KR101532329B1 - Method of relay communicating in magnetic field area - Google Patents

Abstract

A relay communication method in a magnetic field area, in accordance with the present invention, is performed by a wireless power coordinator which manages a magnetic field communication network. The relay communication method comprises the steps of: (a) forming a super frame structure by a time division multiple access (TDMA) method; (b) allocating one of time slots, constituting the super frame structure, to one of a wireless power repeater or a plurality of wireless charging nodes, which can be connected to the wireless power coordinator; (c) forming an assigned time slot with a separate super frame for relay when the wireless power repeater is assigned a time slot; and (d) wirelessly transmitting power to a wireless charging node, which is more adjacent to the wireless power repeater than the wireless power coordinator, among the wireless charging nodes through the composed super frame for relay.

Description

METHOD OF RELAY COMMUNICATION IN MAGNETIC FIELD AREA

Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a relay magnetic field communication technology, and more particularly, to a relay magnetic field communication method for effectively wirelessly charging a node and a node through a relay.

Wireless power transmission technology is a technology that wirelessly charges a mobile terminal, a home appliance, or an electric vehicle including a smart phone or a tablet. It is superior in mobility, convenience, and convenience compared to a wired charging environment using a conventional wired charging connector. Safety can be provided. In addition, wireless power transmission technology can be used in various fields such as medical, leisure, robot, and the like.

Wireless power transmission technology can be classified as technology using electromagnetic wave radiation and technology using electromagnetic induction phenomenon. Here, the technique using the electromagnetic wave radiation has a limitation on the efficiency due to the radiation loss consumed in the air, while the technology using the electromagnetic induction phenomenon has a characteristic of being more power efficient than the technology using the electromagnetic wave radiation .

The wireless power transmission technology using the electromagnetic induction phenomenon is divided into an inductive coupling method and a resonant magnetic coupling method.

In the electromagnetic induction method, energy is transmitted using a current induced in a receiving coil due to a magnetic field generated in a transmitting coil due to electromagnetic coupling between a coil on the transmitting side and a coil on the receiving side. The electromagnetic induction method has a merit of high transmission efficiency, but it is disadvantageous in that the power transmission distance is limited to several millimeters, and the positional freedom is extremely low because of the sensitivity to matching between coils.

Magnetic resonance method was proposed by Professor Marin Solarovich of MIT in 2005. It uses the phenomenon that the magnetic field is concentrated at both the transmission side and the reception side by the magnetic field applied at the resonance frequency between the transmission side coil and the reception side coil, Transmission.

The magnetic resonance method can transmit energy from a relatively long distance of several tens of centimeters to a few meters compared with the electromagnetic induction method, and it is possible to transmit power to several devices at the same time, thereby realizing a cord-free And is attracting attention as a wireless power transmission technology.

Korean Patent No. 10-1038097 relates to a magnetic field communication method for multi-node recognition, which transmits a request packet requesting network joining, network separation, network joining status confirmation, data transmission, and group address setting a) a step; (B) receiving a response packet from nodes receiving the request packet; Selecting one or more response packets received in step (b); (D) transmitting a response acknowledgment packet to the node corresponding to the response packet selected in the step (c); (E) receiving a response packet to be retransmitted by a node that has not received the acknowledgment packet of step (d); Selecting one or more response packets received in step (e); And (g) transmitting a response acknowledgment packet to the node corresponding to the response packet selected in the step (f), wherein the wireless communication is enabled between the magnetic field communication network coordinator and the node do.

This prior art has a problem that wireless communication and wireless power transmission can not be efficiently performed when the distance between the coordinator and the node exceeds a certain distance.

Korean Patent No. 10-1038097

The present invention seeks to provide a relay magnetic field communication method that links a wireless power coordinator and a wireless recharging node through a wireless power repeater.

The present invention provides a relay magnetic field communication method capable of connecting a wireless power coordinator and a wireless power repeater to respective wireless charging nodes through the same frequency.

