WO2012064037A2

WO2012064037A2 - Method and apparatus for transmission of wireless power

Info

Publication number: WO2012064037A2
Application number: PCT/KR2011/008127
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jaesung Lee; Jeongkyo Seo
Original assignee: Lg Electronics Inc.
Priority date: 2010-11-08
Filing date: 2011-10-28
Publication date: 2012-05-18
Also published as: WO2012064037A3; KR20120049426A

Abstract

A method for transmission of a wireless power comprises the steps of generating a transport packet including an address field recording an address of a predetermined wireless power reception apparatus, a command field recording a command to be transmitted to the wireless power reception apparatus, and a parameter field including a parameter corresponding to the command field; generating a resonance power having a predetermined resonance frequency; and transmitting at least one of the transport packet and the resonance power to the wireless power reception apparatus.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSMISSION OF WIRELESS POWER

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for transmission of a wireless power, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for transmission of a wireless power, which can selectively an inductive power based on an inductive coupling scheme and a resonance power based on a resonance coupling scheme.

Most of home appliances used in daily life, portable devices, office machines, and industrial machines use electric energy supplied from an electric power station in cable. However, the recent development and use in a wide range of various portable devices show that the cable power supply is not a power supply suitable for portable devices. In case of cellular phones that become the necessities of daily life, a problem occurs in that it is difficult to charge a battery anywhere if the battery is used up. As use of a lap top computer also increases, a problem of capacity and weight of a battery has been more serious. In this respect, if energy supply is performed in wireless at offices or industries, it is expected that it will bring a new revolutionary change in view of an industrial aspect.

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for transmission of a wireless power, which substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for performing communication by transmitting and receiving wireless power between a wireless power transmission apparatus and at least one wireless power reception apparatus.

Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, a method for transmission of a wireless power comprises the steps of generating a transport packet including an address field recording an address of a predetermined wireless power reception apparatus, a command field recording a command to be transmitted to the wireless power reception apparatus, and a parameter field including a parameter corresponding to the command field; generating a resonance power having a predetermined resonance frequency; and transmitting at least one of the transport packet and the resonance power to the wireless power reception apparatus.

In this case, the step of transmitting at least one of the transport packet and the resonance power may include transmitting the transport packet to the wireless power reception apparatus at the resonance frequency.

The transport packet includes a sync region, a header region, a message region, and an error check region, and the address field and the command field are included in the header region while the parameter region is included in the message region. The header region may further include a length region indicating a length of the message region, and a group region indicating a group of the command.

The address field may include a group address portion indicating a group of the wireless power reception apparatus, and an identification address portion indicating an identification address of the wireless power reception apparatus.

In another aspect of the present invention, a wireless power transmission apparatus transmitting a wireless power comprises a resonance power generating portion including a signal processor generating a transport packet including an address field recording an address of a predetermined wireless power reception apparatus, a command field recording a command to be transmitted to the wireless power reception apparatus, and a parameter field including a parameter corresponding to the command field, and a resonance power generator outputting the generated transport packet to the outside as a resonance signal having a predetermined resonance frequency; and a controller controlling the resonance power generating portion to output the generated transport packet as the resonance signal.

In this case, the wireless power transmission apparatus may further comprise a resonance power modifier for modifying the resonance frequency, and the controller may control the resonance power modifier to modify the resonance frequency.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, it is advantageous in that a wireless power transmission apparatus and at least one wireless power reception apparatus transmit and receive a wireless power to and from each other to efficiently perform communication.

One wireless power transmission apparatus can perform communication with a plurality of wireless power reception apparatuses and transmit a wireless power to the wireless power reception apparatuses simultaneously or by designating priority. Also, if the plurality of wireless power reception apparatuses is charged, they are controlled per group. In this case, the plurality of wireless power reception apparatuses can be controlled more efficiently than that the wireless power reception apparatuses are controlled individually.

It is to be understood that the advantages that can be obtained by the present invention are not limited to the aforementioned advantages and other advantages which are not mentioned will be apparent from the following description to the person with an ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains.

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless power transmission apparatus and a wireless power reception apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a brief circuit of a transmitting side resonance power generating portion and a transmitting side power supply portion of a wireless power transmission apparatus and a brief circuit of a wireless power reception apparatus receiving a resonance power;

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are control flow charts briefly illustrating a procedure of transmission and reception between a wireless power transmission apparatus and a wireless power reception apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a waveform illustrating signals used to encode data into bits in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a byte according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a packet according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is diagram illustrating a structure of a sync region in a packet according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is diagram illustrating a structure of a command region in a packet according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a structure of an error check region in a packet according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is diagram illustrating a data structure of a communication command used for communication between a transmitting side controller and a transmitting side resonance power generating portion of a wireless power transmission apparatus or communication between a receiving side controller and a receiving side resonance power processor of a wireless power reception apparatus; and

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a wireless power transmission apparatus and a plurality of wireless power reception apparatuses.

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that the person with ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains can carry out the embodiments of the present invention.

