WO2016020645A1 - Système, appareil et procédé d'alimentation - Google Patents

Système, appareil et procédé d'alimentation Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2016020645A1
WO2016020645A1 PCT/GB2015/052196 GB2015052196W WO2016020645A1 WO 2016020645 A1 WO2016020645 A1 WO 2016020645A1 GB 2015052196 W GB2015052196 W GB 2015052196W WO 2016020645 A1 WO2016020645 A1 WO 2016020645A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
charging
operable
wireless charging
controller
request
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/GB2015/052196
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Dan BLADEN
Original Assignee
Chargifi Ltd
Priority date (The priority date 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 date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Chargifi Ltd filed Critical Chargifi Ltd
Publication of WO2016020645A1 publication Critical patent/WO2016020645A1/fr

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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
    • H02J7/00032—Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries characterised by data exchange
    • H02J7/00036—Charger exchanging data with battery
    • 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
    • H02J7/00032—Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries characterised by data exchange
    • H02J7/00034—Charger exchanging data with an electronic device, i.e. telephone, whose internal battery is under charge
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60L—PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL; MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES
    • B60L53/00—Methods of charging batteries, specially adapted for electric vehicles; Charging stations or on-board charging equipment therefor; Exchange of energy storage elements in electric vehicles
    • B60L53/10—Methods of charging batteries, specially adapted for electric vehicles; Charging stations or on-board charging equipment therefor; Exchange of energy storage elements in electric vehicles characterised by the energy transfer between the charging station and the vehicle
    • B60L53/12—Inductive energy transfer
    • 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
    • H02J50/10—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power using inductive coupling
    • 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
    • H02J50/80—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
    • H02J7/0027—
    • H02J7/025—
    • 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
    • H02J50/10—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power using inductive coupling
    • H02J50/12—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power using inductive coupling of the resonant type
    • 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
    • H02J50/15—Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power using ultrasonic 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
    • 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
    • H02J7/00032—Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries characterised by data exchange
    • H02J7/00045—Authentication, i.e. circuits for checking compatibility between one component, e.g. a battery or a battery charger, and another component, e.g. a power source
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02T—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION
    • Y02T10/00—Road transport of goods or passengers
    • Y02T10/60—Other road transportation technologies with climate change mitigation effect
    • Y02T10/70—Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02T—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION
    • Y02T10/00—Road transport of goods or passengers
    • Y02T10/60—Other road transportation technologies with climate change mitigation effect
    • Y02T10/7072—Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02T—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION
    • Y02T90/00—Enabling technologies or technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
    • Y02T90/10—Technologies relating to charging of electric vehicles
    • Y02T90/14—Plug-in electric vehicles
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02T—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION
    • Y02T90/00—Enabling technologies or technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
    • Y02T90/10—Technologies relating to charging of electric vehicles
    • Y02T90/16—Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles
    • Y02T90/167—Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for supporting the interoperability of electric or hybrid vehicles, i.e. smartgrids as interface for battery charging of electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y04—INFORMATION OR COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES HAVING AN IMPACT ON OTHER TECHNOLOGY AREAS
    • Y04S—SYSTEMS INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO POWER NETWORK OPERATION, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING THE ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT OR USAGE, i.e. SMART GRIDS
    • Y04S30/00—Systems supporting specific end-user applications in the sector of transportation
    • Y04S30/10—Systems supporting the interoperability of electric or hybrid vehicles
    • Y04S30/14—Details associated with the interoperability, e.g. vehicle recognition, authentication, identification or billing

Definitions

  • the present application relates to power systems, apparatus and methods and in particular but not exclusively to a systems, apparatus and method for delivery of wireless charging to mobile devices.
  • the present teachings can provide a power system comprising: a transmitter operable to transmit an identifier of the transmitter; a charger operable to wirelessly charge the battery of a mobile object; a controller operable to activate the charger; a server operable to communicate with the controller; a mobile object having a battery operable to be charged wirelessly, the mobile object operable to receive the identifier of the transmitter and send a request comprising the identifier of the transmitter and a user identifier to the server; wherein the server is operable to: receive the request; determine whether an access condition is satisfied based upon the user identifier; and provide an access condition result to the controller.
  • wireless charging can be provided on demand to an authorised device or user in a manner consistent with principles of good energy management.
  • Such provision may optionally be provided as an ancillary service to some other form of venue service provision.
  • the present teachings can provide a battery-powered movable device having a wireless charging capability, the device comprising: a receiver operable to receive a wireless signal comprising a transmitter identifier; a processor operable to generate a request to an authorisation server for provision of wireless charging, the request comprising the transmitter identifier and an account identifier; a transmitter operable to wirelessly transmit to the authorisation server a signal comprising the request; and a wireless charging receptor operable to receive wireless provision of power to recharge the battery of the movable device.
  • an authorised device may be provided that can request and receive wireless charging in a flexible manner.
  • the present teachings can provide a power controller comprising: a server interface operable to receive from a remote server a message instructing activation of a wireless charging station associated with a beacon identifier; and a power control interface operable to activate a wireless charging station associated with the beacon identifier responsive to receipt of the message.
  • a wireless charging infrastructure can provide activated charging stations upon demand for authorised users or devices while providing for effective and responsible power management within the infrastructure.
  • the present teachings can provide a charging control server, comprising: a communication interface operable to receive a request for wireless charging from a wirelessly-chargeable device located in proximity to a wireless charging station under the control of a local power controller, the request including a beacon identifier and an authorisation identifier; a processor operable to determine an authorisation result for the authorisation identifier; the communication interface further operable to transmit, in dependence upon the authorisation result, a message to the local power controller instructing activation of a wireless charging station associated with the beacon identifier.
  • a wireless charging infrastructure can be efficiently managed to provide distributed wireless charging on demand to authorised users and devices while providing for effective and responsible power management within the infrastructure.
  • the present teachings can provide a method of providing wireless charging to a movable device having a wireless charging capability, the method comprising: providing to a user of a movable device having a wireless charging capability a geographical indication of one or more wireless charging facilities; providing, using a first wireless communication beacon of a wireless charging facility, to a user of the movable device having a wireless charging capability a notification when approaching the wireless charging facility; providing, using a second wireless communication beacon of the wireless charging facility, an indication of availability of conditional access to wireless charging; providing, from a manager device of the wireless charging facility, confirmation of the availability of the conditional access to wireless charging; and activating, by the manager device a wireless charging source for use by the movable device having a wireless charging capability.
  • a wireless charging infrastructure can be efficiently operated to provide distributed wireless charging on demand to authorised users and devices while providing for effective and responsible power management within the infrastructure.
  • a method of providing wireless charging to a movable device having a wireless charging capability comprising: receiving, from a wireless communication transmitter of a wireless charging facility, an indication of availability of conditional access to wireless charging; sending a request for access to wireless charging at the wireless charging facility; receiving, from a wireless charging source activated by a manager device of the wireless charging facility, wireless charging to a movable device having a wireless charging capability.
  • an authorised device may be request and receive wireless charging in a flexible manner from a distributed wireless charging architecture.
  • Figure 1 illustrates schematically a power provision environment
  • Figure 2 illustrates steps in a process for activating a wireless charging facility
  • Figure 3 illustrates steps in an alternative process for activating a wireless charging facility
  • Figure 4a illustrates steps in a first process for deactivating a wireless charging facility
  • Figure 4b illustrates steps in a first process for deactivating a wireless charging facility based upon an altered infrastructure arrangement
  • Figure 5a illustrates steps in a second process for deactivating a wireless charging facility
  • Figure 5b illustrates steps in a second process for deactivating a wireless charging facility based upon an altered infrastructure arrangement
  • Figure 6a illustrates steps in a third process for deactivating a wireless charging facility
  • Figure 6b illustrates steps in a third process for deactivating a wireless charging facility based upon an altered infrastructure arrangement.
