US20200059117A9 - Generator unit for wireless power transfer - Google Patents
Generator unit for wireless power transfer Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20200059117A9 US20200059117A9 US16/143,332 US201816143332A US2020059117A9 US 20200059117 A9 US20200059117 A9 US 20200059117A9 US 201816143332 A US201816143332 A US 201816143332A US 2020059117 A9 US2020059117 A9 US 2020059117A9
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- signal
- signals
- power
- generating elements
- signal generator
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
- 238000012546 transfer Methods 0.000 title claims description 30
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 claims description 32
- 239000004065 semiconductor Substances 0.000 claims description 8
- 239000000758 substrate Substances 0.000 claims description 7
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 16
- 230000005540 biological transmission Effects 0.000 description 13
- 239000000872 buffer Substances 0.000 description 12
- 238000004891 communication Methods 0.000 description 12
- 230000004044 response Effects 0.000 description 9
- 230000008901 benefit Effects 0.000 description 6
- 230000003044 adaptive effect Effects 0.000 description 5
- 230000008859 change Effects 0.000 description 4
- 230000001939 inductive effect Effects 0.000 description 4
- 230000010287 polarization Effects 0.000 description 4
- 230000008878 coupling Effects 0.000 description 3
- 238000010168 coupling process Methods 0.000 description 3
- 238000005859 coupling reaction Methods 0.000 description 3
- 238000001514 detection method Methods 0.000 description 3
- 230000007613 environmental effect Effects 0.000 description 3
- 230000007274 generation of a signal involved in cell-cell signaling Effects 0.000 description 3
- 238000005457 optimization Methods 0.000 description 3
- 239000000243 solution Substances 0.000 description 3
- 241000282412 Homo Species 0.000 description 2
- 241000699666 Mus <mouse, genus> Species 0.000 description 2
- 238000007792 addition Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000013459 approach Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000004807 localization Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000010248 power generation Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 description 2
- 241000699670 Mus sp. Species 0.000 description 1
- XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silicon Chemical compound [Si] XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 230000002457 bidirectional effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000005094 computer simulation Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000003247 decreasing effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 235000019800 disodium phosphate Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 1
- VJYFKVYYMZPMAB-UHFFFAOYSA-N ethoprophos Chemical compound CCCSP(=O)(OCC)SCCC VJYFKVYYMZPMAB-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 231100001261 hazardous Toxicity 0.000 description 1
- 238000002347 injection Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000007924 injection Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000010354 integration Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000005259 measurement Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000012544 monitoring process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000000737 periodic effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000010363 phase shift Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000035755 proliferation Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000005855 radiation Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000011084 recovery Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000029058 respiratory gaseous exchange Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000035945 sensitivity Effects 0.000 description 1
- 229910052710 silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000010703 silicon Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000004088 simulation Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000779 smoke Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000001052 transient effect Effects 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
- H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
- H02J7/00—Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
- H02J7/0042—Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries characterised by the mechanical construction
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
- H01Q21/00—Antenna arrays or systems
- H01Q21/06—Arrays of individually energised antenna units similarly polarised and spaced apart
- H01Q21/22—Antenna units of the array energised non-uniformly in amplitude or phase, e.g. tapered array or binomial array
- H01Q21/225—Finite focus antenna arrays
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
- H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
- H02J50/00—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power
- H02J50/005—Mechanical details of housing or structure aiming to accommodate the power transfer means, e.g. mechanical integration of coils, antennas or transducers into emitting or receiving devices
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
- H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
- H02J50/00—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power
- H02J50/20—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power using microwaves or radio frequency waves
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
- H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
- H02J50/00—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power
- H02J50/20—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power using microwaves or radio frequency waves
- H02J50/23—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power using microwaves or radio frequency waves characterised by the type of transmitting antennas, e.g. directional array antennas or Yagi antennas
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
- H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
- H02J50/00—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power
- H02J50/40—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power using two or more transmitting or receiving devices
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
- H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
- H02J50/00—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power
- H02J50/40—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power using two or more transmitting or receiving devices
- H02J50/402—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power using two or more transmitting or receiving devices the two or more transmitting or the two or more receiving devices being integrated in the same unit, e.g. power mats with several coils or antennas with several sub-antennas
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
- H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
- H02J50/00—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power
- H02J50/60—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power responsive to the presence of foreign objects, e.g. detection of living beings
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
- H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
- H02J50/00—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power
- H02J50/80—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power involving the exchange of data, concerning supply or distribution of electric power, between transmitting devices and receiving devices
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
- H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
- H02J50/00—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power
- H02J50/90—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power involving detection or optimisation of position, e.g. alignment
-
- H02J7/025—
-
- H04B5/79—
Definitions
- Wireless power transmission may be achieved using inductive coupling or electromagnetic waves.
- Inductive coupling can deliver power over a short range.
- Electromagnetic (EM) waves may be used to transmit power over a longer distance. Both inductive coupling and EM waves cause an alternating current (AC) to be generated at the receiver.
- AC alternating current
- An RF signal generator adapted to wirelessly transfer power to a first wireless device includes, in part, a multitude of generating elements adapted to generate a multitude of RF signals transmitted by a multitude of antennas, a wireless signal receiver, and a control unit adapted to control the phases of the RF signals generated by the generating elements in accordance with a signal received by the receiver.
- the signal received by the receiver includes, in part, information representative of the amount of RF power the first wireless device receives from the RF signal generator.
- control unit is further adapted to control the amplitude of the RF signals generated by the generating elements.
- the RF signal generator is adapted to wirelessly transfer power to the first wireless device using time-domain multiplexing.
- the RF signal generator is further adapted to power a second wireless device concurrently with the first wireless device.
- the RF generator is adapted to power the first and second wireless devices using time-domain multiplexing.
- the RF signal generator further includes, in part, a second multitude of generating elements each adapted to generate an RF signal.
- the control unit is further adapted to cause either the first multitude of generating elements or the second multitude of generating elements to generate RF signals during a given time period.
- each of the first and second multitude of generating elements generates an RF signal in accordance with a reference timing signal supplied by the control unit.
- the RF signal generator further includes, in part, a detector adapted to detect an RF signal caused by scattering or reflection of the RF signal transmitted by the first multitude of antennas.
- the control unit is further adapted to control a phase or amplitude of the RF signal generated by each of the first multitude of RF signal generating elements in accordance with the signal detected by the detector.
- the detector is further adapted to detect the presence of objects or living organisms positioned along the path of the RF signal transmitted by the first multitude of antennas.
- the RF signal generator is integrated on a semiconductor substrate.
- the RF signal generator is adapted to receive the second multitude of generating elements in a modular fashion to enable the control unit control the phase or amplitude of the RF signal generated by each of the second multitude of RF signal generating elements in accordance with the signal the receiver receives from the first wireless device.
- the RF signal generator further includes, in part, a multitude of control locked loops adapted to provide timing signals used in varying the phases of the RF signals generated by the RF signal generating elements.
- the RF signal generator further includes, in part, a multitude of phase rotators adapted to vary the phases of the RF signals generated by the RF signal generating elements.
- the reference timing signal is delivered to the first and second multitude of generating elements via a tree-like distribution network.
- a method of powering a first wireless device using radio frequency (RF) signals includes, in part, transmitting a first multitude of RF signals via a first plurality of antennas, receiving a signal from the first wireless device, and controlling the phases of the first multitude of RF signals in accordance with the signal received from the first wireless device.
- the signal received from the first wireless device includes information representative of an amount of RF power the first wireless device receives.
- the method further includes, in part, controlling the amplitudes of the RF signals transmitted by the first multitude of antennas in accordance with the signal received from the first wireless device.
- the method further includes, in part, transmitting the first multitude of RF signals using time-domain multiplexing.
- the method in accordance with one embodiment, further includes, in part, transmitting a second multitude of RF signals to power a second wireless device concurrently with the first wireless device.
- the method in accordance with one embodiment, further includes, in part, transmitting the first and second multitude of RF signals in accordance with a reference timing signal supplied by a control unit.
- the method further includes, in part, detecting a scattered RF signal caused by scattering or reflection of the RF signal transmitted by the first multitude of antennas.
- the method further includes, in part, controlling the phases of the first multitude of RF signals in accordance with the detected RF signal.
- the method in accordance with one embodiment, further includes, in part, detecting the presence of objects or living organisms positioned along the path of the first multitude of RF signals.
- the method further includes, in part, generating the first multitude of RF signals via a first multitude of generating elements formed on a semiconductor substrate.
- the semiconductor substrate further including, a receiving unit receiving the signal from the first wireless device, and a controller controlling the phases of the first multitude of RF signals.
- the method further includes, in part, generating the first multitude of RF signals via a first multitude of generating elements disposed in a generating unit adapted to receive a second multitude of generating elements in a modular fashion. The second multitude of generating elements generating the second multitude of RF signals.
- the method further includes, in part, controlling the phases of the first multitude of RF signals in accordance with a timing signal generated by one or more control locked loops.
- the method further includes, in part, controlling the phases of the first multitude of RF signals using a multitude of phase rotators.
- the method in accordance with one embodiment, further includes, in part controlling the phases of the first and second multitude of RF signals using timing signals delivered via a tree-like distribution network.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a generation unit adapted to wirelessly transfer power to a receive unit via radio frequency (RF) electro-magnetic waves, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
- RF radio frequency
- FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a generation unit adapted to wirelessly transfer power to a receive unit via RF electro-magnetic waves, in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 3 is an exemplary computer simulation of the power transmission efficiency of an RF power generator.
- FIG. 4 is an exemplary timing diagram of cycles during which power is transferred from a generating unit to a receive unit, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 5 is an exemplary time-domain multiplexed cycles used to transfer power from a generating unit to a multitude of receive units, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 6A shows a generating units having disposed therein a multitude of generating elements and a receiver, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 6B shows exemplary changes in the instantaneous power generated by a generating unit in response to the detection of, a human, a pet, other environmental changes, or conditions, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a pair of generating units operating cooperatively to deliver power wirelessly, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a generating element, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a generating element, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 10A is a block diagram of a power amplifier disposed in a generating element and whose power may be varied by changing the resistance of a variable resistor.
- FIG. 10B is a block diagram of power amplifier disposed in a generating element and whose power may be varied by changing the supply voltage.
- FIG. 11 shows an exemplary distribution network distributing reference timing signals to a multitude of generating unit modules disposed in a generating unit, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a generation unit module adapted to wirelessly transfer power to a receive unit via RF electro-magnetic waves, in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
- FIGS. 13A-13D show a number of different configurations by which a multitude of generating elements may be arranged to form a generating unit, in accordance with some exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
- power is adaptively transferred wirelessly from one or more sources of electromagnetic waves (also referred to herein as generation units) to one or more receive units (also referred to herein as recovery units or devices) adapted to convert the received radio-frequencies (RF) EM power to a direct current (DC) electrical power.
- sources of electromagnetic waves also referred to herein as generation units
- receive units also referred to herein as recovery units or devices
- RF radio-frequencies
- DC direct current
- Embodiments of the present invention transfer power over short or medium ranges in a multitude of configurations, as described further below.
- a generation unit in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, is reconfigurable and adaptive to enable the RF power to be localized in space to maximize power transmission from the generation unit to the receive unit, and minimize RF power loss through radiation. This enables the receive unit to be physically relatively small without affecting the transfer efficiency.
- a generation unit in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, may be adaptively controlled to vary the path(s) for the RF power transfer, localization of wireless power transfer is achieved even in the presence of multi-path effects.
- the generation unit may be further adapted to track the receive unit and account for reflections off the obstacles in the surrounding environment.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a generation unit (GU) 100 adapted to wirelessly transfer power to a receive unit 170 via radio frequency (RF) electro-magnetic (EM) waves, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
- GU 100 is shown as including a control unit 120 , a receiver 150 , and a multitude of power generating elements 110 1 , 110 2 , 110 3 , 110 4 . . . 110 N , where N is an integer greater than one.
