US7489101 (Eaton Corporation)
Abstract
A battery control system for hybrid vehicle includes a hybrid powertrain battery, a vehicle accessory（付属品、装備）battery, and a prime mover（原動機）driven generator adapted to（構成、適合）charge the vehicle accessory battery. A detecting arrangement is configured to（構成）monitor the vehicle accessory battery's state of charge. A controller is configured to activate the prime mover to drive the generator and recharge the vehicle accessory battery in response to the vehicle accessory battery's state of charge falling below（分詞）a first predetermined（所定）level, or transfer electrical power from the hybrid powertrain battery to the vehicle accessory battery in response to the vehicle accessory battery's state of charge falling below a second predetermined level. The invention further includes a method for controlling a hybrid vehicle powertrain system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to hybrid motor vehicles and, more particularly, to a battery control system for controlling the state of charge of a hybrid vehicle battery.
2. Background of the Invention
Motor vehicle manufacturers are actively working to develop（開発、努力、日夜、積み重ね） alternative powertrain systems in an effort to（するため、目指し）reduce the level of pollutants exhausted into the air（空気中に排出される）by conventional powertrains equipped with internal combustion engines. Significant development efforts（開発の努力）have been directed to electric and fuel-cell vehicles. Unfortunately, these alternative powertrain systems suffer from several disadvantages（欠点）and, for all practical purposes（実際、実用上）, are still under development（開発途上）. However, "hybrid" vehicles, which are equipped with an internal combustion engine and an electric traction（走行用）motor that can be operated independently or in combination with the internal combustion engine to provide motive power（原動力）for the vehicle, offer a compromise between traditional internal combustion engine powered vehicles and full electric powered vehicles.
A hybrid vehicle is typically equipped with a relatively high voltage hybrid powertrain battery, for example a 340 V battery, which provides electrical power（電力）to the electric traction motor. Many hybrid vehicles are also equipped with a lower voltage battery, for example a 12 V battery, which provides power to various vehicle accessories, such as the vehicle radio, lights and other electrically operated equipment not powered by the hybrid powertrain battery. The charge level（充電状態）of the vehicle batteries is monitored（検出、監視、把握）according to an index known as the battery State of Charge, or SOC. The SOC is defined by a ratio of the amount of residual charge（残量）remaining in a battery relative to its full charge capacity. Presently（現在）, a battery's SOC may be measured using a combination of a measurement method utilizing a correlation between SOC and a battery's voltage-current characteristics at the time of（時）charging (or discharging) and a measurement method utilizing an accumulation of charged and discharged amounts.
In many hybrid vehicles, a battery control system controls charging (and discharging) of a battery based on the SOC. A limitation（欠点）of many hybrid battery control systems is that they fail to（できない）manage the lower voltage battery's charge level as（する時、しつつ、しながら）it supplies power to the vehicle accessories, particularly when the internal combustion engine is turned off. Failure to manage the lower voltage battery may result in the battery becoming depleted（消耗、劣化）. Accordingly, a need exists for（必要）an improved battery control system for a hybrid vehicle that monitors and controls a charged state of the lower voltage vehicle accessory battery to prevent the battery from becoming depleted.
US7587262 (Intel)
Abstract
A temperature averaging thermal sensor is implemented（実装）in an integrated circuit such as a microprocessor. The temperature averaging thermal sensor monitors the temperature of the integrated circuit in（日本人としてはatにしがち；大差なし？でもこういうinをよく見かける気がする）a plurality of（複数の）different locations across（に亘る、わたる場所）the integrated circuit, calculates an average temperature and generates an output to indicate that the average temperature of the integrated circuit has attained（現在完了）a pre-programmed threshold temperature. In a microprocessor implementation（実装、態様）, the microprocessor contains（有する、包含）a plurality of thermal sensors each placed in one of a plurality of different locations across the integrated circuit and an averaging mechanism to calculate（cf. for calculating, that calculates）an average temperature from the plurality of thermal sensors. Sense（センス、検知）circuitry reads the programmable input values and generates an interrupt（割り込み、割込）when the temperature of the microprocessor reaches a threshold temperature. In addition to a temperature averaging thermal sensor（既述だが不定冠詞）, the microprocessor contains halt logic（無冠詞）that halts operation（無冠詞）of the microprocessor when the temperature attains（達する）a critical temperature.