  • a charging infrastructure 1 has a remote service 3, which in the present examples may take the form of a remote authentication, authorisation and account management service.
  • the remote service 3 may be provided by a dedicated server arrangement running software or having configured hardware and/or firmware to provide the service or may be provided as a hosted service from a general purpose cloud provider facility.
  • the remote service 3 communicates to one or more charging venues or facilities 5 via associated communications channels 7.
  • the communications channel may be a standard internet or other WAN communications channel and may be formed as an encrypted or tunnelled channel to provide security for the transfer of authentication and/or account management information to and from the remote service 3.
  • Communication to and from the remote service 3 over the communications channel 7 is handled at the charging facility or venue 5 by a controller 9.
  • a controller 9 sends a message to the remote service 3, it establishes or utilises an existing virtual private network (VPN) tunnel for the communications channel 7.
  • VPN virtual private network
  • the controller 9 may also use this communication channel to provide status and/or operational information relating to the remote service 3.
  • the controller 9 may provide to the remote service 3 information relating to the power supply to the controller (including remaining battery life if the controller is battery powered, or regularity of mains or charging supply if the controller is mains powered), the operating temperature and/or ambient temperature of the controller, and/or the current total power draw from all chargers under control of the charger.
  • the communications channel 7 may be any suitable data connection between the controller 9 and the remote service 3. Examples of suitable data connections include a wired or wireless data link that may include a connection from the controller 9 to the Internet or other WAN and a connection from the Internet or other WAN to the remote service 3.
  • Data services such as a WiFi network of a building or zone into which the controller is installed, a cellular data service such as a GPRS, 2G, 3G, 4G etc may be used.
  • the controller 9 of the charging facility or venue 5 interfaces with a number of charging nodes 11.
  • Each charging node has a wireless beacon 13 and a charger 17.
  • the wireless beacon 13 may have no communication channel to or from the controller 9.
  • the wireless beacon 13 may be controlled as to adopting an active or inactive state by the controller 9 using a channel 15.
  • the wireless beacon 13 may be alternatively or additionally operable to provide status information for the beacon 13, such as an indication of fault-free operation and/or a fault indication to the controller 9 via a channel 15.
  • the channel may be a wired or wireless channel, and if a wireless channel is used it may utilise a wireless technology such as BluetoothTM or WifiTM (IEE802.1 1).
  • the charger 17 is triggered to be active or inactive by a control signal 19 from the controller 9.
  • the control signal may be issued directly to the charger 17 or may be issued by way of controlling a power source that supplies power to the charger 17 that the charger is then able to pass on to a device being charged.
  • the charger 17 may be able to communicate with the controller 9 via a two-way communication over channel 15. For example, if a wirelessly chargeable device is at or reaches through provision of charging a fully charged state, then the wireless charger may be configured to detect this and could power down into a lower voltage mode. In an example where the charger is able to communicate to the controller, the charger can communicate this powered-down status of the charger and control a cessation of charging to that device and/or enter a low power state if no other charging sessions are active or no other active sessions require controller input.
  • the charger 17 of the present examples is a wireless charger that uses any suitable wireless energy transfer technology to pass energy from the charger to a wirelessly chargeable device positioned close to the charger.
  • wireless energy transfer methods may include inductive coupling, resonance, radio frequency and ultrasound technologies.
  • the charger 17 will be selected for a given implementation based upon the nature of the wirelessly chargeable devices to be charged by the charger. As discussed below, a variety of different wirelessly chargeable devices may be serviced using the approach of the present teachings and it is envisaged that a different charger would be deployed for charging mobile telephones to that deployed for charging electric vehicles. Where relevant standards exist for wireless charging devices and chargers, the chargers deployed in the wireless charging infrastructure may be compliant with one or more relevant standards.
  • One example of a charging standard that may be relevant to a charger deployed for charging portable electronic devices such as mobile telephone, tablets or the like includes the Qi standard. Further examples of charging standards that may be suitable for devices such as, for example, mobile phones, tablets, phablets and laptops include the RezenceTM (Alliance for Wireless Power - A4WP) and PMA (Power Matters Alliance) standards. An illustrative example of a charging standard that may be suitable for electronic vehicles is Qualcomm HaloTM.
  • Each wireless beacon 13 broadcasts an identifier code within its communication range 21.
  • each wireless beacon 13 is able to transmit first and second identifier codes and uses Bluetooth to transmit the codes.
  • the beacons may be a so-called iBeaconTM utilising Bluetooth Low Energy (also known as Bluetooth Smart, BluetoothLE or BLE) technology.
  • the first beacon identifier code may be transmitted as the iBeacon major value and the second beacon identifier code may be transmitted as the iBeacon minor value.
  • the transmission range 21 may be the same for the first and second codes or may be different for the two codes.
  • the transmission technology may be different as between the two codes, with the first code transmitted using, for example, Bluetooth and the second code transmitted via near field communication (NFC). Any suitable alternative to Bluetooth may also be used, such as alternative microlocation/triangulation or wireless personal area network (WPAN) technologies such as Z-WaveTM or ZigBeeTM.
  • each beacon may transmit only a single identifier code, with some beacons transmitting only a first beacon identifier code and some beacons transmitting only a second beacon identifier code.
  • the beacon may be a two-way transmitter operable to receive data as well as transmit an identifier code. In such examples the beacon could be part of a communication channel between the controller and an object receiving the beacon identifier code.
  • Some beacons may also transmit a third beacon identifier code such as a UUID (universally unique identifier).
  • a UUID universalally unique identifier
  • the first and second beacon identifier codes discussed above would be configurable to transmit codes required of the system as implemented for a particular charging infrastructure or venue/facility, the UUID would typically be set by the manufacturer of the beacon. This UUID could be used for example by the controller to detect for each beacon that the controller has recorded as being a part of the system at the facility/venue whether that beacon is functioning, monitor and detect its battery life and/or detect the distance of the beacon from the controller.
  • the wireless charging facility or venue 5 may also have one or more beacons 13 not associated with a charging node 1 1. Such an additional beacon 13 may be configured to transmit only the first identifier code. In such an example, one or more of the wireless beacons 13 belonging to a charging node 11 may be configured to transmit only the second identifier code.
  • a wirelessly chargeable portable device 23 may be moved into proximity with a charger 17 so as to receive wireless transfer 27 of energy from the charger to the device 23.
  • the wirelessly chargeable device 23 may be any form of movable device having a rechargeable battery and a capability for that battery to be charged wirelessly. Examples of devices that may be moved around and charged in this way include mobile telephones, tablets, phablets, netbooks, laptops computers, navigation devices, headphones and microphones, portable music and/or video players, and battery powered vehicles such as electric bicycles, mobility scooters or electric vehicles.
  • the wireless charging capability may be inherent to the device or may be provided by an accessory for the device. In the example of a mobile telephone, phablet or tablet, the device may not inherently have a wireless charging capability but such a capability may be added by placing the device into a suitably enabled case or holder or providing a suitably enabled attachment. Likewise, in the example of a netbook or laptop computer, a device lacking inherent wireless charging capability may be provided with this capability through use of a suitable case or wired accessory such as a dongle.
  • the wirelessly chargeable device may be configured with software, hardware and/or firmware to illustrate on a map or by other location indication on a display of the mobile device the relative position of the device to a charging facility or venue 5.
  • the wireless device may be able to determine its current position based upon a satellite navigation receiver and/or cellular network positioning information. The position so determined can then be used to indicate location relative to one or more charging facilities or venues 5 based upon having available information describing the locations of such charging facilities or venues.
  • the location information for the charging facilities or venues may be stored by the mobile device or may be accessible to the mobile device via a data connectivity connection (such as a cellular data technology such as GPRS, 3G, 4G etc) to a data store that holds such information.
