Motivation
Due to their high energy density, lithium-ion batteries in electric or hybrid vehicles pose a high risk of explosion and fire (similar to the fuel tank of a vehicle with a combustion engine) if they are handled incorrectly. One of the most important safety components of an electric vehicle is therefore the battery management system, which uses sensors to monitor and protect the battery. Intelligent and efficient management of the limited electrical energy thus begins with an optimally operated battery in the electric vehicle.

Objectives and procedure
The overarching goal of the IntLilon research project is to increase the range, performance and safety of future electric and hybrid vehicles by researching novel communication systems for monitoring and controlling lithium-ion batteries. At the same time, this is intended to achieve a cost reduction compared to existing solutions. In the project, new physical transmission methods and topologies will be holistically researched and optimized as an overall concept. One approach that appears to be favourable is the decentralisation of data acquisition at battery cell level. From each cell, the sensor data is transmitted via powerline communication over the battery's existing power lines to the battery's central control unit. This completely eliminates the need for dedicated, expensive bus cabling through the entire battery, and significantly increases the depth and reliability of data acquisition - and thus the safety-critical battery monitoring.

Innovations and perspectives
Robert Bosch GmbH is the consortium leader of this joint project, draws up requirement profiles and basic measurements and integrates the subprojects into a demonstration vehicle. ProDesign Electronic GmbH is responsible for the development and production of electronic components. The Institute for Industrial Information Technology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) researches bus topologies and physical transmission techniques. The Hanover University of Applied Sciences researches interference-free data coding and functional safety requirements.

Publications within the joint project

• Oliver Opalko, Bernd Simon, Damián Alonso, and Klaus Dostert, Physical layer and multi-carrier analysis for power line communication networks in Li-ion batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles. In Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE Vehicular Networking Conference (VNC), Kyoto, Japan, 16-18 December 2015.
• Damián Alonso, Oliver Opalko, and Klaus Dostert, Prototyping of the physical and MAC layers of a wireless battery management system. In Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE Vehicular Networking Conference (VNC), Kyoto, Japan, 16-18 December 2015.
• Damián Alonso, Christoph Winkler, Oliver Opalko, and Klaus Dostert, Physical layer performance analysis of a wireless data transmission approach for automotive lithium-ion batteries. In Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE Vehicular Networking Conference (VNC), Kyoto, Japan, 16-18 December 2015.
• Thiemo Schunder, Frank Freund, and Jörg Wehmeier, Robuste, skalierbare Bustopologien für LiIon-Batteriemanagementsysteme. In Proceedings of the Kleinheubacher Tagung, Miltenberg, Germany, September 2015.
• Oliver Opalko, Damián Alonso, and Klaus Dostert, Analysis and validation of a 3-D EM simulation model of Rogowski coils as PLC coupling elements for automotive batteries. In Proceedings of the 9th Workshop on Power Line Communications, Sep. 2015.
• Oliver Opalko, Damián Alonso and Klaus Dostert. Measurements on Rogowski coils as coupling elements for power line communication in traction lithium-ion batteries. In Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE International Symposium on Power Line Communications and Its Applications (IEEE ISPLC 2015), Austin, USA, pp. 29-34, 29 March - 1 April 2015.
• Damián Alonso, Oliver Opalko and Klaus Dostert. Channel measurements and simulations with planar inverted F-antennas in an enhanced testbed for a wireless battery management system. In Proceedings of the 19th International ITG Workshop on Smart Antennas, Ilmenau, Germany, pp. 1-8, March 2015.
• Ichraf Ouannes, Patrick Nickel, Oliver Opalko and Klaus Dostert. Monitoring of lithium-ion batteries in electric/hybrid vehicles using power line communication. In Proceedings of the AmE 2015; Automotive meets Electronics; 6. GMM-Fachtagung, Dortmund, Germany, February 2015.
• Damián Alonso, Oliver Opalko, Martin Sigle and Klaus Dostert. Towards a wireless battery management system: evaluation of antennas and radio channel measurements inside a battery emulator. In Proceedings of the 80th IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference: VTC2014-Fall, pp. 1-5, September 2014.
• Ichraf Ouannes, Patrick Nickel, Johannes Bernius and Klaus Dostert. Physical layer performance analysis of power line communication (PLC) applied for cell-wise monitoring of automotive lithium-ion batteries. In Proceedings of the 18th International OFDM Workshop 2014 (InOWo’14), pp. 1-8, Aug 2014.
• Ichraf Ouannes, Patrick Nickel and Klaus Dostert. Cell-wise monitoring of lithium-ion batteries for automotive traction applications by using power line communication: battery modeling and channel characterization. In Proceedings of the 18th IEEE International Symposium on Power Line Communications and its Applications (ISPLC), 2014, pp. 24-29, March 2014.