- Control unit 120 is configured to control the operations of the generating elements. For example, in one embodiment, control unit 120 controls the phase and/or amplitude of the RF signal generated by each generating element 110 i independently, where i is an integer ranging from 1 to N. Control unit 120 is also adapted to perform other functions such as optimization of the wireless power transfer.
- Each generating element 110 i (also referred to as generating element 110 ) is shown as being coupled to an antenna 130 i .
- control unit 120 causes GU 100 to deliver the RF power in an optimum way, as described below and in application Ser. No. 14/078,489, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
- GU 100 is integrated on a semiconductor substrate.
- each generating element 110 is shown as being associated with an antenna, it is understood that in other embodiments a multitude of generating elements 110 may share the same antenna with each generating element 110 driving the shared antenna along a predefined polarization direction.
- each generating element 110 is shown as being associated with a single antenna, it is understood that in other embodiments a generating element 110 may be associated with a multitude of antennas.
- FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a GU 200 adapted to wirelessly transfer power, in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
- GU 200 is shown as including a control unit 120 and a multitude of power generating unit modules 250 1 . . . 250 M , where M is an integer greater than one.
- Each generating unit module 250 i is shown as including a multitude of generating elements 210 1 , 210 2 . . . 210 N where N is an integer greater than one.
- Each generating unit module 250 i is also shown as including an RF signal generation circuit 215 j wherein j is an integer ranging from 1 to M, a receiver 150 j and an optional local control unit 220 j .
- each generating element 210 i (also referred to as generating element 210 ) is shown as being coupled to an associated antenna, it is understood that in other embodiments, a multitude of generating elements 210 may share the same antenna with each generating element 210 driving the shared antenna along a predefined polarization direction.
- each generating element 210 is shown being as associated with a single antenna, it is understood that in other embodiments a generating element 210 may be associated with a multitude of antennas.
- Control unit 120 which is a master control unit, is adapted to control and vary the phase and/or amplitude of the RF signal generated by each generating element 210 i of each generating unit module 250 j independently via control signal Element_control.
- Each local control unit 220 j is adapted to control the operations of generating elements 210 1 , 210 2 . . . 210 N disposed in that generating unit module in response to signal Local_control generated by control unit 210 .
- each RF signal generation block 215 j of each generating unit module 250 j supplies a reference timing signal to generating elements 210 1 , 210 2 . . . 210 N disposed in that generating unit in response to a timing signal supplied by control unit 120 .
- each RF signal generation block 215 j may be a frequency/phase locked-loop, delay locked-loop or any other control locked-loop or tunable delay circuit that generates a reference timing signal.
- each generating elements 210 1 , 210 2 . . . 210 N of each generation unit module 250 j are performed, in part, in response to commands/data issued by the generating unit's associated local control unit 220 j . Accordingly, each generating elements 210 1 , 210 2 . . . 210 N of each generation unit 250 j may be independently controlled either by the local control unit 220 j , or control unit 120 common to all generation units 250 j .
- the RF power transferred to a receive unit 170 may be maximized.
- receive unit 170 transmits a signal to the GU which includes information about the amount of power the receive unit is receiving from the GU.
- the signal transmitted by the receive unit is received by receiver 150 disposed in the GU or in the generating unit modules disposed in the GU.
- the receive unit broadcasts a signal Power_FB that includes a unique identifier assigned to the receive unit as well as information indicative of the amount of power the receive unit is receiving.
- the signal transmitted by the receive unit may further inform the generating unit that the receiver is in the vicinity of the generating unit and is ready to receive power.
- the signal transmitted by the receive unit may further identify the receive unit's device type, such as a robot, a mouse, and the like.
- the wireless communications between the receive and generating units may be performed in accordance with any of communications protocols.
- the GU receives and uses the information in signal Power_FB to adaptively change the phase and/or amplitude of the RF signals transmitted by the generating elements 210 to maintain and/or maximize the power transfer and/or the transfer efficiency to the receive unit.
- Many conventional algorithms such as the Nelder-Mead, gradient descent, Newton-Raphson, may be used to achieve such optimization.
- adaptive control of the control unit 120 may be performed in accordance with a quadratic program with a global optimum solution.
- a receive unit may use any wireless communication protocol, either in existence today or developed in the future.
- an IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN) standard may be used by a receive unit to send a signal to the GU to indicate the power the receive unit is receiving from the GU.
- WLAN wireless local area network
- such communication may be performed using, for example, the Bluetooth, Zigbee, and the like.
- a GU may operate as a WLAN server to select a receiving element from among a multitude of receiving elements to establish communications with. Communication between the GUs to coordinate their operations may also be handled via a two-way wireless communications network.
- Such communication links may also be used by the receive unit to broadcast the receive unit's ID, and to inform the GUs that the receiver is ready to receive power.
- the signal identifying the receive unit's device type, as well as any other communications between the receive unit and the GU(s) may also be carried out using such communications links.
- the generation unit modules may be caused to transmit power sequentially.
- the GU is caused to enter a power savings mode during which no RF signal is transmitted by the GU.
- FIG. 3 is an exemplary simulation of the power transmission efficiency of an RF signal as received by an array of 5 ⁇ 3 receive units along different positions in the x-y plane.
- the RF signal generator was simulated to include an array of 27 ⁇ 43 generating units positioned 2 meters above the receive unit. As is seen from FIG. 3 , for example, when the generating units were simulated to be directly above the receive unit (at the x and y coordinates of 3.8 and 1.7 meters respectively), the power efficiency is shown to be 0.7.
- the amount of RF power generated by a GU may be controlled to optimize transfer efficiency, meet the power requirements of the receiving element(s), and/or limit the power reflected off transient objects and/or living organisms that may be in the path of the transmitted RF signal, as described further below.
- a time-multiplexed technique time-domain multiplexing
- the GU is controlled so as to generate and transmit power during certain time periods and not generate power during other periods. Accordingly, the average power transferred is controlled by the switching duty cycle of the RF power generated by the GU.
- FIG. 4 is an exemplary timing diagram showing cycles during which power is transferred from a GU 250 to a receive unit 170 . The average power delivered to the receive unit is also shown.
- FIG. 5 is another exemplary timing diagram showing time-domain multiplexed cycles used to transfer power from GU 250 to three different receive units 170 1 , 170 2 and 170 3 . As shown, during the cycles defined substantially by times (t 2 -t 1 ), (t 5 -t 4 ) . . . (t 2+3k -t 1+3k ) power is transferred to the receive unit 170 1 , where k is an integer. During the cycles defined substantially by times (t 3 -t 2 ), (t 6 -t 5 ) . . . ) .
- GU 250 may correspond to generating unit 100 of FIG. 1 or generating unit 200 of FIG. 2 .
- FIG. 6A shows a GU 275 having disposed therein a number of generating elements 210 and a detector 190 .
- detector 190 detects movement or senses a change in the amount of power it is detecting, it can adjust the amount of power that its associated generating elements generate.
- Detector 190 is further adapted to detect the presence of a human or a pet, in part, in response to their heart beat rate.
- a wireless power generation unit in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, is aware of the environment in which it is operating. For example, in FIG. 6A , generating unit 275 is assumed to have detected the presence of a live being (a dog in FIG. 6A ) in its transmission path.
- the generating unit may either turn off or lower the power of the RF signal it transmits or respond in other pre-determined and possibly user-customizable ways. Once the generating unit detects that the dog has moved out of the signal path, it increases its output power.
- FIG. 6B shows exemplary changes in the instantaneous power generated by GU 2750 in response to the detection of, a human, a pet or other environmental changes.
- Controlling the power delivered via duty-cycling to steer the RF signal to the receive unit(s) provides a number of advantages. First, it causes the GU(s) to operate at near optimum efficiency at instantaneous full output power. Second, since the power received by the receive units is maximized during the power delivery cycles, requirements on the sensitivity of the receive unit(s) is relaxed. Furthermore, the power amplifier disposed in the output stage of each generating element is caused to possibly operate under less voltage, current and temperature stresses. Output power generation efficiency is also typically improved at relatively high instantaneous output power. When using time-domain multiplexing to transfer power, the total time usable for adaptively controlling the GU is decreased by the duty-cycles.
- the relatively slower adaptive feedback control is sufficient.
- the receive unit(s) is aware of the duty-cycle and can correctly inform the generating unit of the amount of power the receiving unit(s) is receiving.
- the generated/transmitted power is changed directly via an output power control technique in each generation element.
- Controlling the output power of each generation element individually enhances the precision of focusing the transmitted power to a point or multiple points in space. Furthermore, compared to the time-domain multiplexing, faster adaptive feedback control of the generation unit(s) is achieved.
- FIG. 7 is shows a multitude of generating units 300 1 . . . 300 N that operate in concert to optimize power delivery to a receive device 350 , in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.
- Each generating unit includes, in part, a control unit, a receiver, and a multitude of generating elements, as shown for example in FIGS. 1 and 2 .
- the generating units may be mounted in different physical locations. For example, generating unit 300 1 may be mounted on a ceiling, generating unit 300 2 may be mounted on an adjacent wall of a room, whereas other generating units may be mounted in different rooms or locations.
- control units disposed in the generating units cooperate and implement a protocol to optimize the power delivery to a receive unit 350 .
- the generating units establish a communication link and vary the amount of power they generate until the power efficiency they collectively deliver to receive unit 350 reaches a maximum.
- a hand-off protocol governing the operations of generating units may select one or more other generating units that are best positioned to power the receive device at its new location.
- the protocol may select a first subset of GU s 300 to power the receive device at its first position, as the receive device moves to another location, the protocol may select a second subset of GU s 300 to power the receive device.
- the control units disposed in the generating units establish a communications links to synchronize the reference timing signals that they use to change the phases of the RF signals they transmit, thereby maximizing the power transfer efficiency to the receive unit.
- FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a generating element 400 , in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
- Generating element 400 may correspond to generating elements 110 shown in FIG. 1 , or generating elements 210 shown in FIG. 2 .
- Generating element 400 is shown as including, in part, amplifiers 402 , 412 , 416 , RF choke/3 dB attenuator block 404 , transmission line 406 , diode 408 and interstage matching circuit 414 .
- Amplifier 402 amplifies the input RF signal RFin.
- RF choke/3 dB attenuator block 404 prevents the output signal of amplifier 402 from flowing into the bias voltage V bias and reduces performance variations of amplifier 402 due to impedance mismatch
- transmission line 406 has an impedance of 70 ohms and a round-trip delay of 54°. Transmission line 406 increases the control over the phase shift of the output signal of amplifier 402 .
- the capacitance of the reverse-biased diode 408 is also used to control the phase delay of the RF signal. By varying the supply voltage V bias , the capacitance of the reverse-biased diode 408 and hence the phase delay of the RF signal may be varied.
- transmission line 406 together with diode 408 generate the required amount of the phase delay in the RF signal delivered to amplifier 412 .
- an inductive element may be used in place of diode 408 to vary the phase of the RF signal.
- Amplifiers 402 and 412 collectively maintain the gain of the RF signal substantially independent of the phase introduced by the transmission gate 406 , and diode 408 .
- Interstage match 414 matches the impedance seen at the output of amplifier 412 to the impedance seen at the input of power amplifier 416 .
- Vgate variable voltage supply
- generating element 400 is adapted to vary both the amplitude and phase of the RF signal it transmits.
- a generation element includes an RF detector used to detect the output voltage generated by a generation element and scattered by the surrounding objects as well as the voltage generated by any RF signal incident on an antenna coupled to the generation element.
- this functionality allows for monitoring the phase and the amplitude of the generated signal.
