Battery and Energy Technologies

Finding your Way Battery Management Systems (BMS)

Around
Smart Phone / Tablet BMS means different things to different people. To some it is simply Battery Monitoring, keeping a check on the key operational
Users See parameters during charging and discharging such as voltages and currents and the battery internal and ambient temperature. The
Alternative Navigation monitoring circuits would normally provide inputs to protection devices which would generate alarms or disconnect the battery fro
Below the load or charger should any of the parameters become out of limits.
Sponsors For the power or plant engineer responsible for standby power who's battery is the last line of defence against a power blackout o
telecommunications network outage BMS means Battery Management Systems. Such systems encompass not only the monitori
and protection of the battery but also methods for keeping it ready to deliver full power when called upon and methods for prolong
Battery Performance its life. This includes everything from controlling the charging regime to planned maintenance.
Improvement by For the automotive engineer the Battery Management System is a component of a much more complex fast acting Energy
Electronic Means Management System and must interface with other on board systems such as engine management, climate controls,
communications and safety systems.
There are thus many varieties of BMS.

Designing a BMS
In order to control battery performance and safety it is necessary to understand what needs to be controlled and why it needs
controlling. This requires an in depth understanding of the fundamental cell chemistries, performance characteristics and battery
failure modes particularly Lithium battery failures. The battery can not simply be treated as a black box.

BMS Building Blocks

There are three main objectives common to all Battery Management Systems
Protect the cells or the battery from damage
Prolong the life of the battery
Maintain the battery in a state in which it can fulfil the functional requirements of the application for which it was specifie

To achieve these objectives the BMS may incorporate one or more of the following functions. (Follow the links to see how these
functions are implemented.)

