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US 11,529,886 B2Granted
Power supply during vehicle off state
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsYuming Niu, Ming Lang Kuang, Mark Douglas Malone, Daniel M. King
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A power system for a vehicle includes a control module, a low-voltage battery electrically coupled to the control module, a high-voltage battery electrically coupled to the control module, an engine electrically coupled to the high-voltage battery, and a computer. The computer is programmed to, while the vehicle is in an off state, in response to a pending download to the control module, provide power to the control module with one of the low-voltage battery, the high-voltage battery, or the engine upon determining whether the low-voltage battery and the high-voltage battery have sufficient charge to power the control module for the download.
Claims14
A power system for a vehicle comprising:
- a control module;
- a low-voltage battery electrically coupled to the control module;
- a high-voltage battery electrically coupled to the control module;
- an engine electrically coupled to the high-voltage battery;
- and
- a computer programmed to, while the vehicle is in an off state,
- in response to a pending download to the control module, provide power to the control module with the low-voltage battery upon determining that the low-voltage battery has sufficient charge to power the control module for the download;
- in response to the pending download to the control module, provide power to the control module with the high-voltage battery upon determining that the low-voltage battery has insufficient charge to power the control module for the download and that the high-voltage battery has sufficient charge to power the control module for the download;
- in response to the pending download to the control module, provide power to the control module by running the engine upon determining that neither the low-voltage battery nor the high-voltage battery has sufficient charge to power the control module for the download;
- and
- after beginning the download with the control module powered by the low-voltage battery, provide power to the control module with the high-voltage battery upon determining that the low-voltage battery has insufficient charge to power the control module for a remainder of the download and that the high-voltage battery has sufficient charge to power the control module for the remainder of the download;
- wherein the low-voltage battery has sufficient charge to power the control module for the download if the charge of the low-voltage battery is greater than a sum of an expected charge to complete the download and a charge to start the vehicle;
- and
- the high-voltage battery has sufficient charge to power the control module for the download if the charge of the high-voltage battery is greater than a sum of the expected charge to complete the download and a charge to put the vehicle in a minimal risk condition.
11 more elements
A computer comprising a processor and a memory storing instructions executable by the processor to:
- while a vehicle is in an off state, in response to a pending download to a control module in the vehicle, provide power to the control module with a low-voltage battery upon determining that the low-voltage battery has sufficient charge to power the control module for the download;
- while the vehicle is in the off state, in response to the pending download to the control module, provide power to the control module with a high-voltage battery upon determining that the low-voltage battery has insufficient charge to power the control module for the download and that the high-voltage battery has sufficient charge to power the control module for the download;
- while the vehicle is in the off state, in response to the pending download to the control module, provide power to the control module by running an engine upon determining that neither the low-voltage battery nor the high-voltage battery has sufficient charge to power the control module for the download;
- and
- after beginning the download with the control module powered by the low-voltage battery, provide power to the control module with the high-voltage battery upon determining that the low-voltage battery has insufficient charge to power the control module for a remainder of the download and that the high-voltage battery has sufficient charge to power the control module for the remainder of the download;
- wherein the low-voltage battery has sufficient charge to power the control module for the download if the charge of the low-voltage battery is greater than a sum of an expected charge to complete the download and a charge to start the vehicle;
- and
- the high-voltage battery has sufficient charge to power the control module for the download if the charge of the high-voltage battery is greater than a sum of the expected charge to complete the download and a charge to put the vehicle in a minimal risk condition.
5 more elements
A method comprising:
- while a vehicle is in an off state, in response to a pending download to a control module in the vehicle, providing power to the control module with a low-voltage battery upon determining that the low-voltage battery has sufficient charge to power the control module for the download;
- while the vehicle is in the off state, in response to the pending download to the control module, providing power to the control module with a high-voltage battery upon determining that the low-voltage battery has insufficient charge to power the control module for the download and that the high-voltage battery has sufficient charge to power the control module for the download;
- while the vehicle is in the off state, in response to the pending download to the control module, providing power to the control module by running an engine upon determining that neither the low-voltage battery nor the high-voltage battery has sufficient charge to power the control module for the download;
- and
- after beginning the download with the control module powered by the low-voltage battery, providing power to the control module with the high-voltage battery upon determining that the low-voltage battery has insufficient charge to power the control module for a remainder of the download and that the high-voltage battery has sufficient charge to power the control module for the remainder of the download;
- wherein the low-voltage battery has sufficient charge to power the control module for the download if the charge of the low-voltage battery is greater than a sum of an expected charge to complete the download and a charge to start the vehicle;
- and
- the high-voltage battery has sufficient charge to power the control module for the download if the charge of the high-voltage battery is greater than a sum of the expected charge to complete the download and a charge to put the vehicle in a minimal risk condition.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.