges.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, in the increasing of the voltage of the sine wave from the start voltage to the target voltage, when the start voltage belongs to a first voltage range, the processor fixes an amplification ratio of the amplification unit and adjusts an amplification ratio of the sine wave generation unit.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, in the increasing of the voltage of the sine wave from the start voltage to the target voltage, the processor fixes the amplification ratio of the amplification unit to a minimum value.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, in the increasing of the voltage of the sine wave from the start voltage to the target voltage, when the start voltage belongs to a second voltage range, the processor fixes the amplification ratio of the sine wave generation unit and adjusts the amplification ratio of the amplification unit.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, in the increasing of the voltage of the sine wave from the start voltage to the target voltage, the processor fixes the amplification ratio of the sine wave generation unit to a maximum value.

The apparatus and method for generating an excitation signal for a resolver according to an aspect of the present disclosure can prevent an overcurrent greater than an actual application range from flowing into the coil by increasing a voltage of an excitation signal up to a target voltage step by step based on a transient current that flows into the coil, and can thus reduce a cost price by reducing the size of the driver that inputs a differential signal to the coil.

Hereinafter, an apparatus and method for generating an excitation signal for a resolver according to embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings through various exemplary embodiments. In this process, the thicknesses of lines or the sizes of elements illustrated in the drawings may have been exaggerated for the clarity of a description and for convenience' sake. Terms to be described below have been defined by taking into consideration their functions in the present disclosure, and may be changed depending on a user or operator's intention or practice. Accordingly, such terms should be defined based on the overall contents of this specification.

<FIG> is a circuit diagram of an apparatus for generating an excitation signal for a resolver according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. <FIG> is a diagram illustrating voltages and currents of a coil in a transient response interval according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. <FIG> is a diagram for illustrating a relation between voltages and currents of the coil according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, the apparatus for generating an excitation signal for a resolver according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a sine wave generation unit <NUM>, an amplification unit <NUM>, a differential signal generation unit <NUM>, a driver <NUM>, and a processor <NUM>.

The sine wave generation unit <NUM> receives a square wave from a microcomputer (not illustrated), and generates a sine wave by using the square wave.

In this case, the sine wave is used to obtain the angle of a rotor as an excitation signal that is applied to a coil <NUM>.

The sine wave generation unit <NUM> includes a sine wave generator <NUM> and a digital analog converter (DAC) <NUM>.

The sine wave generator <NUM> generates a digital code of two bits or more according to the time of a cycle of the square wave, and transmits the digital code to the DAC <NUM>.

In this process, the amplification ratio (or a gain) of the sine wave generator <NUM> may be adjusted by the processor <NUM>. When the amplification ratio of the sine wave generator <NUM> is adjusted, the output of the DAC <NUM>, that is, the voltage of the sine wave is adjusted.

The amplification ratio of the sine wave generator <NUM> may be set based on a start voltage.

The start voltage is a voltage at which a soft start is performed, and is relatively lower than a target voltage to be applied to a primary side of the coil <NUM>. The start voltage may be variously adjusted based on the target voltage.

In general, the target voltage may be set in the range of <NUM> Vrms to <NUM> Vrms. The start voltage may be calculated as a voltage lower than the target voltage.

For example, if the target voltage is <NUM> Vrms, the start voltage may be calculated as <NUM> Vrms. If the target voltage is <NUM> Vrms, the start voltage may be calculated as <NUM> Vrms.

The start voltage may be divided into a plurality of voltage ranges. The start voltage calculated by the processor <NUM> belongs to any one of the plurality of voltage ranges.

The amplification ratio of the sine wave generator <NUM> may be adjusted based on a voltage range to which the start voltage belongs, among the voltage ranges of the start voltage.

The voltage of the sine wave that is output by the DAC <NUM> is adjusted by the amplification ratio of the sine wave generator <NUM> which has been adjusted as described above.

The DAC <NUM> converts the digital code into an analog value. That is, the DAC <NUM> converts, into a sine wave signal, the digital code according to an input time from the sine wave generator <NUM>. In this case, the DAC <NUM> converts, into an analog value, the digital code that has been amplified at the amplification ratio of the sine wave generator <NUM>, so that the voltage of the sine wave that is output by the DAC <NUM> is adjusted.

The amplification unit <NUM> amplifies the sine wave to a voltage having a desired level, which is input from the sine wave generation unit <NUM>.

The amplification ratio of the amplification unit <NUM> may be adjusted by the processor <NUM>. As the amplification ratio of the amplification unit <NUM> is adjusted, the voltage of the sine wave is adjusted. The amplification ratio of the amplification unit <NUM> may be set based on a start voltage. The start voltage may be divided into a plurality of voltage ranges as described above. The amplification ratio of the amplification unit <NUM> may be adjusted based on a voltage range to which the start voltage belongs, among the voltage ranges of the start voltage. As described above, the voltage of the sine wave is adjusted by the amplification ratio of the amplification unit <NUM>.

In this case, the amplification unit <NUM> may be a programmable gain amplifier (PGA), but is not especially limited thereto.