Cell Protection Protecting the battery from out of tolerance operating conditions is fundamental to all BMS applications.
practice the BMS must provide full cell protection to cover almost any eventuality. Operating a battery outside of its
specified design limits will inevitably lead to failure of the battery. Apart from the inconvenience, the cost of replacing the
battery can be prohibitive. This is particularly true for high voltage and high power automotive batteries which must oper
in hostile environments and which at the same time are subject to abuse by the user.
Charge control This is an essential feature of BMS. More batteries are damaged by inappropriate charging than by any o
cause.
Demand Management While not directly related to the operation of the battery itself, demand management refers to the
application in which the battery is used. Its objective is to minimise the current drain on the battery by designing power
saving techniques into the applications circuitry and thus prolong the time between battery charges.
SOC Determination Many applications require a knowledge of the State of Charge (SOC) of the battery or of the individua
cells in the battery chain. This may simply be for providing the user with an indication of the capacity left in the battery, o
could be needed in a control circuit to ensure optimum control of the charging process.
Free Report SOH Determination The State of Health (SOH) is a measure of a battery's capability to deliver its specified output. This is
vital for assessing the readiness of emergency power equipment and is an indicator of whether maintenance actions are
Buying Batteries in
China needed.
Cell Balancing In multi-cell battery chains small differences between cells due to production tolerances or operating
conditions tend to be magnified with each charge / discharge cycle. Weaker cells become overstressed during charging
causing them to become even weaker, until they eventually fail causing premature failure of the battery. Cell balancing is
Electropaedia way of compensating for weaker cells by equalising the charge on all the cells in the chain and thus extending battery life
Pages History - (Log Book Function) Monitoring and storing the battery's history is another possible function of the BMS. This i
Alphabetical Index needed in order to estimate the State of Health of the battery, but also to determine whether it has been subject to abuse
About Us Parameters such as number of cycles, maximum and minimum voltages and temperatures and maximum charging and
AC Batteries discharging currents can be recorded for subsequent evaluation. This can be an important tool in assessing warranty
AC Motors claims.
Alkaline Batteries Authentication and Identification The BMS also allows the possibility to record information about the cell such as the
Alternative Energy manufacturer's type designation and the cell chemistry which can facilitate automatic testing and the batch or serial
number and the date of manufacture which enables traceability in case of cell failures.
Storage Methods
Communications Most BMS systems incorporate some form of communications between the battery and the charger or
Apollo Moon Shot
test equipment. Some have links to other systems interfacing with the battery for monitoring its condition or its history.
Authentication and
Communications interfaces are also needed to allow the user access to the battery for modifying the BMS control
Identification parameters or for diagnostics and test.
Battery Applications
Battery Comparison
Chart (PDF) The following examples illustrate three very different applications of BMS in action.
Battery Life (and
Death) Intelligent Batteries
Battery Management
Systems (BMS) The life of rechargeable NiCad and Nickel Metal Hydride batteries such as those used in power tools can be extended by the use o
Battery an intelligent charging system which facilitates communications between the battery and the charger. The battery provides
Manufacturing information about its specification, its current condition and its usage history which is used by the charger to determine the optim
Battery Pack Design charging profile or, by the application in which it is used, to control its usage.
Battery Performance The prime objective of the charger/battery combination is to permit the incorporation of a wider range of Protection Circuits which
Characteristics prevent overcharging of, or damage to, the battery and thus extend its life. Charge control can be in either the battery or the charge
The objective of the application/battery combination is to prevent overloads and to conserve the battery. Similar to the charger
Battery Power
combination, discharge control can be in either the application or in the battery.
Demand Management
Battery Protection
Although some special cells incorporating intelligence have been developed, the intelligence is more likely to be implemented in a
Methods
battery pack.
Battery Quotation
Request
The system works as follows:
Battery Relability
Battery Safety The Intelligent Battery, or Smart Battery, provides outputs from sensors which give the actual status of voltages, currents and
Battery Standards temperatures within the battery as well as the state of charge. It can also provide alarm functions indicating out of tolerance
Battery Storage conditions.
Battery Testing
Battery Types The Intelligent Battery also contains a memory chip which is programmed by the manufacturer with information about the battery
Beginners Page specification such as:-
Manufacturing data (Name, date, serial number etc)
Benefits of Custom
Battery Packs Cell chemistry
Cell capacity
Boolean Logic and
Mechanical outline code
Digital Circuits
Upper and lower voltage limits
Brushless DC and
Maximum current limits
Reluctance Motors Temperature limits
Buying Batteries in
China (PDF) Once the battery is placed into use, the memory may also record :-
Carbon Footprints How many times the battery has been charged and discharged.
(Humour) Elapsed time
Cell Balancing The internal impedance of the battery
Cell Chemistries The temperature profile to which it has been subjected
Cell Construction The operation of any forced cooling circuits
Charger Specification Any instances when limits have been exceeded.
Checklist
Chargers and The system also requires devices which may be in either the battery or the charger or both which can interrupt or modify the charg
Charging according to a set of rules. Similarly, battery discharge can be controlled by the battery or demand management circuits in the
Charger Quotation application.
Request
The Intelligent Battery also needs an Intelligent Charger it can talk to and a language they can speak.
Common Battery
The charger is programmed to respond to inputs from the battery, to optimise the charging profile, charging at the maximum rate
Case Sizes (PDF)
until a preset temperature is reached, then slowing down or stopping the charge and or switching on a cooling fan so as not to
Communications exceed the temperature limit and thus avoid permanent damage to the battery. If a deterioration in the battery internal impedance
