KR20220112428A - Method for wirelessly providing power and electronic device supporting the same - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic device according to various embodiments of the present invention comprises: a DC/DC converter; an inverter; a plurality of coils; a plurality of switches connected to each of the plurality of coils; and a control circuit. The control circuit may be configured to transmit a first signal through the plurality of coils using the DC/DC converter and the inverter, receive a second signal in response to the first signal, transmit 1-1 power to a wireless power receiver through the plurality of coils using the DC/DC converter and the inverter, determine a first transmission efficiency based on information on the 1-1 power and information on 1-2 power received from the wireless power receiver, determine at least one coil to be inactivated among the plurality of coils based on the second signal, deactivate the at least one coil through the switch connected to the at least one coil among the plurality of switches, transmit 2-1 power to the wireless power receiver through one or more coils excluding the at least one coil among the plurality of coils using the DC/DC converter and the inverter, determine a second transmission efficiency based on information on the 2-1 power and information on 2-2 power received from the wireless power receiver, and determine the coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver among the plurality of coils based on the first transmission efficiency and the second transmission efficiency. According to various embodiments of the present invention, a method for providing power wirelessly and the electronic device supporting the same transmit power to the wireless power receiver with maximum transmission efficiency by selecting the coil to transmit power based on transmission efficiency obtained by transmitting power to the wireless power receiver through one or more coils included in the electronic device and transmission efficiency obtained by inactivating at least one of the one or more coils and then transmitting power to the wireless power receiver through the remaining activated coils.

Description

METHOD FOR WIRELESSLY PROVIDING POWER AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE SUPPORTING THE SAME

Various embodiments of the present invention relate to a method of wirelessly providing power and an electronic device supporting the same.

For many people living in modern times, portable digital communication devices have become an essential element. Consumers want to be provided with a variety of high-quality services that they want anytime, anywhere. In addition, due to the recent IoT (Internet of Thing), various sensors, home appliances, and communication devices that exist in our lives are being networked into one. In order to smoothly operate these various sensors, a wireless power transmission system is required. The electronic device that receives power wirelessly may be implemented as a large-scale electronic device such as a robot or a vacuum cleaner as well as a small-scale Bluetooth earphone, a wearing device, and a smart phone.

Wireless power transmission includes magnetic induction, magnetic resonance, and electromagnetic wave methods. The magnetic induction or magnetic resonance method is advantageous for charging an electronic device located relatively close to the wireless power transmitter 102 . The electromagnetic wave method is more advantageous for long-distance power transmission up to several meters in a magnetic induction or magnetic resonance method. The electromagnetic wave method is mainly used for long-distance power transmission, and it can transmit power most efficiently by identifying the exact location of a power receiver at a long distance.

The electronic device (eg, a wireless power transmitter) may include a plurality of coils for transmitting power to the wireless power receiver. The electronic device may transmit power to the wireless power receiver by using some of the coils among the plurality of coils. For example, the electronic device may select a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver from among a plurality of coils based on a relative position (or distance) between the electronic device and the wireless power receiver. The electronic device may transmit power to the wireless power receiver through the selected coil.

However, distances between each of the plurality of coils included in the electronic device and the power receiving device may be different, and each of the plurality of coils included in the electronic device may have different characteristics (eg, different inductances). Accordingly, when the electronic device transmits power to the wireless power receiver through a coil selected from among the plurality of coils based on a relative position between the electronic device and the wireless power receiver, the electronic device transmits power , may be lower than the maximum transmission efficiency supported by the electronic device.

Various embodiments of the present invention provide a transmission efficiency obtained by transmitting power to a wireless power receiver through one or more coils, and wireless power through the remaining activated coil after deactivating at least one of the one or more coils. The present invention relates to a method for wirelessly providing power by selecting a coil to transmit power based on transmission efficiency obtained by transmitting power to a receiving device, and to an electronic device supporting the same.

The technical problems to be achieved by the present invention are not limited to the technical problems mentioned above, and other technical problems not mentioned can be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs from the description below. There will be.

An electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure includes a DC/DC converter, an inverter, a plurality of coils, a plurality of switches connected to each of the plurality of coils, and a control circuit, the control circuit comprising: Transmitting a first signal through the plurality of coils using the DC/DC converter and the inverter, receiving a second signal in response to the first signal, and using the DC/DC converter and the inverter Thus, the 1-1 power is transmitted to the wireless power receiver through the plurality of coils, and information about the 1-1 power and information on the 1-2 power received from the wireless power receiver to determine a first transmission efficiency, determine at least one coil to be deactivated among the plurality of coils based on the second signal, and a switch connected to the at least one coil among the plurality of switches to inactivate the at least one coil, and use the DC/DC converter and the inverter to provide the wireless power receiver through one or more coils except for the at least one coil among the plurality of coils. transmit 2-1 power, and determine a second transmission efficiency based on the information on the 2-1 power and the information on the 2-2 power received from the wireless power receiver, and Based on the transmission efficiency and the second transmission efficiency, it may be configured to determine a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver from among the plurality of coils.

A method of wirelessly providing power in an electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure includes using a DC/DC converter of the electronic device and an inverter of the electronic device through a plurality of coils of the electronic device, Transmitting a first signal, receiving a second signal in response to the first signal, using the DC/DC converter and the inverter, through the plurality of coils, to a wireless power receiving apparatus, first The operation of transmitting the first power, the operation of determining the first transmission efficiency based on the information on the 1-1 power and the information on the 1-2-th power received from the wireless power receiver, the second signal determining at least one coil to be deactivated from among the plurality of coils based on , The operation of transmitting the 2-1 th power to the wireless power receiver through one or more coils excluding the at least one coil among the plurality of coils using the DC/DC converter and the inverter, the first Determining the second transmission efficiency based on the information on the 2-1 power and the information on the 2-2 power received from the wireless power receiver, and the first transmission efficiency and the second transmission efficiency Based on the plurality of coils, the method may include determining a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver from among the plurality of coils.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for wirelessly providing power and an electronic device supporting the same include a transmission efficiency obtained by transmitting power to a wireless power receiving device through one or more coils included in the electronic device, and the Based on the transmission efficiency obtained by transmitting power to the wireless power receiver through the remaining activated coils after deactivating at least one coil among the one or more coils, by selecting a coil to transmit power to, the maximum transmission efficiency, the power may be transmitted to the wireless power receiving device.

1 is a block diagram of an electronic device and a wireless power receiver according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;
2 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless charging system according to various embodiments.
3 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;
4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of wirelessly providing power, according to various embodiments.
5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of determining a coil to transmit power based on transmission efficiency, according to various embodiments.
6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of determining a coil to transmit power based on transmission efficiency, according to various embodiments.
7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of adjusting power, according to various embodiments.
8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of wirelessly providing power, according to various embodiments.
9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of determining a coil to transmit power based on a standing wave ratio, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;
10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of determining a coil to transmit power based on an impedance of a resonant circuit, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

1 is a block diagram 100 of an electronic device 101 and a wireless power receiver 102 according to various embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 1 , an electronic device 101 according to various embodiments may wirelessly transmit power 103 to a wireless power receiver 102 . In one example, the electronic device 101 may transmit the power 103 according to an induction method. When the electronic device 101 is inductive, the electronic device 101 may include, for example, a power source, a DC-AC conversion circuit, an amplifier circuit, an impedance matching circuit, at least one capacitor, at least one coil, It may include a communication modulation/demodulation circuit and the like. The at least one capacitor may constitute a resonant circuit together with the at least one coil. The electronic device 101 may be implemented in a manner defined in a wireless power consortium (WPC) standard (or Qi standard). In another example, the electronic device 101 may transmit the power 103 according to a resonance method. In the case of the resonance method, the electronic device 101 includes, for example, a power source, a DC-AC conversion circuit, an amplifier circuit, an impedance matching circuit, at least one capacitor, at least one coil, and an out-of-band communication circuit. (eg, BLE (bluetooth low energy) communication circuit) and the like. At least one capacitor and at least one coil may constitute a resonance circuit. The electronic device 101 may be implemented in a manner defined in an Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) standard (or an air fuel alliance (AFA) standard). The electronic device 101 may include a coil capable of generating an induced magnetic field when a current flows according to a resonance method or an induction method. A process in which the electronic device 101 generates an induced magnetic field may be expressed as that the electronic device 101 wirelessly transmits power 103 . In addition, the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 may include a coil in which an induced electromotive force is generated by a magnetic field whose size changes according to time formed around it. The process of generating the induced electromotive force through the coil may be expressed as that the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 wirelessly receives the power 103 . For example, the electronic device 101 is a standard for wireless power transmission, and is defined in an airFuel inductive (eg, power matters alliance (PMA)) standard, an airfuel resonant (eg, rezence) standard, or a Qi standard. It can also be implemented in the same way.

The electronic device 101 according to various embodiments may communicate with the wireless power receiver 102 . For example, the electronic device 101 may communicate with the wireless power receiver 102 according to an in-band scheme. The electronic device 101 may perform modulation on data to be transmitted according to, for example, a frequency shift keying (FSK) modulation method, and the wireless power receiver 102 may perform modulation on the data to be transmitted according to an amplitude shift keying (ASK) modulation method. modulation can be performed accordingly. The electronic device 101 and/or the wireless power receiving device 102 may determine data transmitted from the counterpart device based on the frequency and/or amplitude of the current, voltage, or power of the coil. The operation of performing modulation based on the ASK modulation method and/or the FSK modulation method may be understood as an operation of transmitting data according to the in-band communication method. Determining the data transmitted from the counterpart device by performing demodulation based on the magnitude of the frequency and/or amplitude of the current, voltage, or power of the coil is an operation of receiving data according to the in-band communication method. can be understood For example, the electronic device 101 may communicate with the wireless power receiver 102 according to an out-of-band scheme. The electronic device 101 or the wireless power receiver 102 may transmit/receive data using a communication circuit (eg, a BLE communication module) provided separately from the coil or patch antenna.

