| CPC H02J 7/0031 (2013.01) [H01M 10/44 (2013.01); H01M 10/46 (2013.01); H02J 7/0048 (2020.01)] | 18 Claims |
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1. A system comprising:
a battery pack having battery cell sections connected in series, wherein each of the battery cell sections includes:
a first terminal and a second terminal;
a battery cell coupled between the first terminal and the second terminal; and
a bypass switch positioned in parallel with the battery cell, wherein the bypass switch is operable to short circuit the first terminal to the second terminal; and
a control circuit configured to:
determine a capacity of a particular battery cell in a particular battery cell section among the battery cell sections;
determine whether the capacity of the particular battery cell is less than a predefined threshold;
in response to determining that the capacity of the particular battery cell is less than the predefined threshold, execute a bypass sequence for the particular battery cell, wherein the bypass sequence involves:
determining, based on the capacity of the particular battery cell, a bypass period for which to bypass the particular battery cell; and
transmitting a bypass signal to a drive circuit, the drive circuit being configured to receive the bypass signal and responsively operate the bypass switch of the particular battery cell section to bypass the particular battery cell for the bypass period by shorting the first terminal to the second terminal;
determine that the bypass period for the particular battery cell has finished; and
in response to determining that the bypass period for the particular battery cell has finished, execute an activation sequence for the particular battery cell, the activation sequence being configured to allow current flow to the particular battery cell.
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