Buses indicates that reconditioning is necessary the charger can also be programmed to reform the battery by subjecting it to several de
Communications charge, discharge cycles. Because the battery contains information about its specification which can be read by the charger, it is
Satellites possible to build Universal Chargers which can automatically adapt the charging profile to a range of battery chemistries and
Computer capacities, so long as they comply with an agreed message protocol.
Architecture
Contact Sponsors A separate communications channel is needed to facilitate interactions between the battery and the charger. One example used fo
Contact Us simple applications is the System Management Bus ( SMBus) which forms part of the Smart Battery System which is used mainly
Contacts low power applications. Batteries which comply with the SBS standard are called Smart Batteries. Intelligent batteries are howeve
Conversion Table not limited to the SMS scheme and many manufacturers have implemented their own proprietary schemes which may be simpler
DC Motors more complex, depending on the requirements of the application.
Direct Energy
Conversion (AMTEC) A 50% increase in battery life has been claimed by using such techniques.
Discovery of the
Automatic Control System
Elements
This is an example of an Automatic Control System in which the battery provides information about its actual condition to the
Electric Machines
charger which compares the actual condition with the desired condition and generates an error signal which is used to initiate con
Electric Vehicle actions to bring the actual condition into line with the desired condition. The control signals form part of a Feedback Loop which
Charging provides automatic compensation to keep the battery within its desired operating parameters. It does not require any user
Infrastructure intervention. Some form of automatic control system is an essential part of all BMS
Electrical Energy
Electricity Demand Battery Monitoring
Electricity from As well as talking to the charger, the Intelligent Battery can also talk to the user or to other systems of which the battery may be a
Biofuels part. The signals it provides can be used to turn on warning lights or to inform the user about the condition of the battery and how
Electricity from Fossil much charge it has left.
Fuels
Electrochemical Monitoring the battery condition is an essential part of all Battery Management Systems. In the first of the following two example
Energy Generation the control actions are manual, - the power plant maintenance engineer fixes any deficiencies. In the second example the battery i
Electromagnetic part of an Automatic Control System made up from several interlinked feedback loops controlling the battery itself and its role as
Radiation - Radio part of the overall vehicle energy management system.
Waves
Electropaedia Power Plant BMS
Technology Search The battery management requirements are quite different for standby and emergency power installations. Batteries may be
Engine inactive for long periods topped up by a trickle charge from time to time, or as in telecommunications installations they may
Energy Efficiency be kept on float charge to keep them fully charged at all times. By their nature, such installations must be available for use
Energy from Coal? at all times. An essential responsibility of managing such installations is to know the status of the battery and whether it
(Humour) can be relied upon to support its load during an outage. For this it is vital to know the SOH and the SOC of the battery. In the
Energy Resources case of lead acid batteries the SOC of individual cells can be determined by using a hydrometer to measure the specific
gravity of the electrolyte in the cells. Traditionally, the only way of determining the SOH was by discharge testing, that is, by
Energy Conversion
completely discharging the battery and measuring its output. Such testing is very inconvenient. For a large installation it
and Heat Engines
could take eight hours to discharge the battery and another three days to recharge it. During this time the installation would
Engineering Harmony
be without emergency power unless a back up battery was provided.
(Humour)
The modern way to measure the SOH of a battery is by impedance testing or by conductance testing . It has been found that
Enigma’s Cryptic a cell's impedance has an inverse correlation with the SOC and the conductance being the reciprocal of the impedance has
Secrets a direct correlation with the SOH of the cell. Both of these tests can be carried out without discharging the battery, but better
Feedback Form still the monitoring device can remain in place providing a permanent on line measurement. This allows the plant engineer
Flow Batteries to have an up to date assessment of the battery condition so that any deterioration in cell performance can be detected and
Free Report Request appropriate maintenance actions can be planned.
Frequently Asked
Questions - FAQ Automotive BMS
Fuel Cell Comparison Automotive battery management is much more demanding than the previous two examples. It has to interface with a number of
Chart other on board systems, it has to work in real time in rapidly changing charging and discharging conditions
Fuel Cells as the vehicle accelerates and brakes, and it has to work in a harsh and uncontrolled environment. This example describes a com
Gas Turbine Power system as an illustration of what is possible, however not all applications will require all the functions shown here.
Generators
The functions of a BMS suitable for a hybrid electric vehicle are as follows:
Generators
Geothermal Power
Monitoring the conditions of individual cells which make up the battery
Generation
Maintaining all the cells within their operating limits
Glossary Protecting the cells from out of tolerance conditions
Going Solar - Grid Providing a "Fail Safe" mechanism in case of uncontrolled conditions, loss of communications or abuse
Scale (PV) Isolating the battery in cases of emergency
Graphene Compensating for any imbalances in cell parameters within the battery chain
Grätzel Cell Setting the battery operating point to allow regenerative braking charges to be absorbed without overcharging the battery
Grid Scale Energy Providing information on the State of Charge (SOC) of the battery. This function is often referred to as the "Fuel Gauge" o
Storage Systems ESS "Gas Gauge "
Hall of Fame Providing information on the State of Health (SOH) of the battery. This measurement gives an indication of the condition
High Power Batteries a used battery relative to a new battery.
High Temperature Providing information for driver displays and alarms
Batteries Predicting the range possible with the remaining charge in the battery (Only EVs require this)
History of Technology Accepting and implementing control instructions from related vehicle systems
Providing the optimum charging algorithm for charging the cells
Historical Themes