The terms used in the present invention are selected from generally known and used terms considering their functions in the present invention. However, in special case, the terms mentioned in the description of the present invention may be selected by the applicant at his or her discretion, the detailed meanings of which are described in relevant parts of the description herein. Accordingly, the terms used herein should be understood not simply by the actual terms used but by the meaning lying within and the description disclosed herein.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a wireless power transmission apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

A wireless power transmission system according to one embodiment of the present invention is a system that can supply a power in wireless between apparatuses to which a line for directly supplying a power is not connected. The wireless power transmission system includes a method for generating an inductive power in accordance with an inductive coupling scheme and generating a resonance power in accordance with a resonance coupling scheme.

According to the inductive coupling scheme, if intensity of a current flowing in a primary coil of two adjacent coils is varied, a magnetic field is varied by the current. For this reason, a magnetic flux passing through a secondary coil is varied, whereby an inductive electromotive force occurs in the secondary coil. In other words, according to this scheme, although two conducting wires are moved spatially, if only a current of a primary coil is varied in a state that two coils adjoin each other, an inductive electromotive force occurs. In this case, although frequency properties are not affected by the inductive coupling scheme, power efficiency is affected depending on alignment and distance between the power transmission apparatus and the power reception apparatus, which include each coil.

On the other hand, according to the resonance coupling scheme, a part of variation of a magnetic field generated by a resonance frequency applied to the primary coil of two coils applies the secondary coil of the same resonance frequency, whereby an inductive electromotive force occurs in the secondary coil. In other words, according to this scheme, if the transmission apparatus and the reception apparatus are respectively resonated at the same frequency, electromagnetic waves are transferred through a short-distance electromagnetic field. Accordingly, energy transfer does not occur in case of different frequencies. In this case, although frequency properties are affected by the resonance coupling scheme, power efficiency is relatively less affected than the inductive coupling scheme by alignment and distance between the power transmission apparatus and the power reception apparatus, which include each coil.

Hereinafter, a method for efficiently transmitting a wireless power in a wireless power transmission system in accordance with a resonance coupling scheme will be described. In particular, as expressed by the following Equation 1, according to the resonant coupling scheme, a resonance frequency f is determined in accordance with inductance L and power capacitance C, wherein the inductance L is determined by distance d, length and revolution count between coils constituting the transmission apparatus and the reception apparatus of the wireless power transmission system and the power capacitance C is determined by distance d between the coils and an area of the coils.

[Equation 1]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless power transmission apparatus 100 and a wireless power reception apparatus 200 according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 may include a transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130, a transmitting side power supply portion 110 and a transmitting side controller 170.

The transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 generates a resonance power having predetermined resonance frequencies, and outputs the generated resonance power to an external power reception apparatus, whereby the external power reception apparatus can be charged by the resonance power. In other words, the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 generates the resonance power in accordance with the aforementioned resonance coupling scheme. To this end, the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 includes a transmitting side resonance power generator 135, which includes a resonance coil L1 and a resonance capacitor C (not shown), and a transmitting side signal processor 131 for processing a signal applied to the transmitting side resonance power generator 135 by modulating and demodulating the signal. In this case, the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 may further include a resonance frequency modifier 133 for modifying a resonance frequency value of the transmitting side resonance power generator 135. In other words, the resonance frequency modifier 133 may include a motor that can modify a value of capacitance C of the resonance capacitor by adjusting a distance of the resonance capacitor included in the transmitting side resonance power generator 135. Alternatively, the transmitting side resonance power generator 135 may include a motor that can modify a value of inductance L1 of a resonance coil by adjusting the number of turns or diameter of the resonance coil.

The transmitting side power supply portion 110 may drive the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 by supplying the power to the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130. In other words, the transmitting side controller 170 may control the transmitting side power supply portion 110 to supply the power to the transmitting power resonance power generating portion 130. As a result, the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 may be driven to generate a resonance signal having a predetermined resonance frequency value and may transmit the generated resonance signal to the wireless power reception apparatus 200. At this time, the resonance signal includes a resonance power, and may include a signal having a transport packet for transmission to the wireless power reception apparatus together with or separately from the resonance power.

In this case, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 further includes a communication portion (not shown), and may transmit and receive a wakeup signal, a detection signal, a response signal to the detection signal, a charging information request signal, an identification information request signal, a power state check signal, an ending signal, and response signals to the ending signals, which will be described later, through the communication portion.

However, according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 does not include a communication portion separately. The transmitting side signal processor 131 may include at least one of an A/D converter, a D/A converter, an encoder, a decoder, a demodulator and a modulator, instead of the communication portion, and may output predetermined data to the wireless power reception apparatus 200 through the transmitting resonance power generator 135 by modulating the aforementioned resonance signal. Also, the transmitting side signal processor 131 may process the data received from the wireless power reception apparatus 200. In this case, the transmitting side signal processor 131 may generate the detection signal, the charging information request signal, the identification information request signal, the power state check signal, and the ending signal and output them to the wireless power reception apparatus 200. Also, the transmitting side signal processor 131 may control the transmitting side resonance power generator 135 to output the resonance power and the aforementioned signals at the same frequency even in the case that the resonance power is not transmitted. Also, the transmitting side signal processor 131 may also process the response signal to the detection signal, charging information, identification information, power state information, and the response signal to the ending signal, which are received from the wireless power reception apparatus 200, and may transmit the processed result to the transmitting side controller 170.