  • a data connectivity connection such as a cellular data technology such as GPRS, 3G, 4G etc
  • Such a data store may be provided by the remote service 3, which may be accessible to the device 23 via such a data connectivity connection.
  • the functionality to display the relative position information may be provided by a dedicated application for the device, such as an app for a mobile telephone, phablet or tablet.
  • the wireless device 23 may be configured with software, hardware and/or firmware to enable the wireless device to receive signals 25 broadcast by the wireless beacons 13. For reception of the signals, this will be a receiver matching the transmission technology of the beacon, i.e. if the beacon utilises Bluetooth then the device will use a Bluetooth receiver to receive the beacon signal.
  • the wireless technology of the beacon does not match the wireless technology of the wirelessly chargeable device, a wireless technology accessory may be used with the mobile device. For example if the beacons utilise Bluetooth and a wirelessly chargeable device does not have a Bluetooth capability, a Bluetooth accessory may be used with the device to provide that capability.
  • the wirelessly chargeable device 23 receives the beacon identifier code.
  • the beacon transmitting the code received by wirelessly chargeable device 23 may be one or more of a beacon 13 associated with a charging node 1 1 or a separate beacon 13, for example a beacon 13 provided in proximity to an entry portal for the wireless charging facility or venue 5.
  • the first beacon identifier code is an identifier associated with the wireless charging facility or venue 5 or with the controller 9.
  • a wirelessly chargeable device 23 receiving the first beacon identifier code receives an identifier for the overall charging facility.
  • the identifier may be an identifier for the controller controlling the part of the facility that has the beacon providing the signal which the wirelessly chargeable device has received.
  • the controllers may operate as a cluster such that a single facility identifier code applies to the whole facility.
  • the wireless charging facility or venue would be a facility or venue which a user of the wirelessly chargeable device may visit for reasons in addition or alternative to charging.
  • the facility or venue may be a commercial premises that has other products or services for the user of the device.
  • the venue or facility may be a cafe, coffee shop, bar or restaurant, such that the user of the device may be able to charge their device while consuming food or drink and/or while meeting with other people.
  • suitable facilities or venues might include cinemas or theatres (such that the mobile device can charge while the user watches a film or play), business centres (such that the mobile device can charge while the user conducts business activities), and airports (such that the mobile device can charge while the user waits for an airline departure or arrival).
  • the facilities or venues might include a vehicle parking area associated with a commercial premises (such as a bicycle rack outside a cafe or coffee shop), a general parking area, such as a bicycle rack, shed or storage facility such located for example at a residential parking area, block of flats, park, office building or shopping mall, a car park for electric vehicles, a taxi rank, a petrol station, parts or sections of public or private highways such as at traffic lighted junctions or the approach to toll booths, vehicle storage or maintenance garages, or similar.
  • a vehicle parking area associated with a commercial premises such as a bicycle rack outside a cafe or coffee shop
  • a general parking area such as a bicycle rack, shed or storage facility
  • a residential parking area such as a bicycle rack, shed or storage facility
  • a petrol station such as a petrol station
  • parts or sections of public or private highways such as at traffic lighted junctions or the approach to toll booths, vehicle storage or maintenance garages, or similar.
  • the wirelessly chargeable device 23 can present on a display of the device an indication that the device has entered a wireless charging facility or venue 5 such that a user of the device may be made aware that wireless charging will be available in that facility or venue.
  • the communication between the wirelessly chargeable device and the beacon 13 is one-way (i.e. transmission by the beacon 13 and reception by the wirelessly chargeable device 23).
  • the wirelessly chargeable device may be operable to transmit to the remote service 23 via a communications channel 29 information describing the reception by the wirelessly mobile device of the first beacon identifier.
  • the communications channel 29 may be any suitable data connection between the wirelessly chargeable device 23 and the remote service 3.
  • suitable data connections include a wired or wireless data link that may include a connection from the device 23 to the Internet or other WAN and a connection from the Internet or other WAN to the remote service 3.
  • Data services such as a WiFi network of the wireless charging facility or venue 5, a cellular data service such as a GPRS, 2G, 3G, 4G etc may be used.
  • a communications channel 29 may be secured by any suitable approach such as a VPN tunnel, an https or SSL connection or the like.
  • the communication between wirelessly chargeable device 23 and beacon 13 may be two-way communication such that the beacon may be able to provide to the controller 9, or provide to the remote service 3 via the controller 9 details of the wirelessly chargeable device that has entered the facility or venue 5.
  • the second beacon identifier code is an identifier for a particular charging node 11.
  • the wirelessly chargeable device 23 provides an interface to offer the possibility of wireless charging to a user of the device.
  • the wirelessly chargeable device 23 communicates wirelessly 25 with the remote service 3 to send a wireless charging request.
  • this charging request is sent via the communications channel 29 from the wirelessly chargeable device 23 to the remote service 3.
  • the beacons are able to receive as well as transmit via bluetooth or such that the controller 9 may be able to communicate directly with the wireless chargeable device 23 and in such examples the request may be passed by the controller 9 to the remote service 3.
  • the remote service 3 Upon receipt of the request by the remote service 3, the remote service 3 establishes whether the wirelessly chargeable device 23 is entitled to receive access to wireless charging at the charging venue or facility 5.
  • the determination of eligibility is based upon eligibility of the device and/or eligibility of a user account associated with the device. That is, an account or authorisation pass for receiving wireless charging may be associated with a particular device, or may be associated with a user.
  • an appropriate identifier is included in the request sent from the wirelessly chargeable device 23 to the remote service 3. This identifier may be a device identifier, a user identifier or both, depending on the authorisation approach in use. It is envisaged that some users may be authorised on a per device basis and other users be authorised on a per account basis within a single implementation of the present teachings.
  • the request sent from the wirelessly chargeable device 23 to the remote service 3 also includes the first beacon identifier code or some other data representative of the information conveyed by the first beacon identifier code.
  • the inclusion of this code provides a number of functions to the system.
  • the remote system 3 knows to which charging facility or venue 5 and hence which controller 9 the authorisation response should be sent.
  • the remote system 3 can also optionally include the particular charging facility or venue 5 in establishing the authorisation determination.
  • a device or user account may have entitlement to access wireless charging on a geographic basis, for example some devices or users may subscribe for access to wireless charging in just one region (such as a country, state or city), whereas other devices or users may subscribe for access to wireless charging in multiple regions.
  • Inclusion of the first beacon identifier in the request allows this optional geographical element of a charging entitlement to be tested.
  • the request may include some other identifier of the charging facility or venue 5 in addition to or instead of the first beacon identifier code.
  • An example of other data representative of the information conveyed by the first beacon identifier code could be that the wirelessly chargeable device 23 by itself or by communication with an external database (which may be hosted by or accessible via the remote service 3) is operable to use the first beacon identifier code to obtain a value describing the wireless charging facility or venue 5.
  • a value could be a code, for example an alphanumeric code, for the facility or venue, or could be a facility or venue name or combined name and identifier number, for example "Named Coffee Shop London” or "Restaurant Chain branch 243".
  • the request sent from the wirelessly chargeable device 23 to the remote service 3 also includes the second beacon identifier code or some other data representative of the information conveyed by the second beacon identifier code.
  • the inclusion of this code provides a number of functions to the system.
  • the remote system can include in an authorisation response to the controller 9 an indication of which charging node 1 1 the device has requested use of such that the controller may control the correct charger 17 to supply wireless charging to the device.
  • the remote service 3 can be enabled to check whether the device from which the request was sent is compatible with the charger 17 at the associated charging node 1 1.
  • a second beacon identifier code included in the request is associated with a charger 17 compatible only with mobile telephones, phablets and tablets and it is determined that the request was sent from a laptop computer
  • the authorisation result can be adjusted to take account of the technological mismatch.
  • An example of other data representative of the information conveyed by the second beacon identifier code could be that the wirelessly chargeable device 23 by itself or by communication with an external database (which may be hosted by or accessible via the remote service 3) is operable to use the second beacon identifier code to obtain a value describing the charging node 11.
