Near-field antennas for accumulating radio frequency energy at different respective segments included in one or more channels of a conductive plate

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless power transmission, and more particularly to near-field antennas (e.g., non-inductive, resonant near-field antennas) that accumulate energy at a near-field distance to wirelessly deliver power to a receiver.

BACKGROUND

Portable electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, notebooks and other electronic devices have become a necessity for communicating and interacting with others. The frequent use of portable electronic devices, however, uses a significant amount of power, which quickly depletes the batteries attached to these devices. Inductive charging pads and corresponding inductive coils in portable devices allow users to wirelessly charge a device by placing the device at a particular position on an inductive pad to allow for a contact-based charging of the device due to magnetic coupling between respective coils in the inductive pad and in the device.

Conventional inductive charging pads, however, suffer from many drawbacks. For one, users typically must place their devices at a specific position and in a certain orientation on the charging pad because gaps (“dead zones” or “cold zones”) exist on the surface of the charging pad. In other words, for optimal charging, the coil in the charging pad needs to be aligned with the coil in the device in order for the required magnetic coupling to occur. Additionally, placement of other metallic objects near an inductive charging pad may interfere with operation of the inductive charging pad, so even if the user places their device at the exact right position, if another metal object is also on the pad, then magnetic coupling still may not occur and the device will not be charged by the inductive charging pad. This results in a frustrating experience for many users as they may be unable to properly charge their devices. Also, inductive charging requires a relatively large receiver coil to be placed within a device to be charged, which is less than ideal for devices where internal space is at a premium.

Charging using electromagnetic radiation (e.g., microwave radiation waves) offers promise, but RF charging is typically focused on far-field charging and not near-field charging where the device to be charged is placed on top of the RF energy transmitter. Furthermore, controlling far-field gain is a challenge that also must be solved to avoid causing interference with other devices operating in certain frequency bands (e.g., microwave frequency bands).

SUMMARY

Accordingly, there is a need for a near-field wireless charging solution that (i) accumulates energy at a near-field distance to wirelessly deliver power to a receiver, (ii) minimizes far-field gain so as to avoid interference with other devices and comply with government guidelines and regulations, and (iii) allows users to place their devices at any position on a pad and still receive wireless delivered energy. In some embodiments, these charging pads include a plurality of near-field antennas (e.g., non-inductive resonant near-field antennas), and a method of operating one such near-field antenna is described below.

For the purposes of this disclosure, the near-field antennas described herein are referred to interchangeable as unit cell antennas, NF antennas, and non-inductive resonant antennas. Also, references to near-field transmission cover the radiation of electromagnetic waves for distances up to and including 1 to 5 millimeters away from a surface of a charging pad transmitter, while references to far-field transmission cover radiation of electromagnetic waves for distances over 5 millimeters (and up to 30 feet away from a far-field transmitter). In some instances, references to near-field transmission cover the radiation of electromagnetic waves for distances up to a quarter wavelength of an operating frequency (e.g., a quarter wavelength of an operating frequency of 5.8 GHz is approximately 12.922 millimeters). In some embodiments, the operating frequency ranges from 400 MHz to 60 GHz.

(A1) In some embodiments, a method of operating a near-field antenna includes, providing a near-field antenna that includes a conductive plate having first and second opposing planar surfaces, and one or more cutouts (also referred to herein as one or more slots) extending through the conductive plate from the first surface to the second surface. The near-field antenna also includes a feed element separated from the first surface of the conductive plate by an insulator. The method further includes causing the feed element to direct a plurality of RF power transmission signals towards the conductive plate and receiving, at the conductive plate, the plurality of RF power transmission signals from the feed element. The method further includes radiating, through the one or more cutouts, at least some of the plurality of RF power transmission signals so that RF energy from the plurality of RF power transmission signals accumulates within a near-field distance of the conductive plate to create at least two distinct zones of accumulated RF energy at each of the one or more cutouts. The at least two distinct zones of accumulated RF energy at each of the one or more cutouts are defined based, at least in part, on: (i) a set of dimensions defining each of the one or more cutouts, and (ii) an arrangement of the one or more cutouts.

(A2) In some embodiments of the method of A1, a first cutout of the one or more cutouts forms a first meandering line pattern and a second cutout of the one or more cutouts forms a second meandering line pattern.

(A3) In some embodiments of the method of A2, a shape of the first meandering line pattern mirrors a shape of the second meandering line pattern, the first and second meandering line patterns have the same set of dimensions, and the shape of the first meandering line pattern is rotated (e.g., rotated 180 degrees) with respect to the shape of the second meandering line pattern. For example, the shape of the first meandering line pattern is interleaved with the shape of the second meandering line pattern (e.g., two U-shaped patterns with a leg of each U-shaped pattern being interleaved or interposed between the two legs of the other U-shaped pattern, as shown in FIG. 2 and described in more detail below). Alternatively, in some embodiments, a single cutout forms a symmetrical meandering line pattern (e.g., as shown in FIG. 5A).

(A4) In some embodiments of the method of any of A1-A3, a respective cutout of the one or more cutouts has a respective length that is at least as large as a wavelength of a respective RF power transmission signal of the plurality of RF power transmission signals.

(A5) In some embodiments of the method of A4, the respective cutout includes, at least: (i) a first cutout portion defined in a first direction, and (ii) a second cutout portion defined in a second direction, the second direction being orthogonal to the first direction. Furthermore, a first of the at least two distinct zones of accumulated RF energy is created at the first cutout portion (e.g., formed along the first cutout portion and along the first direction) and a second of the at least two distinct zones of accumulated RF energy is created at the second cutout portion (e.g., formed along the second cutout portion and along the second direction).

(A6) In some embodiments of the method of any of A1-A5, the feed element is a component of a patch antenna, where the insulator is disposed between the feed element and the conductive plate.