Furthermore, the wireless power reception apparatus 200 according to the present invention may include a charging portion 210, a receiving side resonance power processor 230, and a receiving side controller 270. In other words, the receiving side resonance power processor 230 according to the present invention includes a resonance power receiving portion 235 receiving a resonance signal having a predetermined resonance frequency from the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 and a receiving side signal portion processing the resonance signal received from the resonance power receiving portion 235. In this case, the resonance power receiving portion 235 includes a receiving side resonance coil L2 and a receiving side resonance capacitor C (not shown), wherein the receiving side resonance coil L2 and the resonance frequency of the receiving side resonance capacitor are identical with the resonance frequency of the resonance signal transmitted from the wireless power reception apparatus 200.

If the wireless power reception apparatus 200 receives the resonance power, the charging portion 210 performs charging by receiving the resonance power processed by the receiving side signal processor 231. Also, although not shown, the wireless power reception apparatus according to the present invention may include a receiving side power supply portion for supplying a power to each element. In the same manner as the transmitting side controller 170, the receiving side controller 270 controls each element included in the wireless power reception apparatus 200.

In this case, according to one embodiment of the present invention, if the wireless power transmission apparatus includes a communication portion, the wireless power reception apparatus 200 may further include a communication portion, which is not shown, to transmit and receive the aforementioned data to and from the wireless power transmission apparatus.

However, according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the receiving side signal processor 231 may also include at least one of an A/D converter, a D/A converter, an encoder, a decoder, a demodulator and a modulator to process the resonance signal received from the wireless power transmission apparatus. Also, the transmitting side controller and the receiving side controller may include at least one of a microcomputer and a digital signal process in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a brief circuit of a transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 and a transmitting side power supply portion 110 of a wireless power transmission apparatus 100 and a brief circuit of a wireless power reception apparatus 200 receiving a resonance power.

As described above in respect of resonance coupling, the resonance frequency is determined in accordance with the resonance coil of the transmitting side resonance power generator 135 and the value of the resonance capacitor. Accordingly, if the resonance coil has a value of LTX and the resonance capacitor has a value of CTX, the resonance frequency value can be obtained by substituting the values for the Equation 1. Also, if the resonance coil of the resonance power reception apparatus is the same as the resonance frequency value of the resonance capacitor, even though the distance between the resonance coil of the resonance power transmission apparatus and the resonance coil of the resonance power reception apparatus is longer than the distance between the primary coil and the secondary coil based on the inductive power and misalignment between them occurs, the resonance power can be transmitted.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are control flow charts briefly illustrating a procedure of transmission and reception between a wireless power transmission apparatus 100 and a wireless power reception apparatus 200 according to the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 according to the present invention recognizes whether the wireless power reception apparatus 200 exists externally. If the wireless power reception apparatus 200 is recognized (S110), the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 requests the wireless power reception apparatus 200 of charging information (S130).

In response to the request, the wireless power reception apparatus 200 may transmit a charging response signal including charging information to the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 (S210), and the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 may control each of its elements based on the corresponding charging response signal if the corresponding charging response signal is received. In other words, the transmitting side controller 170 of the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 may generate the resonance power based on the charging information and control the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 to output the generated resonance power to the wireless power reception apparatus 200 (S150). Then, the wireless power reception apparatus 200 starts to charge the charging portion 210 by receiving the resonance power through the resonance power receiving portion 235 (S230), and the receiving side controller 270 checks whether charging is completed by detecting the charging state of the charging portion 210 (S250). Accordingly, if it is determined that charging has been completed, the wireless power reception apparatus 200 transmits to the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 a state signal indicating that charging has been completed (S270). The wireless power transmission apparatus 100 which has received the corresponding state signal stops generation and transmission of the resonance power (S170) and ends the procedure of transmission of the wireless power.

In other words, as shown in FIG. 4, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 and the wireless power reception apparatus 200 according to the present invention are subjected to an inquiry scan step to recognize the other party each other. In this case, the inquiry scan step is performed prior to the step S110 of FIG. 3. Afterwards, if the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 recognizes the wireless power reception apparatus 200, each apparatus is subjected to identification scan and connection steps. In this case, the identification scan and connection steps correspond to the steps S130 and S210 of FIG. 3. Afterwards, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 and the wireless power reception apparatus 200 transmit and receive the resonance power through transmitting and receiving steps and mutually check their charging states. In this case, the transmitting and receiving steps correspond to the steps S150, S230, S250 and S270 of FIG. 3. Finally, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 and the wireless power reception apparatus 200 end the operation through a close step of communication.

In more detail, the inquiry scan step according to one embodiment of the present invention can be performed as follows. In other words, in order to recognize whether the wireless power reception apparatus 200 exists externally, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 outputs a detection signal periodically. If a response signal to the detection signal is output, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 may recognize the wireless power reception apparatus 200. At this time, the response signal to the detection signal may be a signal obtained by shifting the frequency of the detection signal and modifying the amplitude of the detection signal.

In other words, if the transmitting side controller 170 requests the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 of state information, the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 transmits the state information to the transmitting side controller 170 in response to the request. The wireless power transmission apparatus 100 periodically or non-periodically outputs a detection signal for detecting whether the wireless power reception apparatus 200 exists externally. In this case, if the wireless power reception apparatus 200 is detected, a signal indicating that the wireless power reception apparatus 200 has been detected is input to the wireless power transmission apparatus 100. At this time, in order to indicate that the wireless power reception apparatus 200 has been detected, the frequency of the aforementioned detection signal may be shifted and then input to the wireless power transmission apparatus 100.