- power signals transmitted by other generation elements or their reflections off obstacles, humans or pets can be detected to allow for environmental awareness of the system. For example, maximum output power can be limited if, for example, humans or pets are detected.
- the ability to detect the generated/transmitted output power and/or power reflected back by objects and/or living organisms has a number of advantages, particularly for providing an adaptive or smart solution. For example, transitory or stationary obstacles in the physical environment can be detected to adjust the operation of the GU(s). Moreover, detecting the presence of living organisms allows for adjustment and control of the generated/transmitted power to improve overall power transmission efficiency and/or respond to user preferences. Reflections are typically periodic with an organism's heartbeat, breathing and/or movement, among other factors, and can, for example, be detected by detecting a Doppler Shift in the reflected signal.
- FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a generating element 500 , in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
- Generating element 500 may correspond to generating elements 110 shown in FIG. 1 , generating elements 210 shown in FIG. 2 or generating element 710 in FIG. 12 .
- the in-phase and quadrature-phase components of the input RF signal namely signals RF_in/I and RF_in/Q are buffered respectively by buffers 502 , 504 and applied to phase rotator and amplitude control block 506 , which in turn, changes the phase and/or the amplitude of the received signals in response to signal Ctrl generated by common digital interface block 550 using, for example, Cartesian addition.
- the output signal of phase rotator and amplitude control block 506 is buffered by buffer 508 , amplified by power amplifier 510 and transmitted by antenna 418 via output network 512 .
- the amplitude of the transmitted signal may also be varied by changing the biasing voltage applied to power amplifier 512 via control signal Power_Ctrl generated by common digital interface block 550 .
- Output network 512 is further adapted to detect the RF signal generated as a result of the scattering and reflection of the RF signal it transmits, as well as any other RF signal incident on antenna 418 .
- the scattered signal which may be detected by turning off power amplifier 512 , is received by the bidirectional input/output terminal I/O of output network 512 and delivered to chopper (chopping circuit) 560 .
- Chopper 560 is adapted to translate the frequency of the RF signal it receives, such as, for example, by 5 MHz.
- mixer 530 frequency downconverts the received signal using the input RF signal RF_in/I (supplied to the mixer by buffers 502 , 530 ) and supplies the frequency downconverted signal to filter 540 .
- mixer 535 downconverts the received signal using the input RF signals RF_in/Q (supplied to the mixer by buffers 504 , 532 ) and supplies the frequency downconverted signal to filter 542 .
- Signals Detect_Q_out and Detect_I_out supplied by filters 540 , 542 are representative of the scattered RF signal received by antenna 418 , and may be further amplified, converted in frequency, and/or converted to digital information, as appropriate, for example by block 760 described further below and shown in FIG. 12
- the output power generated by power amplifier 512 of FIG. 9 may be controlled in a number of different ways.
- the amplitude and thus the power of the RF signal generated by amplifier 510 and transmitted by antenna 360 may be varied by varying the resistance of variable resistor 352 .
- the amplitude and thus the power of the RF signal generated by amplifier 510 and transmitted by antenna 360 may be varied by changing the voltage supplied by of variable supply voltage 370 . Since the supply voltage may be shared between multiple output stages, the circuit shown in FIG. 10B is advantageous in controlling the power generated by multiple generating elements.
- the output power generated by amplifier 512 of FIG. 9 may be controlled by controlling the RF signal input amplitude, for example by using block 506 , as described above.
- Timing synchronization may be provided by the radio-frequency signals themselves, or by a separate reference timing signal distributed so as not to interfere with the RF signals generated by the generation elements.
- a tree-like network is used to distribute a timing reference signal having a frequency that is a sub-harmonic of the RF signal, thereby enabling the use of an integer-N type PLL synthesizer to phase-lock both signals.
- a master reference signal is used to generate the master timing reference signal.
- N a 3
- This technique is extended in a way that a buffered version of the reference signal is distributed to each generating element such that no more than n buffers are used. Distributing the reference signal in accordance with this scheme ensures that
- generation elements receive the reference signal.
- the reference timing signal may not be an exact sub-harmonic of the RF output signal.
- a timing reference signal at any lower frequency than the RF output signal can be used by employing a fractional-N phase-locked loop synthesizer.
- a timing reference signal at substantially exactly the same as the reference frequency may be employed using injection locking.
- a timing reference signal at a frequency higher than the RF frequency may be divided in frequency, either using an integer-N or a fractional-N divider.
- FIG. 11 shows a reference timing signal generating 600 supplying the reference timing signal REF to generating unit module 250 1 via buffer 610 .
- Generating unit module 250 1 is shown as including a phase-locked loop (PLL) synthesizer 270 and a multitude of generating elements collectively identified as 210 .
- the output signal of buffer 610 is further buffered by buffers 620 and 630 and supplied to PLL's 270 disposed in generating unit modules 250 2 and 250 3 respectively.
- the reference timing signals supplied by buffers 620 , 630 are applied to other generating unit modules (not shown).
- Each copy of the reference timing signal may be used to generate an RF signal for a single or a multitude of generating elements, thus allowing for a modular approach in forming a generating unit.
- each generating element may have a dedicated phase-locked loop synthesizer to generate an RF signal whose amplitude and/or delay is controlled independently, as described above.
- a multitude of generating elements may use an RF signal generated by the same phase-locked loop synthesizer, as described above with reference to FIG. 12 .
- FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a generating unit module 700 , in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
- Exemplary generating unit module 700 is shown as including, in part, 12 generating elements 710 each coupled to an associated antenna 712 .
- Frequency synthesizer 722 which may be a PLL, receives the reference timing signal CLK and, in response, generates in-phase (I) and quadrature-phase (Q) components of the RF signal that are applied to the generating elements 710 via buffers 720 .
- Shared control interface 750 generates the control signals used by the generating elements 710 .
- control interface 750 generates the control signals that change the phase and/or amplitude of the RF signal transmitted by each of the antennas 712 to optimize the wireless power delivery.
- Block 760 is adapted to select a pair of in-phase and quadrature-phase signals from among the multitude of pair of signals Detect_Q_out, Dectect_I_out detected by generating unit elements 700 (see FIG. 5 ), amplify and/or perform additional signal processing (e.g., chopping) on the selected in-phase and quadrature-phase signals, and deliver the result of its various operations as an output signal Detect_out.
- all components of generating unit 700 shown in FIG. 12 are formed on an integrated circuit (IC).
- a generation unit may include one or multiple generating unit modules each including, in turn, one or more generation elements, thereby enabling the generating unit to be formed in a modular fashion.
- the generating unit modules may share a number of components such as the timing reference components, voltage and/or current reference components, and/or frequency generation components in order to reduce cost, overhead and complexity of the overall generation unit.
- the modular approach provides a number of advantages, such as cost savings due to economies of scale, the ability to use the same modules for units usable in different applications, upgradability, and the like. Consequently, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, any number of generation elements and/or generating unit modules may be combined in a modular fashion to form a scalable generation unit or system.
- the number of generating elements and/or generating unit modules may be determined, in part, by the device intended to be charged, the requirements for system efficiency, transfer range and accuracy. For example, providing power wirelessly to a wireless mouse may have lower requirements on efficiency, range, accuracy and power, and hence would require a relatively fewer number of generating elements and/or generating unit modules than would a tablet computer.
- a GU in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, may be formed in a planar arrangement and mounted on the walls and/or ceiling of a room, or placed in any other convenient fashion, to power a receive unit positioned nearly anywhere inside the room.
- the generation elements, as well as generation unit modules may be configured to form an array of generation units in much the same way that individual antennas may be configured to form an antenna array.
- a two-dimensional planar arrangements of generation elements and/or generation unit modules may be configured to form a low form-factor generation units suitable for placement on the walls, ceiling or floors.
- Three dimensional arrangements of generation elements and/or generation unit modules may form a spherical or other geometrical shapes that are aesthetically pleasing.
- FIGS. 13A-13D show a number of different configurations by which the generating elements, such generating elements 130 of FIGS. 1 and 2 , may be arranged to form a generating unit.
- generating elements 130 are arranged to form a rectangular generating unit 300 .
- the generating elements 130 are arranged to form a circular generating unit 310 .
- FIG. 13C generating elements 130 are arranged to form a spherical generating unit 320 .
- FIG. 13D generating elements 130 are arranged to form a cubical generating unit 330 .
- Embodiments of the present invention are illustrative and not limitative. Embodiments of the present invention are not limited by any RF frequency or any type of antenna, such as dipole, loop, patch, horn or otherwise, used to transmit the RF signal. Embodiments of the present invention are not limited by the number of generating elements, generating unit modules, or generating units. Embodiments of the present invention are not limited by the polarization direction, such as linear, circular, elliptical or otherwise, of the RF signals transmitted by the antennas. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the transmitted RF signal may be of varying polarization.
Abstract
Description
- This application is a Continuation of Ser. No. 14/552,414, filed Nov. 24, 2014, entitled “GENERATOR UNIT FOR WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER”, which claims the benefit under 35 USC 119 (e) of U.S. provisional Application No. 61/908,018, filed Nov. 22, 2013, entitled “GENERATOR UNIT FOR WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER”, and U.S. provisional Application No. 61/920,733, filed Dec. 24, 2013, entitled “ARCHITECTURES FOR GENERATION UNITS FOR WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER”, the contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
- The present application is related to and claims the priority benefit of application Ser. No. 14/078,489, filed Nov. 12, 2013, commonly assigned, and entitled “SMART RF LENSING: EFFICIENT, DYNAMIC AND MOBILE WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER”, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
- Advances in silicon processing have enabled integration of complex systems on a single low power chip. The low cost and low power consumption of such systems have resulted in proliferation of portable electronic devices. To operate, such devices must be frequently plugged into an electrical outlet to be charged.
- Wireless power transmission may be achieved using inductive coupling or electromagnetic waves. Inductive coupling can deliver power over a short range. Electromagnetic (EM) waves may be used to transmit power over a longer distance. Both inductive coupling and EM waves cause an alternating current (AC) to be generated at the receiver.
- An RF signal generator adapted to wirelessly transfer power to a first wireless device, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, includes, in part, a multitude of generating elements adapted to generate a multitude of RF signals transmitted by a multitude of antennas, a wireless signal receiver, and a control unit adapted to control the phases of the RF signals generated by the generating elements in accordance with a signal received by the receiver. The signal received by the receiver includes, in part, information representative of the amount of RF power the first wireless device receives from the RF signal generator.
- In one embodiment, the control unit is further adapted to control the amplitude of the RF signals generated by the generating elements. In one embodiment, the RF signal generator is adapted to wirelessly transfer power to the first wireless device using time-domain multiplexing. In one embodiment In one embodiment, the RF signal generator is further adapted to power a second wireless device concurrently with the first wireless device. In one embodiment, the RF generator is adapted to power the first and second wireless devices using time-domain multiplexing.
- In one embodiment, the RF signal generator further includes, in part, a second multitude of generating elements each adapted to generate an RF signal. The control unit is further adapted to cause either the first multitude of generating elements or the second multitude of generating elements to generate RF signals during a given time period. In one embodiment, each of the first and second multitude of generating elements generates an RF signal in accordance with a reference timing signal supplied by the control unit.
- In one embodiment, the RF signal generator further includes, in part, a detector adapted to detect an RF signal caused by scattering or reflection of the RF signal transmitted by the first multitude of antennas. In one embodiment, the control unit is further adapted to control a phase or amplitude of the RF signal generated by each of the first multitude of RF signal generating elements in accordance with the signal detected by the detector. In one embodiment, the detector is further adapted to detect the presence of objects or living organisms positioned along the path of the RF signal transmitted by the first multitude of antennas.
