Patent ID: 8803387

Claim:
An electric machine comprising: a machine housing; a stator positioned at least partially within said machine housing and comprising a plurality of stator windings; a rotor positioned at least partially within said machine housing and configured to rotate with respect to said stator; a motor controller configured to selectively provide power to said plurality of stator windings; and an interface module configured for coupling to said motor controller and comprising: a processing device, a first communication interface coupled to said processing device and configured for coupling with said motor controller, and a second communication interface coupled to said processing device and configured to receive a control signal, wherein said processing device is configured to receive the control signal using a first communication protocol that defines a first format for communicating data, and transmit the control signal to said motor controller using a second communication protocol that defines a second format for communicating the data, wherein the second communication protocol is different from the first communication protocol.