In this document, the electronic device 101 or the wireless power receiver 102 performing a specific operation includes various hardware included in the electronic device 101 or the wireless power receiver 102, for example, a processor ( For example, it may mean that a control circuit and/or a coil such as a transmission IC and/or a micro controlling unit (MCU) performs a specific operation. Alternatively, when the electronic device 101 or the wireless power receiver 102 performs a specific operation, it may mean that the processor controls other hardware to perform the specific operation. Alternatively, when the electronic device 101 or the wireless power receiver 102 performs a specific operation, the specific operation stored in the storage circuit (eg, memory) of the electronic device 101 or the wireless power receiver 102 is performed. As at least one instruction to perform is executed, it may mean causing a processor or other hardware to perform a specific operation.

2 is a block diagram 200 illustrating a wireless charging system according to various embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 2 , a wireless charging system according to various embodiments may include an electronic device 101 or a wireless power receiving device 102 . When the wireless power receiver 102 is mounted on the electronic device 101 , the electronic device 101 may wirelessly supply power to the wireless power receiver 102 .

According to various embodiments, the electronic device 101 may include a power transmission circuit 211 , a control circuit 212 , a communication circuit 213 , or a sensing circuit 214 .

According to various embodiments, the power transmission circuit 211 receives power (or power) from the outside, a power adapter 211a that appropriately converts the voltage of the input power, and a power generation circuit 211b that generates power ), or a matching circuit 211c for improving the efficiency between the transmitting coil 211L and the receiving coil 221L.

According to various embodiments, the power transmission circuit 211 may include a power adapter 211a to transmit power to at least one wireless power receiving device (eg, a first wireless power receiving device and a second wireless power receiving device); It may include at least one power generation circuit 211b, a transmission coil 211L, or a matching circuit 211c.

According to various embodiments, the control circuit 212 may perform overall control of the electronic device 101 , and may generate various messages (eg, instructions) required for wireless power transmission and transmit it to the communication circuit 213 . In an embodiment, the control circuit 212 may calculate power (or amount of power) to be transmitted to the wireless power receiver 102 based on the information received from the communication circuit 213 . In an embodiment, the control circuit 212 may control the power transmission circuit 211 to transmit power generated by the transmission coil 211L to the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 .

According to various embodiments, the communication circuit 213 may include at least one of a first communication circuit 213a or a second communication circuit 213b. The first communication circuit 213a is connected to the first communication circuit 223a of the wireless power receiving device 102 using, for example, a frequency that is the same as or adjacent to a frequency used for power transmission in the transmitting coil 211L. - It can communicate based on an in-band (IB) communication method.

The first communication circuit 213a may communicate with the first communication circuit 223a of the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 using the transmission coil 211L. Data (or communication signal) generated by the first communication circuit 213a may be transmitted using the transmission coil 211L. The first communication circuit 213a may transmit data to the wireless power receiver 102 using a frequency shift keying (FSK) modulation technique. According to various embodiments, the first communication circuit 213a communicates with the first communication circuit 223a of the wireless power receiver 102 by changing the frequency of the power signal transmitted through the transmission coil 211L. can do. Alternatively, the first communication circuit 213a may communicate with the first communication circuit 223a of the wireless power receiver 102 by allowing data to be included in the power signal generated by the power generating circuit 211b. For example, the first communication circuit 213a may perform modulation by increasing or decreasing the frequency of the power transmission signal. The wireless power receiving device 102 may check data from the electronic device 101 by performing demodulation based on the frequency of the signal measured by the receiving coil 221L.

The second communication circuit 213b is, for example, out-of-the-box with the second communication circuit 223b of the wireless power receiving device 102 using a frequency different from the frequency used for power transmission in the transmitting coil 211L. - It can communicate based on an out-of-band (OOB) communication method. For example, the second communication circuit 213b uses any one of various short-distance communication methods such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy (BLE), Wi-Fi, or near field communication (NFC) for second communication. Information related to the state of charge from the circuit 223b (eg, voltage value after rectifier, rectified voltage value (eg, Vrect) information, current information flowing in the coil 221L or the rectifier circuit 221b (eg, Iout), various packets, authentication information and/or messages).

According to various embodiments, the sensing circuit 214 may include at least one sensor and sense at least one state of the electronic device 101 using the at least one sensor.

According to various embodiments, the sensing circuit 214 may include at least one of a temperature sensor, a motion sensor, a magnetic field sensor, or a current (or voltage) sensor, and uses the temperature sensor to 101), it is possible to detect the movement state of the electronic device 101 using a motion sensor, and detect whether it is coupled to the wireless power receiver 102 using a magnetic field sensor, , a current (or voltage) sensor may be used to detect a state of an output signal of the electronic device 101 , for example, a current level, a voltage level, and/or a power level.

According to an embodiment, the current (or voltage) sensor may measure a signal in the power transmission circuit 211 . The current (or voltage) sensor may measure a signal in at least a portion of the matching circuit 211c or the power generating circuit 211b. For example, the current (or voltage sensor) may include a circuit for measuring a signal at the front end of the coil 211L.

According to various embodiments, the sensing circuit 214 may be a circuit for detecting a foreign object (eg, foreign object detection (FOD)).

According to various embodiments, the wireless power receiver 102 may include a power receiver circuit 221 , a processor 222 , a communication circuit 223 , sensors 224 , a display 225 , or a sensing circuit 226 . may include. The sensors 224 may include a sensing circuit 226 .

According to various embodiments, the power receiving circuit 221 may include a receiving coil 221L, an Rx IC 227, and a charging circuit 221d (eg, PMIC, DCDC converter) configured to wirelessly receive power from the electronic device 101 . , a switched capacitor, or a voltage divider), or a battery 221e (eg, the battery 189). In one embodiment, the Rx IC 227 includes a matching circuit 221a connected to the receiving coil 221L, a rectifying circuit 221b for rectifying the received AC power to DC, or a regulating circuit for adjusting the charging voltage (eg: LDO) 221c may be included.

According to various embodiments, the processor 222 may perform overall control of the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 , and may generate various messages required for wireless power reception and transmit it to the communication circuit 223 .

According to various embodiments, the communication circuit 223 may include at least one of a first communication circuit 223a and a second communication circuit 223b. The first communication circuit 223a may communicate with the electronic device 101 through the receiving coil 221L.

The first communication circuit 223a may communicate with the first communication circuit 213a of the electronic device 101 using the receiving coil 221L. Data (or communication signal) generated by the first communication circuit 223a may be transmitted using the receiving coil 221L. The first communication circuit 223a may transmit data to the electronic device 101 using an amplitude shift keying (ASK) modulation technique. For example, the first communication circuit 223a may cause a change in the load of the electronic device 101 according to a modulation method. Accordingly, at least one of the magnitude of the voltage, current, and power measured by the transmission coil 211L may be changed. The first communication circuit 213a of the electronic device 101 may check the data generated by the wireless power receiver 102 by demodulating the change in size. The second communication circuit 223b may communicate with the electronic device 101 using any one of various short-range communication methods such as Bluetooth, BLE, Wi-Fi, or NFC.

In this document, packets, information, or data transmitted and received between the electronic device 101 and the wireless power receiver 102 may use at least one of the first communication circuit 223a and the second communication circuit 223b.

According to various embodiments, the sensors 224 may include at least some of a current/voltage sensor, a temperature sensor, an illuminance sensor, or an acceleration sensor.

According to various embodiments, the display 225 may display various display information required for wireless power transmission/reception.

According to various embodiments, the sensing circuit 226 may sense the electronic device 101 by sensing a discovery signal or power received from the electronic device 101 . The sensing circuit 226 is a signal change of the input/output terminal of the coil 221L, the matching circuit 221a, or the rectifying circuit 221b by the coil 221L signal generated by the signal output from the electronic device 101 . can detect According to various embodiments, the sensing circuit 226 may be included in the receiving circuit 221 .

3 is a block diagram of an electronic device 101 according to various embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 3 , in an embodiment, the electronic device 101 includes a power provider 310 , a DC/DC converter 320 , an inverter 330 , and a plurality of switches 345-1 to 345-N. ), a plurality of capacitors 343 - 1 to 343 -N , a plurality of coils 341-1 to 341 -N , a communication circuit 350 , and/or a control circuit 360 .

In an embodiment, the power supply 310 (power supply) may provide DC power to the DC/DC converter 320 . For example, the power provider 310 receives power (or power) (eg, AC power) from the outside, and converts the voltage of the input power, thereby converting the converted DC power to the DC/DC converter 320 . can be provided as In one embodiment, the power provider 310 may include the power adapter 211a of FIG. 2 .

In an embodiment, the DC/DC converter 320 may convert a DC voltage input from the power provider 310 into a designated DC voltage according to a control signal of the control circuit 360 . In an embodiment, the DC/DC converter 320 may provide the converted DC voltage to the inverter 330 .