  • Such a value could be a code, for example an alphanumeric code, for the charging node or charger, or could be a node name or number, for example "table 42" or "tablet station”.
  • this data could be combined into a data value.
  • a data value could be a code, for example an alphanumeric code, for the facility or venue and charging node or charger, or could be a facility or venue name or combined with a charging station identifier, for example "Named Coffee Shop London table 42" or "Restaurant Chain branch 243 tablet station”.
  • the controller 9 may reformulate or alter the request as it passes through the controller 9 on its way to the remote service 3.
  • the remote service would receive in the request data identifying the device or user against which to perform authorisation and data indicating the correct controller to receive the authorisation response, but other functions such as the identifying which charging node is requested may be performed by the controller 9.
  • the controller 9 can then activate the charger 17 associated with the beacon 13 whose second beacon identifier code was included or represented in the request. At this time, wireless delivery of power to recharge the wirelessly chargeable device is provided.
  • the wireless charging venue or facility 5 may have another purpose beyond provision of charging
  • the venue or facility may communicate to the wirelessly chargeable device while the wirelessly chargeable device is in the venue or facility.
  • a food and/or drink outlet hosting a wireless charging facility may communicate information associated with the outlet to the device. Examples may include provision of information relating to special offers or discounts available to the user of the device, which special offers or discounts may be applicable only to users of the wireless charging service.
  • the controller 9, may have internet connectivity provided by connection to a public or visitor Wi-Fi service of the hosting outlet.
  • the controller can use this internet connectivity for establishing communication with the remote service 3, but may also utilise the Wi-Fi service for communicating with a server of the hosting outlet to exchange information relating to number of active charging stations at any given time, user information about users with activated charging or the like.
  • Such information may include ordering and/or payment information relating to the purchase of goods or services from or via the wireless charging venue or facility 5, for example by utilising a charging interface application of the wirelessly chargeable device 23.
  • provision of information may be performed by sending the information via the remote service 3 to be delivered to the handset via the connection 29, or via the controller 9 to be delivered to the wirelessly chargeable handset via the controller 9 or remote service 3, or may be delivered over the Wi-Fi service at the hosting outlet.
  • the sharing of user information can be controlled according to prevailing laws and standards for exchange of customer information, and it is envisaged that the transferred information may be profile rather than or in addition to identity information.
  • a customer profile for a currently activated charging user may be used to target information provided by the hosting outlet or a third party such as a sponsor or advertiser to the user.
  • Such information my include membership information of a venue loyalty program, advertising, coupons, vouchers, special offer details or the like.
  • Other information might include details of a maximum charging node occupancy time per commercial transaction with the venue.
  • Such an approach would facilitate a venue from preventing its primary commercial function being undermined by users utilising the charging facility and blocking space in the venue that might be desired by other persons wishing to conduct a financial transaction with the venue.
  • one of a number of options may be used.
  • One approach is to establish when the wirelessly chargeable device moves too far from the charging node 11 , such as when the wirelessly chargeable device is not in contact with any beacon of the venue or facility.
  • the device may communicate, upon detection that it is no longer receiving a signal from any beacon of the charging venue or facility 5, to the remote service 3 via communications channel 29 a message that indicates the charging should be ceased.
  • the remote service 3 may communicate to the relevant controller 9 an instruction for ceasing delivery of power to the charger 17 that had been activated for the wirelessly chargeable device 23.
  • a message may be provided directly to the controller 9 from the wirelessly chargeable device that the charging is to be ceased.
  • Another example would be based upon a maximum time or energy delivery restriction.
  • Another example might relate to ceasing charging when an energy delivery source for the wireless charging is becoming depleted, for example if the charger is itself being fed from a chargeable battery (which could be the case in a cafe for example, to avoid a table needing to have a wired connection to a power source so as to provide wireless charging to a device on that table).
  • a further example might be that the user of the device or the device itself requests that charging cease.
  • the device may be able to present to a user an option to cease charging and/or the device itself may request cessation of charging once a given battery level is reached (for example full battery or some other threshold set by, for example, power management software of the device).
  • a given battery level for example full battery or some other threshold set by, for example, power management software of the device.
  • a user of a wirelessly chargeable device may conveniently receive charging for their device without needing to bring with them a mains electricity power adapter and cable and without needing to find a location with publicly accessible or usable power outlets in which to plug the power adapter.
  • Use of such an approach also facilitates the provision of value added services in the form of venue information, offers, advertising, ordering and payment.
  • the wirelessly chargeable device is a handset such as a mobile telephone, phablet or tablet.
  • the remote service 3 is provided as a cloud service.
  • Figure 2 shows an example flow for establishing charging for a wirelessly-chargeable device 23 according to a first example implementation.
  • the method of the present example starts at step S2-1 with a relevant charging functionality software application being activated on the handset. If necessary, this step may also include checking and prompting activation or, or performing activation of, a handset wireless communication technology compatible with transmissions from the beacons 13.
  • the software application may be a so-called “app” for a mobile device or may be a so-called “applet” to operate within a functionality framework such as the JavaTM runtime environment.
  • step S2-3 the handset detects the first beacon identifier code as transmitted by one or more beacons 13 of a charging venue or facility 5.
  • the beacon identifier code is not known to the handset, such that processing continues at step S2-5 where the handset sends a lookup query to the cloud service to request descriptive information based upon the received first beacon identifier code. As discussed above, this may include one or more of a name and a code representative of the charging venue or facility 5 in respect of which the beacon 13 is operating. This beacon-derived information is provided by the cloud at step S2-7.
  • the beacon-derived information can optionally be presented on a display of the handset. This may include, for example, presenting in a display of the handset by means of which the charging functionality software application is enabled to present information a description of the charging venue or facility 5. For example, such a display could include a name, address, location, code or any other beacon-derived information provided by the cloud at step S2-7.
  • the handset detects the second beacon identifier code as transmitted by one of the beacons 13 of the charging venue or facility 5.
  • the second beacon identifier code is not known to the handset, such that processing continues at step S2-13 where the handset sends a lookup query to the cloud service to request descriptive information based upon the received first beacon identifier code.
  • this beacon-derived information may be used to enable display by the handset of information describing to the user some property or description relating to the specific charging node, such as a device capability of the node and/or a specific charging geometry that may apply to the charger of that node. As discussed above, this may include one or more of a name and a code representative of the charging node 11 of the charging venue or facility 5 in respect of which the beacon 13 is operating.
  • This beacon-derived information is provided by the cloud at step S2-15.
  • the handset facilitates the provision of a charging request input from a user.
  • This may take the form of, for example presenting or enabling an input button of the handset to be configured to receive input as being the making of such a request.
  • the button may be a so-called soft button presented on the touchscreen display of the handset.
  • the cloud performs an authorisation process at step S2-27 to validate (or deny) the request for charging from the handset.
  • the validation may depend on one or more of a number of parameters relating to the handset, a handset user and/or the charging venue or facility.
  • an account for providing access to wireless charging is associated with the handset itself or with a user of the handset.
  • the authorisation may operate in dependence upon a device identifier and/or a user identifier included in the charge authorisation query.
  • provision of charging is a paid-for service
  • this may include determining that the handset/user has either sufficient credit balance to cover the cost of the charging requested in the charge authorisation query or has an active subscription of provision of charging in accordance with the charge authorisation query.
  • Other factors that may influence the authorisation step may include a check that the particular facility or venue in respect of which charging has been requested is included in a service subscription or account settings of the handset/user.
  • the authorisation may also take into account a compatibility check between the handset and a charging node for which charging has been requested in the charge authorisation query.
  • the authorisation may also take into account whether another device already has an active charging session associated with the particular combination of first and second beacon identifiers.