Furthermore, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 may be prepared at a standby state in the inquiry scan step, and the wireless power reception apparatus 100 may transmit the detection signal to the outside. At this time, if the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 receives the corresponding detection signal, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 recognizes the wireless power reception apparatus 200. Also, if the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 recognizes the wireless power reception apparatus 200, the transmitting side controller 170 may end the standby state and activate each element to generate and output the resonance power to the wireless power reception apparatus 200.

In the identification step according to one embodiment of the present invention, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 identifies whether the wireless power reception apparatus 200 is the apparatus to be charged or the registered apparatus. In more detail, the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 of the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 outputs identification information request signal to the wireless power reception apparatus 200 under the control of the transmitting side controller 170. Then, the receiving side controller 270 of the wireless power reception apparatus 200 checks the state of the receiving side resonance power processor 230, which receives the identification information, and controls the receiving side resonance power processor 230 to output the identification signal to the wireless power transmission apparatus 100. In this case, the identification information includes ID of the wireless power reception apparatus 200 and information as to charging. The transmitting side controller 170 of the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 may perform identification through ID of the wireless power reception apparatus 200.

In the connection step according to one embodiment of the present invention, the transmitting side controller 170 of the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 controls the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 to generate and output a charging information request signal requesting charging information. In this case, the charging information may include at least one of the voltage, power, and resonance frequency of the resonance power required for charging. If the wireless power reception apparatus 200 receives the charging information request signal, the receiving side controller 270 and the receiving side resonance power processor 230 determine information required for charging, such as the voltage, power and resonance frequency of the resonance power by mutually checking their states, and transmit the charging information to the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 based on the determined result. And, the receiving side controller 270 and the receiving side resonance power processor 230 check whether the wireless power reception apparatus 200 can receive the resonance power. Also, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 may allocate an address to the wireless power reception apparatus 200 and transmit the same to the wireless power reception apparatus 200. At this time, if the wireless power reception apparatus 200 is the apparatus to which an address is not allocated, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 may transmit the address to the wireless power reception apparatus 200 after receiving the aforementioned charging information. As will be described later, the address of the wireless power reception apparatus 200 may be allocated in the same manner as an address of an address region.

In the transmitting and receiving steps according to one embodiment of the present invention, the transmitting side controller 170 controls the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 to output the generated resonance power to the wireless power reception apparatus 200. As a result, the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 outputs the resonance power. And, the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 outputs to the wireless power reception apparatus 200 a power state check signal for periodically checking the state of the wireless power reception apparatus 200. Since a transmitting voltage of the resonance power to be output from the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 may be modified depending on a charging level of the wireless power reception apparatus 200, the power state of the wireless power reception apparatus 200 may be checked continuously. In other words, since a load is varied depending on the charging state of the wireless power reception apparatus 200, the voltage size of the resonance power to be transmitted from the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 may be varied to maintain a certain power. In other words, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 may output the power state check signal to check the charging state periodically. In addition, the power state check information may include charging complete information as to whether charging has been completed. In this case, the power state check signal may be output to the wireless power reception apparatus 200 as a predetermined resonance frequency together with the resonance power.

In the ending step according to one embodiment of the present invention, if the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 determines that it does not have to output the resonance power any more due to charging completion of the wireless power reception apparatus 200, the transmitting side controller 170 controls the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 so as not to generate the resonance power any more and ends connection.

FIG. 5 is a waveform illustrating signals used to encode data into bits in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

In other words, as shown in FIG. 5, a signal to be transmitted from the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 to the wireless power reception apparatus 200 may be generated in accordance with the present invention. First of all, a bit signal is generated based on a clock signal and a data signal. In the present invention, bit encoding may be performed considering a previous data signal as well as the current data signal. In other words, supposing that the previous data signal is 1 and the current data signal is 1, for example, if the clock signal is an ascending edge, a bit encoding signal is set to a low value. And, if the clock signal is a descending edge, the bit encoding signal is set to a high value. Also, supposing that the previous data signal is 1 and the current data signal is 0, if the clock signal is an ascending edge, the bit encoding signal is set to a low value. And, if the clock signal is a descending edge, the bit encoding signal is set to a low value. Also, supposing that the previous data signal is 0 and the current data signal is 1, if the clock signal is an ascending edge, the bit encoding signal is set to a high value. And, if the clock signal is a descending edge, the bit encoding signal is set to a low value. Also, supposing that the previous data signal is 0 and the current data signal is 0, if the clock signal is an ascending edge, the bit encoding signal is set to a high value. And, if the clock signal is a descending edge, the bit encoding signal is set to a high value.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a byte according to one embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 6, a byte for transmission according to the present invention includes a starting bit indicating a start point of the byte and an ending bit indicating an end point of the byte, and may include a data bit between the starting bit and the ending bit. Also, in order to check an error of data, the byte may additionally include a parity bit. In this case, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the data bit includes a total of eight bits, whereby a total of eleven bits can be configured as shown in FIG. 6 to constitute a byte signal. In this case, it is natural that eleven bits may be 22 bits after encoding.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a transport packet according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The wireless power transmission apparatus 100 and the wireless power reception apparatus 200 according to the present invention can perform communication with each other using a transport packet. The transport packet may include a sync region, a header region, a message region, and an error check region. Although the sync region is set to 2 bytes, the header region is set to 3 bytes, and the error check region is set to 1 byte in FIG. 7 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, modifications may be made in the number of bytes in each region. Also, the number of bytes in the message region has a value that can be modified.