In an embodiment, the inverter 330 may generate AC power (eg, AC current) based on the DC voltage input from the DC/DC converter 320 . The inverter 330 transmits the generated AC power to the resonance circuits (eg, the plurality of capacitors 343-1 to 343-N) and the plurality of coils through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. coils 341-1 to 341-N). In an embodiment, the inverter 330 may be included in the power generation circuit 211b of FIG. 2 .

In an embodiment, the plurality of switches 345 - 1 to 345 -N includes the inverter 330 and a plurality of resonant circuits (eg, a plurality of capacitors 343 - 1 to 343 -N and a plurality of coils ). It may be connected to the ones (341-1 to 341-N)). For example, the plurality of switches 345 - 1 to 345 -N may be, respectively, a plurality of capacitors 343 - 1 to 343 -N and/or a plurality of coils 341-1 to 341 -N , respectively. , and the plurality of switches 345 - 1 to 345 -N may be connected to the inverter 330 .

In an embodiment, each of the plurality of switches 345 - 1 to 345 -N performs a switching operation (eg, switching between an open state or a closed state according to a control signal of the control circuit 360 ). action) can be performed. In one embodiment, when one or more of the plurality of switches 345 - 1 through 345 -N is in the closed state, one or more coils connected from the inverter 330 to each of the one or more switches in the closed state AC power can be provided. When one or more switches among the plurality of switches 345-1 to 345-N are in the open state, AC power is provided from the inverter 330 to one or more coils connected to each of the one or more switches in the open state. it may not be

In an embodiment, each of the plurality of capacitors 343-1 to 343-N may be connected to the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. In FIG. 3 , each of the plurality of capacitors 343-1 to 343-N is illustrated as being connected to the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N in series, but is not limited thereto. For example, one or more of the plurality of capacitors 343-1 to 343-N may be connected in parallel with one or more of the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N.

In an embodiment, the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N may transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102 based on AC power input from the inverter 330 . In an embodiment, the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N may be included in the transmitting coil 211L of FIG. 2 .

In an embodiment, at least some coils of the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N may be arranged to overlap each other. In an embodiment, at least some of the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N may be disposed on different layers.

In an embodiment, the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N may be connected to the inverter 330 through the plurality of switches 345-1 to 345-N. For example, the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N may be connected to or disconnected from the inverter 330 through the plurality of switches 345-1 to 345-N.

Hereinafter, a state in which the coil connected to the switch in the closed state can receive AC power from the inverter 330 will be referred to as an 'activation state of the coil'. In addition, a state in which the coil connected to the switch in the open state cannot receive AC power from the inverter 330 will be referred to as a 'coil inactive state'.

In one embodiment, the communication circuit 350 may be included in the communication circuit 213 of FIG. 2 . For example, the communication circuit 350 may communicate with the communication circuit 223 of the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 using an in-band communication method or an out-band communication method.

In one embodiment, the control circuit 360 may be included in the control circuit 212 of FIG. 2 .

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may control an operation of providing wireless power. Hereinafter, a method for controlling the operation of the control circuit 360 to provide wireless power will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 10 .

In FIG. 3 , the electronic device 101 includes a power supply, a DC/DC converter 320 , an inverter 330 , a plurality of switches 345 - 1 to 345 -N , and a plurality of capacitors 343 - 1 to 343 . -N), a plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N, a communication circuit 350 , and/or a control circuit 360 are illustrated, but are not limited thereto. For example, the electronic device 101 may further include at least some of the components included in the electronic device 101 of FIG. 2 (eg, the matching circuit 211c and/or the sensing circuit 214 ).

The electronic device 101 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure includes a DC/DC converter 320 , an inverter 330 , a plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N, and the plurality of coils 341 . -1 to 341-N) and a plurality of switches 345-1 to 345-N respectively connected thereto, and a control circuit 360 , wherein the control circuit 360 includes the DC/DC converter 320 . and using the inverter 330 to transmit a first signal through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N, receive a second signal in response to the first signal, and the DC / Using the DC converter 320 and the inverter 330, through the plurality of coils (341-1 to 341-N), and transmits the 1-1 power to the wireless power receiver 102, and , based on the information on the 1-1 power and the information on the 1-2-th power received from the wireless power receiver 102, determine a first transmission efficiency, and based on the second signal, At least one coil to be deactivated among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N is determined, and through a switch connected to the at least one coil among the plurality of switches 345-1 to 345-N , the at least one coil is deactivated, and the at least one coil is excluded from among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N by using the DC/DC converter 320 and the inverter 330 . The 2-1 th power is transmitted to the wireless power receiver 102 through one or more coils, and information on the 2-1 th power and the 2-2 th power received from the wireless power receiver 102 . Based on the information on , a second transmission efficiency is determined, and based on the first transmission efficiency and the second transmission efficiency, the wireless power is received among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. may be configured to determine which coil to transmit power to the device 102 .

In various embodiments, the first signal is a plurality of digital ping signals sequentially transmitted to the wireless power receiver 102 through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N, and the first signal is Signal 2 may include information related to output voltages (Vrects) of the rectifier circuit of the wireless power receiver 102 generated by the plurality of digital ping signals.

In various embodiments, the control circuit 360 is configured to generate a digital ping signal corresponding to an output voltage having the smallest magnitude among the magnitudes of the output voltages among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. and determine the transmitted coil as at least one coil to be deactivated.

In various embodiments, the control circuit 360 may be the smallest among the magnitudes of the output voltages and the largest output voltage among the magnitudes of the output voltages among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. and determine at least one coil that has transmitted a digital ping signal corresponding to an output voltage having a magnitude less than a specified ratio of the magnitude of , as the at least one coil to be deactivated.

In various embodiments, the control circuit 360 checks whether the first transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than the second transmission efficiency, and when the first transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than the second transmission efficiency, the plurality of coils The ones 341-1 to 341-N may be configured to determine a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiving device 102 .

In various embodiments, the control circuit 360 is, when the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N is determined as a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102, the at least one coil It may be configured to activate the at least one coil through a switch connected to , and transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102 through the at least one coil and the one or more coils.

In various embodiments, when the first transmission efficiency is less than the second transmission efficiency, the control circuit 360 determines, based on the second signal, at least one coil to be deactivated among the one or more coils, , the at least one coil is deactivated through a switch connected to the at least one coil among the plurality of switches 345-1 to 345-N, and the DC/DC converter 320 and the inverter 330 to transmit the 3-1 power to the wireless power receiver 102 through the remaining coils except for the at least one coil among the one or more coils, and information on the 3-1 power and Based on the information about the 3-2 power received from the wireless power receiver 102, a third transmission efficiency is determined, and based on the second transmission efficiency and the third transmission efficiency, the one or more It may be configured to determine a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102 among the coils.

In various embodiments, when the first transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than the second transmission efficiency, the control circuit 360 checks whether a difference between the first transmission efficiency and the second transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than a specified value, When the difference is greater than the specified value, the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N is determined as a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102, and the difference is the specified value. If less than, the one or more coils may be configured to determine a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102 .

In various embodiments, the control circuit 360 checks the output voltages of the rectifier circuit of the wireless power receiver 102 , and among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N, the output voltage Among them, coils that have transmitted digital ping signals corresponding to output voltages greater than or equal to the threshold voltage are identified, and the DC/DC converter 320 and the inverter 330 are used to respond to output voltages greater than or equal to the threshold voltage. It may be configured to transmit the 1-1 power to the wireless power receiver 102 through the coils that have transmitted digital ping signals.

In various embodiments, the control circuit 360 is provided to the wireless power receiver 102 in the wireless power receiver 102 through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. In order to transmit the 1-1 power so that the output voltage of the rectifier circuit of the wireless power receiver 102 is measured as a target voltage, the DC/DC converter 320 is controlled, and the wireless power receiver ( 102), through the one or more coils, the output voltage of the rectifier circuit in the wireless power receiving device 102, so that the target voltage is measured, in order to transmit the 2-1 power, the DC / It may be configured to control and transmit the DC converter 320 .

4 is a flowchart 400 illustrating a method of wirelessly providing power, in accordance with various embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 4 , in operation 401 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may transmit a first signal through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N.

In one embodiment, the control circuit 360, the plurality of coils (341-1 to 341-N) each of the first signal to the wireless power receiver 102 to sequentially transmit the DC/DC converter 320, ), the inverter 330 , and/or the plurality of switches 345 - 1 to 345 -N. For example, when the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N includes the first coil and the second coil, the control circuit 360 transmits the 1-1 signal through the first coil. Then, after a specified time (eg, after a specified time interval has elapsed), the first and second signals may be transmitted through the second coil.

In one embodiment, the control circuit 360, each of the plurality of coils (341-1 to 341-N) as a first signal to the wireless power receiver 102 a digital ping signal (digital ping signal) (eg: The DC/DC converter 320 , the inverter 330 , and/or the plurality of switches 345-1 to 345-N may be controlled to sequentially transmit a digital ping signal defined in the Qi standard. In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may transmit a digital ping signal having the same magnitude and the same frequency through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. However, in the above example, the first signal is a digital ping signal, but is not limited thereto, and the first signal may be a Q-ping (or analog ping) signal defined in the Qi standard. have.

