Claims:1. An integrated peripheral control module comprising:
A peripheral bias power supply module, configured to receive power from a power supply;
A plurality of peripheral drivers, communicably connected to the peripheral bias power supply and configured to receive power from the peripheral bias power supply; and
A microcontroller communicably connected to the peripheral bias power supply and the plurality of peripheral drivers, and configured to control a duty cycle and switching frequency of the peripheral bias power supply to minimize electromagnetic emissions from the peripheral bias power supply and optimize power losses of the integrated peripheral control module.
2. The integrated peripheral control module of claim 1, wherein the power loss optimization is achieved by the microcontroller through disabling a pulse I width modulation (PWM) mode during a standby mode.
3. The integrated peripheral control module of claim 1, wherein the external power supply is an on-board battery.
4. The integrated peripheral control module of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of peripheral drivers is connected to at least one of a plurality of peripheral devices.
5. The integrated peripheral control module of claim 1, wherein the plurality of peripheral devices includes anyone or a combination of headlamps, tail lamps, indicator lamps, position lamps, horn, motor fan, key switch, under seat lock switch, key switch, and charging connector solenoid.
6. The integrated control module of claim 1, wherein the microcontroller is further interfaced to other vehicle subsystems and charging infrastructure over separate CAN buses.
7. The integrated control module of claim 5, wherein the microcontroller receives a user input for activation of each of the plurality of peripherals.
8. The integrated control module of claim 7, wherein the microcontroller is configured to isolate a faulty peripheral device from the plurality of peripheral devices from the peripheral bias power supply..
9. The integrated peripheral control module of claim 1, wherein the microcontroller minimizes electromagnetic emissions by dithering switching frequency around a nominal operating point.
10. The integrated peripheral control module of claim 1, wherein the integrated peripheral control module is configured to function in any one of a high-power load condition, a low-power load condition and a standby mode.
11. The integrated peripheral control module of claim 2, wherein, during the disabled PWM mode the peripheral bias power supply is disconnected from the plurality of peripheral drivers.
12. The integrated peripheral control module of claim 11, wherein the peripheral bias power supply includes an output capacitor configured to power the microcontroller and the plurality of peripheral drivers during the disabled PWM mode.
, Description:FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
[001] The present disclosure is generally related to electric vehicle peripherals’ control and more particularly to an integrated peripheral control module to minimize standby power consumption of an electric vehicle.

BACKGROUND
[002] The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also correspond to implementations of the claimed technology.
[003] In an electric vehicle, all peripherals namely lamps, horn, key switch, seat lock etc. require some power for their operation. Generally, the peripheral devices are driven by respective peripheral drivers which are in turn controlled using a microcontroller within an Electronic control unit (ECU). ECU is powered through a bias power supply and controlled by analogue means. The bias power supply draws power from a power supply and supplies the same to the ECU for powering up the peripherals. There is a decreased efficiency of the bias power supply is such a low load conditions. Also, during a stand-by mode none of the peripherals are active hence, power consumption during the standby mode is only required to power up the ECU. During standby mode, the switching and magnetic core losses of the MOSFET dominate the total losses of the power supply reducing the efficiency Also, a reduction of power losses from the vehicle is required during the standby mode.
[004] Therefore, there is a need to reduce power losses and increase efficiency of peripheral bias power supply during such low load and standby mode conditions of the ECU.

BRIEF SUMMARY
[005] It will be understood that this disclosure in not limited to the particular systems, and methodologies described, as there can be multiple possible embodiments of the present disclosure which are not expressly illustrated in the present disclosure. It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing the particular versions or embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
[006] In an example embodiment, an integrated peripheral control module is disclosed. The integrated peripheral control module comprises a peripheral bias power supply that is configured to receive power from a power supply, a plurality of peripheral drivers, communicably connected the peripheral bias power supply and configured to receive power from the peripheral bias power supply , and a microcontroller communicably connected to the peripheral bias power supply and the plurality of peripheral drivers configured to control a duty cycle and switching frequency of the peripheral bias power supply to minimize electromagnetic emissions from the peripheral bias power supply and optimize power losses of the integrated peripheral control module.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[007] The accompanying drawings illustrate various embodiments of systems, methods, and embodiments of various other aspects of the disclosure. Any person with ordinary skills in the art will appreciate that the illustrated element boundaries (e.g. boxes, groups of boxes, or other shapes) in the figures represent one example of the boundaries. It may be that in some examples one element may be designed as multiple elements or that multiple elements may be designed as one element. In some examples, an element shown as an internal component of one element may be implemented as an external component in another, and vice versa. Furthermore, elements may not be drawn to scale. Non-limiting and non-exhaustive descriptions are described with reference to the following drawings. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating principles.