What is claimed is:
1. An integrated circuit comprising: a plurality of thermal sensors each placed in one of a plurality of different locations on the integrated circuit; an averaging mechanism to calculate（いわゆるto不定詞の形容詞的用法？for calculatingの方がしっくりくる感じがするが、時々見かけるパターン。"He is always the first one to leave the office"「修飾される語が不定詞の意味上の主語となる」.英文法大全様参照）an average temperature from the plurality of sensors; and
a register associated with（関連付けられた）the averaging mechanism to store（目的を示す副詞用法？）threshold temperature value（無冠詞）and interrupt logic associated with the averaging mechanism to generate an interrupt if the calculated average temperature exceeds the threshold temperature.
（平均化機構と関連付けられ、温度閾値および平均化機構と関連付けられた割込み論理を保存し、～の場合に割込みを発生するレジスタ）
上記のto不定詞の形容詞的用法は時々見たり聞いたりするが、どうもなぜだかいつも違和感を感じる。
"...the two sides [Iranian and U.S. officials] eventually worked out a deal, to release prisoners"（さっき観たPBS News Hour）
「人質を解放するために、取引をまとめた」（副詞的）？
「人質を解放するための取引をまとめた」（形容詞的）？
"the war to end all wars"（形容詞）
"work to do"（形容詞）
"The partnership combines old-fashioned social services with the latest brain science, all to help low-income, first-time mothers and their children." (PBS News Hour)
combines A and B (in order) to help（副詞的）
2. The integrated circuit of claim 1 further comprising clock adjustment logic（無冠詞）to decrease a clock frequency of the integrated circuit in response to（に応じて）an interrupt from the interrupt logic indicating that the threshold temperature has been exceeded.
3. The integrated circuit of claim 1 wherein the register is programmable by the integrated circuit.
4. The integrated circuit of claim 3 further comprising threshold adjustment logic to program the register to（にプログラムする）a different threshold temperature in response to an interrupt from the interrupt logic indicating that the threshold temperature has been exceeded.
5. The integrated circuit of claim 4 wherein the threshold adjustment logic is further to（する、することになっている、ための、ように構成された。configured toのconfiguredを取ったという訳か？）program the register to a second different threshold temperature in response to an interrupt from the interrupt logic indicating that the first different threshold temperature has been exceeded.
6. The integrated circuit of claim 1 further comprising clock adjustment logic to control the temperature of the integrated circuit by increasing and decreasing（増減）an integrated circuit clock frequency in response to the calculated average temperature.
7. The integrated circuit of claim 1 further comprising halt logic to halt operation of the integrated circuit in response to the calculated average temperature.
8. An integrated circuit comprising: a plurality of thermal sensors each placed in one of a plurality of different locations on the integrated circuit; an averaging mechanism to calculate an average temperature from the plurality of sensors; and an interrupt handler to display information regarding（関する情報）the calculated average temperature to a user of the integrated circuit.
9. The integrated circuit of claim 8 further comprising interrupt logic to generate a first interrupt if（の場合、ならば）the calculated average temperature exceeds a first threshold and a second interrupt if the calculated average temperature exceeds a second threshold.
10. A method comprising: sensing temperature（無冠詞）at（上ではin）a plurality of different locations on an integrated circuit; calculating an average temperature from the plurality of different sensed temperatures; and storing a threshold temperature value in a register and generating an interrupt if the calculated average temperature exceeds the stored threshold temperature.
11. The method of claim 10 further comprising comparing each of the plurality of sensed temperatures to a threshold and generating an interrupt in response thereto（to the threshold? to the result of comparison？）.
12. The method of claim 10 further comprising decreasing a clock frequency of the integrated circuit in response to an interrupt indicating that the threshold temperature has been exceeded.
13. The method of claim 10 further comprising programming the register to a different threshold temperature in response to an interrupt indicating that the threshold temperature has been exceeded.
14. The method of claim 13 further comprising programming the register to a second different threshold temperature in response to an interrupt indicating that the first different threshold temperature has been（現在完了）exceeded.
15. The method of claim 10 further comprising controlling the temperature of the integrated circuit by increasing and decreasing an integrated circuit clock frequency in response to the calculated average temperature.
16. The method of claim 10 further comprising halting operation of the integrated circuit in response to the calculated average temperature.
17. The method of claim 10 further comprising generating a first interrupt if the calculated average temperature exceeds a first threshold and a second interrupt if the calculated average temperature exceeds a second threshold.
18. A method comprising: sensing temperature at a plurality of different locations on an integrated circuit; calculating an average temperature from the plurality of different sensed temperatures; and displaying information regarding the calculated average temperature to a user of the integrated circuit.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to thermal sensing, and more specifically to methods and apparatus for a programmable thermal sensor in an integrated circuit.