Providing pre-charging to allow load impedance testing before switch on and two stage charging to limit inrush currents
and Characters
Providing means of access for charging individual cells
Home Page
Responding to changes in the vehicle operating mode
Homebrew Battery Recording battery usage and abuse. (The frequency, magnitude and duration of out of tolerance conditions) Known as th
How to Specify Log Book function
Batteries Emergency "Limp Home Mode" in case of cell failure.
Hybrid Power
Generation Plants In practical systems the BMS can thus incorporate more vehicle functions than simply managing the battery. It can determine the
Hydroelectric Power vehicle's desired operating mode, whether it is accelerating, braking, idling or stopped, and implement the associated electrical po
Generation management actions.
Hydrogen Power
Instructions for Using Cell Protection
Batteries One of the prime functions of the Battery Management System is to provide the necessary monitoring and control to protect the c
Lead Acid Batteries from out of tolerance ambient or operating conditions. This is of particular importance in automotive applications because of the
harsh working environment. As well as individual cell protection the automotive system must be designed to respond to external f
Leclanché Cells
conditions by isolating the battery as well as addressing the cause of the fault. For example cooling fans can be turned on if the
Legal Statement
battery overheats. If the overheating becomes excessive then the battery can be disconnected.
Liquid Metal Batteries
Lithium Battery Protection methods are discussed in detail in the section on Protection.
Shipping Regulations
Lithium Cell Failures Battery State of Charge (SOC)
Lithium Primary Determining the State of Charge (SOC) of the battery is the second major function of the BMS. The SOC is needed not just for
Batteries providing the Fuel Gauge indication. The BMS monitors and calculates the SOC of each individual cell in the battery to check for
Lithium Secondary uniform charge in all of the cells in order to verify that individual cells do not become overstressed.
Batteries
Low Power Batteries The SOC indication is also used to determine the end of the charging and discharging cycles. Over-charging and over-discharging
Magneto-Hydro-Dynamic two of the prime causes of battery failure and the BMS must maintain the cells within the desired DOD operating limits.
(MHD) Electricity
Generation Hybrid vehicle batteries require both high power charge capabilities for regenerative braking and high power discharge capabilitie
Motor Controls for launch assist or boost. For this reason, their batteries must be maintained at a SOC that can discharge the required power but
MSDS - Typical have enough headroom to accept the necessary regenerative power without risking overcharging the cells. To fully charge the HEV
Material Safety Data battery for cell balancing (See below) would diminish charge acceptance capability for regenerative braking and hence braking
Sheet (PDF) efficiency. The lower limit is set to optimise fuel economy and also to prevent over discharge which could shorten the life of the
Nickel Cadmium battery. Accurate SOC information is therefore needed for HEVs to keep the battery operating within the required, safe limits.
(NiCad) Batteries
Nickel Hydrogen HEV Battery Operating Range
Batteries
Nickel Iron (NiFe)
Batteries
Nickel Metal Hydride
(NiMH) Batteries
Nickel Zinc Batteries
Nuclear Power -
The Practice
Nuclear Power -
The Theory
Other Galvanic Cell
Chemistries
Page Quality Rating
Particle Physics -
The Standard Model
Piston Engined Power
Generators
Primary Batteries
Privacy Promise
Methods of determining the SOC are described in the section on State of Charge.
Recycling
Redox Batteries The Battery Management System (BMS)
Reference Books
Reserve Batteries BMS Scope and Failure Consequences
Rocket Science The diagram below indicates the possible cell failure mechanisms, their consequences and the necessary actions to be taken by t
Satellite Technologies Battery Management System
Secondary Batteries
Semiconductor Cell Failures, Consequences and Protection Mechanisms
Primer
Shocking Batteries
Silver Oxide / Silver
Zinc Batteries
Site Map More Pages
Here
Site Search Engine
Small Scale Electricity
Generation
Software
Configurable Battery
Solar Batteries
Solar Power
Generation
Special Purpose
Motors
Sponsors
State of Charge (SOC)
Determination
State of Health (SOH)
Determination
Steam Turbine Power
Generators
Stirling Engine Power
Generator
Supercapacitors
Technical Library -
White Papers
The BMS has to protect the battery and the user under all of these conditions
Thermal Batteries
Thermal Management
Multi Level Safety System
Thermoelectricity The BMS is part of a multi level safety system with the following objectives and safeguards
Generators 1. Intrinsically Safe cell chemistry
Timekeepers Cell technial design audit
Timeline of Quantum 2. Cell Supplier and Production Audit
Theory Technical competence of staff
Timeline of Process controls (Installed and working)
Technology 3. Cell level (internal) safety devices
Traction Batteries Circuit Interrupt Device (CID) Cuts circuit if internal pressure limits exceeded
Typical Cylindrical Shut down separator
Cells (PDF) Pressure vent
Typical High Power 4. External circuit devices
Cells (PDF) PTC resistors (Low power applications only)
Typical Prismatic Fuses
Cells (PDF) Cell and battery isolation. Electrical and mechanical separation (Contactors and physical separation) to prevent
event propagation
Unexpected
Outcomes & Sticky 5. BMS Software
Monitoring of all key indicators coupled to control actions. (Cooling, Power disconnect, Load management)
Endings
Control actions or switch off in case of out of limits condition
Uninterruptible Power
6. BMS Hardware - Fail safe back-up
Supplies (UPS)
Hardware switch off in case of software failure. Set to slightly higher limits
V2G Energy Transfer
Battery switch off in case low voltage BMS power supply fails
Water Activated 7. Containment
Batteries Robust outer container with controlled venting
Why Batteries Fail Physical barriers between cells
Wind Power
Generation BMS Implementation
Wireless Wonders The following diagram is a conceptual representation of the primary BMS functions. It shows the three main BMS building blocks,
Zebra Batteries Battery Monitoring Unit (BMU), the Battery Control Unit (BCU) and the CAN bus vehicle communications network and how they
Zinc Air Batteries interface with the rest of the vehicle energy management systems. Other configurations are possible with distributed BMS embed
in the battery cell to cell interconnections.
Send this page
to a friend In practice the BMS may also be coupled to other vehicle systems which communicate with the BMS via the CAN bus (see below)
Woodbank does not such as the Thermal Management System or to anti theft devices which disable the battery. There may also be requirements for
monitor or record system monitoring and programming, and data logging using an RS232 serial bus.
these emails