[008] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram 100 of an integrated peripheral control module 100, according to an embodiment;
[009] FIG. 2A illustrates a block diagram of an internal configuration of the peripheral bias power supply, according to an embodiment;
[0010] FIG. 2B illustrates a block diagram of an internal configuration of the peripheral bias power supply in a non-isolated topology, according to an embodiment;
[0011] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a short circuit protected peripheral driver 300, according to an embodiment;
[0012] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a short circuit protected peripheral driver 400, according to an embodiment;
[0013] FIG. 5 illustrating a block diagram of a solenoid peripheral driver 500, according to another embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] Some embodiments of this disclosure, illustrating all its features, will now be discussed in detail. The words “comprising,” “having,” “containing,” and “including,” and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items.
[0015] It must also be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Although any systems and methods similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the present disclosure, the preferred, systems and methods are now described.
[0016] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like elements throughout the several figures, and in which example embodiments are shown. Embodiments of the claims may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The examples set forth herein are non-limiting examples and are merely examples among other possible examples.
[0017] Now referring to Fig. 1, illustrating a block diagram of an integrated peripheral control module (ICM) 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The ICM 100 includes a peripheral bias power supply 102, a microcontroller 104, a plurality of peripheral drivers 108A-108J (hereinafter cumulatively referred to as drivers 108), a controller bias power supply 106, and various system interface modules like Bias CAN module 110, a sys CAN transceiver 112, a Charging infrastructure CAN transceiver 114, and a PP interface.
[0018] The peripheral bias power supply 102 is also connected to a power supply (not shown in the figure, which is present outside the ICM 100. The power supply may be an onboard battery of an EV. The peripheral bias power supply 102 is further connected to the drivers 108. According to an embodiment of the invention, the drivers 108 are connected to the peripheral bias power supply 102 through a 12V peripheral bus. The peripheral bias power supply 102 is also further connected to the microcontroller 104. Further, each of the drivers 108 is connected to at least one of a plurality of peripheral devices. According to an embodiment of the invention, the plurality of the peripheral devices may be any one of a headlamps, tail lamps, indicator lamps, position lamps, horn, motor fan, key switch, under seat lock switch, key switch, and charging connector solenoid.
[0019] The peripheral bias power supply 102 draws power from the power supply, converts it to a 12V peripheral voltage and supplies it to the drivers 108 and also supplies it to the microcontroller 104, controller bias power supply 106 and other subsystems of the ICM 100. The microcontroller 104 also controls the peripheral bias power supply 102 and this digital control of the peripheral bias power supply 102 enables to reduce electromagnetic emissions from the peripheral power supply 102 and optimize the power losses..
[0020] Now referring to Fig. 2A, illustrating a block diagram of an internal configuration of the peripheral bias power supply 102 in an isolated topology. The peripheral bias power supply 102 is an active clamp forward DC-DC converter that is digitally controlled by signals from the microcontroller 104. The peripheral bias power supply 102 may include multiple switches like 202, 206 on one side of coil and 212, and 214 on the other side of the coil 210 as referred to as transformer. The peripheral bias power supply 102 may also further include gate drivers 204 and 222 to drive gates of the switches 202,206, 212, and 214 as per the control signals from the microcontroller 104. The peripheral bias power supply 102 further includes a current sense amplifier 220 that outputs an output current sense 230 to the microcontroller. Further, the gate driver 222 also receives an Enable sync FET signal 232 from the microcontroller to enable or disable the gate driver 222.
[0021] During normal or high load mode, load on the peripheral bias power supply 102 is the total load of all the peripherals. This load is not constant and varies with the status of the peripherals. However, efficiency of the peripheral bias power supply 102 is not constant. The efficiency of the peripheral bias power supply 102 is highest at closer to the maximum load. The efficiency reduces with the reduction in the load. Therefore, its efficiency is high at high load conditions. High load conditions means that drivers 108 are switched on during this high load mode. The plurality of peripherals connected to the drivers 108 are configured to receive input from a user through physical switches.
[0022] However, during a standby mode, load on the peripheral bias power supply 104 reduces to approximately 2% of high load condition load value. In order to increase the efficiency during the standby mode, the microcontroller 104, controls the PWM in pulse-skip mode. In pulse-skip mode, the PWM is enabled during the pulse-skip off interval and PWM is disabled during pulse-skip on interval. During the pulse-skip off duration, the energy is transferred from power source to the load. During the pulse-skip on duration, the energy is supplied by the output capacitor 218 of the peripheral bias power supply.
[0023] During the burst on duration, power is transferred from the peripheral bias power supply 102 to the peripheral drivers 108.
[0024] During the Pulse skip mode or standby mode, the controller bias power supply 106 is the only load connected to the peripheral bias power supply 102. According to an embodiment of the invention, the controller bias power supply 106 is a 3.3V buck converter. The controller bias power supply 106 is able to maintain 3.3V regulation for input voltage greater than 5V. Hence, the performance of the microcontroller 104 will not be impacted due to higher ripple on 12V peripheral bus during standby mode & efficiency of the peripheral bias power supply 102 improves to meet the standby mode power consumption requirement.