The present invention provides a relay magnetic field communication method that can be connected to a wireless charging node by constructing a time slot allocated by a wireless power relay as a separate superframe.

Among the embodiments, a Relay magnetic field communication method is performed by a wireless power coordinator that manages a magnetic field communication network, and comprises: (a) forming a superframe structure by a time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme; (B) assigning any one of a plurality of time slots constituting the superframe structure to a wireless power repeater capable of being connected to the wireless power coordinator or a plurality of wireless charging nodes (C) configuring the allocated time slot as a separate relay superframe when the wireless power repeater is allocated a time slot; and (d) To a wireless recharging node adjacent to the wireless power repeater than the wireless power coordinator And a system.

The superframe structure may consist of a plurality of consecutive superframes, and each of the plurality of superframes may include a request period, a response period, and a spontaneous period.

The step (a) may further comprise transmitting a response request packet to either the wireless power repeater or the plurality of wireless charging nodes during the request period, and the step (b) And dividing the time slot into a plurality of time slots capable of communicating with either the wireless power repeater or the wireless recharging node.

Wherein the step (b) comprises the steps of: transmitting a response packet to the wireless power coordinator upon receipt of the response packet; and receiving the response packet and transmitting the response packet to the wireless power repeater or the wireless charging node And allocating any one of the plurality of time slots to any one of the plurality of time slots.

The relay superframe may comprise a signal detection period, a request period, a response period, a spontaneous period, and a relay termination period.

The step (c) further comprises randomly determining a signal sensing interval and determining whether another wireless power repeater or another wireless charging node is in data communication with the wireless power coordinator during a corresponding interval .

The step (c) may further include transmitting a response packet through a new timeslot when the wireless power repeater fails to perform data communication with the wireless power coordinator.

In one embodiment, the relay superframe may include a wireless power transmission interval and a feedback transmission interval for the corresponding wireless power transmission result, and the feedback transmission interval may include a feedback beacon period and a plurality of node feedback intervals And the like.

In embodiments, a magnetic field communication network system may include a wireless power coordinator that manages a magnetic field communication network, a wireless power repeater that may be coupled to the wireless power coordinator, and a wireless power coordinator that wirelessly powers through the wireless power coordinator or the wireless power repeater. Wherein the wireless power coordinator forms a superframe structure based on a time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme and transmits the plurality of time slots (Time Slots allocated to one of the wireless power relays or the plurality of wireless charging nodes, and when the wireless power relays are allocated the corresponding time slots, the wireless power relays may transmit the allocated time slots to a separate relay superframe , And the configured relay That through the superframe wireless power transmission to the wireless charging node adjacent to the repeater wireless power than the wireless power coordinates of the plurality of wireless charging node may be characterized.

A relay magnetic field communication method and related technologies according to an embodiment of the present invention can constitute a magnetic field communication network that minimizes a shadow area of a wireless power transmission by linking a wireless power coordinator and a wireless charging node through a wireless power relay .

The relay magnetic field communication method and related technologies according to an embodiment of the present invention can increase the resource efficiency and wireless charging efficiency by connecting the wireless power coordinator and the wireless power repeater to each wireless charging node through the same frequency.

The relay magnetic field communication method and related techniques according to an embodiment of the present invention

The relay magnetic field communication method and related technologies according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be configured such that a time slot allocated by a wireless power repeater is configured as a separate superframe so that wireless charging nodes adjacent to a wireless power relay Power transmission can be performed.

1 is a block diagram of a magnetic field communication network according to the present invention.
2 is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication range and a wireless power transmission range of the wireless power coordinator.
3 shows the structure of a superframe, which is a temporal element of the magnetic field communication network.
4 is a diagram illustrating a process of distributing time slots in a wireless power coordinator.
5 is a diagram illustrating a time slot structure for wireless power transmission according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The description of the present invention is merely an example for structural or functional explanation, and the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited by the embodiments described in the text. That is, the embodiments are to be construed as being variously embodied and having various forms, so that the scope of the present invention should be understood to include equivalents capable of realizing technical ideas. Also, the purpose or effect of the present invention should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention, since it does not mean that a specific embodiment should include all or only such effect.