- In one embodiment, the RF signal generator is integrated on a semiconductor substrate. In one embodiment, the RF signal generator is adapted to receive the second multitude of generating elements in a modular fashion to enable the control unit control the phase or amplitude of the RF signal generated by each of the second multitude of RF signal generating elements in accordance with the signal the receiver receives from the first wireless device. In one embodiment, the RF signal generator further includes, in part, a multitude of control locked loops adapted to provide timing signals used in varying the phases of the RF signals generated by the RF signal generating elements. In one embodiment, the RF signal generator further includes, in part, a multitude of phase rotators adapted to vary the phases of the RF signals generated by the RF signal generating elements. In one embodiment, the reference timing signal is delivered to the first and second multitude of generating elements via a tree-like distribution network.
- A method of powering a first wireless device using radio frequency (RF) signals, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, includes, in part, transmitting a first multitude of RF signals via a first plurality of antennas, receiving a signal from the first wireless device, and controlling the phases of the first multitude of RF signals in accordance with the signal received from the first wireless device. The signal received from the first wireless device includes information representative of an amount of RF power the first wireless device receives.
- The method, in accordance with one embodiment, further includes, in part, controlling the amplitudes of the RF signals transmitted by the first multitude of antennas in accordance with the signal received from the first wireless device. The method, in accordance with one embodiment, further includes, in part, transmitting the first multitude of RF signals using time-domain multiplexing. The method, in accordance with one embodiment, further includes, in part, transmitting a second multitude of RF signals to power a second wireless device concurrently with the first wireless device. The method, in accordance with one embodiment, further includes, in part, transmitting the first and second multitude of RF signals in accordance with a reference timing signal supplied by a control unit.
- The method, in accordance with one embodiment, further includes, in part, detecting a scattered RF signal caused by scattering or reflection of the RF signal transmitted by the first multitude of antennas. The method, in accordance with one embodiment, further includes, in part, controlling the phases of the first multitude of RF signals in accordance with the detected RF signal. The method, in accordance with one embodiment, further includes, in part, detecting the presence of objects or living organisms positioned along the path of the first multitude of RF signals.
- The method, in accordance with one embodiment, further includes, in part, generating the first multitude of RF signals via a first multitude of generating elements formed on a semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor substrate further including, a receiving unit receiving the signal from the first wireless device, and a controller controlling the phases of the first multitude of RF signals. The method, in accordance with one embodiment, further includes, in part, generating the first multitude of RF signals via a first multitude of generating elements disposed in a generating unit adapted to receive a second multitude of generating elements in a modular fashion. The second multitude of generating elements generating the second multitude of RF signals.
- The method, in accordance with one embodiment, further includes, in part, controlling the phases of the first multitude of RF signals in accordance with a timing signal generated by one or more control locked loops. The method, in accordance with one embodiment, further includes, in part, controlling the phases of the first multitude of RF signals using a multitude of phase rotators. The method, in accordance with one embodiment, further includes, in part controlling the phases of the first and second multitude of RF signals using timing signals delivered via a tree-like distribution network.
-
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a generation unit adapted to wirelessly transfer power to a receive unit via radio frequency (RF) electro-magnetic waves, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a generation unit adapted to wirelessly transfer power to a receive unit via RF electro-magnetic waves, in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 3 is an exemplary computer simulation of the power transmission efficiency of an RF power generator. -
FIG. 4 is an exemplary timing diagram of cycles during which power is transferred from a generating unit to a receive unit, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 5 is an exemplary time-domain multiplexed cycles used to transfer power from a generating unit to a multitude of receive units, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 6A shows a generating units having disposed therein a multitude of generating elements and a receiver, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 6B shows exemplary changes in the instantaneous power generated by a generating unit in response to the detection of, a human, a pet, other environmental changes, or conditions, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a pair of generating units operating cooperatively to deliver power wirelessly, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a generating element, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a generating element, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 10A is a block diagram of a power amplifier disposed in a generating element and whose power may be varied by changing the resistance of a variable resistor. -
FIG. 10B is a block diagram of power amplifier disposed in a generating element and whose power may be varied by changing the supply voltage. -
FIG. 11 shows an exemplary distribution network distributing reference timing signals to a multitude of generating unit modules disposed in a generating unit, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a generation unit module adapted to wirelessly transfer power to a receive unit via RF electro-magnetic waves, in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. -
FIGS. 13A-13D show a number of different configurations by which a multitude of generating elements may be arranged to form a generating unit, in accordance with some exemplary embodiment of the present invention. - In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, power is adaptively transferred wirelessly from one or more sources of electromagnetic waves (also referred to herein as generation units) to one or more receive units (also referred to herein as recovery units or devices) adapted to convert the received radio-frequencies (RF) EM power to a direct current (DC) electrical power. Such devices include, for example, cell phones, tablet computers, electrical toothbrushes, computer mice, security cameras, smoke alarms, measurement equipment in hazardous areas, robots, and the like. Embodiments of the present invention transfer power over short or medium ranges in a multitude of configurations, as described further below.
- A generation unit, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, is reconfigurable and adaptive to enable the RF power to be localized in space to maximize power transmission from the generation unit to the receive unit, and minimize RF power loss through radiation. This enables the receive unit to be physically relatively small without affecting the transfer efficiency.
- Because a generation unit, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, may be adaptively controlled to vary the path(s) for the RF power transfer, localization of wireless power transfer is achieved even in the presence of multi-path effects. The generation unit may be further adapted to track the receive unit and account for reflections off the obstacles in the surrounding environment.
-
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a generation unit (GU) 100 adapted to wirelessly transfer power to a receiveunit 170 via radio frequency (RF) electro-magnetic (EM) waves, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.GU 100 is shown as including acontrol unit 120, areceiver 150, and a multitude of power generating elements 110 1, 110 2, 110 3, 110 4 . . . 110 N, where N is an integer greater than one.Control unit 120 is configured to control the operations of the generating elements. For example, in one embodiment,control unit 120 controls the phase and/or amplitude of the RF signal generated by each generating element 110 i independently, where i is an integer ranging from 1 toN. Control unit 120 is also adapted to perform other functions such as optimization of the wireless power transfer. - Each generating element 110 i (also referred to as generating element 110) is shown as being coupled to an
antenna 130 i. By adjusting the phase and/or amplitude of the RF signal generated by each generating elements 110 i independently,control unit 120 causesGU 100 to deliver the RF power in an optimum way, as described below and in application Ser. No. 14/078,489, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In one embodiment,GU 100 is integrated on a semiconductor substrate. Although inFIG. 1 each generating element 110 is shown as being associated with an antenna, it is understood that in other embodiments a multitude of generating elements 110 may share the same antenna with each generating element 110 driving the shared antenna along a predefined polarization direction. Although inFIG. 1 each generating element 110 is shown as being associated with a single antenna, it is understood that in other embodiments a generating element 110 may be associated with a multitude of antennas. -
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of aGU 200 adapted to wirelessly transfer power, in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.GU 200 is shown as including acontrol unit 120 and a multitude of powergenerating unit modules 250 1 . . . 250 M, where M is an integer greater than one. Each generatingunit module 250 i is shown as including a multitude of generatingelements unit module 250 i is also shown as including an RF signal generation circuit 215 j wherein j is an integer ranging from 1 to M, areceiver 150 j and an optional local control unit 220 j. Although inFIG. 2 each generating element 210 i (also referred to as generating element 210) is shown as being coupled to an associated antenna, it is understood that in other embodiments, a multitude of generatingelements 210 may share the same antenna with each generatingelement 210 driving the shared antenna along a predefined polarization direction. Although inFIG. 2 each generatingelement 210 is shown being as associated with a single antenna, it is understood that in other embodiments a generatingelement 210 may be associated with a multitude of antennas. -
Control unit 120, which is a master control unit, is adapted to control and vary the phase and/or amplitude of the RF signal generated by each generatingelement 210 i of each generatingunit module 250 j independently via control signal Element_control. Each local control unit 220 j is adapted to control the operations of generatingelements control unit 210. For example, in one embodiment, further optimization of the phase/amplitude of the RF signal generated by the generatingelements 210 i disposed in a generation unit module (e.g., generation unit module 250 1) is controlled by the associated local control unit 220 j also disposed in that generating unit module (e.g., local control unit 220 1). RF signal generation block 215 j of each generatingunit module 250 j supplies a reference timing signal to generatingelements control unit 120. In one embodiment, as described further below, each RF signal generation block 215 j may be a frequency/phase locked-loop, delay locked-loop or any other control locked-loop or tunable delay circuit that generates a reference timing signal. - In some embodiments, many of the operations common to generating
elements generation unit module 250 j are performed, in part, in response to commands/data issued by the generating unit's associated local control unit 220 j. Accordingly, each generatingelements generation unit 250 j may be independently controlled either by the local control unit 220 j, orcontrol unit 120 common to allgeneration units 250 j. - In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, by independently controlling the phase and/or amplitude of the RF signal generated by each generating
element unit module 250 j, the RF power transferred to a receiveunit 170 may be maximized. - To achieve such maximization, receive
unit 170 transmits a signal to the GU which includes information about the amount of power the receive unit is receiving from the GU. The signal transmitted by the receive unit is received byreceiver 150 disposed in the GU or in the generating unit modules disposed in the GU. For example, in one embodiment, as shown inFIGS. 1 and 2 , to maintain the optimum power transfer as the receive unit moves within the range covered by the GU, the receive unit broadcasts a signal Power_FB that includes a unique identifier assigned to the receive unit as well as information indicative of the amount of power the receive unit is receiving. The signal transmitted by the receive unit may further inform the generating unit that the receiver is in the vicinity of the generating unit and is ready to receive power. The signal transmitted by the receive unit may further identify the receive unit's device type, such as a robot, a mouse, and the like. As described further below, the wireless communications between the receive and generating units may be performed in accordance with any of communications protocols. - The GU receives and uses the information in signal Power_FB to adaptively change the phase and/or amplitude of the RF signals transmitted by the generating
elements 210 to maintain and/or maximize the power transfer and/or the transfer efficiency to the receive unit. Many conventional algorithms such as the Nelder-Mead, gradient descent, Newton-Raphson, may be used to achieve such optimization. - When powering a single receive unit, and assuming that each generating
element 210 has a constant impedance, adaptive control of thecontrol unit 120 may be performed in accordance with a quadratic program with a global optimum solution. A number of well-known solutions exist to such quadratic programs. - For broadcasting information about the received power, a receive unit may use any wireless communication protocol, either in existence today or developed in the future. For example, in one embodiment, an IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN) standard may be used by a receive unit to send a signal to the GU to indicate the power the receive unit is receiving from the GU. In other embodiments, such communication may be performed using, for example, the Bluetooth, Zigbee, and the like. In yet other embodiments, a GU may operate as a WLAN server to select a receiving element from among a multitude of receiving elements to establish communications with. Communication between the GUs to coordinate their operations may also be handled via a two-way wireless communications network. Such communication links may also be used by the receive unit to broadcast the receive unit's ID, and to inform the GUs that the receiver is ready to receive power. The signal identifying the receive unit's device type, as well as any other communications between the receive unit and the GU(s) may also be carried out using such communications links.
- In some embodiment, depending on their physical arrangements and positions with respect to one another, the generation unit modules may be caused to transmit power sequentially. In some embodiment, when no receive unit is detected, the GU is caused to enter a power savings mode during which no RF signal is transmitted by the GU.