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may sequentially transmit a Q-ping signal through each of the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N before transmitting the digital ping signal as the first signal. . The control circuit 360 may determine a coil to transmit the digital ping signal as a first signal among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N based on a signal received in response to the Q-ping signal. For example, the control circuit 360 may sequentially transmit a Q-ping signal through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. The control circuit 360 may perform Q-factor measurement based on Q-ping signal transmission for each of the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. The control circuit 360 compares the measured Q-factor with a reference for each of the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N, and the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. Among them, a coil having a Q-factor greater than or equal to the reference may be determined. The control circuit 360 may transmit a digital ping signal as a first signal through a coil in which a Q-factor equal to or greater than the reference is measured. However, in the above example, the coil to transmit the digital ping signal as the first signal among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N is determined by using the Q-factor, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the control circuit 360 may determine a coil to transmit a digital ping signal as a first signal among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N through a resonant frequency change. In an embodiment, when the first signal is a Q-ping (or analog ping) signal defined in the Qi standard, the second signal may be a response signal to the Q-ping signal.

In operation 403 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 is configured to receive a second signal corresponding to (or in response to) the first signal from the wireless power receiving device 102 through the communication circuit 350 . can

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 is configured to receive a voltage ( Hereinafter, a second signal including 'Vrect') may be received. For example, the wireless power receiver 102 may detect (eg, measure) Vrect (eg, the size of Vrect) through a sensor (eg, the sensors 324 ) by receiving the first signal. . The wireless power receiver 102 may transmit a second signal including information on the detected Vrect to the electronic device 101 through the communication circuit 223 . In an embodiment, when the electronic device 101 sequentially transmits the first signal through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N, the wireless power receiving device 102 is configured to sequentially receive the first signal. A second signal corresponding to the first signal may be transmitted through the communication circuit 223 . For example, in the wireless power receiver 102 , the electronic device 101 including a first coil and a second coil transmits a first digital ping signal through the first coil and a second digital ping signal through the second coil. When the ping signal is transmitted, the first Vrect detected by receiving the first digital ping signal and the second Vrect detected by receiving the second digital ping signal are transmitted to the electronic device 101 through the communication circuit 223 . can be transmitted

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may check the second signal (eg, Vrect) received from the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 . In one embodiment, the control circuit 360, when a plurality of digital ping signals are sequentially transmitted to the wireless power receiver 102 through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N, 350), a plurality of Vrects respectively corresponding to a plurality of digital ping signals may be received. The control circuit 360 may check the received plurality of Vrects (eg, sizes of the plurality of Vrects). For example, the control circuit 360 may include a first Vrect (eg, a magnitude of the first Vrect) corresponding to the first digital ping signal transmitted through the first coil and a second digital ping transmitted through the second coil. The second Vrect (eg, the size of the second Vrect) corresponding to the signal may be checked. However, the operation of the control circuit 360 confirming the second signal received from the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 may be performed in operation 409 to be described later.

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may be configured to, based on a second signal (eg, Vrect) received from the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 , at least one of the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. of coils can be deactivated. The control circuit 360, when at least one coil among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N is deactivated Operations 405 and subsequent operations may be performed using the activated coils. Examples related to the operation of the control circuit 360 deactivating the at least one coil based on the second signal will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. 8 .

In operation 405 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may transmit the 1-1th power through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N.

In one embodiment, the control circuit 360, through the plurality of coils (341-1 to 341-N), at the output terminal of the rectification circuit of the wireless power receiver 102, a target (target) voltage (hereinafter, ' The 1-1 power may be transmitted, allowing the target Vrect') to be measured. For example, the control circuit 360 may receive, from the wireless power receiver 102 through the communication circuit 350 , along with Vrect, information related to a target Vrect desired by the wireless power receiver 102 . have. The control circuit 360 wirelessly receives power such that Vrect of the wireless power receiver 102 becomes a target Vrect to the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N based on information related to the target Vrect. DC/DC converter 320 (and/or inverter 330 ) may be controlled to transmit to device 102 . The control circuit 360 generates power such that the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N causes Vrect of the wireless power receiver 102 to become the target Vrect based on information related to the target Vrect. The operation of controlling the DC/DC converter 320 (and/or the inverter 330 ) to transmit to 102 will be described later in more detail with reference to FIG. 7 .

In operation 407 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 , based on the information on the 1-1 th power and the information on the 1-2 th power received from the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 , the first transmission efficiency can be determined.

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may obtain information about the 1-1 power transmitted to the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 in operation 405 . For example, the control circuit 360 may include a plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N (eg, a plurality of coils 341-1 to 341 ) through a sensor (eg, the sensing circuit 314 ). -N) provided to the resonance circuits (eg, voltage and current output from the inverter 330 ) may be detected. The control circuit 360 may check the 1-1 power transmitted to the wireless power receiver 102 based on the voltage and current provided to the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N.

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may obtain information about the 1-2 power from the wireless power receiver 102 through the communication circuit 350 . For example, when the 1-1th power is received from the electronic device 101 , the wireless power receiver 102 may be configured to receive the 1-2th power generated by the wireless power receiver 102 by using the 1-1th power. Power (eg, output power of a rectifier circuit of the wireless power receiver 102 or power provided as a load of the wireless power receiver 102 ) may be detected. The wireless power receiving device 102 may transmit information about the detected 1-2 power to the electronic device 101 through the communication circuit 350 .

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 provides a ratio of the 1-2-th power to the 1-1-th power (eg (size of the 1-1-th power)/(the magnitude of the 1-2-th power)) may be determined as the first transmission efficiency.

In operation 409 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may determine at least one coil to be deactivated among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N based on the second signal.

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may compare sizes of a plurality of Vrects respectively corresponding to a plurality of digital ping signals transmitted through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. The control circuit 360 may determine a coil that has transmitted a digital ping signal corresponding to Vrect having the smallest size among the sizes of the plurality of Vrects as at least one coil to be deactivated. For example, when the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N includes the first coil to the third coil, the magnitude of the first Vrect corresponding to the first digital ping signal transmitted through the first coil. is a first magnitude, a magnitude of a second Vrect corresponding to a second digital ping signal transmitted through the second coil is a second magnitude, and a third magnitude corresponding to a third digital ping signal transmitted through the third coil. When the size of Vrect is the third size, the control circuit 360 performs a second digital ping corresponding to a second Vrect having a second size having, for example, the smallest size among the first to third sizes. The second coil that has transmitted the signal may be determined as at least one coil to be deactivated. In the above example, it is exemplified that one coil that has transmitted a digital ping signal corresponding to Vrect having the smallest size among the sizes of the plurality of Vrects is determined as at least one coil to be deactivated, but is not limited thereto. For example, the control circuit 360 converts two or more coils that have transmitted digital ping signals respectively corresponding to two or more Vrects having the smallest size among the sizes of the plurality of Vrects to at least one coil to be deactivated. can decide

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may not determine a coil that has transmitted a digital ping signal corresponding to Vrect having the largest size among the sizes of the plurality of Vrects as the coil to be deactivated.

In one embodiment, the control circuit 360 is configured to be configured such that a coil that has transmitted a digital ping signal corresponding to a Vrect having a size greater than or equal to a specified ratio (eg, about 90%) of the largest size among the sizes of the plurality of Vrects is deactivated. You may not decide with the coil. For example, the control circuit 360 may control Vrect having a size greater than or equal to a specified ratio (eg, about 90%) of the size of Vrect being the smallest among the sizes of the plurality of Vrects but the largest among the sizes of the plurality of Vrects. A coil that has transmitted a corresponding digital ping signal may not be determined as a coil to be deactivated.

4 illustrates that operation 409 is performed after performing operations 405 and 407, but is not limited thereto. For example, after determining at least one coil to be deactivated from among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N based on the second signal in operation 409, transmitting the 1-1 power in operation 405; An operation of determining the first transmission efficiency in operation 407 may be performed.

In operation 411 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may deactivate the at least one coil through a switch connected to the at least one coil. For example, when at least one coil to be deactivated is determined from among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N in operation 409 , the control circuit 360 performs a connection between the at least one coil and the inverter 330 . A control signal for opening a switch connected to the at least one coil is transmitted to the switch connected to the at least one coil to release the can transmit

In operation 413 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 receives the 2-1 th power through one or more coils excluding at least one coil that is deactivated among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. can be transmitted

In an embodiment, one or more coils other than the deactivated at least one coil among the plurality of coils 341-1 through 341-N may include at least one deactivated among the plurality of coils 341-1 through 341-N. Except for at least one coil deactivated through the examples of operation 411 among the remaining coils except for the coil of , the remaining coils maintaining an active state).

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may transmit the 2-1 th power, which allows the target Vrect of the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 to be measured, through one or more coils. For example, in operation 405 , the control circuit 360 may perform a target Vrect measured in the wireless power receiver 102 by the 1-1 power transmitted through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. The 2-1 th power may be transmitted through one or more coils such that the target Vrect having the same size as the size of Vrect is measured in the rectifying circuit of the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 .

In one embodiment, the control circuit 360 , in operation 405 , the target measured in the wireless power receiving device 102 by the 1-1 th power transmitted through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. A first transmission efficiency and a second transmission efficiency to be described later by transmitting the 2-1 power to one or more coils so that a target Vrect having the same size as the size of Vrect is measured in the rectifying circuit of the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 . A more accurate comparison between the livers can be performed.

In operation 415 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 , based on the information on the 2-1 th power and the information on the 2-2 th power received from the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 , transmits the second efficiency can be determined.

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may obtain information about the 2-1 power transmitted to the wireless power receiver 102 in operation 413 . For example, the control circuit 360 may provide a voltage and current (eg, a voltage and a current output from the inverter 330 ) provided to one or more coils (eg, resonance circuits including one or more coils) through a sensor. ) can be detected. The control circuit 360 may check the 2-1 th power transmitted to the wireless power receiver 102 based on the voltage and current provided to the one or more coils.