Meanwhile, the meaning of the terms described in the present application should be understood as follows.

The terms "first "," second ", and the like are intended to distinguish one element from another, and the scope of the right should not be limited by these terms. For example, the first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as a first component.

It is to be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected to the other element, but there may be other elements in between. On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between. On the other hand, other expressions that describe the relationship between components, such as "between" and "between" or "neighboring to" and "directly adjacent to" should be interpreted as well.

It should be understood that the singular " include "or" have "are to be construed as including a stated feature, number, step, operation, component, It is to be understood that the combination is intended to specify that it does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

In each step, the identification code (e.g., a, b, c, etc.) is used for convenience of explanation, the identification code does not describe the order of each step, Unless otherwise stated, it may occur differently from the stated order. That is, each step may occur in the same order as described, may be performed substantially concurrently, or may be performed in reverse order.

The present invention can be embodied as computer-readable code on a computer-readable recording medium, and the computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording devices for storing data that can be read by a computer system . Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, and the like, and also implemented in the form of a carrier wave (for example, transmission over the Internet) . In addition, the computer-readable recording medium may be distributed over network-connected computer systems so that computer readable codes can be stored and executed in a distributed manner.

All terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs, unless otherwise defined. Commonly used predefined terms should be interpreted to be consistent with the meanings in the context of the related art and can not be interpreted as having ideal or overly formal meaning unless explicitly defined in the present application.

1 is a block diagram of a magnetic field communication network according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the magnetic field communication network 100 refers to a wireless network that transmits and receives information using a magnetic field signal. The magnetic field communication network 110 may include a single wireless power coordinator 110 and may include a plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 disposed around the wireless power coordinator 110. The magnetic field communication network 110 may also include a wireless power repeater 120 capable of relaying between a wireless power coordinator 110 and a plurality of wireless charging nodes 130. In one embodiment, the magnetic field communication network 100 may operate in a low frequency band (e.g., 30 KHz to 300 KHz).

The wireless power coordinator 110 manages the wireless power repeater 120 and the plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 through wireless communication and wireless power transmission. That is, the wireless power coordinator 110 manages the network joining, demultiplexing and demultiplexing of the wireless power repeater 120 and the plurality of wireless charging nodes 130, and controls the wireless power repeater 120 and the plurality And wirelessly supplies the wireless recharging nodes 130 with power.

The wireless power coordinator 110 simultaneously broadcasts the response request packet to all the wireless power relays 120 and the plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 included in the network and transmits and receives response packets to manage and control the corresponding network .

The wireless power coordinator 110 may manage the network using a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) scheme. The time division multiple access scheme will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3 through FIG.

The wireless power repeater 120 functions to relay the distance between the wireless power coordinator 110 and the plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 when the distance is out of range for wireless power transmission. The wireless power repeater 120 may perform wireless power transmission to reduce the shadow area of the wireless power transmission.

The wireless power repeater 120 performs the same function as the wireless charging node 130 in the wireless power coordinator 110. Meanwhile, the wireless power repeater 120 may form a separate sub-network (hereinafter referred to as a relay network), and may operate as a wireless power coordinator 110 for a wireless recharging node included in the relay network.

The wireless power repeater 120 may have a separate relay battery and may receive power wirelessly from the wireless power coordinator 110. [ The wireless power repeater 120 can wirelessly transmit power to the wireless recharging node included in the relay network by utilizing the charged battery for relay.

The wireless power repeater 120 is allocated a predetermined time slot through the wireless power coordinator 110 and can perform a function as the wireless power coordinator 110 in the allocated time slot. . The operation of the wireless power repeater 120 is described in detail with reference to FIGS.

The plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 are wireless charging devices that receive power wirelessly through the wireless power coordinator 110 or the wireless power repeater 120. The plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 may receive wireless power through the corresponding wireless power relays 120 when the wireless power relays 120 are adjacent to the wireless power coordinator 110. [

2 is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication range and a wireless power transmission range of the wireless power coordinator.

2, the wireless power coordinator 110 forms a certain network range and manages a plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 included in the network.

The wireless power coordinator 110 may have a constant wireless coverage 210 and a wireless power transmission range 220. Herein, the wireless communication range 210 refers to a range where wireless data signals can be transmitted to the plurality of wireless charging nodes 130, and the wireless power transmission range 220 includes a plurality of wireless charging nodes 130, It means a range that can efficiently supply power wirelessly.

Generally, the wireless communication range 210 forms a wider range including the wireless power transmission range 220. This is because the wireless data signal corresponds to a simple communication signal such as a packet transmission for network joining, separation and cancellation. However, the wireless power transmission signal may be applied to a plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 such as impedance matching Signal.

If a plurality of wireless recharging nodes 130 are included in the wireless communication range 210 of the wireless power coordinator 110 but are located outside the wireless power transmission range 220, 110 may not be able to efficiently receive wireless power.

The wireless power repeater 120 is a node included in both the wireless communication range 210 and the wireless power transmission range 220 of the wireless power coordinator 110 and includes a wireless power coordinator 110 and a plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 And the like. That is, the wireless power repeater 120 functions to solve the problem that the wireless communication range 210 of the wireless power coordinator 110 is wider than the wireless power transmission range 220.

The wireless power repeater 120 may include a separate relay battery and receive power wirelessly through the wireless power coordinator 110. [ The wireless power repeater 120 wirelessly transmits power to the plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 included in the relay network through the charged relay battery.

The wireless power repeater 120 may function as a wireless power coordinator 110 for a plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 included in the relay network and form a relay superframe to communicate with the wireless charging node can do.

The relay superframe will be described in detail with reference to Figs.

3 shows the structure of a superframe, which is a temporal element of the magnetic field communication network.

The wireless power coordinator 110 manages the connection in the magnetic field communication network 110 and distributes the time resources according to the connection of the plurality of wireless charging nodes 130.

The wireless power coordinator 110 may use a time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme. The time division multiple access scheme may be implemented through a super frame structure 310 composed of a plurality of consecutive super frames.

Each of the super frames 310a is composed of a request period, a response period, and a spontaneous period, and the lengths of the request period and the response period can be variably set.

The request period is a period in which the wireless power coordinator 110 transmits a response request packet to a plurality of wireless charging nodes 130. [ The superframe is initiated by the wireless power coordinator 110 transmitting a response request packet in the requested interval. Here, the response request packet includes information on the plurality of wireless recharge nodes 130 that can transmit the response packet during the response period, and the plurality of wireless recharge nodes 130 transmits the information in the response request packet And transmits a response packet during the response period.

Specifically, the wireless power coordinator 110 broadcasts a response request packet to all of the wireless power relays 120 and the plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 in the request period. Upon receiving the response request packet, the wireless power repeater 120 and the plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 determine whether to transmit the response packet in the response period based on the response packet. In one embodiment, the wireless power coordinator 110 may determine a group of a plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 to transmit in the response interval.

The response period is a period during which the wireless power repeater 120 and the plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 can transmit a response packet according to a response request of the wireless power coordinator 110, And may be divided into a plurality of time slots according to the number of repeaters 120 and the plurality of wireless charging nodes 130. [

The length of each time slot constituting the response interval may be variably set according to the length of the response frame and the length of the acknowledgment frame. The number of time slots may be determined according to the order of the divided time slots and the wireless power repeater 120 or the wireless recharging node to transmit data in each time slot may be assigned by the wireless power coordinator 110.