ART BACKGROUND
Advances（進歩）in silicon process technology has lead to the development of increasingly larger（増々、ますます）die sizes for integrated circuits. The large dies sizes permit integration of millions of transistors on a single die. As（につれて）die sizes for integrated circuits become larger, the integrated circuits consume（消費）more power. In addition, advances in microprocessor computing require execution（実行）of a large number of instructions per second. To execute more instructions per second, the microprocessor circuits operate at an increased clock frequency. Therefore, a microprocessor containing over one million transistors may consume over 30 watts of power. With large amounts of power being dissipated, cooling becomes a problem（問題、課題となる）.
Typically, integrated circuits and printed circuit boards are cooled by either active or passive cooling devices. A passive cooling device, such as a heat sink mounted onto（取付）an integrated circuit, has a limited capacity to dissipate heat（放熱）. An active cooling device, such as a fan, is used to dissipate larger amounts of heat. Although a fan cooling system dissipates heat, there are several disadvantages associated with（関連する欠点、不利）such a system. Traditionally, fans cool integrated circuits by air convection circulated by a fan. However, when a fan is used in conjunction with（連携、共に、連動）a high density multi-chip computer system, a large volume of air is required for cooling thereby necessitating powerful blowers and large ducts. The powerful blowers and large ducts implemented（実装）in the computer occupy precious space and are too noisy. The removal of a cover or other casing may result in a disturbance of air flow causing the fan cooling system to fail. In addition, the fan cooling system is made up of（から成る、構成される）mechanical parts that have a mean time between failure (MTBF) specification（規格）less than a typical integrated circuit. Furthermore, fan cooling systems introduce noise and vibration into the system.
In addition to cooling systems, thermal sensors are implemented to track（把握）the temperature of an integrated circuit or electronic system. Typically, thermal sensors consist of（から成る）a thermocouple which is directly attached to a heat sink. In more sophisticated thermal sensing systems, a diode and external analog circuitry are used. In operation（動作時）, the voltage/current characteristics of the diode change（変化する）depending upon the temperature of the integrated circuit, and the external analog circuitry measures the voltage or current characteristics of the diode. The additional analog circuitry is complex and difficult to implement. In addition, employing the analog circuitry results in a thermal time delay degrading（低下、悪化）the accuracy of such a configuration（構成）. Moreover（更に、さらに）, external analog circuitry for sensing the voltage of the diode consumes a larger area than the integrated circuit being sensed（検知の対象）. Therefore, it is desirable to（望ましい） provide a thermal sensor which is incorporated into the integrated circuit. In addition（更に、さらに）, it is desirable to provide a thermal sensor that can provide feedback for an active cooling system. Furthermore（更に、さらに）, it is desirable to control the temperature of an integrated circuit without the use of a fan. The present invention provides an integrated thermal sensor that detects a threshold temperature so that active cooling of the integrated circuit is accomplished through system control.
NOTION AND NOMENCLATURE
The detailed descriptions which follow are presented, in part, in terms of（用いて、形式で） algorithms and symbolic representations（シンボル、記号による表現）of operations（動作、作用、演算）within a computer system. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts（技術、分野）to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art.
An algorithm is here（ここで）, and generally, conceived to be（考える）a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. These steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated（操作）. It proves convenient at times（便利、有益である場合がある）, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. It should be borne in mind, however, that（ことに留意すべき）all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities.
Further, the manipulations performed are often referred to in terms（用語）, such as adding or comparing, which are commonly associated with mental operations performed by a human operator. No such capability of a human operator is necessary, or desirable in most cases, in any of the operations described herein which form part of the present invention; the operations are machine operations. Useful machines for performing the operations of the present invention include general purpose（汎用）digital computers or other similar devices. In all cases there should be borne in mind the distinction between the method operations in operating a computer and the method of computation itself. The present invention relates to method steps for operating a computer in processing electrical or other (e.g., mechanical, chemical) physical signals to generate other desired physical signals.
The present invention also relates to apparatus for performing these operations. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes or it may comprise（から成る、有する）a general purpose computer as selectively activated or reconfigured（選択的に動作、再構成）by a computer program stored in the computer. The algorithms presented herein are not inherently（本質的に）related to a particular computer or other apparatus（＊特定の装置に関連しない）. In particular, various general purpose machines may be used with programs written in accordance with the teachings（教示）herein, or it may prove more convenient to（有益である場合がある）construct more specialized apparatus（専用の装置を構築）to perform the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of these machines will appear from the description given below. Machines which may perform the functions of the present invention include those manufactured by Intel Corporation, as well as other manufacturers of computer systems.