FIG. 8A to FIG. 10 are diagrams illustrating a structure of a sync region, a command region and an error check region in a structure of a transport packet according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The sync region shown in FIG. 8A and FIG. B is a region for indicating start of the transport packet and synchronizing sync. As shown, the sync region may be provided with a byte having eight continuous bit values of “1” or a byte having eight continuous bit values of “0”.

The command region shown in FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B includes a header region and a message region. The header region of the command region may include an address field for recording address of IDs to be received in the wireless power reception apparatus 200, a command field OCF related to command, and a group field OGF, as shown in FIG. 9B. In this case, the address field may be provided with 6 bits of upper 2 bytes of the header region, the command field may be provided with 6 bits, and the group field may be provided with 4 bits. The header region may further include a parameter length field indicating a length of the message region. In this case, the message region includes a predetermined message, that is, parameter.

The addresses of a plurality of wireless power reception apparatus 200 are recorded in the address field, whereby the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 can charge the wireless power reception apparatus 200. For example, if the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 recognizes the plurality of wireless power reception apparatuses 200, it may identify properties of the corresponding wireless power reception apparatus 200 based on address information. Also, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 may charge the wireless power reception apparatuses 200 by transmitting the wireless power to only a part of the plurality of wireless power reception apparatuses 200 or transmitting the wireless power to the plurality of wireless power reception apparatuses 200 in accordance with priority. If the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 recognizes five wireless power reception apparatuses 200 and determines that two of the recognized wireless power reception apparatuses 200 should be charged prior to the other wireless power reception apparatuses, it may divide the two wireless power reception apparatuses 200 and the other wireless power reception apparatuses into different groups by using the address of the address field and first charge the group corresponding to the two wireless power reception apparatuses 200. To this end, if address information is provided in a top region of the header region, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 reads the address information prior to other command information. In other words, if a plurality of wireless power reception apparatuses 200 are connected, the corresponding field is read prior to the other fields to selectively transmit the resonance power, whereby the time unnecessarily required to read command information can be reduced. This will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 12, which will be described later.

The group field (OFC) includes command information required for data transmission of the present invention. In other words, as illustrated in Table 1, the command used for data transmission may be divided into four groups in accordance with the present invention. Namely, the four groups include a link control command, a link policy command, a status parameter command, and an authorization command. In this case, the link control command may be used for the detection and authorization steps of the wireless power reception apparatus 200, the link policy command may be used for the connection step, and the status parameter command may be used for the transmitting and receiving steps.

Table 1

Header	Group field	Property
0 01	Link Control Command	Detection, Inquiry
0 02	Link Policy Command	Multi-connection access, priority
0 03	Status Parameters	Tx/Rx status check, Efficiency
0 04	Authorization Command	Identification, Access range
0 05 ~ 0 FF	Reserved	For compatible to induced method

The command field is a field for a command corresponding to any one of the group fields.

Table 2 illustrates detailed commands for the link control command. In other words, 0×01 represents a detection command for detecting the wireless power reception apparatus 200, and is included in a signal requesting detection of the wireless power reception apparatus 200 that can be charged near the wireless power transmission apparatus 100. Also, the signal including the corresponding command is used in the aforementioned inquiry scan step. In other words, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 may detect the wireless power reception apparatus 200 by generating a signal having a predetermined resonance frequency of which 0×01 is recorded in the group field and 0×01 is recorded in the command field. Also, according to one embodiment of the present invention, 1 is recorded in the parameter length field of the header region to indicate that the length of the parameter field is 1, and information on a transmission period of the detection signal is included in the parameter field. At this time, it is preferable that the transmission period of the detection signal has a value of several micrometers (ms).

0×02 represents a recognition command for recognizing the wireless power reception apparatus 200, is used to allow the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 to recognize the wireless power reception apparatus 200, and is recorded in the command of the transport packet. In other words, if 0×01 is recorded in the group field of the transport packet and 0×02 is recorded in the command field, the signal is used as a recognition signal. Also, according to one embodiment of the present invention, 1 is recorded in the parameter length field of the header region, and information on the number of the wireless power reception apparatuses 200 registered in the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 is included in the parameter field. At this time, if the parameter field is provided with 1 byte, a maximum number of the wireless power reception apparatuses 200 that can be registered in the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 may be 255. Accordingly, a value of 2 or more may be recorded in the parameter length field of the header region if necessary. In this case, the number of the wireless power reception apparatuses 200 that can be registered in the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 may be increased by increasing the number of bytes allocated to the parameter field. 0×03 means a response command for the recognition signal for the recognition command, and is used for a signal output from the wireless power reception apparatus 100 to the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 in response to the recognition signal.