When the wireless power repeater 120 or the plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 transmits a response packet through the response interval, the received wireless power coordinator 110 sends a response acknowledgment packet. The wireless power repeater 120 and the plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 that have not received the acknowledgment packet continuously receive the response packet for each time slot in the response interval until receiving the acknowledgment packet from the wireless power coordinator 110. [ Lt; / RTI >

In one embodiment, the wireless power coordinator 110 may manage a group of a plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 that transmit data in a response interval, and may communicate with a plurality of wireless And can autonomously manage time slots for recharging nodes 130. That is, the wireless power coordinator 110 allocates a response period to a specific group for use of the response period, and the nodes of the assigned group can autonomously transmit the data frame through the response period.

The spontaneous period starts when there is no node transmitting a response packet for a predetermined time period and is a period in which a plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 can transmit data without a request of the wireless power coordinator 110. This interval lasts until the wireless power coordinator 110 transmits a request packet.

This period is continued until the wireless power coordinator 110 transmits a request packet when a plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 does not transmit a response packet for a specific time and becomes a voluntary period. A plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 may transmit data without a request of the wireless power coordinator 110 during a spontaneous interval.

The wireless power repeater 120 may be allocated a predetermined time slot in the response period as in the case of the plurality of wireless recharging nodes 130. [ The wireless power repeater 120 performs the same function as one wireless charging node in the wireless power coordinator 110. The wireless power repeater 120 forms a separate relay network and can perform a function as a wireless power coordinator 110 for a wireless recharge node included in the relay network.

The wireless power repeater 120 is allocated a time slot from the wireless power coordinator 110 and constructs a separate relay super frame 320 using the slot. The wireless power repeater 120 may transmit the wireless power to the wireless recharging node inside the relay network using the relay super frame 320. [ In one embodiment, the wireless power repeater 120 is configured to receive wireless charging nodes 130 adjacent to the wireless power relays 120 from the wireless power coordinator 110 of the plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 via the relaying super frame 320. [ Lt; / RTI >

The relay superframe 320 includes a signal detection period, a request period, a response period, a spontaneous period, and a relay termination period. Unlike the super frame 310 of the wireless power coordinator 110, the relay super frame 320 further includes a signal detection interval and a relay end interval.

The relay super frame 320 performs the same operation as the wireless power coordinator 110 in the request period, the response period, and the spontaneous period included in the relay super frame 320. This is because the wireless power repeater 120 functions as the wireless power coordinator 110 for the wireless recharging node (s) included in the relay network.

The signal sensing period is a period in which the wireless power repeater 120 competes with another wireless power repeater 120 or a plurality of wireless charging nodes 130. The wireless power repeater 120 determines whether the wireless power coordinator 110 is transmitting data with another wireless power repeater 120 or a plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 during a signal sensing period.

The relay end interval is an interval for confirming the end of the relay superframe 320, and the time slot allocated to the wireless power relay 120 ends through the corresponding interval.

4 is a diagram illustrating a process of distributing time slots in a wireless power coordinator.

The wireless power coordinator 110 simultaneously broadcasts the response request packet to all the wireless power relays 120 and the plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 included in the network. The wireless power repeater 120 and the plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 may receive a response packet and be allocated a corresponding time slot.

The wireless power repeater 120 and the plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 attempt to repeatedly allocate for the same time slot and the wireless power coordinator 110 schedules each time slot. The wireless power repeater 120 and the plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 transmit a response interval or a request interval through a signal sensing interval of a random time. The wireless power repeater 120 and the plurality of wireless charging nodes 130 transmit data to the next slot after the corresponding slot is terminated if another repeater or node transmits data during the signal sensing period.

5 is a diagram illustrating a time slot structure for wireless power transmission according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The relay superframe 320 may include a wireless power transmission interval 510 and a feedback transmission interval 520 for the corresponding wireless power transmission result.