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may obtain information on the 2-2nd power from the wireless power receiver 102 through the communication circuit 350 . For example, when the 2-1 th power is received from the electronic device 101 , the wireless power receiver 102 may be configured to use the 2-2 th power generated by the wireless power receiver 102 by using the 2-1 th power. Power (eg, output power of a rectifier circuit of the wireless power receiver 102 or power provided as a load of the wireless power receiver 102 ) may be detected. The wireless power receiving device 102 may transmit information on the detected 2-2nd power to the electronic device 101 through the communication circuit 223 .

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may provide a ratio of the 2-1 power to the 2-2 power (eg (the magnitude of the 2-1 power)/(the magnitude of the 2-2 power)) may be determined as the second transmission efficiency.

In operation 417 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may determine a coil to transmit power based on the first transmission efficiency and the second transmission efficiency.

In one embodiment, the control circuit 360, when the first transmission efficiency is greater than or equal to the second transmission efficiency, to transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102 at the first transmission efficiency, the coil to the coil to transmit power can decide For example, when the first transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than the second transmission efficiency, the control circuit 360 , in operation 405 , the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N used to transmit the 1-1th power. , may be determined as a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiving device 102 .

In one embodiment, the control circuit 360, when the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N is determined as a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102, at least one deactivated in operation 411 The coil can be reactivated. For example, the control circuit 360 transmits a control signal to a switch connected to the deactivated at least one coil so that the switch connected to the deactivated at least one coil is in a closed state in order to activate the deactivated at least one coil. can transmit

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may perform operations similar to operations 409 to 415 when the first transmission efficiency is less than the second transmission efficiency. For example, the control circuit 360 may be deactivated from among one or more coils currently in an activated state (eg, one or more coils that have transmitted the 2-1 th power in operation 413 ) based on the second signal. At least one coil may be determined. Based on the second signal received in operation 403 , the control circuit 360 performs a plurality of Vrects that respectively correspond to a plurality of digital ping signals transmitted through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. Among the sizes, corresponding to Vrect having a smaller size next to the size of Vrect corresponding to the digital ping signal transmitted through at least one coil deactivated in operation 411 (hereinafter referred to as 'first at least one coil') At least one coil (hereinafter, referred to as a 'second at least one coil') to which the digital ping signal is transmitted may be determined as the at least one coil to be deactivated. The control circuit 360 may deactivate the second at least one coil through a switch connected to the second at least one coil. The control circuit 360 includes one or more coils (hereinafter, referred to as 'first one or more coils') of one or more coils (hereinafter, 'second one or more coils') except for the inactive second at least one coil. '), the 3-1 th power may be transmitted. The control circuit 360 includes information on the 3-1st power and information on the 3-2nd power received from the wireless power receiver 102 through the communication circuit 350 in response to the 3-1st power transmission. Based on , the third transmission efficiency may be determined. The control circuit 360 may determine a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102 based on the second transmission efficiency and the third transmission efficiency. The operation of determining a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 based on the second transmission efficiency and the third transmission efficiency may include, based on the first transmission efficiency and the second transmission efficiency, the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 . ), since at least a part of the operation is the same or similar to the operation of transmitting power, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In an embodiment, a method by which the control circuit 360 determines a coil to transmit power based on the first transmission efficiency and the second transmission efficiency is not limited to the above-described example, and is controlled with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 below. Various examples of how the circuit 360 determines a coil to transmit power based on the first transmission efficiency and the second transmission efficiency will be described.

Although not shown in FIG. 4 , in an embodiment, when a coil to transmit power is determined, the control circuit 360 may transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102 through the determined coil.

5 is a flowchart 500 illustrating a method of determining a coil to transmit power based on transmission efficiency, according to various embodiments.

In an embodiment, FIG. 5 may be a flowchart for explaining operations included in operation 417 of FIG. 4 .

Referring to FIG. 5 , in operation 501 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may determine whether a previous transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than a current transmission efficiency.

In one embodiment, in operation 501, the previous transmission efficiency is determined by one or more coils (eg, a plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N that have transmitted the 1-1 power of operation 405) (hereinafter referred to as 'one Transmission efficiency determined before deactivating at least one coil (for example, at least one coil determined to be deactivated in operation 409) (hereinafter referred to as 'at least one first coil') among the above first coils ') (eg, first transmission efficiency). In addition, in operation 501, the current transmission efficiency is determined by using power (eg, operation It may refer to a transmission efficiency (eg, second transmission efficiency) determined by transmitting the 2-1 power of 413).

In operation 503 , when the previous transmission efficiency is determined to be greater than or equal to the current transmission efficiency in operation 501 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 transmits the deactivated coil and the currently activated coil to the wireless power receiving device 102 . You can decide which coil to transmit power to. For example, the control circuit 360, when the previous transmission efficiency is confirmed to be greater than or equal to the current transmission efficiency, one or more first coils including the deactivated at least one first coil to the wireless power receiver 102 . You can decide which coil to transmit power to. The control circuit 360 is a switch connected to the at least one first coil such that the deactivated at least one first coil is activated when the one or more first coils are determined as the coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiving device 102 . A control signal for switching to the closed state may be transmitted to a switch connected to the at least one first coil.

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 powers the currently activated coil (eg, one or more second coils) to the wireless power receiver 102 when it is confirmed that the previous transmission efficiency and the current transmission efficiency are the same. can be determined as the coil to transmit.

In operation 505 , when it is determined that the previous transmission efficiency is less than the current transmission efficiency in operation 501 , the control circuit 360 may determine at least one coil to be deactivated. For example, the control circuit 360 may perform a previously deactivated coil (eg, at least one coil) among currently activated coils (eg, one or more second coils) based on the second signal received in operation 403 . At least one coil (hereinafter, referred to as 'at least one second coil') through which a digital ping signal corresponding to Vrect has a smaller magnitude than that of Vrect corresponding to the digital ping signal transmitted through the first coil of referred to) as at least one coil to be deactivated. As another example, based on the second signal received in operation 403 , the control circuit 360 may perform a next step of Vrect corresponding to a digital ping signal transmitted through a previously deactivated coil among currently activated coils. has a small size as , and a specified ratio of the largest size among the sizes of the plurality of Vrects corresponding to the digital ping signals transmitted through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N (eg, about 90%) At least one second coil having a smaller size and transmitting a digital ping signal corresponding to Vrect may be determined as the at least one coil to be deactivated.

In operation 507 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may deactivate at least one coil (eg, at least one second coil). For example, the control circuit 360 may transmit a control signal for opening a switch connected to the at least one second coil to the switch connected to the at least one second coil.

In operation 509 , in one embodiment, the control circuit 360 performs one or more coils (eg, the remaining coils except for at least one second coil among the one or more second coils (hereinafter referred to as ‘one or more third coils) '), power (hereinafter, referred to as 'third-1 power') may be transmitted.

In operation 511 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 performs information on transmitted power (eg, 3-1 th power) and power (eg, 3-1 th power) received from the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 . Based on information about power (hereinafter, referred to as 'third-2' power) generated by the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 by power, transmission efficiency (hereinafter referred to as 'third transmission efficiency') can decide

In an embodiment, after determining the third transmission efficiency, in operation 501 , the control circuit 360 may determine whether the second transmission efficiency as the previous transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than the third transmission efficiency as the current transmission efficiency.

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may repeatedly perform operations 505 to 511 when the previous transmission efficiency is less than the current transmission efficiency in order to determine a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiving device 102 . have.

In one embodiment, in order to determine a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102, if the previous transmission efficiency is less than the current transmission efficiency, by repeatedly performing operations 505 to 511, the plurality of coils 341 - 1 to 341-N), a coil that allows power to be transmitted to the wireless power receiving device 102 with maximum transmission efficiency may be determined (eg, selected).

Although not shown in FIG. 5 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 continuously deactivates at least one coil by repeatedly performing operations 505 to 511 , so that the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341 are continuously deactivated. -N), when only the coil that has transmitted the digital ping signal corresponding to Vrect having the largest magnitude is in the activated state, it is applied to Vrect having the largest magnitude among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. A coil that has transmitted a corresponding digital ping signal may be determined as a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102 .

6 is a flowchart 600 illustrating a method of determining a coil to transmit power based on transmission efficiency, according to various embodiments.

In an embodiment, FIG. 6 may be a flowchart for explaining operations included in operation 417 of FIG. 4 .

Referring to FIG. 6 , in operation 601 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may determine whether a previous transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than a current transmission efficiency.

In one embodiment, in operation 601, the previous transmission efficiency is determined by one or more coils (eg, a plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N that have transmitted the 1-1th power of operation 405) (hereinafter referred to as 'one Transmission efficiency determined before deactivating at least one coil (for example, at least one coil determined to be deactivated in operation 409) (hereinafter referred to as 'at least one first coil') among the above first coils ') (eg, first transmission efficiency). In addition, in operation 501, the current transmission efficiency is determined by using power (eg, operation It may refer to a transmission efficiency (eg, second transmission efficiency) determined by transmitting the 2-1 power of 413).

In operation 603, when the previous transmission efficiency is determined to be equal to or greater than the current transmission efficiency in operation 601, in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may determine whether a difference between the previous transmission efficiency and the current transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than a specified value. have.