FIG. 3 is an exemplary simulation of the power transmission efficiency of an RF signal as received by an array of 5×3 receive units along different positions in the x-y plane. The RF signal generator was simulated to include an array of 27×43 generating units positioned 2 meters above the receive unit. As is seen fromFIG. 3 , for example, when the generating units were simulated to be directly above the receive unit (at the x and y coordinates of 3.8 and 1.7 meters respectively), the power efficiency is shown to be 0.7. - The amount of RF power generated by a GU may be controlled to optimize transfer efficiency, meet the power requirements of the receiving element(s), and/or limit the power reflected off transient objects and/or living organisms that may be in the path of the transmitted RF signal, as described further below. Furthermore, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a time-multiplexed technique (time-domain multiplexing) is used to transfer power from a GU to one or more receive units. In accordance with this technique, when powering a single receive unit, the GU is controlled so as to generate and transmit power during certain time periods and not generate power during other periods. Accordingly, the average power transferred is controlled by the switching duty cycle of the RF power generated by the GU.
-
FIG. 4 is an exemplary timing diagram showing cycles during which power is transferred from aGU 250 to a receiveunit 170. The average power delivered to the receive unit is also shown.FIG. 5 is another exemplary timing diagram showing time-domain multiplexed cycles used to transfer power fromGU 250 to three different receiveunits unit 170 1, where k is an integer. During the cycles defined substantially by times (t3-t2), (t6-t5) . . . ) . . . (t3+3k-t2+3k) power is transferred to the receiveunit 170 2. During the cycles defined substantially by times (t4-t3), (t7-t6) . . . ) . . . (t4+3k-t3+3k) power is transferred to the receiveunit 170 3. Although not shown explicitly inFIG. 5 , it is understood that power can be transferred to more than one device concurrently during any of the timing cycles. In one example,GU 250 may correspond to generatingunit 100 ofFIG. 1 or generatingunit 200 ofFIG. 2 . -
FIG. 6A shows aGU 275 having disposed therein a number of generatingelements 210 and adetector 190. In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, whendetector 190 detects movement or senses a change in the amount of power it is detecting, it can adjust the amount of power that its associated generating elements generate.Detector 190 is further adapted to detect the presence of a human or a pet, in part, in response to their heart beat rate. Accordingly, a wireless power generation unit, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, is aware of the environment in which it is operating. For example, inFIG. 6A , generatingunit 275 is assumed to have detected the presence of a live being (a dog inFIG. 6A ) in its transmission path. In response to the detection, the generating unit may either turn off or lower the power of the RF signal it transmits or respond in other pre-determined and possibly user-customizable ways. Once the generating unit detects that the dog has moved out of the signal path, it increases its output power.FIG. 6B shows exemplary changes in the instantaneous power generated by GU 2750 in response to the detection of, a human, a pet or other environmental changes. - Controlling the power delivered via duty-cycling to steer the RF signal to the receive unit(s) provides a number of advantages. First, it causes the GU(s) to operate at near optimum efficiency at instantaneous full output power. Second, since the power received by the receive units is maximized during the power delivery cycles, requirements on the sensitivity of the receive unit(s) is relaxed. Furthermore, the power amplifier disposed in the output stage of each generating element is caused to possibly operate under less voltage, current and temperature stresses. Output power generation efficiency is also typically improved at relatively high instantaneous output power. When using time-domain multiplexing to transfer power, the total time usable for adaptively controlling the GU is decreased by the duty-cycles. However, since any movement by the receive unit is often relatively slow, the relatively slower adaptive feedback control is sufficient. Furthermore, since the duty-cycled transmitted power includes the duty-cycle information, the receive unit(s) is aware of the duty-cycle and can correctly inform the generating unit of the amount of power the receiving unit(s) is receiving.
- In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the generated/transmitted power is changed directly via an output power control technique in each generation element. Controlling the output power of each generation element individually enhances the precision of focusing the transmitted power to a point or multiple points in space. Furthermore, compared to the time-domain multiplexing, faster adaptive feedback control of the generation unit(s) is achieved.
-
FIG. 7 is shows a multitude of generatingunits 300 1 . . . 300 N that operate in concert to optimize power delivery to a receivedevice 350, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. Each generating unit includes, in part, a control unit, a receiver, and a multitude of generating elements, as shown for example inFIGS. 1 and 2 . The generating units may be mounted in different physical locations. For example, generatingunit 300 1 may be mounted on a ceiling, generatingunit 300 2 may be mounted on an adjacent wall of a room, whereas other generating units may be mounted in different rooms or locations. - In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the control units disposed in the generating units cooperate and implement a protocol to optimize the power delivery to a receive
unit 350. To achieve this, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the generating units establish a communication link and vary the amount of power they generate until the power efficiency they collectively deliver to receiveunit 350 reaches a maximum. Furthermore, as the receive device moves from one location to another, a hand-off protocol governing the operations of generating units, may select one or more other generating units that are best positioned to power the receive device at its new location. For example, while the protocol may select a first subset ofGU s 300 to power the receive device at its first position, as the receive device moves to another location, the protocol may select a second subset ofGU s 300 to power the receive device. In accordance with yet another aspect, the control units disposed in the generating units establish a communications links to synchronize the reference timing signals that they use to change the phases of the RF signals they transmit, thereby maximizing the power transfer efficiency to the receive unit. -
FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a generatingelement 400, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Generatingelement 400 may correspond to generating elements 110 shown inFIG. 1 , or generatingelements 210 shown inFIG. 2 . Generatingelement 400 is shown as including, in part,amplifiers dB attenuator block 404,transmission line 406,diode 408 andinterstage matching circuit 414.Amplifier 402 amplifies the input RF signal RFin. RF choke/3dB attenuator block 404 prevents the output signal ofamplifier 402 from flowing into the bias voltage Vbias and reduces performance variations ofamplifier 402 due to impedance mismatch In one example,transmission line 406 has an impedance of 70 ohms and a round-trip delay of 54°.Transmission line 406 increases the control over the phase shift of the output signal ofamplifier 402. The capacitance of the reverse-biaseddiode 408 is also used to control the phase delay of the RF signal. By varying the supply voltage Vbias, the capacitance of the reverse-biaseddiode 408 and hence the phase delay of the RF signal may be varied. Accordingly,transmission line 406 together withdiode 408 generate the required amount of the phase delay in the RF signal delivered toamplifier 412. In some embodiments, an inductive element may be used in place ofdiode 408 to vary the phase of the RF signal. -
Amplifiers transmission gate 406, anddiode 408.Interstage match 414 matches the impedance seen at the output ofamplifier 412 to the impedance seen at the input ofpower amplifier 416. By varying the voltage supplied by variable voltage supply Vgate, the amplitude and hence the power of the RF signal transmitted byamplifier 416 may be varied. Accordingly, generatingelement 400 is adapted to vary both the amplitude and phase of the RF signal it transmits. - In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a generation element includes an RF detector used to detect the output voltage generated by a generation element and scattered by the surrounding objects as well as the voltage generated by any RF signal incident on an antenna coupled to the generation element. During power transmission, this functionality allows for monitoring the phase and the amplitude of the generated signal. In the absence of power transmission, power signals transmitted by other generation elements or their reflections off obstacles, humans or pets can be detected to allow for environmental awareness of the system. For example, maximum output power can be limited if, for example, humans or pets are detected.
- The ability to detect the generated/transmitted output power and/or power reflected back by objects and/or living organisms has a number of advantages, particularly for providing an adaptive or smart solution. For example, transitory or stationary obstacles in the physical environment can be detected to adjust the operation of the GU(s). Moreover, detecting the presence of living organisms allows for adjustment and control of the generated/transmitted power to improve overall power transmission efficiency and/or respond to user preferences. Reflections are typically periodic with an organism's heartbeat, breathing and/or movement, among other factors, and can, for example, be detected by detecting a Doppler Shift in the reflected signal.
-
FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a generatingelement 500, in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Generatingelement 500 may correspond to generating elements 110 shown inFIG. 1 , generatingelements 210 shown inFIG. 2 or generatingelement 710 inFIG. 12 . The in-phase and quadrature-phase components of the input RF signal, namely signals RF_in/I and RF_in/Q are buffered respectively bybuffers amplitude control block 506, which in turn, changes the phase and/or the amplitude of the received signals in response to signal Ctrl generated by commondigital interface block 550 using, for example, Cartesian addition. The output signal of phase rotator andamplitude control block 506 is buffered bybuffer 508, amplified bypower amplifier 510 and transmitted byantenna 418 via output network 512. The amplitude of the transmitted signal may also be varied by changing the biasing voltage applied to power amplifier 512 via control signal Power_Ctrl generated by commondigital interface block 550. - Output network 512 is further adapted to detect the RF signal generated as a result of the scattering and reflection of the RF signal it transmits, as well as any other RF signal incident on
antenna 418. The scattered signal which may be detected by turning off power amplifier 512, is received by the bidirectional input/output terminal I/O of output network 512 and delivered to chopper (chopping circuit) 560.Chopper 560 is adapted to translate the frequency of the RF signal it receives, such as, for example, by 5 MHz. Using the output signal of thechopper 560,mixer 530 frequency downconverts the received signal using the input RF signal RF_in/I (supplied to the mixer bybuffers 502, 530) and supplies the frequency downconverted signal to filter 540. Likewise, using the output signal of thechopper 560,mixer 535 downconverts the received signal using the input RF signals RF_in/Q (supplied to the mixer bybuffers 504, 532) and supplies the frequency downconverted signal to filter 542. Signals Detect_Q_out and Detect_I_out supplied byfilters antenna 418, and may be further amplified, converted in frequency, and/or converted to digital information, as appropriate, for example byblock 760 described further below and shown inFIG. 12 - The output power generated by power amplifier 512 of
FIG. 9 may be controlled in a number of different ways. InFIG. 10A , the amplitude and thus the power of the RF signal generated byamplifier 510 and transmitted byantenna 360 may be varied by varying the resistance ofvariable resistor 352. InFIG. 10B , the amplitude and thus the power of the RF signal generated byamplifier 510 and transmitted byantenna 360 may be varied by changing the voltage supplied by ofvariable supply voltage 370. Since the supply voltage may be shared between multiple output stages, the circuit shown inFIG. 10B is advantageous in controlling the power generated by multiple generating elements. In addition, the output power generated by amplifier 512 ofFIG. 9 may be controlled by controlling the RF signal input amplitude, for example by usingblock 506, as described above. - Each generation element that operates in concert with another generating element to provide wireless power requires timing synchronization. Timing synchronization may be provided by the radio-frequency signals themselves, or by a separate reference timing signal distributed so as not to interfere with the RF signals generated by the generation elements. In accordance with one embodiment, a tree-like network is used to distribute a timing reference signal having a frequency that is a sub-harmonic of the RF signal, thereby enabling the use of an integer-N type PLL synthesizer to phase-lock both signals. A master reference signal is used to generate the master timing reference signal. In one embodiment, the reference signal is buffered and delivered to the first generation element as well as to Na more buffers (e.g., Na=3), which in turn generate a buffered version of the signal for Na more buffers and an additional generation element. This technique is extended in a way that a buffered version of the reference signal is distributed to each generating element such that no more than n buffers are used. Distributing the reference signal in accordance with this scheme ensures that
-
- generation elements receive the reference signal.
- In accordance with another embodiment, the reference timing signal may not be an exact sub-harmonic of the RF output signal. For example, a timing reference signal at any lower frequency than the RF output signal can be used by employing a fractional-N phase-locked loop synthesizer. A timing reference signal at substantially exactly the same as the reference frequency may be employed using injection locking. A timing reference signal at a frequency higher than the RF frequency may be divided in frequency, either using an integer-N or a fractional-N divider.