The differential signal generation unit <NUM> generates a differential signal based on the sine wave that is received from the amplification unit <NUM>. The differential signal generation unit <NUM> may be formed of a circuit including an OP-amp.

The driver <NUM> inputs, to both ends of an input stage of the coil <NUM>, the differential signal generated by the differential signal generation unit <NUM>.

The processor <NUM> increases the voltage of the sine wave from the start voltage to a target voltage by controlling the sine wave generation unit <NUM> and the amplification unit <NUM> whenever one cycle elapses based on a transient current that flows into the coil <NUM> in a transient response interval.

Accordingly, a voltage that flows into the coil <NUM> rises up to the target voltage step by step. At this time, an overcurrent can be prevented from flowing into the coil <NUM> in the transient response interval because a current that flows into the coil <NUM> is limited.

<FIG> illustrates an example in which if a target voltage is <NUM> Vrms and a start voltage is <NUM> Vrms, an overcurrent is prevented from flowing into the coil <NUM> in a transient response interval by raising a voltage that flows into the coil <NUM> step by step by a set voltage, for example, <NUM> Vrms from the start voltage to the target voltage.

More specifically, the processor <NUM> calculates a maximum current which may flow into the coil <NUM>, based on the target voltage.

In general, the primary side of the coil <NUM> may be modeled in a form in which an inductor having several mH and a resistor having several or several tens of ohm (Ω) are connected in series.

A current that flows into the coil <NUM> is generated as <MAT> based on a voltage at both ends of the inductor. When a sine wave voltage is applied to both ends of the coil <NUM>, a relation between voltages and currents, which is illustrated in <FIG>, is obtained.

In this case, the relation between voltages and currents within the coil <NUM> is the same as Equation <NUM>.

In Equation <NUM>, VIN is the voltage of a sine wave within the coil <NUM>, iL is a current that flows into the coil <NUM>, L is inductance, R is resistance, and t is time.

If the inductance and resistance of the coil <NUM> are applied to the relation between voltages and currents in Equation <NUM>, a maximum current in a transient response interval can be known by calculating a maximum current up to the first cycle in which the voltage of the sine wave has been applied.

When the maximum current in the transient response interval is calculated, the processor <NUM> determines whether the maximum current in the transient response interval is a preset threshold current or more by comparing the maximum current with the threshold current.

The threshold current is a maximum-permissible current that is permitted by the driver (EXCP and EXCN) <NUM>. The threshold current may be different depending on characteristics of the driver <NUM>.

If the maximum current in the transient response interval is the threshold current or more as a result of the comparison between the maximum current in the transient response interval and the threshold current, the processor <NUM> calculates a start voltage based on a target voltage.

For example, if a maximum-permissible current that is permitted by the driver <NUM>, that is, the size of an EXCP and EXCN block(element), is <NUM> mA, the voltage VIN of a sine wave is <NUM> Vrms@<NUM>, inductance L is <NUM> mH, and resistance R is <NUM>Ω, a calculated maximum current up to the first cycle is <NUM> mA.

The maximum current <NUM> mA is a threshold current, that is, the maximum-permissible current <NUM> mA or more that is permitted by the size of the EXCP and EXCN element. Accordingly, the processor <NUM> calculates a start voltage based on a target voltage.

The processor <NUM> sets the start voltage to be relatively lower than the target voltage.

For example, the processor <NUM> may calculate the start voltage as <NUM> Vrms if the target voltage is <NUM> Vrms, and may calculate the start voltage as <NUM> Vrms if the target voltage is <NUM> Vrms.

In general, to implement a change in the voltage having a wide range in which the voltage of a sine wave is <NUM> Vrms to <NUM> Vrms only in the amplification unit <NUM> has limitations in terms of hardware.

For example, if a change in the voltage having a wide range is implemented in the amplification unit <NUM>, the amplification ratio of the amplification unit <NUM> needs to be generated up to a maximum of "<NUM>". In a process of converting a signal from a high voltage range of the EXCP and EXCN element to a low voltage range thereof, the amplification unit <NUM> essentially has an amplification ratio of <NUM>. Accordingly, the sine wave signal (i.e., the output of the DAC <NUM>) that has been first generated may be finally amplified up to a maximum of <NUM> times. If the amplification ratio of the amplification unit <NUM> is very large as described above, an unwanted non-linear characteristic may be increased because distortion, such as noise, is greatly amplified in the output of the DAC <NUM>. Accordingly, it is advantageous to reduce a total amplification ratio to <NUM> or less and to set the amplification ratio of the amplification unit <NUM> to "<NUM>" or less.

Therefore, in order to reduce a change in the voltage having a wide range and the distortion of a signal, the processor <NUM> adjusts the voltage of a sine wave by combining the sine wave generation unit <NUM> and the amplification unit <NUM>, based on a voltage range to which a corresponding start voltage belongs.

To this end, first, the processor <NUM> determines a voltage range to which the corresponding start voltage belongs, among these voltage ranges.

For example, if a target voltage is set in the range of <NUM> Vrms to <NUM> Vrms as described above, a voltage range of a start voltage may be divided into a first voltage range of <NUM> Vrms to <NUM> Vrms and a second voltage range of more than <NUM> Vrms to <NUM> Vrms or less.