In operation 605, when it is determined that the difference between the previous transmission efficiency and the current transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than a specified value in operation 603, in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 receives the deactivated coil and the currently activated coil, wireless power It can determine which coil to transmit power to the device 102 . Examples of operation 605 are at least partially the same as or similar to those of operation 503, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In operation 605, when it is determined that the difference between the previous transmission efficiency and the current transmission efficiency is less than the specified value in operation 603, in an embodiment, the control circuit 360, the currently activated coil, the wireless power receiving device 102 can be determined as the coil to transmit power to. For example, the control circuit 360 may determine the currently activated coil as the coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102 without reactivating the deactivated coil.

In one embodiment, when the previous transmission efficiency is greater than or equal to the current transmission efficiency, and it is determined that the difference between the previous transmission efficiency and the current transmission efficiency is less than a specified value, the currently activated coil is transferred to the wireless power without reactivating the deactivated coil. By determining the coil to transmit power to the receiving device 102 , power consumed to activate the deactivated coil can be minimized.

In operation 609 , when it is determined that the previous transmission efficiency is less than the current transmission efficiency in operation 601 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may determine at least one coil to be deactivated.

In operation 611 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may deactivate the at least one coil determined in operation 609 .

In operation 613 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may transmit power through the one or more coils after deactivating the at least one coil.

In operation 615 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may determine transmission efficiency based on information on transmitted power and information on power received from the wireless power receiver 102 . In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may perform operation 601 after determining the transmission efficiency.

In an embodiment, since operations 609 to 615 are at least partially the same as or similar to operations 505 to 511, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 6, when the previous transmission efficiency is greater than or equal to the current transmission efficiency in operation 601, and the difference between the previous transmission efficiency and the current transmission efficiency is less than a specified value in operation 603, the currently activated coil is determined as the coil to transmit power in operation 607 Although an example has been described, it is not limited thereto. For example, the control circuit 360 checks whether the difference between the previous transmission efficiency and the current transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than a specified value, and when the difference between the previous transmission efficiency and the current transmission efficiency is less than the specified value, the previous transmission efficiency is the current transmission efficiency Regardless of whether it is abnormal or not, it is possible to determine the currently active coil as the coil to transmit power. When it is determined that the difference between the previous transmission efficiency and the current transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than a specified value, the control circuit 360 may check whether the previous transmission efficiency is greater than the current transmission efficiency. The control circuit 360, when the previous transmission efficiency is greater than the current transmission efficiency (eg, when the difference between the previous transmission efficiency and the current transmission efficiency is greater than or equal to a specified value, and the previous transmission efficiency is greater than the current transmission efficiency), the coil deactivated and a currently activated coil may be determined as a coil to transmit power. The control circuit 360, when the previous transmission efficiency is less than the current transmission efficiency (eg, when the difference between the previous transmission efficiency and the current transmission efficiency is greater than or equal to a specified value, and the previous transmission efficiency is less than the current transmission efficiency), operations 609 to Operation 615 may be performed.

7 is a flowchart 700 illustrating a method of regulating power, in accordance with various embodiments.

In one embodiment, FIG. 7 shows, in operation 405 , the 1-1 th power transmitted to the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 , in operation 413 , the 2-1 th power transmitted to the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 , in operation 509 . It may be a flowchart illustrating a method for determining power transmitted to the wireless power receiving device 102 and/or power transmitted to the wireless power receiving device 102 in operation 613 .

In operation 701 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102 through one or more of the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. . For example, the control circuit 360 may transmit power having the first magnitude to the wireless power receiver 102 through one or more coils.

In operation 703 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may receive information for adjusting power from the wireless power receiving device 102 through the communication circuit 350 .

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 is configured to receive power from the wireless power receiver 102 by the power having a first magnitude transmitted from the electronic device 101 through the communication circuit 350 . The wireless power receiver 102 may receive information related to a desired target Vrect together with Vrect (eg, the size of Vrect) generated and measured in 102 . In an embodiment, the information related to the target Vrect may be information for increasing or decreasing power transmitted by the electronic device 101 in order for the wireless power receiving device 102 to obtain a desired target Vrect. For example, when the target Vrect is 5V (volt) and the Vrect measured by the wireless power receiver 102 by the power having the first magnitude transmitted to the electronic device 101 is 4V, the wireless power receiver 102 ) may transmit information requesting to increase the power transmitted by the electronic device 101 to the electronic device 101 through the communication circuit 350 in order to obtain 5V as the target Vrect. As another example, when the target Vrect is 5V (volt) and the Vrect measured by the wireless power receiver 102 by the power having the first magnitude transmitted to the electronic device 101 is 6V, the wireless power receiver ( The 102 may transmit information requesting to reduce the power transmitted by the electronic device 101 to the electronic device 101 through the communication circuit 350 in order to obtain 5V as the target Vrect.

At operation 705 , in one embodiment, the control circuit 360 may transmit the regulated power via the one or more coils using the DC/DC converter 320 .

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may adjust the power to be transmitted using the DC/DC converter 320 based on receiving information for adjusting the power. For example, when the target Vrect is 5V and the Vrect measured by the wireless power receiver 102 by the power having the first magnitude transmitted to the electronic device 101 is 4V, the control circuit 360 may The DC/DC converter 320 may be controlled to increase the magnitude of the voltage to be output by the DC converter 320 by a specified magnitude (eg, 0.1V) rather than the magnitude of the current output voltage.

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may transmit the adjusted power to the wireless power receiver 102 through one or more coils.

Although not shown in FIG. 7 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 , after transmitting the adjusted power, waits until Vrect of the wireless power receiver 102 is measured as the target Vrect (eg, wireless power reception). until the output voltage of the rectifying circuit of the device 102 is measured to the target Vrect), receiving information for adjusting the power from the wireless power receiving device 102 and adjusting using the DC/DC converter 320 An operation of transmitting the received power to the wireless power receiving device 102 may be repeatedly performed.

Although not shown in FIG. 7 , as described above with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6 , the control circuit 360 receives the 1-1 power transmitted to the wireless power receiver 102 in operation 405 and wireless power in operation 413 . The 2-1 th power transmitted to the device 102 , the power transmitted to the wireless power receiving device 102 in operation 509 , and/or the power transmitted to the wireless power receiving device 102 in operation 613 is determined by the wireless power receiving device At 102 , the voltage of the DC/DC converter 320 may be adjusted so that a target Vrect having the same magnitude is measured.

8 is a flowchart 800 illustrating a method of wirelessly providing power, in accordance with various embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 8 , in operation 801 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 performs a first operation through a plurality of first coils (eg, a plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N). signal can be transmitted. Examples of operation 801 are at least partially the same as or similar to those of operation 401, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In operation 803 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 is configured to receive, from the wireless power receiving device 102 , through the communication circuit 350 , a second signal corresponding to (or in response to) the first signal. can

In one embodiment, the control circuit 360 is configured to provide identification information (eg, the wireless power receiver (eg, the wireless power receiver) 102 ) and/or information on the type of the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 may be further received. For example, the control circuit 360, from the wireless power receiving device 102, through the communication circuit 350, together with Vrect identification information of the wireless power receiving device 102 and / or the wireless power receiving device 102 ) can receive information about the type of As another example, the control circuit 360 receives Vrect from the wireless power receiver 102 through the communication circuit 350 , and then receives identification information and/or wireless power of the wireless power receiver 102 . Information on the type of the receiving device 102 may be received.

In operation 805 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 , based on the second signal, transmits a plurality of 1-1 powers (eg, power to be transmitted to the wireless power receiver 102 in operation 807 ). The second coils may be determined.

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may identify a plurality of Vrects respectively corresponding to a plurality of digital ping signals sequentially transmitted by the plurality of first coils. The control circuit 360 may compare a plurality of Vrects (eg, sizes of the plurality of Vrects) with a threshold Vrect (eg, a size of a threshold Vrect). The control circuit 360 may determine, among the plurality of Vrects, coils to which digital ping signals corresponding to Vrects greater than or equal to a threshold Vrect are transmitted as a plurality of second coils to which the 1-1 th power is transmitted.

In one embodiment, the control circuit 360 is, based on the identification information of the wireless power receiving device 102 received from the wireless power receiving device 102 and/or information on the type of the wireless power receiving device 102 . , you can set the threshold Vrect. For example, the control circuit 360 may determine that, based on the identification information of the wireless power receiving device 102 and/or information on the type of the wireless power receiving device 102 , the wireless power receiving device 102 may have more power. For a device that consumes a lot of , the threshold Vrect can be set low. For another example, the control circuit 360 may determine that the wireless power receiver 102 is more For a device that consumes little power, the threshold Vrect may be set high.

Although not shown in FIG. 8 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 determines a plurality of second coils from among a plurality of first coils (eg, a plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N). , from among the plurality of first coils in the activated state, at least one remaining coil may be inactivated except for the plurality of second coils.

In operation 807 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may transmit the first-first power through the plurality of second coils.

In operation 809 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 , based on the information on the 1-1 th power and the information on the 1-2 th power received from the wireless power receiver 102 , the first transmission efficiency can be determined.

In operation 811 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may determine at least one coil to be deactivated from among the plurality of second coils based on the second signal.

In operation 813 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may deactivate the at least one coil through a switch connected to the at least one coil.

In operation 815 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may transmit the 2-1 th power through one or more coils except for at least one deactivated coil among the plurality of second coils.

In operation 817 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 performs second transmission based on the information on the 2-1 th power and the information on the 2-2 th power received from the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 . efficiency can be determined.

