Description

The PD.Charger-GSM v.2.5 is an Industrial-grade smart charger module which manages the LiIon / LiFePo4 battery (2,3,4-cell) charging with extended functions and I2C or UART control/monitoring for Charger chip, Gauge chip and ESP32 Microcontroller onboard with 16 MB of Flash memory. ESP32 has an external USB Type C connector for programming (Arduino IDE supported) and exchanging the data with external controllers/ SoC /PCs.

This USB type-C connector is all you need to start evaluation of the board : ESP32 MCU is connected to the both GPS/GSM modem and the Charger subblock part by using onboard I2C bus, the same bus has the additional connector for external access (X6 conn).

Quick features

• 2x Solar panels inputs controlled by special chip with MPPT
• Li-Ion / LiFePo4 battery connector
• Onboard STM32 MCU controls charging/monitoring and provides API by I2C/UART buses
• Onboard ESP32 MCU + 16MB of Flash memory gives the outstanding capabilities for coding
• Onboard Crypto-Authentication Co-Processor with Secure Hardware-Based Keys (ATECC608A)
• IoT network endpoint key management & exchange, Encryption for small messages and PII data
• Secure Boot and Protected Download, ecosystem Control, Anti-cloning
• Onboard LTE/NB-IoT GSM/GPS module with SIM card holder with MQTT support
• Regular SMA connectors are used for WiFi / Bluetooth / GSM / GPS antennas
• Extension connector soldered on the PCB providing the breadboard/custom boards add-on capabilities

Architecture description

PDCharger-GSM v.2.5 module has all the features provided by PD.Charger v.2.3 and additional components to enable connectivity: WiFi and Bluetooth by embedded ESP32 microcontroller (Arduino-compatible) and GSM/GPS from SimCom SIM7080-G module + extended current monitoring features. All the RF interfaces have SMA connectors for easy connection of the corresponding antennas.

The device charges a battery from a wide range of the input sources including external DC adapter and Solar Panels toa traditional barrel adapter. The charger automatically sets output voltage by using converter in buck, boost or buck-boost configurations based on input voltage and battery voltage without the host control. The dual input source connectors manage the power flowing from two different input sources. The inputs selection is controlled by the host through I2C with default source #1 (VAC1) as the primary input and the source #2 (VAC2) as the secondary input. The both input power connectors have "OR"-ing on the PCB so all the input sources could be connected at the same time giving the flexibility for redundant operation.

Charger controller part is based on the newest STM32 microcontroller utilizing the power and cost-effectiveness of the latest industry standards. PDCharger could be customized for any type of battery (has hardware settings for LiFePo4 by default) and any type of connectivity. Please contact in case of Hardware / Firmware customization need.

Key Features:

Special GSM version includes an embedded ESP32 Arduino-compatible microcontroller (ESP32-D0WDQ6) + 16 MB Flash memory and GSM/GPS module (SIM7080G-M) for enhanced connectivity and remote control. Features WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities, allowing seamless integration with IoT systems (MQTT protocol supported, Arduino example you can find on the support forum - protodevs.de/forum). Onboard RS485 interface for wired network operation with ModBUS support Source code examples for ESP32, please check our Portal 3D STEP model available, please check our Portal Equipped with a GSM/GPS module, enabling: Remote tracking of device location. Wireless communication for data logging, monitoring and control, battery status readouts. Easy integration into remote solar power systems requiring real-time data providing and load grid switching.

CyberSecurity compliance supported by using onboard Security/Authentication chip Cryptographic Co-Processor with Secure Hardware-Based Key Storage: – Protected storage for up to 16 keys, certificates or data • Hardware Support for Asymmetric Sign, Verify, Key Agreement: – ECDSA: FIPS186-3 Elliptic Curve Digital Signature – ECDH: FIPS SP800-56A Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman – NIST Standard P256 Elliptic Curve Support • Hardware Support for Symmetric Algorithms: – SHA-256 & HMAC Hash including off-chip context save/restore – AES-128: Encrypt/Decrypt, Galois Field Multiply for GCM • Networking Key Management Support: – Turnkey PRF/HKDF calculation for TLS 1.2 & 1.3 – Ephemeral key generation and key agreement in SRAM – Small message encryption with keys entirely protected • Secure Boot Support: – Full ECDSA code signature validation, optional stored digest/signature – Optional communication key disablement prior to secure boot – Encryption/Authentication for messages to prevent on-board attacks • Internal High-Quality NIST SP 800-90A/B/C Random Number Generator (RNG) • Two High-Endurance Monotonic Counters • Unique 72-Bit Serial Number

PDCharger-GSM Controller consists of 6 major blocks: SMT32 MCU, BMS chip , Gauge chip , Charger chip , ESP32 MCU + 16MB Flash, GPS/GSM modem module.

The default configuration of the PDCharger v.2.5 (Charger/Controller part) is designed to use all the possible information to provide detailed information regarding the battery status and load status during the idle load operation, charging or discharging states, please see the API commands in the Datasheet. The strict requirement is to use LiFePo4 batteries without any additional electronics inside the battery pack (load balancers, protection circuits) because everything already implemented on the PDCharger-GSM PCB side. In case of additional balancer exists in the battery – please turn off the PD.Charger’s embedded balancer with API command and do not expect precise monitoring data. If there is an emergency case that no other variant exist and the system should work with the battery pack balancer then there is a strict rule to turn OFF the PDCharger internal balancer to avoid two balancers working at the same time. The API command could be found in this document to turn OFF the PDCharger balancer.