The present disclosure relates to providing wireless power to electric or electronic devices and more particularly to improving the wireless transfer of power to devices for charging and/or sustaining power to those device loads.
Common electric or electronic devices consume significant levels of electric power with use and a considerable amount of usage occurs while away from main AC power sources traditionally used to supply power to such devices. Due to battery storage limitations, the need for frequent recharging exists in order to sustain device operation. Furthermore, the prevalence of portable electronic devices and devices operating in areas where immediate physical connection with a traditional power source is unavailable, has resulted in increased complexity for management and maintenance of connected electrical power adapters and traditional power sources dependent on power conducting cables.
Current solutions to this problem are based on a singular type of wireless power transfer typically involving magnetic induction, resonating coils or electromagnetic microwave radiation whereby the restrictions on use and distance result in either higher power at short distances or lower power at greater distances. Nevertheless, an obvious combination of two singular incompatible wireless powering techniques is ineffective for consideration as one viable solution when combined. For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for an intelligent system to provide a comprehensive multi-mode wireless power delivery solution without said limitations.
In one aspect, the present invention is embodied as a system and method of providing intelligent wireless power to a device load. This includes a) transmitting a directed energy signal over-the-air from an energy transferring unit (ETU) to an energy receiving unit (ERU) of a device load in a first mode when the ERU is in the proximity of a far field range of the ETU; and, b) generating a resonant magnetic field over-the-air by the ETU wherein the resonant magnetic field is coupled with an ERU magnetic field at the same resonant frequency of the device load in a second mode when the ERU is in the proximity of a near field coupling range of the ETU. Energy is transferred to the ERU from the ETU selectively and intelligently by managing the directed energy signal transmission and the resonant magnetic field to deliver energy as needed by one or both modes simultaneously and with consideration to the device load's energy requirement, energy priority and device load's range relative to the ETU.
In one embodiment, the ETU includes a far field transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit the directed energy signal; and, a source resonator configured to generate the resonate magnetic field. The ERU includes a far field receiver configured to wirelessly receive the directed energy signal transmitted from the far field transmitter; and, a capture resonator configured to capture resonant magnetic energy in the near field generated by the source resonator.
In one aspect, the present invention is embodied as a method of managing multi-mode transfer of wireless power. The method includes intelligently optimizing the wireless transfer of energy from a multi-mode energy transfer unit (ETU), and capturing and receiving the optimized energy transferred wirelessly over varying distances by one or more energy receiving units (ERU's).
The present invention via a novel approach, addresses the current shortcomings of existing single-mode wireless power delivery systems such as low energy transfer from a far field source or limited spatial freedom from a near field source which are exclusively inherent to these technologies while obviating the need for traditional wired or cabled power delivery methods. The advantages of the present invention include increased efficiency, added redundancy for applications where critical loss of available power could be detrimental to the device user and optional spatial versatility when lower energy transfer rates are acceptable while sustaining power to or charging an electric or electronic device.
Referring now to the drawings and the characters of reference marked thereon,
The ETU 12 includes a far field transmitter 22 configured to wirelessly transmit the directed energy signal 16; and, a source resonator 24 configured to generate the resonant magnetic field 18. The ERU 14 includes a far field receiver 26 configured to wirelessly receive the directed energy signal 16 transmitted from the far field transmitter 22; and, a capture resonator 28 configured to capture resonant magnetic energy 18 in the near field generated by the source resonator 24.
In one embodiment, the ETU 12 includes an ETU micro-controller circuit (ETU MCC) 29 operatively connected to a power source 30 and configured to intelligently induce wireless transfer of energy within the near field, far field or both as required, and to manage the distribution and priority of energy transfer. An ETU communications circuit 32 is configured to communicate information between the ETU 12 and ERU 14. An ETU amplifier/rectifier circuit 34 is configured to convert the energy for the source resonator 24 and the far field transmitter 22.
In one embodiment, the ERU 14 includes an ERU micro-controller circuit (ERU MCC) 36 configured to intelligently manage the distribution of transferred energy from the near field, far field or both modes as required. An ERU communications circuit 38 is configured to communicate information between the ETU 12 and ERU 14. An ERU amplifier/rectifier circuit 40 is configured to convert the energy from the capture resonator 28 and the far field receiver 26. The ERU MCC 36 may be integrated into one or more device loads to be charged or powered.