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Battery Monitoring Unit

The Battery Monitoring Unit is a microprocessor based unit incorporating three functions or sub-modules. These sub-modules are
not necessarily separate physical units but are shown separately here for clarity.

Battery Model
The Battery Model characterises in a software algorithm, the behaviour of the battery in response to various external and internal
conditions. The model can then use these inputs to estimate the status of the battery at any instant in time.

An essential function of the battery model is to calculate the SOC of the battery for the functions noted above.
The SOC is determined essentially by integrating the current flow over time, modified to take account of the many factors which
affect the performance of the cells, then subtracting the result from the known capacity of the fully charged battery. This is descri
in detail in the section on SOC.

The battery model can be used to log past history for maintenance purposes or to predict how many miles the vehicle may run be
the battery needs recharging. The remaining range, based on recent driving or usage patterns, is calculated from the current SOC
the energy consumed and the miles covered since the previous charge (or alternatively from a previous long term average). The
distance travelled is derived from data provided by other sensors on the CAN bus (see below).
The accuracy of the range calculation is more important for EVs whose only source of power is the battery. HEVs and bicycles hav
an alternative "Get you home" source of power should the battery become completely discharged.
The problem of losing all power when a single cell fails can be mitigated at the cost of adding four more expensive contactors wh
effectively split the battery into two separate units. If a cell should fail, the contactors can isolate and bypass the half of the batter
containing the failed cell allowing the vehicle to limp home at half power using the other (good) half of the battery.