  • an authorisation response is issued and, assuming that the authorisation result is positive (i.e. charging permitted), is provided by the cloud service to the controller 9 for the charging facility or venue in respect of which charging has been requested by the handset (step S2-29).
  • This authorisation response is directed to the controller 9 based upon the first beacon code as received by the handset and included (either explicitly or in the form of beacon-derived information) in the charge authorisation query.
  • the authorisation response includes the second beacon identifier or beacon-derived information therefor.
  • the controller Upon receipt of the authorisation response by the controller at step S2-31 , the controller activates the charger 17 of the charger node 11 associated with or identified by the second beacon identifier code. At this time, the handset receives charging if it is placed in sufficient proximity to the charger 17. Also, at this time, the controller may optionally inform a venue computer of the charging facility or venue about the handset or user that is receiving charging from the wireless charging service. This may facilitate direct communication from the venue computer to the handset for provision of secondary or value-added services as discussed above.
  • the cloud In addition to the cloud providing the authorisation response to the controller, the cloud also informs the handset of the authorisation response at step S2-37. Assuming that the authorisation response is positive, the handset can then indicate (step S2-31 ) that charging has been permitted, for example using a display of the handset. This may act as a prompt to a user to place the handset in sufficient proximity to the charger 17 for the wireless charging to occur, this may be particularly relevant if the range of the beacon 13 to transmit the second beacon identifier code is larger than or non-coincident with the range over which the charger 17 can perform wireless charging. If the authorisation response was negative, it is possible to send the authorisation response to the handset only (i.e.
  • the handset receives the first beacon identifier code before receiving the second beacon identifier code, it is possible that both of these may be received at the same time. It is also possible that the handset may wait until it has received both beacon identifier codes in order to send a single request to the cloud service for beacon-derived information relating to both the first and second beacon identifier codes together. It is also possible that the handset may request beacon derived information in respect of only one of the first and second beacon identifier codes, for example just the first beacon identifier code.
  • a notification to a venue computer may be made from the controller, it is also envisaged that such a notification may be additionally or alternatively made by the cloud service such that S2-35 would occur based on the cloud service rather than the controller.
  • the handset may communicate with the remote service to request beacon derived information associated with first and/or second beacon identifier codes detected by the handset.
  • the remote service may be configured to record or log information indicating when such requests are made and details of the handset/user making the request. Such records or logs may be stored in or stored in associated with a handset/user account such that a user may be provided with a record of when and where the handset entered charging facilities/venues, even if no charging request was made. Such information could be useful, for example in the event of a user's handset being stolen as a history of visits by the stolen device to charging facilities and venues could help both with recovery of the stolen item and tracing of a person in possession of the stolen item.
  • a user of a portable device having a wireless charging capability can, after arriving at a wireless charging facility or venue, become aware that wireless charging is available, request wireless charging, receive wireless charging and be notified that the charging has been provided.
  • Figure 3 shows an example flow for establishing charging for a wirelessly-chargeable device 23 according to a second example implementation.
  • step S3-1 starts at step S3-1 with the activation of a software application as in step S2-1. Then a first beacon identifier code is received at step S3-3, which corresponds to step S2-3 discussed above.
  • the handset can look up the beacon identifier code at step S3-5 to retrieve-derived information for presenting on a display of the handset at step S3-7.
  • This beacon derived information may correspond to beacon derived information such as that discussed with reference to steps S2-5 to S2-9 above.
  • This lookup is in the present example performed with reference to a record or database of first beacon identifiers stored at the handset or in the handset's directly connected storage.
  • This step is optional as it is envisaged that the present teachings may be implemented such that the software application may simply notify a user that the user is at a wireless charging facility or venue without indicating which wireless charging facility or venue.
  • the handset detects the second beacon identifier code.
  • the handset may receive the second beacon identifier code at the same time (or even before) receiving the first beacon identifier code. Even in a situation where the beacons 13 transmit the first beacon identifier code to have a longer range of transmission than the second identifier code, it is possible that a user of the handset may chose not to activate the relevant software application or a hardware feature necessary for reception of the identifier codes until the handset is in range of both beacon identifier code transmissions. In this case, it could also be considered that the beacon-derived information is the fact of the handset being within range of a beacon rather than any information derived from the beacon identifier code itself.
  • the handset Following reception of both beacon identifier codes by the handset, the handset facilitates the input of a charging request at step S3-1 1. Upon receipt of such an input at step S3-13, the handset generates a charge authorisation query at step S3-15. These steps correspond to steps S2-17 to S2-21 discussed above.
  • the handset sends this to the controller at step S3-17,
  • the controller takes an active role in managing the charge authorisation request but relies upon the cloud service to provide authorisation services.
  • the controller passes the charge authorisation query on to the cloud service via a vpn link between the controller and the cloud service.
  • the controller may modify the authorisation request query before forwarding as in some implementations it may not be necessary for the cloud service to receive information on the second beacon identifier code. Thus the controller may forward the query without the second beacon identifier code and instead keep a record of the handset/user and second beacon identifier (or charger 17 or charging node 1 1 associated therewith) so that the controller can later apply an authorisation result for that handset/user to the specified second beacon identifier.
  • the cloud service Upon receipt of the charge authorisation query at step S3-29, the cloud service at step
  • S3-23 performs authorisation of the query. These steps correspond to steps S2-25 and S2-27 discussed with reference to Figure 2 above. If the query as forwarded from the controller does not include the second beacon identifier or beacon derived information therefor, then the authorisation will not take second beacon identifier code information into account in the authorisation or provide this in any authorisation response.
  • the cloud service may optionally inform the handset of the authorisation response at step S3-25. Assuming that the authorisation response is positive, the handset can then provide on a display of the handset an indication that charging has been authorised, which may provide a prompt to a user of the handset to ensure that the handset is sufficiently close to the charger 17 for wireless charging to take place.
  • the cloud service then sends the authorisation response to the controller at step S3-29.
  • the controller After receiving the authorisation response at step S3-31 , the controller then activates the charger 17 of the charger node 11 associated with or identified by the second beacon identifier code. If the controller forwarded the charge authorisation query without including the second beacon identifier code, then at this time the controller retrieves from its records the relationship between the handset/user identified in the authorisation response and the second beacon identifier code so as to be able to activate the correct charger. If the second beacon identifier code was retained in the query as forwarded by the controller at step S3-19, then the authorisation response may include the second beacon identifier code or beacon derived information therefor. At this time, the handset receives charging if it is placed in sufficient proximity to the charger 17.
  • the controller may optionally notify the handset that charging has been activated at the charger 17, such that at step S3-37 the handset may inform a user thereof that charging is in progress.
  • step S3-37 Another optional step occurs at step S3-37 where the controller notifies the cloud service that charging has been commenced in accordance with the authorisation response.
  • the cloud service may at step S3-39 update a log or record indicating that the handset/user has received charging.
  • the controller may optionally inform a venue computer of the charging facility or venue about the handset or user that is receiving charging from the wireless charging service (S3-39). This may facilitate direct communication from the venue computer to the handset for provision of secondary or value-added services as discussed above.
  • the authorisation response was negative, it is possible to send the authorisation response to the handset only (i.e. not to the controller), which may result in the handset providing a notification to a user thereof that charging has been denied. Responsive thereto, a communication exchange between the handset and cloud may take place to establish a cause of failed authorisation and/or to make arrangements for a further request from the same handset to be authorised. If a negative authorisation response is sent to the controller, this may be used for communicating the response to the handset and for removing from the records of the controller any stored relationship between the requesting handset/user and a particular second beacon identifier code.
  • the handset presents information and facilitates and waits for input before the handset makes a charge authorisation query
  • some or all of these steps may be omitted.
  • the software application may be configured to automatically make and send a charge authorisation query whenever the software is active and the handset is receiving both a first beacon identifier code and a second beacon identifier code.
  • the process would carry out steps S3-1 , S3-3, S3-9 and S3-13 but would miss out steps S3-5, S3-7, S3-1 1 and S3-13.