In one embodiment, the source resonator 24 includes a source coil 42 operatively connected to an ETU impedance matching circuit (ETU IMC) 44. The capture resonator 28 comprises a capture coil 46 operatively connected to an ERU impedance matching circuit 48.
The far field transmitter 22 includes a signal conversion module 50 and a far field transmitter antenna(s) 52 whereby the amplified/rectified power is converted by the signal conversion module 50 to an energy signal suitable for transmission via the far field transmitter antenna(s) 52.
The far field receiver 26 includes a signal conversion module 54 and a far field receiver antenna(s) 56.
The transmitters and resonators convert electrical power to energy signals at an ISM frequency band appropriately optimized for the application of the system and within accordance of regulatory rules and laws governing such wireless operations.
Referring now to
In Step 1, if Dual Session is unavailable, then a search is initiated for a near field session. If a near field session is detected and initiated, the device load will then receive power from the near field session. Once power is received then a determination is made whether or not there are altered range requirements by the device load leaving near field range, followed by a check for a far field Session. Failing both the near-field and far field check will default back to step 1. If it is determined that an altered range requirement does not exist, then energy transfer shall be sustained until said device load initiates the termination of energy transfer.
If the availability of dual session does not exist, and a near field session is not detected then a search is initiated for a far field session. If a far field session is detected then there is a determination as to whether altered range requirements exist. If so, then Step 1 is initiated. If it is determined that an altered range requirement does not exist, then energy transfer shall be sustained until said device load initiates the termination of energy transfer. If a far field session is not detected and determined available then Step 1 is initiated.
Referring now to
As shown in
Thus, in an embodiment the method of managing multi-mode transfer of wireless power, includes intelligently optimizing the wireless transfer of energy from a multi-mode energy transfer unit (ETU), and capturing and receiving the optimized energy transferred wirelessly over varying distances by one or more energy receiving units (ERU's). The energy transfer unit (ETU) includes a wireless communication protocol capable of independently identifying each energy receiving unit (ERU), engaging one or more identified ERU's, and sensing the range of each engaged ERU relative to the ETU, thus generating identification and range data.
The ETU processes the identification and range data to intelligently determine which mode or modes simultaneously, shall be induced during the wireless energy transfer session of each engaged energy receiving unit in a manner that optimizes energy transfer rate and efficiency. An engaged ERU, upon successfully establishing a communication link with the ETU via said communication protocol, and upon determining the presence of a corresponding software program installed on a device capable of running the software will provide relevant wireless energy transfer session data in a visual format via the software program.
The ERU may be integrated into a variety a device selected from a group of electronic devices consisting of a computer, laptop computer, mobile phone, smart phone, tablet computer, and tablet phone wherein the device is capable of facilitating and running a software program for the purpose of displaying session data and offering additional command options for the energy transfer session in a visual format.
The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments of the devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will be understood by those within the art that each function and/or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment, several portions of the subject matter described herein may be implemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), General Purpose Processors (GPPs), Microcontroller Units (MCUs), or other integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, in whole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in integrated circuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and/or writing the code for the software/and or firmware would be well within the skill of one skilled in the art in light of this disclosure.
In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanisms of some of the subject matter described herein may be capable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described herein applies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearing medium include, but are not limited to, the following: a recordable type medium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a Compact Disc (CD), a Digital Video Disk (DVD), a digital tape, a computer memory, etc.; and a transmission type medium such as a digital and/or an analog communication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wired communication link, a wireless communication link (e.g., transmitter, receiver, transmission logic, reception logic, etc.).
Those having skill in the art will recognize that the state of the art has progressed to the point where there is little distinction left between hardware, software, and/or firmware implementations of aspects of systems; the use of hardware, software, and/or firmware is generally (but not always, in that in certain contexts the choice between hardware and software can become significant) a design choice representing cost vs. efficiency tradeoffs. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that there are various vehicles by which processes and/or systems and/or other technologies described herein can be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and/or firmware), and that the preferred vehicle will vary with the context in which the processes and/or systems and/or other technologies are deployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed and accuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardware and/or firmware vehicle; alternatively, if flexibility is paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly software implementation; or, yet again alternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. Hence, there are several possible vehicles by which the processes and/or devices and/or other technologies described herein may be effected, none of which is inherently superior to the other in that any vehicle to be utilized is a choice dependent upon the context in which the vehicle will be deployed and the specific concerns (e.g., speed, flexibility, or predictability) of the implementer, any of which may vary. Those skilled in the art will recognize that optical aspects of implementations will typically employ optically-oriented hardware, software, and or firmware.