[0025] The electromagnetic emission peaks of peripheral bias power supply 102 typically occur at switching dc-dc converter fundamental switching frequency and its harmonics. Due to the digital control of switching frequency of the peripheral bias power supply 102 using the microcontroller 104, the switching frequency is modulated around the nominal operating point. This reduces the peak emissions by spreading the EMI over a band of frequencies around the switching frequency.
[0026] Now referring to Fig. 2B illustrating a block diagram of an internal configuration of the peripheral bias power supply 102 in a non-isolated topology. The peripheral bias power supply 102 may include multiple switches like 254, and 256 connected to a half bridge gate driver 252 that receives inputs from the microcontroller 104. The peripheral bias power supply 102 further includes a current sense amplifier 262 that determines current across a current sensing element 260 and sends it with the microcontroller 104. Further, the gate driver 252 also receives an Enable sync FET signal 266 from the microcontroller 104 to enable or disable the gate driver 252.
[0027] Now referring to Fig. 3, illustrates a block diagram of a short circuit protected peripheral driver 300 (referred to as SCD 300, hereinafter) of each of the drivers 108, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
[0028] The SCD 300 includes a series switch 302, configured to enable or disable connection of the peripheral bias power supply 102 to each of the drivers 108 through an enable signal 308 from the microcontroller 104. According to an embodiment of the invention, the series switch 302 may be a MOSFET switch. The SCD 300 further includes a current sensing device 306. The current sensing device 306, according to an embodiment of the invention, may be a sensing resistor. The current sensing device 306, senses current drawn by the peripheral devices connected to each of the drivers 108.
[0029] The current sensing device 306 is further connected to a driver controller 304. In case, current drawn by any the peripheral devices increases above a threshold value during overload and short circuit conditions, determined via the current sensing device 306, then in such a condition, the driver controller 304 disables the series switch 302 and hence cuts off a faulty peripheral. Also, the driver controller 304 sends a FLT (Fault) signal 310 to the microcontroller to turn off the faulty peripheral driver.
[0030] Now referring to Fig. 4, illustrates a block diagram of a constant current peripheral driver 400 (referred to as CC 400, hereinafter) of each of the drivers 108, in accordance with another embodiment of the invention.
[0031] The CC 400 includes a control circuit 406 configured to enable or disable gate of a gate driver 404. The CC 400 is connected to the peripheral bias power supply 102 and configured to receive enable or disable command 410 from the microcontroller 104. According to an embodiment of the invention, the gate driver 404 may be a MOSFET. The CC 400 further includes a current sensing device 408. The current sensing device 408, according to an embodiment of the invention, may be a sensing resistor. The CC 400 receive current sense feedback from current sense resistor 408. The CC 400 includes an error amplifier that controls duty cycle of the gate driver 404 based on a reference (IREF) signal 414. When the current through the peripheral, as sensed through current sensing device 408, is maintained as commanded by the microcontroller 104 as per IREF 414, the CC 400 works without any faults. However, in case the current through the peripheral, as sensed through current sensing device 408, is not able to maintain the current as commanded by the microcontroller 104, a fault (FLT) signal 412 is sent to the microcontroller 104.
[0032] Now referring to Fig. 5, illustrating a block diagram of a solenoid peripheral driver 500, in accordance with another embodiment of the invention. The solenoid peripheral driver 500 consists of 2 half bridge drivers namely 502A and 502B, controlled by the microcontroller 104 by signals 514 and 516 from the microcontroller 104. A current sense resistor 512 senses current value through solenoid 501 for short-circuit and over current protection.
[0033] The solenoid 501 is in positive direction when 502A is high & 502B is low. The solenoid 501 is in negative direction, when 502A is low & 502B is high. Gate signals for 502A and 502B are generated by the microcontroller 104. A current sense signal 518 (CS signal) is fed back to the microcontroller 104 that decides that the solenoid 501 is in short circuit condition or not.
[0034] It is to be noted that the solenoid 501 further includes a plurality of MOSFET drivers 504, 506, 508 and 510 that help in functioning of the solenoid during positive and negative direction as disclosed above
[0035] The foregoing embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments would be evident based on the present disclosure and that process or mechanical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
[0036] In the foregoing description, numerous specific details are given to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In order to avoid obscuring the present invention, some well-known circuits, system configurations, and process steps are not shown in detail and would be understood by anyone having skill in the relevant art.
[0037] Likewise, the drawings showing embodiments of the apparatus/device are semi-diagrammatic and not to scale and, particularly, some of the dimensions are for the clarity of presentation and may be shown greatly exaggerated in the drawings.
[0038] While the invention has been described in conjunction with a specific preferred embodiment which is considered to be the best mode, it is to be understood that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of the included claims. All matters hitherto fore set forth herein or shown in the accompanying drawings are to be interpreted in an illustrative and non-limiting sense.
[0039] List of Components:
100 - Integrated Peripheral Control Module;
102 - Peripheral power supply;
108x - Plurality of peripheral drivers;
104 - Microcontroller(/ECU?);
106 - Controller bias power supply;
110 - CAN isolated bias power supply;
112, 114 - CAN interface circuit;
116 - PP interface circuit.