In operation 819 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may determine a coil to transmit power based on the first transmission efficiency and the second transmission efficiency.

Examples of operations 807 to 819 are at least partially the same as or similar to operations 405 to 417, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

9 is a flowchart 900 illustrating a method of determining a coil to transmit power to based on a standing wave ratio, in accordance with various embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 9 , in operation 901 , in one embodiment, the control circuit 360 may provide a plurality of voltage standing wave ratios (VSWRs) corresponding to the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N, respectively. ) can be checked.

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may sequentially transmit a plurality of powers through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. The control circuit 360, through the sensor, for each of the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N, transmit power (forwarded power) (eg, resonant circuits (eg, a plurality of coils 341 - 341 ) 1 to 341-N) and power supplied to the plurality of capacitors 343-1 to 343-N) respectively or power output from the inverter 330) and reflection power (eg, from resonant circuits) provided power). The control circuit 360 may determine (eg, calculate) the standing wave ratios respectively corresponding to the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N.

In an embodiment, as the standing wave ratio increases, the distance between the electronic device 101 and the wireless power receiver 102 may be shorter. In an embodiment, as the standing wave ratio decreases, the distance between the electronic device 101 and the wireless power receiver 102 may be greater.

In operation 903 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may transmit the 1-1 th power through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N.

In operation 905 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 , based on the information on the 1-1 power and the information on the 1-2 th power received from the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 , the first transmission efficiency can be determined.

Since the examples of operations 903 and 905 are at least partially the same as or similar to the examples of operations 405 and 407, detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

At operation 907 , in one embodiment, the control circuit 360 deactivates among the plurality of coils 341-1 through 341-N based on the plurality of standing wave ratios (eg, magnitudes of the plurality of standing wave ratios). At least one coil to be can be determined.

In one embodiment, the control circuit 360 is configured to convert the coil corresponding to the smallest standing wave ratio among the plurality of standing wave ratios respectively corresponding to the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N as at least one coil to be deactivated. can decide

In operation 909 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may deactivate the at least one coil through a switch connected to the at least one coil.

In operation 911, in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may transmit the 2-1 th power through one or more coils except for at least one deactivated coil among the plurality of second coils.

In operation 913 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 performs second transmission based on the information on the 2-1 th power and the information on the 2-2 th power received from the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 . efficiency can be determined.

In operation 915 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may determine a coil to transmit power based on the first transmission efficiency and the second transmission efficiency.

Examples of operations 909 to 915 are at least partially the same as or similar to operations 411 to 417, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

10 is a flowchart 1000 illustrating a method of determining a coil to transmit power based on an impedance of a resonant circuit according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 10 , in operation 1001 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may identify phases of impedances corresponding to each of a plurality of resonant circuits.

In an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may sequentially transmit a plurality of powers through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. The control circuit 360, through the sensor, with respect to each of the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N, the waveform of the voltage and the current provided to the resonance circuit (or the voltage output from the inverter 330) waveforms and current waveforms) can be detected. The control circuit 360 may detect, with respect to each of the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N, zero crossing points of a waveform of a voltage and a waveform of a current provided to the resonance circuit. . The control circuit 360, for each of the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N, based on the detected zero points, the phase of the impedance of the resonance circuit (eg, the waveform of the voltage input to the resonance circuit) delay phase of the waveform of the current input to the resonance circuit) can be checked.

In an embodiment, the phase of the impedance of the resonant circuit increases with a negative sign as the distance between the electronic device 101 and the wireless power receiver 102 is shorter (eg, the impedance of the resonant circuit of the electronic device 101 ). increases) and increases with a (+) sign as the distance between the electronic device 101 and the wireless power receiver 102 increases (eg, induction of the impedance of the resonance circuit of the electronic device 101 ) the inductive component may be increased).

In operation 1003 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may transmit the 1-1th power through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N.

In operation 1005 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 , based on the information on the 1-1 power and the information on the 1-2 th power received from the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 , the first transmission efficiency can be determined.

Since the examples of operations 1003 and 1005 are at least partially the same as or similar to the examples of operations 405 and 407, detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

In operation 1007 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may determine at least one coil to be deactivated among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N based on the phases of the plurality of impedances. .

In one embodiment, the control circuit 360 is configured to have the largest phase (eg, having the largest inductive component) among the phases of the plurality of impedances respectively corresponding to the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. impedance) may be determined as at least one coil to be deactivated.

In operation 1009, in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may deactivate the at least one coil through a switch connected to the at least one coil.

In operation 1011 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may transmit the 2-1 th power through one or more coils except for at least one deactivated coil among the plurality of second coils.

In operation 1013 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 performs second transmission based on the information on the 2-1 th power and the information on the 2-2 th power received from the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 . efficiency can be determined.

In operation 1015 , in an embodiment, the control circuit 360 may determine a coil to transmit power based on the first transmission efficiency and the second transmission efficiency.

Examples of operations 1009 to 1015 are at least partially the same as or similar to operations 411 to 417, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

A method of wirelessly providing power from an electronic device 101 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure includes a DC/DC converter 320 of the electronic device 101 and an inverter 330 of the electronic device 101 . an operation of transmitting a first signal through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N of the electronic device 101 using Using the DC/DC converter 320 and the inverter 330, through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N, the 1-1 power is supplied to the wireless power receiving device 102 . The operation of transmitting, the operation of determining the first transmission efficiency based on the information on the 1-1 power and the information on the 1-2-th power received from the wireless power receiver 102, the second signal determining at least one coil to be deactivated from among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N based on of the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-1 to by using the DC/DC converter 320 and the inverter 330 to deactivate the at least one coil through a switch connected to the at least one coil among 341-N), the operation of transmitting the 2-1 th power to the wireless power receiver 102 through one or more coils except for the at least one coil, information on the 2-1 th power and the wireless power Determining a second transmission efficiency based on the information on the 2-2nd power received from the receiving device 102, and based on the first transmission efficiency and the second transmission efficiency, the plurality of coils Determining a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102 from among (341-1 to 341-N) may include.

In various embodiments, the first signal is a plurality of digital ping signals sequentially transmitted to the wireless power receiver 102 through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N, and the first signal is Signal 2 may include information related to output voltages (Vrects) of the rectifier circuit of the wireless power receiver 102 generated by the plurality of digital ping signals.

In various embodiments, the determining of at least one coil to be deactivated among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N may include, among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N, the output and determining, as at least one coil to be deactivated, a coil that has transmitted a digital ping signal corresponding to an output voltage having a smallest magnitude among voltage magnitudes.

In various embodiments, the determining of at least one coil to be deactivated among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N may include, among the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N, the output At least one coil that transmits a digital ping signal corresponding to an output voltage having a magnitude less than a specified ratio of the magnitude of the smallest among the magnitudes of the output voltages and the magnitude of the largest output voltage among the magnitudes of the output voltages is deactivated. It may include an operation of determining the coil.

In various embodiments, the operation of determining a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102 includes an operation of determining whether the first transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than the second transmission efficiency, and the first transmission efficiency is When the second transmission efficiency is greater than or equal to the second transmission efficiency, determining the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N as a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102 may include.

In various embodiments, in the method, the operation of determining a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiving device 102 , the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N is the wireless power receiving device 102 . ) when it is determined as a coil to transmit power to, the operation of activating the at least one coil through a switch connected to the at least one coil, and the at least one coil and the one or more coils, the wireless power receiving device The operation may further include transmitting power to 102 .

In various embodiments, the method includes, when the first transmission efficiency is less than the second transmission efficiency, determining at least one coil to be deactivated among the one or more coils based on the second signal, the plurality of An operation of deactivating the at least one coil through a switch connected to the at least one coil among the switches 345-1 to 345-N, using the DC/DC converter 320 and the inverter 330 to transmit the 3-1 power to the wireless power receiver 102 through the remaining coils except for the at least one coil among the one or more coils, information on the 3-1 power and the Determining a third transmission efficiency based on the information on the 3-2 power received from the wireless power receiver 102, and based on the second transmission efficiency and the third transmission efficiency, the one or more The method may further include determining a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102 from among the coils.

In various embodiments, the determining of a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102 may include, when the first transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than the second transmission efficiency, between the first transmission efficiency and the second transmission efficiency. An operation of determining whether the difference is greater than or equal to a specified value, when the difference is greater than the specified value, transmit power to the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N to the wireless power receiver 102 determining the coil, and when the difference is less than the specified value, determining the one or more coils as a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver 102 .

In various embodiments, the operation of transmitting the 1-1 th power may include checking output voltages of a rectifier circuit of the wireless power receiving apparatus 102 , the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N. Among the output voltages, the operation of identifying coils that have transmitted digital ping signals corresponding to output voltages equal to or greater than the threshold voltage, and using the DC/DC converter 320 and the inverter 330 , the threshold voltage and transmitting the 1-1 th power to the wireless power receiver 102 through the coils that have transmitted digital ping signals corresponding to the above output voltages.

In various embodiments, the operation of transmitting the 1-1th power may include, to the wireless power receiving device 102 , through the plurality of coils 341-1 to 341-N, the wireless power receiving device ( and controlling the DC/DC converter 320 to transmit the 1-1 power so that the output voltage of the rectifier circuit of the wireless power receiver 102 is measured as a target voltage in 102) , and the operation of transmitting the second-first power to the wireless power receiving device 102, through the one or more coils, the output voltage of the rectifying circuit in the wireless power receiving device 102 is the target voltage In order to transmit the 2-1 th power to be measured, the operation may include controlling and transmitting the DC/DC converter 320 .