As mentioned above, other embodiments and configurations may be devised without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
6289237 | Mickle et al. | Sep 2001 | B1 |
6615074 | Mickle et al. | Sep 2003 | B2 |
6856291 | Mickle et al. | Feb 2005 | B2 |
6886685 | Slater | May 2005 | B2 |
7027311 | Vanderelli et al. | Apr 2006 | B2 |
7057514 | Mickle et al. | Jun 2006 | B2 |
7639994 | Greene et al. | Dec 2009 | B2 |
7643312 | Vanderelli et al. | Jan 2010 | B2 |
7741734 | Joannopoulos et al. | Jun 2010 | B2 |
7812771 | Greene et al. | Oct 2010 | B2 |
7825543 | Karalis et al. | Nov 2010 | B2 |
7844306 | Shearer et al. | Nov 2010 | B2 |
7868482 | Greene et al. | Jan 2011 | B2 |
7898105 | Greene et al. | Mar 2011 | B2 |
D636333 | Kulikowski | Apr 2011 | S |
7925308 | Greene et al. | Apr 2011 | B2 |
8022576 | Joannopoulos et al. | Sep 2011 | B2 |
8035255 | Kurs et al. | Oct 2011 | B2 |
8076800 | Joannopoulos et al. | Dec 2011 | B2 |
8076801 | Karalis et al. | Dec 2011 | B2 |
8084889 | Joannopoulos et al. | Dec 2011 | B2 |
8097983 | Karalis et al. | Jan 2012 | B2 |
8115448 | John | Feb 2012 | B2 |
8159090 | Greene et al. | Apr 2012 | B2 |
8159364 | Zeine | Apr 2012 | B2 |
8304935 | Karalis et al. | Nov 2012 | B2 |
8324759 | Karalis et al. | Dec 2012 | B2 |
8362651 | Hamam et al. | Jan 2013 | B2 |
8378522 | Cook et al. | Feb 2013 | B2 |
8395282 | Joannopoulos et al. | Mar 2013 | B2 |
8395283 | Joannopoulos et al. | Mar 2013 | B2 |
8400017 | Kurs et al. | Mar 2013 | B2 |
8400018 | Joannopoulos et al. | Mar 2013 | B2 |
8400019 | Joannopoulos et al. | Mar 2013 | B2 |
8400020 | Joannopoulos et al. | Mar 2013 | B2 |
8400021 | Joannopoulos et al. | Mar 2013 | B2 |
8400022 | Joannopoulos et al. | Mar 2013 | B2 |
8400023 | Joannopoulos et al. | Mar 2013 | B2 |
8400024 | Joannopoulos et al. | Mar 2013 | B2 |
8410636 | Kurs et al. | Apr 2013 | B2 |
8410953 | Zeine | Apr 2013 | B2 |
8432062 | Greene et al. | Apr 2013 | B2 |
8441154 | Karalis et al. | May 2013 | B2 |
8446248 | Zeine | May 2013 | B2 |
8461719 | Kesler et al. | Jun 2013 | B2 |
8461720 | Kurs et al. | Jun 2013 | B2 |
8461721 | Karalis et al. | Jun 2013 | B2 |
8461722 | Kurs et al. | Jun 2013 | B2 |
8461817 | Martin et al. | Jun 2013 | B2 |
8466583 | Karalis et al. | Jun 2013 | B2 |
8471410 | Karalis et al. | Jun 2013 | B2 |
8476788 | Karalis et al. | Jul 2013 | B2 |
8482158 | Kurs et al. | Jul 2013 | B2 |
8487480 | Kesler et al. | Jul 2013 | B1 |
8497601 | Hall et al. | Jul 2013 | B2 |
D692010 | Verghese | Oct 2013 | S |
8552592 | Schatz et al. | Oct 2013 | B2 |
8558661 | Zeine | Oct 2013 | B2 |
8587153 | Schatz et al. | Nov 2013 | B2 |
8587155 | Giler et al. | Nov 2013 | B2 |
8598743 | Hall et al. | Dec 2013 | B2 |
8618696 | Kurs et al. | Dec 2013 | B2 |
8621245 | Shearer et al. | Dec 2013 | B2 |
D697477 | Jonas, III | Jan 2014 | S |