Outputs from the model are sent to the vehicle displays also using the CAN bus.

Multiplexing
To reduce costs, instead of monitoring each cell in parallel, the Battery Monitoring Unit incorporates a multiplexing architecture w
switches the voltage from each cell (input pairs) in turn to a single analogue or digital output line (see below). Cost savings can be
realized by reducing the number of analogue control and/or digital sampling circuits and hence the component count to a minimu
The drawbacks are that only one cell voltage can be monitored at a time. A high speed switching mechanism is required to switch
output line to each cell so that all cells can be monitored sequentially.

The BMU also provides the inputs for estimating the SOH of the battery, however since the SOH changes only gradually over the
lifetime of the battery, less frequent samples are needed. Depending on the method used to determine the SOH, sampling interval
may be as low as once per day. Impedance measurements for example could even be taken only in periods when the vehicle is no
use. Cycle counting of course can only occur when the vehicle is operational.

Demand or Personality Module

The Demand Module is similar in some respects to the Battery Model in that it contains a reference model with all the tolerances a
limits relevant to the various parameters monitored by the Battery Model. The Demand Module also takes instructions from the
communications bus such as commands from the BMS to accept a regenerative braking charge or from other vehicle sensors suc
as safety devices or directly from the vehicle operator. This unit is also used to set and to monitor the vehicle operating mode
parameters.

This module is sometimes called the Personality Module since includes provision for programming into the system, all the custom
requirements which may be specific to the customer's application. For example, the cell maker will recommend a temperature lim
which for safety reasons the battery must be automatically disconnected. However the car manufacturer may set two lower limits
one at which forced cooling may be switched on and another which lights up a warning light on the driver's instrument panel.

For HEV applications, the Personality Module interfaces with the engine Electronic Control Unit (ECU) via the CAN bus. Provision i
made in this module for setting the desired system SOC operating range and the parameters for controlling the power sharing
between the electric drive and the internal combustion engine .

The Demand Module also contains a memory block for holding all the reference data and for accumulating the historical data use
for monitoring the battery SOH. Data to display the SOH or switch on warning lights can be provided to the vehicle instrumentation
module via the CAN bus.

The outputs from the Demand Module provide the reference points for setting the operating conditions of the battery or triggering
action of protection circuits.

Test access to the BMS for monitoring or setting system parameters and for downloading the battery history is provided through
standard RS 232 or RS485 serial bus.

Decision Logic Module

The Decision Logic module compares the status of the measured or calculated battery parameters from the Battery Model with th
desired or reference result from the Demand Module. Logic circuits then provide error messages to initiate cell protection actions
to be used in the various BMS feedback loops which drive the system to its desired operating point or isolate the battery in the cas
of unsafe conditions. These error messages provide the input signals for the Battery Control Unit.

System Communications
The BMS needs a communications channel for passing signals between its various internal functional circuit blocks. It must also
interface with several external vehicle systems for monitoring or controlling remote sensors, actuators, displays, safety interlocks
and other functions.
Automotive BMS therefore uses the CAN bus which was designed for this purpose as its main communications channel.

The system should also include provision for standard automotive On Board Diagnostics (OBD) with Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DT
made available to the service engineer. This connection is important for identifying any external causes of battery failure.

Battery Control Unit

The Battery Control Unit contains all the BMS power electronics circuitry. It takes control signals from the Battery Monitoring Unit
control the battery charging process and to switch the power connections to individual cells.

Some of the possible functions of this unit are:

Controlling the voltage and current profile of the charger output during the charging process.
Providing top up charge to individual cells to equalise the charge on all cells in the battery chain.
Isolating the battery during fault or alarm conditions
Switching the regenerative braking charge into the battery as required
Dumping excessive regenerative braking charges when the battery is fully charged
Responding to changes in the vehicle operating mode

To provide these functions, each cell in the battery may require expensive high current switches capable of switching 200 Amps o
more to provide the necessary interconnections.