  • the software may display some form of notification of being at a wireless charging facility or venue (for example by providing a display responsive to having detected a first beacon identifier code) but may make the request automatically without seeking or waiting for user input.
  • a user of a portable device having a wireless charging capability can, after arriving at a wireless charging facility or venue, become aware that wireless charging is available, request wireless charging, receive wireless charging and be notified that the charging has been provided.
  • Figure 4a shows an example flow for ceasing provision of charging to a wirelessly- chargeable device 23 according to a first example implementation. It will be appreciated that ceasing the supply of power to a charger at an appropriate time, such as when a handset is no longer present to receive wireless power transfer, may provide for appropriate use of energy and responsible power management for a charging venue.
  • the process of the present example is triggered by a request from a user to cease charging, the request being input to the handset by the user.
  • the process commences at step S4-1 with a request to stop charging being received by the handset.
  • the handset From this input, the handset generates at step S4-3 a stop charging request.
  • the stop charging request identifies the handset (or user account associated with the handset) and first and second beacon identifier codes (and/or beacon-derived information therefor) as previously used by the handset to initiate charging in a charge authorisation query.
  • This stop charging request is then sent at step S4-5 from the handset to the cloud service, which receives the stop charging request at step S4-7.
  • the cloud service may optionally carry out a check to determine whether it has a record of the handset/user having an active charging provision associated with the supplied first and second beacon identifier codes. If no such active charging provision is indicated, then an error message may be returned. Alternatively, if no such active charging provision is recorded, then a record of an active charging provision associated with the supplied first and second identifier codes may be made by the cloud service to record that such a provision had in fact been made available and received.
  • the cloud service then, at step S4-9, sends a stop charging command to the controller associated with the first beacon identifier code.
  • the cloud service can record that the command to stop charging has been sent with or in respect of a handset/user account record.
  • the cloud service can also record that the command to stop charging has been sent with or in respect of a record of active charging nodes.
  • the stop charging command is directed to the controller based upon the first beacon code identifier.
  • the controller then de-activates the charger 17 associated with the second beacon identifier code included in the stop charging command at step S4-13.
  • the cloud service can also send a notification to the handset (step S4-15) to inform the handset that the request to stop charging has been actioned. Upon receipt of such a notification, the handset can present information on a display of the handset indicating that charging is ceased.
  • Figure 4b shows an example flow for ceasing provision of charging to a wirelessly- chargeable device 23 according to a second example implementation.
  • the process of the present example is again triggered by a request from a user to cease charging, the request being input to the handset by the user.
  • the process commences at step S4-21 with a request to stop charging being received by the handset.
  • the handset From this input, the handset generates at step S4-23 a stop charging request.
  • the stop charging request identifies the handset (or user account associated with the handset) and first and second beacon identifier codes (and/or beacon-derived information therefor) as previously used by the handset to initiate charging in a charge authorisation query.
  • This stop charging request is then sent at step S4-25 from the handset to the controller, which receives the stop charging request at step S4-27.
  • the controller then, at step S4-29, de-activates the charger 17 associated with the second beacon identifier code included in the stop charging command at step.
  • the controller sends notifications of the ceasing of charging by the charger 17 at step S4-31.
  • One notification is sent by the controller to the handset, which receives the notification at step S4-33 that the request to stop charging has been actioned.
  • the handset can present information on a display of the handset indicating that charging is ceased (step S4-35).
  • Notification of stopping the charging is also sent by the controller to the cloud service.
  • the cloud service can record that the command to stop charging has been sent with or in respect of a handset/user account record, and/or with or in respect of a record of active charging nodes (step S4-39).
  • the cloud service may optionally carry out a check to determine whether it has a record of the handset/user having an active charging provision associated with the notification of stopping charging. If no such active charging provision is indicated, then an error message may be returned. Alternatively, if no such active charging provision is recorded, then a record of an active charging provision may be made by the cloud service to record that such a provision had in fact been made available and received.
  • Figure 5a shows an example flow for ceasing provision of charging to a wirelessly- chargeable device 23 according to a third example implementation.
  • the process of the present example is triggered by a detection that the handset is no longer able to detect a beacon identifier code associated with a previously made charge authorisation query for an active wireless charging provision.
  • Such cessation of detecting the codes may be caused, for example, by the handset moving away from the charging venue or facility, or by the handset having a beacon reception technology turned off, or by a failure of one or more beacons of a charging venue or facility.
  • the process commences at step S5-1 with the software application of the handset detecting that the handset that it is no longer receiving a first or second beacon identifier code.
  • this facilitates the handset being moved within the venue or facility, for example if a user has to move the handset away from the charger and hence the associated beacon that transmits the second beacon identifier code to, attend a sales desk of the charging venue or facility, to answer a telephone call or to visit a restroom.
  • the determination may also be time-dependent, such that the determination may in some examples only be made if reception of the beacon identifier code is lost for more than a threshold time interval.
  • the handset Upon making the determination at step S5-1 , the handset generates and sends at step S5-3 a stop charging request.
  • the stop charging request identifies the handset (or user account associated with the handset) and first and second beacon identifier codes (and/or beacon- derived information therefor) as previously used by the handset to initiate charging in a charge authorisation query.
  • This stop charging request sent from the handset to the cloud service, which receives the stop charging request at step S5-5.
  • the cloud service may optionally carry out a check to determine whether it has a record of the handset/user having an active charging provision associated with the supplied first and second beacon identifier codes. If no such active charging provision is indicated, then an error message may be returned. Alternatively, if no such active charging provision is recorded, then a record of an active charging provision associated with the supplied first and second identifier codes may be made by the cloud service to record that such a provision had in fact been made available and received.
  • the cloud service then, at step S5-7, sends a stop charging command to the controller associated with the first beacon identifier code.
  • the cloud service can record that the command to stop charging has been sent with or in respect of a handset/user account record.
  • the cloud service can also record that the command to stop charging has been sent with or in respect of a record of active charging nodes.
  • the stop charging command is directed to the controller based upon the first beacon code identifier.
  • the controller then de-activates the charger 17 associated with the second beacon identifier code included in the stop charging command at step S5-1 1.
  • the cloud service can also send a notification to the handset (not shown) to inform the handset that the request to stop charging has been actioned.
  • the handset can present information on a display of the handset indicating that charging is ceased.
  • this step may be omitted and the handset can indicate a cessation of charging once the detection is made at step S5-1.
  • Figure 5a shows an example flow for ceasing provision of charging to a wirelessly- chargeable device 23 according to a fourth example implementation.
  • the infrastructure is such that the handset has some form of two-way communication beacons or has some form of direct communication with the controller, such as an intermitted handshake or some form of more substantial communication.
  • the process of the present example is triggered by a detection that there has been a cessation in the reception of handset signals by either or both of the controller and the beacons.
  • cessation may be caused, for example, by the handset moving away from the charging venue or facility, or by the handset having a beacon or controller signal communication technology turned off, or by a failure of one or more beacons of the charging venue or facility.
  • the process commences at step S5-21 with the controller detecting that it is no longer in communication with the handset, either directly or via one or more beacons.
  • the determination may be time-dependent, such that the determination may in some examples only be made if such a cessation of communication occurs for more than a threshold time interval.
  • the controller Upon making the determination at step S5-21 , the controller de-activates the charger 17 associated with the second beacon identifier code included in the stop charging command at step S5-23.
  • the controller sends notification of the ceasing of charging by the charger 17 at step S5-25.
  • the notification of stopping the charging is sent by the controller to the cloud service.
  • the cloud service can record that the command to stop charging has been sent with or in respect of a handset/user account record, and/or with or in respect of a record of active charging nodes (step S5-29).
  • the cloud service may optionally carry out a check to determine whether it has a record of the handset/user having an active charging provision associated with the supplied first and second beacon identifier codes.