The wireless power transmission interval 510 refers to a period during which the wireless power repeater 120 wirelessly powers wireless charging node (s) included in the relay network and charges the battery included in the node.

The feedback transmission interval 520 is a period after the wireless power transmission interval 510 and receives feedback on the charging status and efficiency for the wireless charging node (s) included in the relay network. The feedback transmission interval 520 may include a feedback beacon interval 510a and a plurality of node feedback intervals 510b.

The feedback beacon period 510a is a period for requesting the wireless charging node (s) included in the relay network through the wireless power repeater 120 for feedback on the charging status and efficiency.

The plurality of node feedback intervals 510b sequentially transmit feedback on the charging status and efficiency corresponding to the corresponding beacon signal in the wireless charging node (s) included in the relay network.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims It can be understood that

100: magnetic field communication network 110: wireless power coordinator
120: wireless power repeater 130: multiple wireless charging nodes
210: Wireless communication range 220: Wireless power transmission range
310: super frame structure 320: super frame for relay
510: wireless power transmission interval 520: feedback transmission interval

Claims (11)

A relay magnetic field communication method performed by a wireless power coordinator managing a magnetic field communication network,
(a) forming a superframe structure by a time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme;
(b) assigning any one of a plurality of time slots constituting the superframe structure to any one of a wireless power repeater or a plurality of wireless charging nodes that can be connected to the wireless power coordinator;
(c) if the wireless power repeater is allocated a time slot, the allocated time slot is configured as a separate superframe for relay, and the signal detection interval is randomly determined through the wireless power repeater, Determining whether another wireless power repeater or another wireless charging node is in data communication with the wireless power coordinator; And
(d) wirelessly transmitting power to the wireless recharging node adjacent to the wireless power repeater from the wireless power coordinator among the plurality of wireless recharging nodes through the configured relay superframe.
The method of claim 1, wherein the superframe structure
Wherein each of the plurality of superframes comprises a request interval, a response interval, and a spontaneous interval.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein step (a)
And transmitting a response request packet to either the wireless power repeater or the plurality of wireless charging nodes during the request period.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein step (b)
And dividing the response interval into a plurality of time slots capable of communicating with either the wireless power repeater or the wireless recharging node.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein step (b)
Transmitting the response packet to the wireless power coordinator when the wireless power repeater or the wireless recharging node receives the response request packet;
Further comprising receiving the response packet and assigning any one of the plurality of time slots to either the wireless power relayer or the wireless recharging node.
The relay superframe according to claim 1, wherein the relay superframe
A signal detection period, a request period, a response period, a spontaneous period, and a relay termination period.
delete 2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (c)
And transmitting a response packet over the new timeslot if the wireless power repeater fails to communicate data with the wireless power coordinator.
The relay superframe according to claim 1, wherein the relay superframe
And a feedback transmission period for the wireless power transmission period and the corresponding wireless power transmission result.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the feedback transmission interval
A feedback beacon interval, and a plurality of node feedback intervals.
A wireless power coordinator for managing a magnetic field communication network;
A wireless power repeater connectable to the wireless power coordinator; And
And a plurality of wireless recharging nodes for receiving power wirelessly through any one of the wireless power coordinator and the wireless power relayer,
The wireless power coordinator forms a superframe structure based on a time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme and transmits any one of a plurality of time slots constituting the superframe structure to the wireless power repeater Or to one of the plurality of wireless recharge nodes,
Wherein the wireless power repeater configures the allocated time slot as a separate superframe for relay when the corresponding time slot is allocated and determines that the signal detection interval is random through the wireless power repeater, Determining whether a power repeater or other wireless recharging node is in data communication with the wireless power coordinator to determine whether the wireless recharging node is in data communication with the wireless power reordant neighboring the wireless power repeater from the wireless power coordinator among the plurality of wireless recharging nodes via the configured relay superframe; And transmits power to the node wirelessly.

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