In addition, the structure of the data used in the above-described embodiment of the present invention may be recorded in a computer-readable recording medium through various means. The computer-readable recording medium includes a storage medium such as a magnetic storage medium (eg, ROM, floppy disk, hard disk, etc.) and an optically readable medium (eg, CD-ROM, DVD, etc.).

So far, the present invention has been looked at with respect to preferred embodiments thereof. Those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains will understand that the present invention may be implemented in a modified form without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments are to be considered in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The scope of the present invention is indicated in the claims rather than the foregoing description, and all differences within the scope equivalent thereto should be construed as being included in the present invention.

101: electronic device 102: wireless power receiver

Claims (20)

In an electronic device,
DC/DC converter;
inverter;
a plurality of coils;
a plurality of switches connected to each of the plurality of coils; and
control circuit,
The control circuit is
Transmitting a first signal through the plurality of coils using the DC/DC converter and the inverter,
receiving a second signal in response to the first signal;
using the DC/DC converter and the inverter to transmit the 1-1 power to the wireless power receiver through the plurality of coils,
determining a first transmission efficiency based on the information on the 1-1 power and the information on the 1-2 power received from the wireless power receiver;
determining at least one coil to be deactivated from among the plurality of coils based on the second signal;
Deactivating the at least one coil through a switch connected to the at least one coil among the plurality of switches,
Using the DC/DC converter and the inverter, the 2-1 th power is transmitted to the wireless power receiver through one or more coils excluding the at least one coil among the plurality of coils,
Based on the information on the 2-1 power and the information on the 2-2 power received from the wireless power receiver, a second transmission efficiency is determined, and
and determine a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver from among the plurality of coils based on the first transmission efficiency and the second transmission efficiency.
The method of claim 1,
The first signal is a plurality of digital ping signals sequentially transmitted to the wireless power receiver through the plurality of coils, and
The second signal includes information related to output voltages (Vrects) of a rectifier circuit of the wireless power receiver generated by the plurality of digital ping signals.
3. The method of claim 2,
The control circuit is
and determine, among the plurality of coils, a coil that has transmitted a digital ping signal corresponding to an output voltage having a smallest magnitude among magnitudes of the output voltages as at least one coil to be deactivated.
3. The method of claim 2,
The control circuit is
Among the plurality of coils, at least one that transmits a digital ping signal corresponding to an output voltage having a magnitude less than a specified ratio of the magnitude of the smallest output voltage among the magnitudes of the output voltages and the magnitude of the largest output voltage among magnitudes of the output voltages An electronic device configured to determine the one coil as the at least one coil to be deactivated.
The method of claim 1,
The control circuit is
Check whether the first transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than the second transmission efficiency, and
and determine the plurality of coils as coils to transmit power to the wireless power receiver when the first transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than the second transmission efficiency.
6. The method of claim 5,
The control circuit is
When it is determined that the plurality of coils are coils for transmitting power to the wireless power receiver, the at least one coil is activated through a switch connected to the at least one coil, and
an electronic device configured to transmit power to the wireless power receiver through the at least one coil and the one or more coils.
6. The method of claim 5,
The control circuit is
When the first transmission efficiency is less than the second transmission efficiency, based on the second signal, determine at least one coil to be deactivated among the one or more coils,
Deactivating the at least one coil through a switch connected to the at least one coil among the plurality of switches,
Using the DC/DC converter and the inverter, the 3-1 th power is transmitted to the wireless power receiver through the remaining coils except for the at least one coil among the one or more coils,
Based on the information on the 3-1 power and the information on the 3-2 power received from the wireless power receiver, a third transmission efficiency is determined, and
and determine a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver from among the one or more coils based on the second transmission efficiency and the third transmission efficiency.
The method of claim 1,
The control circuit is
When the first transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than the second transmission efficiency, it is checked whether a difference between the first transmission efficiency and the second transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than a specified value;
If the difference is greater than the specified value, determining the plurality of coils as coils to transmit power to the wireless power receiver, and
and if the difference is less than the specified value, determine the one or more coils as a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver.
3. The method of claim 2,
The control circuit is
Check the output voltages of the rectifier circuit of the wireless power receiver,
Among the plurality of coils, coils that have transmitted digital ping signals corresponding to output voltages greater than or equal to a threshold voltage among the output voltages are identified, and
configured to transmit the 1-1 power to the wireless power receiver through the coils that have transmitted digital ping signals corresponding to output voltages greater than or equal to the threshold voltage using the DC/DC converter and the inverter electronic device.
The method of claim 1,
The control circuit is
In order to transmit the 1-1 power through the plurality of coils to the wireless power receiver so that the output voltage of the rectifier circuit of the wireless power receiver is measured as a target voltage in the wireless power receiver, control the DC/DC converter, and
To transmit the 2-1 power to the wireless power receiver, through the one or more coils, the output voltage of the rectifier circuit in the wireless power receiver measures the target voltage, the DC/ An electronic device configured to control and transmit a DC converter.
A method for wirelessly providing power in an electronic device, the method comprising:
transmitting a first signal through a plurality of coils of the electronic device using a DC/DC converter of the electronic device and an inverter of the electronic device;
receiving a second signal responsive to the first signal;
transmitting the 1-1 th power to the wireless power receiver through the plurality of coils using the DC/DC converter and the inverter;
determining a first transmission efficiency based on the information on the 1-1 power and the information on the 1-2 power received from the wireless power receiver;
determining at least one coil to be deactivated from among the plurality of coils based on the second signal;
deactivating the at least one coil through a switch connected to the at least one coil among a plurality of switches of the electronic device;
transmitting the 2-1 th power to the wireless power receiver through one or more coils excluding the at least one coil among the plurality of coils using the DC/DC converter and the inverter;
determining a second transmission efficiency based on the information on the 2-1 power and the information on the 2-2 power received from the wireless power receiver; and
and determining a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver from among the plurality of coils based on the first transmission efficiency and the second transmission efficiency.
12. The method of claim 11,
The first signal is a plurality of digital ping signals sequentially transmitted to the wireless power receiver through the plurality of coils, and
The second signal includes information related to output voltages (Vrects) of a rectifier circuit of the wireless power receiver generated by the plurality of digital ping signals.
13. The method of claim 12,
The operation of determining at least one coil to be deactivated from among the plurality of coils includes:
and determining, among the plurality of coils, a coil that has transmitted a digital ping signal corresponding to an output voltage having a smallest magnitude among magnitudes of the output voltages as at least one coil to be deactivated.
13. The method of claim 12,
The operation of determining at least one coil to be deactivated from among the plurality of coils includes:
Among the plurality of coils, at least one that transmits a digital ping signal corresponding to an output voltage having a magnitude less than a specified ratio of the magnitude of the smallest output voltage among the magnitudes of the output voltages and the magnitude of the largest output voltage among magnitudes of the output voltages and determining the one coil as the at least one coil to be deactivated.
12. The method of claim 11,
The operation of determining a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver includes:
checking whether the first transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than the second transmission efficiency; and
and determining the plurality of coils as coils to transmit power to the wireless power receiver when the first transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than the second transmission efficiency.
16. The method of claim 15,
The operation of determining a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver includes:
activating the at least one coil through a switch connected to the at least one coil when it is determined that the plurality of coils are coils for transmitting power to the wireless power receiver; and
The method further comprising transmitting power to the wireless power receiver through the at least one coil and the one or more coils.
16. The method of claim 15,
determining at least one coil to be deactivated among the one or more coils based on the second signal when the first transmission efficiency is less than the second transmission efficiency;
deactivating the at least one coil through a switch connected to the at least one coil among the plurality of switches;
transmitting 3-1 th power to the wireless power receiver through the remaining coils except for the at least one coil among the one or more coils using the DC/DC converter and the inverter;
determining a third transmission efficiency based on the information on the 3-1 power and the information on the 3-2 power received from the wireless power receiver; and
The method further comprising determining a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver from among the one or more coils based on the second transmission efficiency and the third transmission efficiency.
12. The method of claim 11,
The operation of determining a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver includes:
when the first transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than the second transmission efficiency, determining whether a difference between the first transmission efficiency and the second transmission efficiency is equal to or greater than a specified value;
determining the plurality of coils as coils to transmit power to the wireless power receiver when the difference is greater than the specified value; and
and when the difference is less than the specified value, determining the one or more coils as a coil to transmit power to the wireless power receiver.
13. The method of claim 12,
The operation of transmitting the 1-1 power is,
checking output voltages of a rectifier circuit of the wireless power receiver;
checking, among the plurality of coils, coils that have transmitted digital ping signals corresponding to output voltages greater than or equal to a threshold voltage among the output voltages; and
Transmitting the 1-1 power to the wireless power receiver through the coils that have transmitted digital ping signals corresponding to output voltages greater than or equal to the threshold voltage using the DC/DC converter and the inverter How to include.
12. The method of claim 11,
The operation of transmitting the 1-1 power may include measuring an output voltage of a rectifier circuit of the wireless power receiving device as a target voltage in the wireless power receiving device through the plurality of coils to the wireless power receiving device controlling the DC/DC converter to transmit the 1-1 power; and
In the second-first operation of transmitting the power, the output voltage of the rectifier circuit is measured in the wireless power receiving device through the one or more coils to the wireless power receiving device so that the target voltage is measured. -1 A method comprising controlling and transmitting the DC/DC converter to transmit power.

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