  • an error message may be returned.
  • a record of an active charging provision associated with the supplied first and second identifier codes may be made by the cloud service to record that such a provision had in fact been made available and received.
  • a notification may be sent by the cloud server to the handset to inform he handset that charging has been ceased, (not shown).
  • the handset can present information on a display of the handset indicating that charging is ceased.
  • a charging facility that has been providing wireless charging to a portable device having a wireless charging capability can, after detecting that the portable device is no longer in communication with the facility, update the wireless charging infrastructure to provide that the charging service that the handset was previously using is turned off.
  • the approach set out in Figure 5b can also be used for stopping of charging in the situation where a maximum charge session threshold is reached.
  • a threshold may include, for example, a maximum charge session duration or a maximum charge session power delivery amount.
  • the step S5-21 instead of making a determination that communication with the handset has been lost may make a determination that the relevant threshold has been reached or exceeded.
  • the process can be used where the charger is powered by a rechargeable battery under the control of the controller and the battery has reached a threshold run-down level.
  • Figure 6a shows an example flow for ceasing provision of charging to a wirelessly- chargeable device 23 according to a fifth example implementation.
  • the process of the present example is triggered by a request from a venue hosting a charging facility to cease charging, the request being provided by the venue to the cloud service.
  • the process commences at step S6-1 with a request to stop charging being received by the cloud service from the venue.
  • the request identifies at least the venue and the charging node for which charging is to be ceased.
  • the cloud service may apply a suitable level of authenticity and authority confirmation before actioning the request from the venue. From this input, the cloud service generates and sends at step S6-3 a stop charging command.
  • the stop charging command identifies the handset (or user account associated with the handset), which may be determined by the cloud service from records of the cloud service linking the charging node identified by the venue to the handset based upon a previous charge authorisation query that resulted in an active charging session.
  • the stop charging command also includes the second beacon identifier codes (and/or beacon-derived information therefor) as provided by the request from the venue or associated with a charging node identified in the request from the venue.
  • This stop charging command is sent to the controller associated with the venue which made the stop charging request.
  • the controller then de-activates the charger 17 associated with the second beacon identifier code included or represented in the stop charging command at step S4-7.
  • the cloud service can also send a notification to the handset (step S6-9) to inform the handset that a request to stop charging has been actioned.
  • the notification may also communicate that the stop charging request came from the venue.
  • the handset can present information on a display of the handset indicating that charging is ceased (S6-11).
  • a venue may make a request to stop charging in a number of circumstances, for example in a situation where the venue is a commercial outlet and is closing to customers due to the end of trading hours being reached.
  • a venue may also make such a request if the venue is responsible for maintaining a power supply to the charging stations and reaches a threshold power delivery level for a given time period or if the chargers are powered by rechargeable batteries under the control of the venue and the relevant charger battery has reached a threshold run-down level.
  • a venue may also make such a request where the venue is a commercial outlet and the user of the handset has not made sufficient purchases from the commercial outlet to be permitted to retain their place in the outlet.
  • Such an approach would facilitate a commercial outlet hosting a wireless charging facility from having a user occupy a table or other space with a charging node without that user also conducting sufficient commercial transactions with the commercial outlet itself.
  • Figure 6b shows an example flow for ceasing provision of charging to a wirelessly- chargeable device 23 according to a sixth example implementation.
  • the process of the present example is triggered by a request from a venue hosting a charging facility to cease charging, the request being provided in this example by the venue to the controller.
  • the process commences at step S26-1 with a request to stop charging being received by the controller from the venue.
  • the request identifies at least the charging node for which charging is to be ceased.
  • the controller may apply a suitable level of authenticity and authority confirmation before actioning the request from the venue, which may include sending an authorisation request to the cloud server (not shown). From this input, the controller then de-activates at step S6-23 the charger 17 associated with the second beacon identifier code included or represented in the stop charging request.
  • the controller sends notifications of the ceasing of charging by the charger 17 at step S6-25.
  • One notification is sent by the controller to the handset, which receives the notification at step S6-27 that a request to stop charging has been actioned.
  • the notification may also communicate a reason why the charging has been stopped.
  • the handset can present information on a display of the handset indicating that charging is ceased (step S6-29).
  • Notification of stopping the charging is also sent by the controller to the cloud service.
  • the cloud service can record that the command to stop charging has been sent with or in respect of a handset/user account record, and/or with or in respect of a record of active charging nodes (step S6-33).
  • the cloud service may optionally carry out a check to determine whether it has a record of the handset/user having an active charging provision associated with the notification of stopping charging. If no such active charging provision is indicated, then an error message may be returned. Alternatively, if no such active charging provision is recorded, then a record of an active charging provision may be made by the cloud service to record that such a provision had in fact been made available and received.
  • the cloud service or controller can send one or more messages or notifications to the handset to provide information relating to current and historical charging sessions, including any or all of usage information, venues/facilities utilised, duration of charging, amount of power delivered overall or per charging session, venue offers or vouchers received or utilised, account status such as credit balance or subscription duration, and communications from visited venues or facilities.
  • the handset can also facilitate a continued communication between the user and a facility or venue hosting the wireless charging nodes even after charging has been terminated for that venue.
  • the charger has been assumed to have a passive role in the process of activating and deactivating charging, with the charger simply being activated or deactivated according to a control decision.
  • a signal measured from the charger may be used as an input to the control process.
  • any of the above approaches to activation or deactivation of charging may be modified to include use of a draw quantity measured at, for or from a charger.
  • the current draw through the charger will change.
  • This current draw may be detected by or at the controller 9, for example by a signal representative of current draw being transmitted from the charger to the controller or by the controller having access to a sensor that detects a power supply to each charger. This enables the controller to detect not only that current is being drawn from the active charger but also how much current is being drawn.
  • the controller can confirm that the charging is taking place and can cause the charger to remain active according to an applicable charging usage policy - such as until a user request or venue request for charging to cease is received, or until a charging time threshold is exceeded or until it is detected that charging is no longer ongoing.
  • the controller 9 can be configured or be managed by the remote service 3 to maintain the charging active in this way.
  • the same current draw measure can be used to detect when a charger 17 is no longer being used to provide charging.
  • a user removes a wirelessly chargeable device from a charger 17 or when such a device stops charging, for example because the device is fully charged or receives charging from a wired charging source such as an external battery or mains power, the current drawn through that charger 17 will drop. This drop can be used as an indicator of charging having ceased, which may in turn serve as a trigger to deactivate the charger 17.
  • a detection of dropped current draw may be used in combination with a timeout period to cause the charger to remain active for a short period after detecting the current draw drop and/or in combination with some form of data communication between the charger, controller or remote service and the wirelessly chargeable device, such as discussed above with reference to Figure 5b.
  • charging may be automatically terminated once a device receiving power from the charger then ceases to draw power therefrom. Such termination may be communicated by the controller to the remote service.
  • a usage log may be updated to record when the charging ceased.
  • This approach can also be used to detect some forms of fraudulent usage of the charging infrastructure. For example, if a user places a wirelessly chargeable device on a charger 17 and activates the charging service as discussed above, but then swaps the wirelessly chargeable device for another device or adds another wirelessly chargeable device to the charger, then a detectable change in the current draw may occur. If such a change is detected, then the controller 9 and/or remote service 3 may make a determination as to whether the change is permissible.
  • the charger 7 for a device with an expected wireless charging draw of up to 5W (which corresponds roughly to the 0.9A at 5V that many portable devices receive by way of a USB charging cable) and it is detected that the actual draw has changed from, for example, 4.8W to 3.8W, then this change may be permitted.
  • Such a change may be representative of a wirelessly chargeable device changing charge modes (such as entering a trickle charge mode or similar) or may be representative of the original device being replaced with a lower draw device. Both such changes may be within an acceptable use policy for users of the wireless charging service.
  • a detected change in draw from a charger 17 may not be acceptable.