0×04 represents a recognition cancellation command for canceling the recognition command for recognizing the wireless power reception apparatus 200. At this time, it is not required that separate information should be stored in the parameter field. Also, 0×02 to 0×04 are used in the aforementioned recognition step.

0×05 represents an authorization command for authorizing the wireless power reception apparatus 200, and is used in the aforementioned authorization step. Accordingly, in order to authorize the wireless power reception apparatus 200 in the aforementioned authorization step, 0×04 is recorded in the link control command bit of the header region. In accordance with the authorization command, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 requests the wireless power reception apparatus 200 of address information. At this time, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 may output its address and/or properties to the wireless power reception apparatus 200 if necessary. Accordingly, if the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 transmits its address to the wireless power reception apparatus 200, the parameter field may include address information of the wireless power transmission apparatus 100.

0×06 represents a response command of the signal for the identification command. Accordingly, if the signal having an authorization command is received, the wireless power reception apparatus 200 may transmit its address information together with the signal having a response command. At this time, ID information and/or information for identification (for example, password) of the wireless power reception apparatus 200 may be included in the parameter field.

0×07 represents a connection command for indicating that the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 can be connected with the wireless power reception apparatus 200, and is used in the aforementioned connection step. At this time, it is not required that separate information should be stored in the parameter field.

0×08 is used in response to a request of predetermined information if the wireless power reception apparatus 200 requests the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 of the predetermined information. Status information of the wireless power reception apparatus 200 may be included in the parameter field.

0×09 represents a connection report command reporting that the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 can be connected with the wireless power reception apparatus 200, and is used in the connection step.

0×0a represents a preparation command for reporting that the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 is prepared for connection with the wireless power reception apparatus 200, and is used in the connection step. At this time, the parameter field may include at least one of various kinds of information required for wireless transmission, i.e., a resonance frequency value, charging state check period, and priority of a plurality of wireless power reception apparatuses 200 if the plurality of wireless power reception apparatuses are connected with the wireless power transmission apparatus 100. At this time, although the length of the parameter field is set to 2 bytes in Table 2, more bytes may be allocated if necessary.

0×0b represents a status command for checking the status between the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 and the wireless power reception apparatus 200, and is used in the transmitting and receiving steps. In other words, the status command may be included in the power state check signal for requesting power state check information. Accordingly, the parameter field may include information for requesting client status.

0×0c represents an end command for ending connection between the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 and the wireless power reception apparatus 200, and is used in the ending step. At this time, the parameter field may include information on the reason of the end.

Table 2

Header	Command	Parameter (byte)	Property
0 01	Detection Request	Detection period (1)	Detection request of wireless power reception apparatus
0 02	Inquiry	The number of apparatuses currently registered (1)	Search request to detected wireless power reception apparatus
0 03	Inquiry_Reponse	(0)	Response from wireless power reception apparatus
0 04	Inquiry_Cancel	(0)	Stop of search request
0 05	Identification	ID of wireless power transmission apparatus (2)	ID request from wireless power transmission apparatus to wireless power reception apparatus
0 06	Identification_Response	ID and password information	Provision of information required for ID and authorization from wireless power reception apparatus
0 07	Inform	Required information details	Request of information required for connection from wireless power transmission apparatus to wireless power reception apparatus
0 08	Rx_Status	Required information details	Response to required information in wireless power transmission apparatus
0 09	Connection	(0)	Report of connection from wireless power transmission apparatus to wireless power reception apparatus
0 0a	Ready Rx	Information required for wireless transmission (2)	Report of preparation of connection from wireless power transmission apparatus to wireless power reception apparatus
0 0b	Wireless Tx	Client status request (1)	Request of status information from wireless power transmission apparatus to wireless power reception apparatus
0 0c	Close	Reason of end	End of connection between wireless power transmission apparatus and wireless power reception apparatus
0 0d ~ 0 FF	Reserved

Table 3 illustrates a field for the link policy command corresponding to 0×02 of the group field. In other words, 0×01 of the link policy command represents a command for representing priority of a plurality of the wireless power reception apparatuses 200 if any. In other words, if 0×02 is recorded in the group field and 0×01 is recorded in the command field, the corresponding signal reports priority of the wireless power reception apparatuses 200, and a priority value is recorded in the parameter field.

0×02 represents a command requesting modification of the priority from the wireless power reception apparatus 200 to the wireless power transmission apparatus 100. Accordingly, a priority modification request value is included in the parameter field.

0×03 represents a command for modification of a charging mode of the registered wireless power reception apparatus 200.

Table 3

Header	Command	Parameter (byte)	Property
0 01	Priority	Input priority (2)	Report of priority of wireless power reception apparatus
0 02	Priority_Request	Modification request value (2)	Modification request of priority
0 03	Charging Method		Modification of charging mode
0 04 ~ 0 FF	Reserved

Table 4 illustrates a field for the status parameter command corresponding to 0×03 of the group field. In other words, if 0×01 is recorded in the field for the status parameter command, it is intended to determine whether the wireless power reception apparatus 200 is connected with the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 and represents a command requesting check of the connection state.

0×02 represents a response to the command requesting check of the connection state. At this time, the transmitting side controller 170 of the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 may perform ending of the connection if a signal having the response is not transmitted from the wireless power reception apparatus 200.

