Controller area network fusing management system in a 14 V/42 V automotive electrical architecture

The use of a dual voltage system 14 V/42 V in the electric system of cars has many advantages such as improved fuel consumption, reduced emissions and increased passenger comfort and safety. However, the inclusion of a new power supply introduces new possible short-circuit (SC) situations. The fusing management system (FMS) is responsible for managing the 14 V-ground (gnd), 42 V-gnd and 14 42 V SCs, with the objective of eliminating them as soon as possible in order to reduce the harmful effects on wires, batteries and electrical loads. An FMS implementation in an electric vehicle platform s prototype is shown, using SMARTFETs and the presented Fuse Management strategy in order to substitute actual passive fuses and the controller area network as a communications protocol. The philosophy used in the FMS, its main benefits and the experimental results obtained with 14 V-gnd, 14 42 V and 42 V-gnd SCs are presented. This strategy is also extensible to future electric vehicle architectures.