Binary Control and Progressive Control

In its simplest form, the BMS provides a "binary" ON/OFF response to a fault or an out of tolerance condition such as an
overload, merely isolating the battery completely by opening the main contactors. Progressive or variable control can
however be provided in the case of an overload by utilising the CAN Bus to call for a reduced the demand on the battery.

Cell Balancing
This is another essential function of the automotive BMS. As noted above it is required to compensate for weaknesses in individu
cells which could eventually cause the failure of the complete battery. The reasons for cell balancing and how this is implemented
are explained on the Cell Balancing page.

Limp Home Mode

Although batteries are designed to be trouble free for 3 or more years, there is always the possibility that the battery could be
disabled by the failure of a single cell. If a cell goes open circuit, the battery is essentially dead. However the BMS is designed to
monitor the status of every cell and so the location of the faulty cell will automatically be identified. It is not difficult to split the
battery into two sections in series, each of which can be independently bypassed by disconnecting the section of the battery
containing the faulty cell and switching a conducting link in its place. This will allow the vehicle to get to home or to the nearest
refuge on half power using the good section of the battery. As well as the links the system will need two more expensive high pow
contactors to implement this function, but this investment may be well justified when the alternative could be a costly and danger
breakdown on the motorway.

System Enhancements
Automotive BMSs may also be required to provide various functions which are not necessarily essential to managing the battery.
These may include remote monitoring of the battery from the fleet headquarters and this may also include the GPS location of the
vehicle. The driver could thus be warned if the vehicle was getting low on charge or if he was straying too far from a charging stat

Fortunately not all BMS applications are as complex as this one.

Practical BMS Implementation

There are many ways of implementing the battery management system and two different examples for a 256 Volt battery made u
from 80 Lithium Iron Phosphate cells are shown below.
Master and Slaves
The master and slaves, star topology, organises the cells into blocks or modules with one slave managing each module. In the
example shown, 16 X 3.2 volt cells are arranged in modules each with an output voltage of 51.2 Volts but other module sizes and
voltages are possible.
The Slaves - Each cell has a temperature sensor as well as connections to measure the voltage, all of which are connect
to the slave which monitors the condition of the cell and implements the cell balancing.
The Master - Multiple slaves can be connected to the master which monitors the current and integrates it over time to
calculate the net Coulomb flow and this is modified using voltage and temperature data from the slaves to calculate the
battery SOC. The master controls the main battery isolation contactor(s) initiating battery protection in response to data
from the main current sensor or voltage and temperature data from the slaves.The master also provides the system
communications.

BMS Master and Slaves (Star Topology)

This configuration has the advantages that it does not need printed circuit boards connected to individual cells and high voltage
batteries can be accommodated by adding more modules and since the main battery current does not pass through slaves, it can
also be used for high current batteries. Signal processing is shared between the master and the slaves simplifying the manageme
of the information processing load. Internal communications are by means of I2C buses.

Disadvantages are that the communications between the sensors and the slaves are in analogue form, and thus susceptible to no
and the very large number of sensor wires, four per cell, which are required. Opto-isolated connections between the slaves and the
master are also required since the voltages on the slaves would otherwise be progressively higher, up to the full battery voltage, as
connections are taken from further up the cell chain.

Communications with the outside world (COMS in the diagrams above and below) would typically be by means of an RS232 or mo
likely a USB serial connection.

BMS Daisy Chain

The daisy chain, ring topology, uses a small simple slave printed circuit board connected to each cell to accommodate the voltage
and temperature sensors with an A to D converter, as well as a current bypass switch to enable cell balancing by charge shunting
an communications transceiver with built in capacitive isolation for receiving and transmitting data in digital form. The slave takes
power from the cell it is monitoring and a single RS 485 three wire data bus connects the nodes from all the slaves to the master
which polls each node in turn and requests an update of its cell conditions. The slave does not carry out any signal processing, ap
from the A to D conversion, as this is all carried out by the master along with all the monitoring, protection and communications
functions as in the example above.

BMS Daisy Chain (Ring Topology)

The main advantages of this topology are its simpler design and construction and its potential for higher reliability in an automotiv
environment.
 The disadvantages are the large number of mini-slave printed circuit boards which are needed and the difficulty of mounting them
some cell types. In addition the master has a higher processing load.

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