  • a user may activate the charging service using a device (such as a smartphone or phablet) with an expected wireless charging draw of 5W and then replace that device on the charger with a higher draw device (for example a large tablet device or laptop computer) which may have a much higher draw, for example 10W, 30W or even higher.
  • a user may activate the charging service using a device and then place an additional wirelessly chargeable device on the charger 17. This would cause the draw to increase to supply power to both devices, for example roughly doubling if two similar draw devices are presented. Such an increase in power draw may fall outside an acceptable use policy for the wireless charging service and may therefore trigger a deactivation of the charger 17 by the controller 9.
  • a charger may for example be activated to charge a small vehicle such as a scooter, motorcycle or other straddle- type vehicle. If the draw were then increased due to the addition of a second straddle-type vehicle at the charger or because the straddle-type vehicle has been replaced with a large vehicle (such as a car or truck) then the same draw detection approach could be used and such detection then be used to determine whether acceptable use has been breached and the power supply may be cut or maintained accordingly.
  • the first example relates to authentication of a user device in such a way as to also provide for automatic cessation of charging when the authenticated user device is removed.
  • a user will locate a wirelessly chargeable device at a charging location for a charger 17.
  • the request will include an ID associated with the wirelessly chargeable device, for example a unique variable provided to the entity receiving the charging request (which entity could be the charging station beacon 13 or the controller 9).
  • the ID is the wireless protocol (WIFI or Bluetooth) MAC address of the wirelessly chargeable device, but other IDs could be used.
  • the controller 9 can inform the remote service 3 that the device ID is no longer detectable and in response the remote service can instruct that controller to cease the charging.
  • This process therefore is similar to the charging cessation process illustrated with respect to Figure 5b, but allows additionally for the optional use of the charging station beacon and also links the controller to the charging activation process.
  • a user need not specifically request that charging cease and once the user has removed their wirelessly- chargeable device then the charging can be stopped to prevent another person from taking advantage of charging from the user's account.
  • the authentication can detect the presence of multiple device IDs co- located with a wireless charging station.
  • This example provides that a device ID for multiple devices is detected at a wireless charging station (for example using the charging station beacon 13) and allows all device IDs to be authenticated.
  • all received device IDs are provide to the remote service to authenticate the user devices.
  • one of a number of outcomes may apply. If for example one of the devices is authorised but another is not, the charging may be ceased.
  • a message could be provided to the authorised device indicating that charging will only commence once the non-authorised device has been removed from the charging station.
  • charging may be permitted with all accounts being treated as active.
  • the charging may be authorised to the first device to be detected at the charging station.
  • each device may receive a message indicating that multiple accounts have been authenticated to a single charging station and notifying that all accounts will be treated as active or that charging can only commence when only a single account device is present, as applicable to the account management rules in place.
  • the approach taken may depend on the total draw of the multiple devices as compared to the capacity of the charging station.
  • a charging station may be capable of charging one large electronic device such as a laptop, or up to three small devices such as mobile telephones or phablets.
  • a charging station may be capable of charging two small (e.g.
  • straddle-type vehicles or a single large vehicle (e.g. car or truck).
  • straddle-type vehicles or a single large vehicle (e.g. car or truck).
  • a wireless charging infrastructure as described herein may be operating in one or more of a number of ways to achieve both commencement and cessation of charging to a wirelessly-chargeable device.
  • the implementation of such an infrastructure and approach provides for efficient and controlled delivery of wireless charging to authorised wirelessly-chargeable devices at a variety of venues and facilities.
  • the wirelessly chargeable device may display one or more notifications or other information to a user thereof on a display apparatus of the device, it is also possible to provide notifications in a manner other than or additionally to by visual means.
  • notifications and other information could be provided via audio signals such as a suitable beep, tone or generated speech method.
  • notifications could be provided via haptic feedback technology such as by making the wirelessly chargeable device or a part thereof vibrate.
  • a controller is provided to control a number of wireless chargers at a wireless charging facility or venue
  • one or more wireless chargers could have a controller built in such that a combined controller/charger could control itself and a number of simple chargers, or each charger could have its own integral charger with each communicating with the remote service in respect of its own charger only.
  • the controllers it would also be possible to arrange the controllers into some form of mesh network to provide redundancy of communication to the remote service and/or provide for resilient connection to a wired data path from the facility/venue to the remote service.
  • a beacon it is also additionally or alternatively possible for a beacon to be integrated into a charger and/or the controller, such that a charging node could be a single device providing both charger and beacon functionality. While it has been described above that the wireless charging is applied to the same device that both navigates to the charging facility or venue and then communicates with the beacons, it is also possible to use separate devices for navigation and/or communication to that which receives charging. For example, a user may utilise a mobile device with a navigation capability to arrive at the facility or venue, and then use another device to communicate with the beacons and then use another device to receive charging.
  • a user may use a mobile telephone to navigate to the facility and to communicate with the beacons, but then receive charging to a tablet or laptop that is of a size or form inconvenient for navigation purposes.
  • the request may include details of the device to receive charging as well as the device from which a charging request is made.
  • a remote service 3 provides functions such as provision of information based upon beacon identifier codes, authorisation of charging requests, account maintenance and payment updates, it is also considered that these functions could be split between different remote services or different subsections of a remote service.
  • an information service could respond to queries relating to beacon identifier codes and an account management service could provide authorisation of charging request and provide management of account usage and payment records.
  • Other configurations including distributed services and load balanced clusters can also be used.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Transportation (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Charge And Discharge Circuits For Batteries Or The Like (AREA)

Abstract

Cette invention concerne un système d'alimentation, comprenant optionnellement : un émetteur conçu pour transmettre un identifiant de l'émetteur ; un chargeur conçu pour charger sans fil la batterie d'un objet mobile ; un contrôleur conçu pour activer le chargeur ; un serveur conçu pour communiquer avec le contrôleur ; un objet mobile comprenant une batterie conçue pour être chargée sans fil, l'objet mobile étant conçu pour recevoir l'identifiant de l'émetteur et transmettre au serveur une requête comprenant l'identifiant de l'émetteur et un identifiant d'utilisateur. Ledit serveur est conçu pour : recevoir la requête ; déterminer si une condition d'accès est satisfaite sur la base de l'identifiant d'utilisateur ; et fournir un résultat de condition d'accès au contrôleur.
PCT/GB2015/052196 2014-08-04 2015-07-30 Système, appareil et procédé d'alimentation WO2016020645A1 (fr)

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CN108494053A (zh) * 2018-04-20 2018-09-04 佛山市龙生光启科技有限公司 一种无线充电方法、无线充电设备及其系统
WO2020146302A1 (fr) * 2019-01-09 2020-07-16 Ossia Inc. Module d'acquisition de synchronisation pour transmission d'énergie sans fil
JP2022516412A (ja) * 2019-01-09 2022-02-28 オシア インク． 無線電力送信のためのタイミング取得モジュール
CN113273051A (zh) * 2019-01-09 2021-08-17 欧希亚有限公司 用于无线功率传输的定时采集模块
JP7381584B2 (ja) 2019-01-09 2023-11-15 オシア インク． 無線電力送信のためのタイミング取得モジュール
WO2020183483A1 (fr) * 2019-03-14 2020-09-17 Rai Varun Système de recharge de dispositif alimenté
CN113678341A (zh) * 2019-04-10 2021-11-19 欧希亚有限公司 简化的无线电力接收器架构
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WO2022023604A1 (fr) * 2020-07-29 2022-02-03 Wicharge System, Sl Système de charge sans fil
DE102020216094B3 (de) 2020-12-17 2022-04-21 YOOLOX GmbH Physikalische Schnittstelle zur Aktivierung von elektrischen Geräten
WO2022128989A1 (fr) 2020-12-17 2022-06-23 YOOLOX GmbH Interface physique d'activation de dispositifs électriques

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