0×03 represents a command for requesting an efficiency value from the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 to the wireless

power reception apparatus

200, and 0×04 represents a response to the command for requesting an efficiency value and also represents that information on the efficiency value is included in the parameter field.

0×05 represents a command requesting predetermined information to determine the priority of the wireless power reception apparatus 200. At this time, only a priority request signal may be output to the parameter field without separate information. 0×06 represents a response signal for priority request information, and priority related information is recorded in the parameter field.

Table 4

Header	Command	Parameter (byte)	Property
0 01	Connect	(0)	Check request of connection state
0 02	Connect_Resp	(0)	Response
0 03	Efficiency	Input power (2)	Request of efficiency value by transfer of input power
0 04	Efficiency_Resp	Efficiency value (1)	Transmission of efficiency value to wireless power transmission apparatus
0 05	Priority	(0)	Request of priority during connection of a plurality of wireless power reception apparatuses
0 06	Priority_Resp	Priority value (2)	Priority value response
0 07 ~ 0 FF	Reserved

Table 5 illustrates a field for the authorization command corresponding to 0×04 of the group field. In other words, if 0×01 is recorded in the field for the authorization command, it represents a pause command for requesting pause of driving. At this time, “0” is recorded in the parameter length field to indicate that the length of the parameter field is allocated as much as 0byte, and separate information may not be recorded in the parameter field. 0×02 of the field for the authorization command represents an authorization request command for re-driving after pause. A signal having the authorization request command may be transmitted from the wireless power reception apparatus 200 to the wireless power transmission apparatus 100, and vice versa. At this time, “0” is recorded in the parameter length field to indicate that the length of the parameter field is allocated as much as 0byte, and separate information may not be recorded in the parameter field. 0×03 of the field for the authorization command represents a response command to the authorization request command for re-driving, and authorization information is recorded in the parameter field.

Table 5

Header	Command	Parameter(byte)	Property
0 01	Pause	(0)	Standby for a while
0 02	Resume	(0)	For re-driving, request of authorization information to wireless power transmission apparatus
0 03	Resume_Resp	Authorization (2)
0 04 ~ 0 FF	Reserved

The error check region shown in FIG. 10 is a byte for checking an error of the transport packet, and may include a check sum region, for example. In other words, the check sum region may be provided with 1 byte, and is used for parity check to determine whether an error has occurred. In this case, the check sum region checks whether signal transmission has been performed without any error by performing exclusive operation for the command region including the header region and the message region in a bit unit and comparing check sum values. In other words, it is determined whether a value of C obtained by the following Equation 2 is equal to the check sum value, to determine whether an error has occurred.

[Equation 2]

FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B are diagrams illustrating a data structure of a communication command used for communication between the transmitting side controller 170 and the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 of the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 or communication between the receiving side controller 270 and the receiving side resonance power processor 230 of the wireless power reception apparatus 200. The communication command used for communication between the transmitting side controller 170 and the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 and communication between the receiving side controller 270 and the receiving side resonance power processor 230 may be provided as a plurality of commands in addition to the command illustrated in Table 6.

In other words, the transmitting side controller 170 and the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 and the receiving side controller 270 and the receiving side resonance power processor 230 mutually perform communication by transmitting and receiving a packet to and from each other. In this case, an event is used between the transmitting side controller 170 and the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 and between the receiving side controller 270 and the receiving side resonance power processor 230 to mutually share the result of comment transmission and reception between the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 and the wireless power reception apparatus 200. The event is included in event fields B0 and B1 having information on event types, and is also included in event parameter fields B2 and B3 having information on contents of the event.

In more detail, the resonance power generating portion 130 or the receiving side resonance power processor 230 may report to the transmitting side controller 170 or the receiving side controller 270 that the command input from the transmitting side controller 170 or the receiving side controller 270 has been performed, through a command Evt_Command_Status of 0×01 in Table 5. In other words, if the transmitting side controller 170 checks that the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 is in a chargeable state and requests the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 of status information, the transmitting side power generating portion transmits the status information (Evt_Command_Status) to the transmitting side controller 170. At this time, 0×01 (Evt_Command_Status) is recorded in a signal corresponding to the status information transmitted in response to the request of the transmitting side controller 170.

0×02 (Evt_Exit_Message) is used to allow the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 and the receiving side resonance power processor 230 to report to the transmitting side controller 170 and the receiving side controller 270 that a message requiring predetermined signal processing exists.

I0×03 (Evt_Inquiry_Result) represents an event indicating that a predetermined request has been processed. For example, the receiving side controller 270 controls the receiving side resonance power processor 230 to output a request response signal to the request signal to the wireless power transmission apparatus 100. Afterwards, if the receiving side resonance power processor 230 reports to the receiving side controller 270 that the request response signal has been output, 0×03 is used.

0×04 (Evt_Identification_Result) is used to report to the transmitting side controller 170 whether an authorization step has been processed if the authorization step between the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 and the wireless power reception apparatus 200 is performed.

0×05 (Evt_Connection_Complete) is used to indicate whether connection between the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 and the wireless power reception apparatus 200 has been processed.