8629578 | Kurs et al. | Jan 2014 | B2 |
8643326 | Campanella et al. | Feb 2014 | B2 |
8667452 | Verghese et al. | Mar 2014 | B2 |
8669676 | Karalis et al. | Mar 2014 | B2 |
8686598 | Schatz et al. | Apr 2014 | B2 |
8692410 | Schatz et al. | Apr 2014 | B2 |
8692412 | Fiorello et al. | Apr 2014 | B2 |
D705745 | Kurs et al. | May 2014 | S |
8716903 | Kurs et al. | May 2014 | B2 |
8723366 | Fiorello et al. | May 2014 | B2 |
8729737 | Schatz et al. | May 2014 | B2 |
8760007 | Joannopoulos et al. | Jun 2014 | B2 |
8760008 | Joannopoulos et al. | Jun 2014 | B2 |
D709855 | Jonas | Jul 2014 | S |
8766485 | Joannopoulos et al. | Jul 2014 | B2 |
8772971 | Joannopoulos et al. | Jul 2014 | B2 |
8772972 | Joannopoulos et al. | Jul 2014 | B2 |
8772973 | Kurs | Jul 2014 | B2 |
8791599 | Joannopoulos et al. | Jul 2014 | B2 |
8805530 | John | Aug 2014 | B2 |
8836172 | Hamam et al. | Sep 2014 | B2 |
8847548 | Kesler et al. | Sep 2014 | B2 |
8854176 | Zeine | Oct 2014 | B2 |
8875086 | Verghese et al. | Oct 2014 | B2 |
8901778 | Kesler et al. | Dec 2014 | B2 |
8901779 | Kesler et al. | Dec 2014 | B2 |
8907531 | Hall et al. | Dec 2014 | B2 |
8928276 | Kesler et al. | Jan 2015 | B2 |
8937408 | Ganem et al. | Jan 2015 | B2 |
D722048 | Kurs et al. | Feb 2015 | S |
8963488 | Campanella et al. | Feb 2015 | B2 |
9000616 | Greene et al. | Apr 2015 | B2 |
9021277 | Shearer et al. | Apr 2015 | B2 |
9142973 | Zeine | Sep 2015 | B2 |
9143000 | Leabman et al. | Sep 2015 | B2 |
9240824 | Hillan et al. | Jan 2016 | B2 |
9608472 | Moshfeghi | Mar 2017 | B2 |
20040150934 | Baarman | Aug 2004 | A1 |
20050206577 | Lee | Sep 2005 | A1 |
20080054638 | Greene | Mar 2008 | A1 |
20100127660 | Cook et al. | May 2010 | A1 |
20100190436 | Cook et al. | Jul 2010 | A1 |
20100244576 | Hillan et al. | Sep 2010 | A1 |
20120062358 | Nowottnick | Mar 2012 | A1 |
20130026981 | Van Der Lee | Jan 2013 | A1 |
20130221915 | Son et al. | Aug 2013 | A1 |
20140327323 | Masaoka et al. | Nov 2014 | A1 |
20150011160 | Jurgovan et al. | Jan 2015 | A1 |
20160020637 | Khlat | Jan 2016 | A1 |
20160285489 | Gong et al. | Sep 2016 | A1 |
20160301257 | Parks et al. | Oct 2016 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2387127 | Nov 2011 | EP |
2579424 | Apr 2013 | EP |
2755300 | Jul 2014 | EP |
2015064815 | May 2015 | WO |
2016164321 | Oct 2016 | WO |
Entry |
---|
Jorgesen et al.: “Balun Basics Primer: A Tutorial on Baluns, Balun Transformers, Magic-Ts, and 180 degree Hybrids”, Marki Microwave, Inc., 2014, 12 pages. |
International Search Report & Written Opinion for PCT Application PCT/US2017/057015 dated Jan. 18, 2018, 23 pages. |
International Search Report & Written Opinion for PCT Application PCT/US2017/026186 dated Jul. 14, 2017, 17 pages. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20170294810 A1 | Oct 2017 | US |