In this case, the start voltage belongs to any one of the first voltage range and the second voltage range.

Accordingly, the processor <NUM> determines whether the start voltage belongs to the first voltage range or the second voltage range, and increases the voltage of the sine wave from the start voltage to the target voltage by combining the sine wave generation unit <NUM> and the amplification unit <NUM>, based on a result of the determination.

First, when the start voltage belongs to the first voltage range, the processor <NUM> adjusts the voltage of the sine wave by fixing the amplification ratio of the amplification unit <NUM> to a minimum value <NUM> and adjusting the amplification ratio of the sine wave generator <NUM>.

In contrast, when the start voltage belongs to the second voltage range, the processor <NUM> adjusts the voltage of the sine wave in a way to fix the output of the DAC <NUM> to a maximum value by adjusting the amplification ratio of the sine wave generator <NUM> to the maximum value and adjusting the amplification ratio of the amplification unit <NUM> to "<NUM>" or more.

The amplification ratios of the sine wave generator <NUM> and the amplification unit <NUM> for each start voltage are listed in Table <NUM>.

For example, if a maximum-permissible current that is permitted by the size of the EXCP and EXCN element of the driver <NUM> is <NUM> mA, the voltage VIN of a sine wave is <NUM> Vrms@<NUM>, inductance L is <NUM> mH, and resistance R is <NUM>Ω, a calculated maximum current up to the first cycle is <NUM> mA.

In this case, if a start voltage is calculated as <NUM> Vrms and the voltage of the sine wave is increased from the start voltage by a set voltage of <NUM> Vrms, a maximum transient current up to the third cycle is <NUM> mA. This reveals that an overcurrent does not flow into the coil <NUM> in a transient response interval.

If a target voltage (V_EXCP/V_EXCN) is selected (<NUM> Vrms to <NUM> Vrms, a <NUM> Vrms unit) (upon actual application, an output voltage of <NUM> Vrms to <NUM> Vrms is chiefly used), the processor <NUM> may be implemented as an arbitrary register capable of generating a <NUM>-bit control signal.

Furthermore, the processor <NUM> may be implemented as an arbitrary register capable of generating a <NUM>-bit control signal in order to determine whether a soft start is performed.

Furthermore, if a start voltage (<NUM> Vrms to <NUM> Vrms) and a set voltage (<NUM> Vrms) for a soft start are set, the processor <NUM> may be implemented as an arbitrary register capable of generating a <NUM>-bit control signal.

Hereinafter, a method of generating an excitation signal for a resolver according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is described in detail with reference to <FIG>.

<FIG> is a flowchart of a method of generating an excitation signal for a resolver according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, first, the processor <NUM> calculates a maximum current which may flow into the coil <NUM>, based on a target voltage (S10).

Next, the processor <NUM> determines whether the maximum current calculated in a transient response interval is a threshold current or more by comparing the maximum current in the transient response interval with the threshold current (S20).

If, as a result of the determination in step S20, the maximum current in the transient response interval is the threshold current or more, the processor <NUM> calculates a start voltage based on the target voltage (S30).

When the start voltage is calculated, the processor <NUM> controls the voltage of a sine wave by controlling the sine wave generation unit <NUM> and the amplification unit <NUM> based on a voltage range to which the start voltage belongs (S40).

That is, the processor <NUM> determines whether the start voltage belongs to a first voltage range or a second voltage range, and increases the voltage of the sine wave from the start voltage to the target voltage by combining the sine wave generation unit <NUM> and the amplification unit <NUM> based on a result of the determination.

For example, when the start voltage belongs to the first voltage range, the processor <NUM> adjusts the output of the DAC <NUM> by fixing the amplification ratio of the amplification unit <NUM> to a minimum value <NUM> and adjusting the amplification ratio of the sine wave generator <NUM>.

A transient current that flows into the coil <NUM> can be limited within an actual application range by increasing the voltage of the sine wave step by step from the start voltage to the target voltage as described above.

As described above, the apparatus and method for generating an excitation signal for a resolver according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can prevent an overcurrent greater than an actual application range from flowing into the coil <NUM> by increasing the voltage of an excitation signal up to a target voltage step by step based on a transient current that flows into the coil <NUM>, and can thus reduce a cost price by reducing the size of the driver <NUM> that inputs a differential signal to the coil <NUM>.

Claim 1:
An apparatus for generating an excitation signal for a resolver, the apparatus comprising:
a sine wave generation unit (<NUM>) configured to generate a sine wave by using a square wave;
an amplification unit (<NUM>) configured to amplify the sine wave generated by the sine wave generation unit;
a differential signal generation unit (<NUM>) configured to convert, into a differential signal, the sine wave amplified by the amplification unit;
a driver (<NUM>) configured to input, to a coil (<NUM>), the differential signal generated by the differential signal generation unit; and characterised by
a processor (<NUM>) configured to increase a voltage of the sine wave from a start voltage to a target voltage through at least one of the sine wave generation unit (<NUM>) and the amplification unit (<NUM>) based on a transient current that flows into the coil (<NUM>) in a transient response interval.