-
FIG. 11 shows a reference timing signal generating 600 supplying the reference timing signal REF to generatingunit module 250 1 viabuffer 610.Generating unit module 250 1 is shown as including a phase-locked loop (PLL)synthesizer 270 and a multitude of generating elements collectively identified as 210. The output signal ofbuffer 610 is further buffered bybuffers unit modules buffers - Each copy of the reference timing signal may be used to generate an RF signal for a single or a multitude of generating elements, thus allowing for a modular approach in forming a generating unit. For example, each generating element may have a dedicated phase-locked loop synthesizer to generate an RF signal whose amplitude and/or delay is controlled independently, as described above. Alternatively, a multitude of generating elements may use an RF signal generated by the same phase-locked loop synthesizer, as described above with reference to
FIG. 12 . -
FIG. 12 is a block diagram of agenerating unit module 700, in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Exemplarygenerating unit module 700 is shown as including, in part, 12 generatingelements 710 each coupled to an associatedantenna 712.Frequency synthesizer 722, which may be a PLL, receives the reference timing signal CLK and, in response, generates in-phase (I) and quadrature-phase (Q) components of the RF signal that are applied to the generatingelements 710 viabuffers 720. Sharedcontrol interface 750 generates the control signals used by the generatingelements 710. For example, and as described above,control interface 750 generates the control signals that change the phase and/or amplitude of the RF signal transmitted by each of theantennas 712 to optimize the wireless power delivery.Block 760 is adapted to select a pair of in-phase and quadrature-phase signals from among the multitude of pair of signals Detect_Q_out, Dectect_I_out detected by generating unit elements 700 (seeFIG. 5 ), amplify and/or perform additional signal processing (e.g., chopping) on the selected in-phase and quadrature-phase signals, and deliver the result of its various operations as an output signal Detect_out. In one embodiment, with the exception of the antennas, all components of generatingunit 700 shown inFIG. 12 are formed on an integrated circuit (IC). - As described above, a generation unit may include one or multiple generating unit modules each including, in turn, one or more generation elements, thereby enabling the generating unit to be formed in a modular fashion. The generating unit modules may share a number of components such as the timing reference components, voltage and/or current reference components, and/or frequency generation components in order to reduce cost, overhead and complexity of the overall generation unit. The modular approach provides a number of advantages, such as cost savings due to economies of scale, the ability to use the same modules for units usable in different applications, upgradability, and the like. Consequently, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, any number of generation elements and/or generating unit modules may be combined in a modular fashion to form a scalable generation unit or system.
- The higher the number of generation elements and/or generation unit modules in a generation unit, the higher is the power transfer localization and overall efficiency. The number of generating elements and/or generating unit modules may be determined, in part, by the device intended to be charged, the requirements for system efficiency, transfer range and accuracy. For example, providing power wirelessly to a wireless mouse may have lower requirements on efficiency, range, accuracy and power, and hence would require a relatively fewer number of generating elements and/or generating unit modules than would a tablet computer.
- A GU, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, may be formed in a planar arrangement and mounted on the walls and/or ceiling of a room, or placed in any other convenient fashion, to power a receive unit positioned nearly anywhere inside the room. Furthermore, the generation elements, as well as generation unit modules may be configured to form an array of generation units in much the same way that individual antennas may be configured to form an antenna array. For example, a two-dimensional planar arrangements of generation elements and/or generation unit modules may be configured to form a low form-factor generation units suitable for placement on the walls, ceiling or floors. Three dimensional arrangements of generation elements and/or generation unit modules may form a spherical or other geometrical shapes that are aesthetically pleasing. The scalability and modularity of the embodiments of the present invention thus provide numerous advantages.
-
FIGS. 13A-13D show a number of different configurations by which the generating elements, such generatingelements 130 ofFIGS. 1 and 2 , may be arranged to form a generating unit. InFIG. 13A , generatingelements 130 are arranged to form arectangular generating unit 300. InFIG. 13B , the generatingelements 130 are arranged to form acircular generating unit 310. InFIG. 13C , generatingelements 130 are arranged to form aspherical generating unit 320. InFIG. 13D , generatingelements 130 are arranged to form acubical generating unit 330. - The above embodiments of the present invention are illustrative and not limitative. Embodiments of the present invention are not limited by any RF frequency or any type of antenna, such as dipole, loop, patch, horn or otherwise, used to transmit the RF signal. Embodiments of the present invention are not limited by the number of generating elements, generating unit modules, or generating units. Embodiments of the present invention are not limited by the polarization direction, such as linear, circular, elliptical or otherwise, of the RF signals transmitted by the antennas. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the transmitted RF signal may be of varying polarization. While, in accordance with some embodiments, discrete components and/or integrated circuits may be used to form generating units, generating unit modules or generating blocks, other embodiments may be formed using integrated circuits. Furthermore, in some embodiments, many or all control function may be performed using one or more FPGAs, microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSPs, ASICs or the like. Other additions, subtractions or modifications are obvious in view of the present disclosure and are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.
Claims (30)
Priority Applications (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US16/143,332 US11146113B2 (en) | 2013-11-22 | 2018-09-26 | Generator unit for wireless power transfer |
US17/498,656 US11843260B2 (en) | 2012-11-09 | 2021-10-11 | Generator unit for wireless power transfer |
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US201361908018P | 2013-11-22 | 2013-11-22 | |
US201361920723P | 2013-12-24 | 2013-12-24 | |
US14/552,414 US10320242B2 (en) | 2012-11-09 | 2014-11-24 | Generator unit for wireless power transfer |
US16/143,332 US11146113B2 (en) | 2013-11-22 | 2018-09-26 | Generator unit for wireless power transfer |
Related Parent Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US14/552,414 Continuation US10320242B2 (en) | 2012-11-09 | 2014-11-24 | Generator unit for wireless power transfer |
Related Child Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US17/498,656 Continuation US11843260B2 (en) | 2012-11-09 | 2021-10-11 | Generator unit for wireless power transfer |
Publications (3)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US20190044390A1 US20190044390A1 (en) | 2019-02-07 |
US20200059117A9 true US20200059117A9 (en) | 2020-02-20 |
US11146113B2 US11146113B2 (en) | 2021-10-12 |
Family
ID=53180275
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US16/143,332 Active US11146113B2 (en) | 2012-11-09 | 2018-09-26 | Generator unit for wireless power transfer |
Country Status (5)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US11146113B2 (en) |
EP (1) | EP3072214B1 (en) |
KR (2) | KR102473074B1 (en) |
CN (1) | CN105765821B (en) |
WO (1) | WO2015077730A1 (en) |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US11955817B1 (en) | 2023-09-15 | 2024-04-09 | Reach Power, Inc. | System and method for wireless power transmission and/or field detection |
Families Citing this family (45)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US10965164B2 (en) | 2012-07-06 | 2021-03-30 | Energous Corporation | Systems and methods of wirelessly delivering power to a receiver device |
US9893554B2 (en) * | 2014-07-14 | 2018-02-13 | Energous Corporation | System and method for providing health safety in a wireless power transmission system |
US11502551B2 (en) | 2012-07-06 | 2022-11-15 | Energous Corporation | Wirelessly charging multiple wireless-power receivers using different subsets of an antenna array to focus energy at different locations |
US10992187B2 (en) | 2012-07-06 | 2021-04-27 | Energous Corporation | System and methods of using electromagnetic waves to wirelessly deliver power to electronic devices |
US10992185B2 (en) | 2012-07-06 | 2021-04-27 | Energous Corporation | Systems and methods of using electromagnetic waves to wirelessly deliver power to game controllers |
CN104885333B (en) | 2012-11-09 | 2018-05-15 | 加州理工学院 | Intelligent RF lens effects:Efficiently, dynamic and mobile wireless power transmission |
US11843260B2 (en) | 2012-11-09 | 2023-12-12 | California Institute Of Technology | Generator unit for wireless power transfer |
US11616520B2 (en) | 2012-11-09 | 2023-03-28 | California Institute Of Technology | RF receiver |
WO2015077726A1 (en) | 2013-11-22 | 2015-05-28 | California Institute Of Technology | Active cmos recovery units for wireless power transmission |
EP3072214B1 (en) | 2013-11-22 | 2018-10-10 | California Institute of Technology | Generator unit for wireless power transfer |
KR102288706B1 (en) | 2014-08-19 | 2021-08-10 | 캘리포니아 인스티튜트 오브 테크놀로지 | Wirelss power transfer |
US9673665B2 (en) * | 2015-06-30 | 2017-06-06 | Ossia Inc. | Energy delivery modulation in wireless power delivery environments |
WO2017062915A1 (en) * | 2015-10-09 | 2017-04-13 | Ossia Inc. | Antenna configurations for wireless power and communication, and supplemental visual signals |
US10454316B2 (en) | 2015-10-09 | 2019-10-22 | Ossia Inc. | Antenna configurations for wireless power and communication, and supplemental visual signals |
US9866074B2 (en) | 2015-11-17 | 2018-01-09 | Ossia Inc. | Integrated circuits for transmitting wireless power, receiving wireless power, and/or communicating wirelessly |
US11863001B2 (en) | 2015-12-24 | 2024-01-02 | Energous Corporation | Near-field antenna for wireless power transmission with antenna elements that follow meandering patterns |
US10079515B2 (en) | 2016-12-12 | 2018-09-18 | Energous Corporation | Near-field RF charging pad with multi-band antenna element with adaptive loading to efficiently charge an electronic device at any position on the pad |
CN109845065B (en) * | 2016-08-22 | 2022-12-23 | 欧希亚有限公司 | Polarization adaptive wireless power transmission system |
US10923954B2 (en) | 2016-11-03 | 2021-02-16 | Energous Corporation | Wireless power receiver with a synchronous rectifier |
CN110235337A (en) * | 2016-12-12 | 2019-09-13 | 艾诺格思公司 | Selectively activate method of the antenna area of near field charging pad to maximize transmitted wireless power |
WO2018183892A1 (en) | 2017-03-30 | 2018-10-04 | Energous Corporation | Flat antennas having two or more resonant frequencies for use in wireless power transmission systems |
KR20180117394A (en) | 2017-04-19 | 2018-10-29 | 재단법인 다차원 스마트 아이티 융합시스템 연구단 | Wireless charging system for using frequency control |
US11462949B2 (en) | 2017-05-16 | 2022-10-04 | Wireless electrical Grid LAN, WiGL Inc | Wireless charging method and system |
