Pulse-width modulation

Example

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Use in Lemonergy

Separate quantities from encoding and transport.

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Buck and boost converters

Switch-mode circuits that step a DC voltage down (buck) or up (boost) using a fast switch, an inductor and a capacitor, often above 95% efficient. With transistors in place of diodes the same circuit runs both ways, charging a battery from a bus or discharging into it, as in stationary storage and on-board boosters that let 800 V cars use 400 V chargers.

Contactor coil economiser

A circuit that drives a contactor coil hard to close it, then cuts the power to the much lower level needed to hold it shut, often by pulse-width modulation. A typical 500 A contactor holds on under 2 W at 12 V; the saving matters for heat and for the low-voltage supply when several contactors stay closed for hours.

Control pilot

The signal wire in an AC or CCS charging connector: the charger puts a ±12 V square wave on it whose duty cycle tells the vehicle the maximum current, and the vehicle answers by switching resistors. The proximity pilot beside it tells the vehicle a plug is inserted.

Inverter

The power electronics that turn the battery’s DC into AC for a motor or the grid, and back again for charging. In stationary storage it is called the power conversion system and its rating in kW or MW sets the system’s power independently of the battery’s energy.

MOSFET

A transistor switched by the voltage on its gate, with an on-resistance of milliohms or less in power parts. Low-voltage packs use back-to-back pairs as charge and discharge switches, since each conducts backwards through its body diode; BMS chips use small ones for balancing, and silicon-carbide MOSFETs switch 800 V inverters.

References & further reading

Further reading on this topic

These sources provide broader context; they are not presented as citations for every statement in this entry.

1. 3rd generation of the CAN data link layer

   CAN in Automation, CAN Newsletter · 2020

   Topic background · Classical CAN, CAN FD and CAN XL data-link concepts; publication describes the 2020 state.

2. Getting Started with the BQ76925

   Texas Instruments · 2019

   Topic background · A concrete BMS analog front-end example: cell voltage, current, temperature measurement and MCU integration.