0×06 (Evt_Device_Result) is an event indicating a status result of the current apparatus, and is used for a signal transmitted from the transmitting side power generating portion 130 to the transmitting side controller 170 or from the receiving side resonance power processor 230 to the receiving side controller 270. For example, if the receiving side controller 270 controls the receiving side resonance power processor 230 to output the request response signal to the request signal of the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 to the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 and as a result, the request response signal is received in the wireless

power transmission apparatus

100, 0×06 may be used to allow the transmitting side resonance power processor of the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 to report to the transmitting side controller 170 that the request response signal has been received.

0×07 (Evt_Hardware_Error) is used to report a hardware error to the transmitting side controller 170 or the receiving side controller 270 if the hardware error occurs in the transmitting side resonance power generating portion 130 or the receiving side resonance power processor 230.

Table 6

Header	Event	Parameter(byte)	Property
0 01	Evt_Command_Status	(2)	Event of processing result for command
0 02	Evt_Exit_Message	(2)	Event indicating that message for signal processing exists
0 03	Evt_Inquiry_Result	(2)	Event of processing result for search request
0 04	Evt_Identification_Result	(2)	Authorization processing result
0 05	Evt_Connection_Complete	(2)	Signal processing
0 06	Evt_Device_Result	(2)	Event of status result of current apparatus
0 07	Evt_Hardware_Error	(2)	Event for notification of hardware error
0 08 ~ 0 FF	Reserved	(2)

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 and the plurality of wireless power reception apparatuses 200.

As described above, the address field of FIG. 9B includes ID information of the plurality of wireless power reception apparatuses 200. In this case, since the address field of the wireless power reception apparatus 200 includes a plurality of bits, a part of the bits may be used as a bit indicating the group of the wireless power reception apparatuses 200. In other words, if the address field includes a total of six bits as shown in FIG. 9B, three of the six bits may represent a group address. In more detail, the upper three bits correspond to the group address defined by the transmitting side controller in accordance with attributes (for example, priority) of the wireless power reception apparatus, and the lower three bits correspond to an identification address for identifying a specific wireless power reception apparatus within the group defined by the aforementioned group address. In other words, the identification address may be allocated to the wireless power reception apparatus within an address range that can be controlled by the transmitting side controller during the aforementioned authorization step. In this case, the wireless power reception apparatus may be set to the allocated address.

For example, if the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 is connected with a total of nine wireless power reception apparatuses 200 as shown in FIG. 12, the wireless power reception apparatuses 200 may be divided into three groups. At this time, the groups of the wireless power reception apparatuses 200 may be divided in accordance with priority for charging themselves. The wireless power reception apparatuses 200 in which upper three bits of the address field has a value of “000” may be set to group 1, the wireless power reception apparatuses 200 in which upper three bits of the address field has a value of “001” may be set to group 2, and the wireless power reception apparatuses 200 in which upper three bits of the address field has a value of “010” may be set to group 3. If the wireless power reception apparatuses 200 of the group 1 should first be charged, they may be controlled to be first charged prior to the apparatuses of the other groups. Also, the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 transmits a signal to the corresponding wireless power reception apparatus 200 while changing the address of the address field in accordance with a charging schedule such as simultaneous charging of the all the wireless power reception apparatuses 200 or charging for some of the wireless power reception apparatuses 200 by priority.

In this case, each of the plurality of wireless power reception apparatuses 200 may receive all the signals received from the wireless power transmission apparatus 100 by using a mask and process only the signal transmitted to the group to which it belongs.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention. Thus, the above embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention should be determined by reasonable interpretation of the appended claims and all change which comes within the equivalent scope of the invention are included in the scope of the invention.

Various embodiments of the present invention are described in detail in the best mode for invention.

Claims

A method for transmission of a wireless power, the method comprising the steps of:

generating a transport packet including an address field recording an address of a predetermined wireless power reception apparatus, a command field recording a command to be transmitted to the wireless power reception apparatus, and a parameter field including a parameter corresponding to the command field;

generating a resonance power having a predetermined resonance frequency; and

transmitting at least one of the transport packet and the resonance power to the wireless power reception apparatus.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting at least one of the transport packet and the resonance power includes transmitting the transport packet to the wireless power reception apparatus at the resonance frequency.
The method according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the transport packet includes a sync region, a header region, a message region, and an error check region, and the address field and the command field are included in the header region while the parameter region is included in the message region.
The method according to claim 3, wherein the header region further includes a length region indicating a length of the message region, and a group region indicating a group of the command.
The method according to claim 3, wherein the address field includes a group address portion indicating a group of the wireless power reception apparatus, and an identification address portion indicating an identification address of the wireless power reception apparatus.
A wireless power transmission apparatus transmitting a wireless power, the wireless power transmission apparatus comprising:

a resonance power generating portion including a signal processor and a resonance power generator, the signal processor configured to generate a transport packet including an address field recording an address of a predetermined wireless power reception apparatus, a command field recording a command to be transmitted to the wireless power reception apparatus, and a parameter field including a parameter corresponding to the command field, and the resonance power generator configured to output the generated transport packet to the outside as a resonance signal having a predetermined resonance frequency; and

a controller configured to control the resonance power generating portion to output the generated transport packet as the resonance signal.
The wireless power transmission apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a resonance power modifier configured to modify the resonance frequency, wherein the controller is configured to control the resonance power modifier to modify the resonance frequency.