WO2018218252A1 (en) | 2017-05-26 | 2018-11-29 | California Institute Of Technology | Method and apparatus for dynamic rf lens focusing and tracking of wireless power recovery unit |
US11342798B2 (en) | 2017-10-30 | 2022-05-24 | Energous Corporation | Systems and methods for managing coexistence of wireless-power signals and data signals operating in a same frequency band |
KR102351358B1 (en) * | 2018-01-29 | 2022-01-14 | 한국전자기술연구원 | Cooperative wireless power transmission receiver and method for phase synchronization |
US10615647B2 (en) | 2018-02-02 | 2020-04-07 | Energous Corporation | Systems and methods for detecting wireless power receivers and other objects at a near-field charging pad |
WO2020132139A1 (en) * | 2018-12-18 | 2020-06-25 | Guru Wireless. Inc. | Dynamic focusing and tracking for wireless power transfer arrays |
KR102250248B1 (en) * | 2018-12-28 | 2021-05-10 | 주식회사 워프솔루션 | Wireless charging system using ultra wide band |
KR102630451B1 (en) | 2019-01-04 | 2024-01-31 | 삼성전자주식회사 | Wireless power transmitting device and method of operating thereof |
KR20210117283A (en) | 2019-01-28 | 2021-09-28 | 에너저스 코포레이션 | Systems and methods for a small antenna for wireless power transmission |
WO2020163574A1 (en) | 2019-02-06 | 2020-08-13 | Energous Corporation | Systems and methods of estimating optimal phases to use for individual antennas in an antenna array |
US20200389057A1 (en) * | 2019-04-19 | 2020-12-10 | Guru, Inc. | Adaptive roaming and articulating generating unit for wireless power transfer |
CN114342214A (en) | 2019-09-06 | 2022-04-12 | 谷歌有限责任公司 | Wireless charging using time division multiplexing |
US11139699B2 (en) | 2019-09-20 | 2021-10-05 | Energous Corporation | Classifying and detecting foreign objects using a power amplifier controller integrated circuit in wireless power transmission systems |
US11411441B2 (en) | 2019-09-20 | 2022-08-09 | Energous Corporation | Systems and methods of protecting wireless power receivers using multiple rectifiers and establishing in-band communications using multiple rectifiers |
US11381118B2 (en) | 2019-09-20 | 2022-07-05 | Energous Corporation | Systems and methods for machine learning based foreign object detection for wireless power transmission |
WO2021055898A1 (en) | 2019-09-20 | 2021-03-25 | Energous Corporation | Systems and methods for machine learning based foreign object detection for wireless power transmission |
WO2021119483A1 (en) | 2019-12-13 | 2021-06-17 | Energous Corporation | Charging pad with guiding contours to align an electronic device on the charging pad and efficiently transfer near-field radio-frequency energy to the electronic device |
US10985617B1 (en) | 2019-12-31 | 2021-04-20 | Energous Corporation | System for wirelessly transmitting energy at a near-field distance without using beam-forming control |
US11799324B2 (en) | 2020-04-13 | 2023-10-24 | Energous Corporation | Wireless-power transmitting device for creating a uniform near-field charging area |
WO2022020177A1 (en) * | 2020-07-20 | 2022-01-27 | General Electric Company | Time slicing wireless charging |
US11916408B2 (en) | 2021-01-11 | 2024-02-27 | GuRu Wireless, Inc. | Wireless power delivery systems and methods of delivering wireless power |
US11942796B2 (en) | 2021-02-10 | 2024-03-26 | International Business Machines Corporation | Wireless power for sensor arrays |
US11916398B2 (en) | 2021-12-29 | 2024-02-27 | Energous Corporation | Small form-factor devices with integrated and modular harvesting receivers, and shelving-mounted wireless-power transmitters for use therewith |
Family Cites Families (111)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US1119732A (en) | 1907-05-04 | 1914-12-01 | Nikola Tesla | Apparatus for transmitting electrical energy. |
GB2256948B (en) | 1991-05-31 | 1995-01-25 | Thomas William Russell East | Self-focussing antenna array |
AU4169497A (en) | 1996-08-29 | 1998-04-14 | David T. Borup | Apparatus and method for imaging with wavefields using inverse scattering techniques |
US6208287B1 (en) | 1998-03-16 | 2001-03-27 | Raytheoncompany | Phased array antenna calibration system and method |
US6127799A (en) | 1999-05-14 | 2000-10-03 | Gte Internetworking Incorporated | Method and apparatus for wireless powering and recharging |
US7522878B2 (en) | 1999-06-21 | 2009-04-21 | Access Business Group International Llc | Adaptive inductive power supply with communication |
US7212414B2 (en) | 1999-06-21 | 2007-05-01 | Access Business Group International, Llc | Adaptive inductive power supply |
EP1734461A2 (en) * | 1999-07-12 | 2006-12-20 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | Mobile body discrimination apparatus for rapidly acquiring respective data sets transmitted through modulation of reflected radio waves by transponders which are within a communication region of an interrogator apparatus |
DE19958265A1 (en) | 1999-12-05 | 2001-06-21 | Iq Mobil Electronics Gmbh | Wireless energy transmission system with increased output voltage |
US6184651B1 (en) | 2000-03-20 | 2001-02-06 | Motorola, Inc. | Contactless battery charger with wireless control link |
TW479904U (en) | 2000-10-09 | 2002-03-11 | Sunplus Technology Co Ltd | Diode circuit to simulate zero cutoff voltage and the rectifying circuit having zero cutoff voltage characteristics |
US7324785B2 (en) | 2001-01-11 | 2008-01-29 | Broadcom Corporation | Transmit power control of wireless communication devices |
US7356952B2 (en) | 2002-06-17 | 2008-04-15 | Philip Morris Usa Inc. | System for coupling package displays to remote power source |
US6970089B2 (en) | 2002-07-03 | 2005-11-29 | Battelle Memorial Institute K1-53 | Full-spectrum passive communication system and method |
GB0229141D0 (en) | 2002-12-16 | 2003-01-15 | Splashpower Ltd | Improvements relating to contact-less power transfer |
US6967462B1 (en) | 2003-06-05 | 2005-11-22 | Nasa Glenn Research Center | Charging of devices by microwave power beaming |
US7580672B2 (en) | 2003-06-27 | 2009-08-25 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Synthetic path diversity repeater |
CA2542930A1 (en) | 2003-10-17 | 2005-04-28 | Timm A. Vanderelli | Method and apparatus for a wireless power supply |
GB2414120B (en) | 2004-05-11 | 2008-04-02 | Splashpower Ltd | Controlling inductive power transfer systems |
US7260418B2 (en) | 2004-09-29 | 2007-08-21 | California Institute Of Technology | Multi-element phased array transmitter with LO phase shifting and integrated power amplifier |
EP1959825B1 (en) | 2005-10-24 | 2020-04-22 | Powercast Corporation | Method and apparatus for high efficiency rectification for various loads |
WO2007068002A2 (en) * | 2005-12-09 | 2007-06-14 | Tego Inc. | Multiple radio frequency network node rfid tag |
US8447234B2 (en) | 2006-01-18 | 2013-05-21 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Method and system for powering an electronic device via a wireless link |
US9130602B2 (en) * | 2006-01-18 | 2015-09-08 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Method and apparatus for delivering energy to an electrical or electronic device via a wireless link |
US7952322B2 (en) | 2006-01-31 | 2011-05-31 | Mojo Mobility, Inc. | Inductive power source and charging system |
US20080116847A1 (en) | 2006-09-01 | 2008-05-22 | Bio Aim Technologies Holding Ltd. | Systems and methods for wireless power transfer |
US8004235B2 (en) | 2006-09-29 | 2011-08-23 | Access Business Group International Llc | System and method for inductively charging a battery |
JP4769684B2 (en) | 2006-10-12 | 2011-09-07 | 株式会社デンソーアイティーラボラトリ | Electronic scanning radar equipment |
EP2122540A1 (en) | 2007-01-26 | 2009-11-25 | LG Electronics Inc. | Contactless interface within a terminal to support a contactless service |
JP2008245404A (en) | 2007-03-27 | 2008-10-09 | Kddi Corp | Power transmitting system |
US8159364B2 (en) * | 2007-06-14 | 2012-04-17 | Omnilectric, Inc. | Wireless power transmission system |
US8446248B2 (en) | 2007-06-14 | 2013-05-21 | Omnilectric, Inc. | Wireless power transmission system |
US8619639B2 (en) | 2007-07-06 | 2013-12-31 | Lantiq Deutschland Gmbh | Power detector radio frequency multiplexer |
WO2009045966A1 (en) | 2007-10-01 | 2009-04-09 | Maxlinear, Inc. | I/q calibration techniques |
BRPI0906538B1 (en) * | 2008-04-03 | 2019-08-06 | Koninklijke Philips N.V. | Wireless Transmission System, and Method for Operation of a Wireless Transmission System |
US8571118B2 (en) * | 2008-04-09 | 2013-10-29 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Transmission line directional coupling |
US7893564B2 (en) * | 2008-08-05 | 2011-02-22 | Broadcom Corporation | Phased array wireless resonant power delivery system |
US20100034238A1 (en) | 2008-08-05 | 2010-02-11 | Broadcom Corporation | Spread spectrum wireless resonant power delivery |
EP2322001B1 (en) | 2008-09-03 | 2018-04-25 | Thomson Licensing | Method and apparatus for transmit power control in wireless networks |
US8401595B2 (en) | 2008-12-08 | 2013-03-19 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Method and system for integrated wireless power and data communication |
US8497658B2 (en) * | 2009-01-22 | 2013-07-30 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Adaptive power control for wireless charging of devices |
US8223885B2 (en) | 2009-02-19 | 2012-07-17 | Research In Motion Limited | Mobile wireless communications device with separate In-phase (I) and Quadrature (Q) phase power amplification and power amplifier pre-distortion and IQ balance compensation |
JP4752932B2 (en) | 2009-02-25 | 2011-08-17 | 株式会社デンソー | Transmission device, reception device, and transmission / reception device |
US8154402B2 (en) | 2009-03-12 | 2012-04-10 | Raytheon Company | Wireless temperature sensor network |
US8338991B2 (en) | 2009-03-20 | 2012-12-25 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Adaptive impedance tuning in wireless power transmission |
US8970180B2 (en) * | 2009-04-07 | 2015-03-03 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Wireless power transmission scheduling |
US8072380B2 (en) | 2009-04-10 | 2011-12-06 | Raytheon Company | Wireless power transmission system and method |
US8508422B2 (en) | 2009-06-09 | 2013-08-13 | Broadcom Corporation | Method and system for converting RF power to DC power utilizing a leaky wave antenna |
US8853995B2 (en) * | 2009-06-12 | 2014-10-07 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Devices for conveying wireless power and methods of operation thereof |
JP2013502193A (en) * | 2009-08-07 | 2013-01-17 | オークランド ユニサービシズ リミテッド | Inductive power transfer system |
US8374545B2 (en) | 2009-09-02 | 2013-02-12 | Qualcomm Incorporated | De-tuning in wireless power reception |
US8415837B2 (en) | 2009-11-18 | 2013-04-09 | The Regents Of The University Of California | Switch mode voltage rectifier, RF energy conversion and wireless power supplies |
US8390249B2 (en) | 2009-11-30 | 2013-03-05 | Broadcom Corporation | Battery with integrated wireless power receiver and/or RFID |
KR101730824B1 (en) | 2009-11-30 | 2017-04-27 | 삼성전자주식회사 | Wireless Power Transceiver and Wireless Power System |
US8879995B2 (en) * | 2009-12-23 | 2014-11-04 | Viconics Electronics Inc. | Wireless power transmission using phased array antennae |
US8686685B2 (en) | 2009-12-25 | 2014-04-01 | Golba, Llc | Secure apparatus for wirelessly transferring power and communicating with one or more slave devices |
US8421408B2 (en) | 2010-01-23 | 2013-04-16 | Sotoudeh Hamedi-Hagh | Extended range wireless charging and powering system |
TWI499154B (en) | 2010-01-25 | 2015-09-01 | Access Business Group Int Llc | Systems and methods for detecting data communication over a wireless power link |
GB201006904D0 (en) * | 2010-04-26 | 2010-06-09 | Cambridge Entpr Ltd | RFID TAG location systems |
KR101162857B1 (en) * | 2010-06-04 | 2012-07-04 | 엘지이노텍 주식회사 | Transmitter and receiver for power transmission |
KR101183525B1 (en) | 2010-06-11 | 2012-09-20 | 명지대학교 산학협력단 | Radio Frequency Energy Harvesting System and Method for Charging Battery of Mobile Devices |
