# US 2021/0239449 A1 · Electric powertrain with rotary electric machine and position sensor-to-controller interface > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2021/0239449 A1 - Document ID: US20210239449A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/776,812 - Filed: 2020-01-30 - Published: 2021-08-05 - Earliest claimed: 2020-01-30 - Assignees: GM Global Technology Operations LLC - Applicants: GM Global Technology Operations LLC - Inventors: Suresh Gopalakrishnan; Shuqing Zeng; Chandra S. Namuduri - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210239449A1 ## CPC - G01B 7/30: for measuring angles or tapers; for testing the alignment of axes - B60L 15/06: using substantially sinusoidal AC - B60L 15/20: for control of the vehicle or its driving motor to achieve a desired performance, e.g. speed, torque, programmed variation of speed - B60W 10/08: including control of electric propulsion units, e.g. motors or generators - G08C 23/04: using light waves, e.g. infrared - B60L 2210/40: DC to AC converters - B60L 2240/421: Speed - B60L 2240/423: Torque - Y02T 10/64: Electric machine technologies in electromobility - Y02T 10/72: Electric energy management in electromobility - Y02T 90/16: Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles - G01B: MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS - B60L: PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (arrangements or mounting of electrical propulsion units or of plural diverse prime-movers for mutual or common propulsion in vehicles B60K1/00, B60K6/20; arrangements or mounting of electrical gearing in vehicles B60K17/12, B60K17/14; preventing wheel slip by reducing power in rail vehicles B61C15/08; dynamo-electric machines H02K; control or regulation of electric motors H02P); SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (electric coupling devices combined with mechanical couplings of vehicles B60D1/64; electric heating for vehicles B60H1/00); ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL (control or regulation of electric motors H02P); MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES - B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT - G08C: TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS FOR MEASURED VALUES, CONTROL OR SIMILAR SIGNALS (fluid pressure transmitting systems F15B; mechanical means for transferring the output of a sensing member into a different variable G01D5/00; mechanical control systems G05G) - Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION ## Abstract An electric powertrain includes a sensor-controller interface, an inverter-controller electrically connected to the battery pack, and an electric machine connected to the inverter-controller and having a rotor with an angular position. The rotor powers a driven load at a torque and/or speed level controlled by the inverter-controller in response to position signals indicative of the angular position. A rotary position sensor is operatively connected to the rotor to generate and output the position signals. The sensor derives the position signals from unmodulated sine and cosine signals, and communicates the position signals and a binary sensor state of health (SOH) to the inverter-controller over the interface. The inverter-controller also decodes the position signals and the binary sensor SOH to generate decoded control data, and controls the torque and/or speed level using the decoded control data. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An electric powertrain comprising: a sensor-controller interface; a battery pack; an inverter-controller electrically connected to the battery pack, and having a traction power inverter module (TPIM) and a motor controller; a rotary electric machine electrically connected to the TPIM, and having a rotor with an angular position, wherein the rotor is configured to power a driven load at a torque and/or speed level controlled by the inverter-controller in response to position signals indicative of the angular position of the rotor; and a rotary position sensor operatively connected to the rotor and configured to generate and output the position signals, wherein the position sensor is configured to derive the position signals from unmodulated sine and cosine signals, and to communicate the position signals and a binary sensor state of health (SOH) to the inverter-controller over the sensor-controller interface; wherein the inverter-controller is configured to decode the position signals and the binary sensor SOH to generate decoded control data, and to control the torque and/or speed level of the electric machine using the decoded control data. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The electric powertrain of claim 1, wherein the sensor-controller interface is a wireless interface, and wherein the position sensor includes a wireless transmitter. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The electric powertrain of claim 2, wherein the wireless interface is an infrared (IR) interface and the wireless transmitter is an IR transmitter. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The electric powertrain of claim 3, wherein the inverter-controller includes an IR repeater which operates in conjunction with the IR transmitter using a near-field infrared data association (irDA) protocol. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The electric powertrain of claim 1, further comprising: a backup low-voltage power supply that is electrically connected to the position sensor. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The electric powertrain of claim 1, wherein the inverter-controller is configured to transmit the position signals as a set of digital data packets, and the inverter-controller includes a media converter block configured to receive and process the digital data packets, the media converter block being coupled to a de-serializer block via a twisted two-wire connection. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The electric powertrain of claim 6, wherein the inverter-controller is configured to decode the position signal using a cyclic redundancy check block or a bit filter. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The electric powertrain of claim 1, wherein the inverter-controller is configured to generate an error signal by subtracting a derivative of the angular position from an angular speed of the rotor, and to determine a true state of the position sensor using the error signal, and wherein the inverter-controller is configured to execute another control action in response to the error signal exceeding a calibrated threshold. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The electric powertrain of claim 1, wherein the driven load is a set of road wheels of a mobile platform. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The electric powertrain of claim 1, wherein the inverter-controller includes a differential transmitter, the sensor-controller interface includes low-voltage power lines, and the position sensor communicates the position signals to the inverter-controller over the low-voltage power lines using the differential transmitter. ### Claim 11 A method for controlling a rotary electric powertrain having an inverter-controller that is electrically connected to a battery pack and includes a rotary electric machine, a traction power inverter module, and a motor controller, the method comprising: operatively connecting a rotary position sensor to a rotor of the electric machine; commanding a torque and/or speed level from the electric machine, via the inverter-controller, to thereby power a driven load; generating angular position signals via the rotary position sensor from an unmodulated sine and cosine signals; wirelessly communicating the angular position signals to the inverter-controller using a wireless transmitter while the electric machine powers the driven load; receiving and decoding the position signals via the inverter-controller; and regulating the torque and/or speed level via the inverter-controller in response to the angular position signals to thereby power the driven load. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising: providing low-voltage backup power to the position sensor via a backup power supply. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising: outputting a binary diagnostic signal via the position sensor indicative of a state of health of the position sensor. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the rotary position sensor also includes a repeater, and wherein wirelessly communicating the angular position signals to the inverter-controller occurs via the transmitter and repeater in the infrared (IR) spectrum via an IR communications protocol. ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the rotary position sensor is an inductive position sensor. ### Claim 16 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising: transmitting the position signals as a set of digital data packets using a wireless transmitter of the position sensor; using a media converter block of the inverter-controller coupled to a de-serializer block via a twisted two-wire connection to process the digital data packets; and decoding the position signal using a cyclic redundancy check block or bit filter of the inverter-controller. ### Claim 17 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising: using the inverter-controller to generate an error signal by subtracting a derivative of the angular position from an angular speed of the rotor; determining a true state of the position sensor using the error signal; and executing a control action via the inverter-controller in response to the error signal exceeding a calibrated threshold. ### Claim 18 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the driven load is a set of road wheels of a mobile platform. ### Claim 19 A mobile platform comprising: a set of road wheels; a wireless sensor-controller interface; a battery pack; an inverter-controller electrically connected to the battery pack, and having a traction power inverter module (TPIM) and a motor controller; a rotary electric machine electrically connected to the TPIM of the inverter-controller and having a rotor with an angular position, wherein the rotor is configured to impart a corresponding torque to the road wheels at a level controlled by the inverter-controller in response to position signals indicative of the angular position of the rotor; and a rotary position sensor operatively connected to the rotor and configured to output the position signals, and having a backup low-voltage power supply, wherein the rotary position sensor includes an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) configured to derive the position signals from unmodulated sine and cosine signals, and to communicate the position signals and a binary sensor state of health (SOH) to the inverter-controller in digital data packets over the wireless sensor-controller interface, wherein the inverter-controller: includes a media converter block that receives and processes the digital data packets, is coupled to a de-serializer block via a twisted two-wire connection, and is configured to decode the position signals and the binary sensor SOH to generate decoded control data and thereafter control a torque and/or speed operation of the electric machine using the decoded control data when powering the road wheels; and is configured to generate an error signal by subtracting a derivative of the angular position from an angular speed, and to determine a true state of the position sensor using the error signal, and wherein the inverter-controller is configured to execute another control action in response to the error signal exceeding a calibrated threshold. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The mobile platform of claim 19, wherein the rotary position sensor is an inductive position sensor.