KR101739283B1 (en) * | 2010-08-31 | 2017-05-25 | 삼성전자주식회사 | Apparatus for adaptive resonant power transmission |
US9173178B2 (en) | 2010-09-21 | 2015-10-27 | Broadcom Corporation | Method and system for power headroom reporting in the presence of multiple transmit antennas |
KR101796788B1 (en) | 2010-12-20 | 2017-11-10 | 엘지이노텍 주식회사 | Apparatus and method for trasmitting energy |
US9118217B2 (en) | 2010-09-30 | 2015-08-25 | Broadcom Corporation | Portable computing device with wireless power distribution |
JP5573628B2 (en) * | 2010-11-22 | 2014-08-20 | 富士通株式会社 | Phase difference detection method, phase control method, phase difference detection circuit, phase control circuit, and wireless power transmission device |
KR101672768B1 (en) | 2010-12-23 | 2016-11-04 | 삼성전자주식회사 | System for wireless power and data transmission and reception |
US10326309B2 (en) | 2011-05-13 | 2019-06-18 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd | Wireless power system comprising power transmitter and power receiver and method for receiving and transmitting power of the apparatuses |
KR101322843B1 (en) | 2011-05-17 | 2013-10-28 | 삼성전자주식회사 | Method and apparatus for rx system for wireless power transmission using rx system |
US9219506B2 (en) | 2011-06-01 | 2015-12-22 | Hitachi, Ltd. | Wireless transmitter, wireless receiver, wireless communication system, elevator control system, and transformer equipment control system |
JP5718170B2 (en) | 2011-06-14 | 2015-05-13 | 株式会社ヨコオ | Electronic device and high-frequency rectifier charged without contact |
US9030161B2 (en) | 2011-06-27 | 2015-05-12 | Board Of Regents, The University Of Texas System | Wireless power transmission |
JP3170470U (en) | 2011-07-07 | 2011-09-15 | 阪和電子工業株式会社 | Integrated value measurement circuit |
US9252846B2 (en) | 2011-09-09 | 2016-02-02 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Systems and methods for detecting and identifying a wireless power device |
KR20130035905A (en) | 2011-09-30 | 2013-04-09 | 삼성전자주식회사 | Method for wireless charging and apparatus for the same |
US9264108B2 (en) | 2011-10-21 | 2016-02-16 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Wireless power carrier-synchronous communication |
US9145110B2 (en) | 2011-10-27 | 2015-09-29 | Ford Global Technologies, Llc | Vehicle wireless charger safety system |
SG190477A1 (en) | 2011-11-28 | 2013-06-28 | Sony Corp | Wireless energy transfer system |
WO2013095067A1 (en) | 2011-12-22 | 2013-06-27 | 유한회사 한림포스텍 | Wireless power transmission device and method |
US8831528B2 (en) | 2012-01-04 | 2014-09-09 | Futurewei Technologies, Inc. | SAR control using capacitive sensor and transmission duty cycle control in a wireless device |
US9144051B2 (en) * | 2012-02-15 | 2015-09-22 | Microchip Technology Incorporated | Proximity detection using an antenna and directional coupler switch |
KR101953913B1 (en) * | 2012-04-02 | 2019-03-04 | 엘에스전선 주식회사 | Device and System for Wireless Power Transmission using Transmission Coil Array |
US8830710B2 (en) | 2012-06-25 | 2014-09-09 | Eta Devices, Inc. | RF energy recovery system |
US20140008993A1 (en) * | 2012-07-06 | 2014-01-09 | DvineWave Inc. | Methodology for pocket-forming |
US9130397B2 (en) | 2013-05-10 | 2015-09-08 | Energous Corporation | Wireless charging and powering of electronic devices in a vehicle |
US9124125B2 (en) | 2013-05-10 | 2015-09-01 | Energous Corporation | Wireless power transmission with selective range |
US9419476B2 (en) | 2012-07-10 | 2016-08-16 | Farrokh Mohamadi | Flat panel, stationary or mobile, spatially beam-formed wireless energy delivery system |
CN104885333B (en) | 2012-11-09 | 2018-05-15 | 加州理工学院 | Intelligent RF lens effects:Efficiently, dynamic and mobile wireless power transmission |
US11616520B2 (en) | 2012-11-09 | 2023-03-28 | California Institute Of Technology | RF receiver |
AU2013363187B2 (en) | 2012-12-18 | 2017-07-13 | Nucleus Scientific Inc. | Nonlinear system identification for optimization of wireless power transfer |
US20140203768A1 (en) | 2013-01-18 | 2014-07-24 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Systems, methods, and apparatus related to inductive power transfer transmitter with sonic emitter |
WO2014133461A1 (en) | 2013-02-27 | 2014-09-04 | National University Of Singapore | Rectenna circuit elements, circuits, and techniques for enhanced efficiency wireless power transmission or ambient rf energy harvesting |
US9365126B2 (en) * | 2013-05-10 | 2016-06-14 | Qualcomm Incorporated | System and method for detecting the presence of a moving object below a vehicle |
US9601267B2 (en) | 2013-07-03 | 2017-03-21 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Wireless power transmitter with a plurality of magnetic oscillators |
GB2517907B (en) | 2013-08-09 | 2018-04-11 | Drayson Tech Europe Ltd | RF Energy Harvester |
WO2015077726A1 (en) | 2013-11-22 | 2015-05-28 | California Institute Of Technology | Active cmos recovery units for wireless power transmission |
EP3072214B1 (en) | 2013-11-22 | 2018-10-10 | California Institute of Technology | Generator unit for wireless power transfer |
US9530038B2 (en) | 2013-11-25 | 2016-12-27 | Hand Held Products, Inc. | Indicia-reading system |
US9772401B2 (en) | 2014-03-17 | 2017-09-26 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Systems, methods, and apparatus for radar-based detection of objects in a predetermined space |
US9991751B2 (en) | 2014-05-09 | 2018-06-05 | The Board Of Trustees Of The Leland Stanford Junior University | Short range wireless communication |
US9735605B2 (en) | 2014-06-17 | 2017-08-15 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Methods and systems for object detection and sensing for wireless charging systems |
KR102288706B1 (en) | 2014-08-19 | 2021-08-10 | 캘리포니아 인스티튜트 오브 테크놀로지 | Wirelss power transfer |
KR101640785B1 (en) | 2014-09-25 | 2016-07-19 | 국방과학연구소 | Wideband rectenna and rectifying apparatus for rectenna |
KR20170119325A (en) | 2014-10-14 | 2017-10-26 | 오하이오 스테이트 이노베이션 파운데이션 | Systems capable of self-harvesting energy from wireless devices and methods of using the same |
US10027354B2 (en) | 2015-03-25 | 2018-07-17 | Intel IP Corporation | Phased array weighting for power efficiency improvement with high peak-to-average power ratio signals |
US20160380439A1 (en) | 2015-06-26 | 2016-12-29 | Lei Shao | Notification techniques for wireless power transfer systems |
EP3353793A4 (en) | 2015-09-22 | 2019-05-08 | California Institute of Technology | Rf receiver |
US10033230B2 (en) | 2015-09-25 | 2018-07-24 | Intel Corporation | Controlling a wireless power transmitter based on human presence |
WO2018218252A1 (en) | 2017-05-26 | 2018-11-29 | California Institute Of Technology | Method and apparatus for dynamic rf lens focusing and tracking of wireless power recovery unit |
US11404915B2 (en) | 2017-11-21 | 2022-08-02 | Guru, Inc. | Wireless power transfer for consumer applications |
US10615647B2 (en) | 2018-02-02 | 2020-04-07 | Energous Corporation | Systems and methods for detecting wireless power receivers and other objects at a near-field charging pad |
-
2014
- 2014-11-24 EP EP14863210.2A patent/EP3072214B1/en active Active
- 2014-11-24 KR KR1020217022372A patent/KR102473074B1/en active IP Right Grant
- 2014-11-24 CN CN201480063373.1A patent/CN105765821B/en active Active
- 2014-11-24 WO PCT/US2014/067187 patent/WO2015077730A1/en active Application Filing
- 2014-11-24 KR KR1020167015112A patent/KR102280756B1/en active IP Right Grant
-
2018
- 2018-09-26 US US16/143,332 patent/US11146113B2/en active Active
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US11955817B1 (en) | 2023-09-15 | 2024-04-09 | Reach Power, Inc. | System and method for wireless power transmission and/or field detection |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
KR20160087824A (en) | 2016-07-22 |
EP3072214A1 (en) | 2016-09-28 |
CN105765821B (en) | 2019-08-09 |
WO2015077730A1 (en) | 2015-05-28 |
EP3072214B1 (en) | 2018-10-10 |
CN105765821A (en) | 2016-07-13 |
EP3072214A4 (en) | 2017-06-28 |
KR20210092333A (en) | 2021-07-23 |
KR102473074B1 (en) | 2022-11-30 |
US20190044390A1 (en) | 2019-02-07 |
US11146113B2 (en) | 2021-10-12 |
KR102280756B1 (en) | 2021-07-21 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
US11146113B2 (en) | Generator unit for wireless power transfer | |
US10320242B2 (en) | Generator unit for wireless power transfer | |
US11831172B2 (en) | Techniques for facilitating beacon sampling efficiencies in wireless power delivery environments | |
US20190115792A1 (en) | Techniques For Leveraging Existing Components Of A Device For Wireless Power Transfer Functionality | |
US11843260B2 (en) | Generator unit for wireless power transfer | |
JP2023088974A (en) | Loop antenna with selectively-activated feed section to control propagation pattern of wireless power signal | |
US9887589B2 (en) | Systems and methods for improved phase determinations in wireless power delivery environments | |
US10177607B2 (en) | Techniques for delivering retrodirective wireless power | |
US20230238834A1 (en) | Circuits And Systems For Wireless Signaling | |
US11139695B2 (en) | Flat panel substrate with integrated antennas and wireless power transmission system | |
US11146115B2 (en) | Conformal wave selector | |
KR102211836B1 (en) | Wireless power transmitter and method for controlling thereof | |
US20190165599A1 (en) | Tone Power Scheduler For Wireless Environmental Applications | |
US10277078B2 (en) | Central controller board enhancements for wireless power battery charging systems |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
FEPP | Fee payment procedure |
Free format text: ENTITY STATUS SET TO UNDISCOUNTED (ORIGINAL EVENT CODE: BIG.); ENTITY STATUS OF PATENT OWNER: SMALL ENTITY |
|
FEPP | Fee payment procedure |
Free format text: ENTITY STATUS SET TO SMALL (ORIGINAL EVENT CODE: SMAL); ENTITY STATUS OF PATENT OWNER: SMALL ENTITY |
|
STPP | Information on status: patent application and granting procedure in general |
Free format text: APPLICATION DISPATCHED FROM PREEXAM, NOT YET DOCKETED |
|
STPP | Information on status: patent application and granting procedure in general |
Free format text: DOCKETED NEW CASE - READY FOR EXAMINATION |
|
STPP | Information on status: patent application and granting procedure in general |
Free format text: NON FINAL ACTION MAILED |
|
STPP | Information on status: patent application and granting procedure in general |
Free format text: RESPONSE TO NON-FINAL OFFICE ACTION ENTERED AND FORWARDED TO EXAMINER |
|
FEPP | Fee payment procedure |
Free format text: PETITION RELATED TO MAINTENANCE FEES GRANTED (ORIGINAL EVENT CODE: PTGR); ENTITY STATUS OF PATENT OWNER: SMALL ENTITY |
|
STPP | Information on status: patent application and granting procedure in general |
Free format text: FINAL REJECTION MAILED |
|
STPP | Information on status: patent application and granting procedure in general |
Free format text: DOCKETED NEW CASE - READY FOR EXAMINATION |
|
STPP | Information on status: patent application and granting procedure in general |
Free format text: NON FINAL ACTION MAILED |
|
STPP | Information on status: patent application and granting procedure in general |
Free format text: RESPONSE TO NON-FINAL OFFICE ACTION ENTERED AND FORWARDED TO EXAMINER |
|
STPP | Information on status: patent application and granting procedure in general |
Free format text: NOTICE OF ALLOWANCE MAILED -- APPLICATION RECEIVED IN OFFICE OF PUBLICATIONS |
|
STPP | Information on status: patent application and granting procedure in general |
Free format text: PUBLICATIONS -- ISSUE FEE PAYMENT RECEIVED |
|
STCB | Information on status: application discontinuation |
Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO PAY ISSUE FEE |
|
STPP | Information on status: patent application and granting procedure in general |
Free format text: PUBLICATIONS -- ISSUE FEE PAYMENT RECEIVED |
|
STCF | Information on status: patent grant |
Free format text: PATENTED CASE |
|
CC | Certificate of correction |