(A7) In some embodiments of the method of any of A1-A5, the feed element is a component of a patch antenna that is at least partially encapsulated within the insulator.

(A8) In some embodiments of the method of any of A1-A7, the insulator is selected from the group consisting of: a polymer, a fiber reinforced polymer, glass, and air.

(A9) In some embodiments of the method of any of A1-A8, the at least two distinct zones cover at least 80% of a surface area of the second surface of the conductive plate.

(A10) In some embodiments of the method of any of A1-A9, the at least two distinct zones cover at least 90% of the surface area of the second surface of the conductive plate.

(A11) In some embodiments of the method of any of A1-A10, the at least two distinct zones of accumulated RF energy extend no more than 5 millimeters (mm) above the second surface of the conductive plate.

(A12) In some embodiments of the method of any of A1-A11, the at least two distinct zones of accumulated RF energy extend no more than 4 millimeters above the second surface of the conductive plate.

(A13) In some embodiments of the method of any of A1-A12, the at least two distinct zones of accumulated RF energy extend no more than 3 millimeters above the second surface of the conductive plate.

(A14) In some embodiments of the method of any of A1-A13, the plurality of RF power transmission signals are transmitted at a frequency selected from the group consisting of: 5.8 GHz, 2.4 GHz, and 900 MHz.

(A15) In some embodiments of the method of any of A1-A14, the near-field antenna is a first near-field antenna and is part of a near-field charging pad (e.g., transmitter pad 100, FIGS. 1A-1B) that also includes a second near-field antenna that is positioned adjacent to the first near-field antenna within the near-field charging pad. Furthermore, respective cutouts associated with the second near-field antenna are rotated relative to the one or more cutouts associated with the first near-field antenna.

(A16) In some embodiments of the method of any of A1-A15, the feed element receives the one or more RF power transmission signals from a power amplifier in response to determining that a wireless power receiver is placed within a predetermined distance of the surface.

(A17) In some embodiments of the method of A16, the predetermined distance is less than approximately 5 mm away from the surface.

(A18) In some embodiments of the method of A17, the predetermined distance is monitored by measuring a signal strength level associated with a transmission received by a processor connected to (e.g., in electrical communication with) the near-field antenna and the signal strength level is associated with a broadcasted signal received from the wireless power receiver.

(A19) In some embodiments of the method of any of A1-A18, the feed element and the insulator are surrounded by a conductive housing. Furthermore, the conductive housing defines an opening at one end of the housing and the conductive plate closes the opening.

(A20) In some embodiments of the method of any of A1-A19, the conductive plate is a first conductive plate, and the near-field antenna further includes another insulator (e.g., a dielectric layer) disposed on the second surface of the first conductive plate and a second conductive plate disposed on top of the other insulator. In some embodiments, the second conductive plate includes one or more additional cutouts. Alternatively, in some embodiments, instead of a second conductive plate, the near-field antenna further includes a conductive layer deposited on a surface of the other insulator.

(A21) In some embodiments of the method of any of A1-A20, the conductive plate is a conductive layer deposited on a surface of the insulator. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the insulator is a dielectric layer that is deposited on the first surface of the conductive plate.

(A22) In some embodiments of the method of any of A1-A21, the insulator is a first insulator, and the near-field antenna further includes a second insulator that separates the feed element from a grounding plate (e.g., grounding plate 308, FIG. 3A).

(A23) In one other aspect, a near-field antenna is provided, and the near-field antenna includes the structural characteristics for a near-field antenna described above in A1-A22, and the near-field antenna is also configured to perform the method steps described above in A1-A22.

(A24) In another aspect, a transmitter pad that includes a plurality of near-field antennas is provided. In some embodiments, the transmitter pad includes at least one near-field antenna, one or more communications components, one or more processors, and memory storing one or more programs, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the transmitter pad to perform the method described in any one of A1-A22.

(A25) In yet another aspect, a transmitter pad (that includes a plurality near-field antennas) is provided and the transmitter pad includes means for performing the method described in any one of A1-A22.

(A26) In still another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is provided. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores executable instructions that, when executed by a transmitter pad (that includes a plurality of near-field antennas) with one or more processors/cores, cause the transmitter pad to perform the method described in any one of A1-A22.

(B1) In some embodiments, a method of fabricating a near-field antenna includes selecting a set of dimensions for one or more cutouts to be defined through a conductive plate of a near-field antenna, the conductive plate having opposing first and second planar surfaces. The method further includes forming the one or more cutouts through the first and second surfaces of the conductive plate in a predefined arrangement, each of the one or more cutouts having the set of dimensions. The method further includes coupling an insulator to the first surface of the conductive plate and coupling a feed element to the insulator. In some embodiments, the fabricated near-field antenna includes the structural characteristics for a near-field antenna described above in A1-A22, and the near-field antenna is also configured to perform the method steps described above in A1-A22.

(C1) In yet another aspect, a near-field antenna is provided. The near-field antenna includes: (i) a feed element configured to direct a plurality of radio frequency (RF) power transmission signals towards a conductive plate, (ii) a first slot defined through the conductive plate having a length that is at least as large as a wavelength of a respective RF power transmission signal of the plurality of RF power transmission signals transmitted by the feed element, and (iii) a second slot defined through the conductive plate that interlocks with the first slot and also has a length that is at least as large as the wavelength of the respective RF power transmission signal. Further, upon conduction of the plurality of RF power transmission signals via the first and second slots, at least two distinct zones of accumulated RF energy form along the length of each of the first and second slots. The near-field antenna includes the structural characteristics for a near-field antenna described above in A1-A22, and the near-field antenna is also configured to perform the method steps described above in A1-A22.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.

So that the present disclosure can be understood in greater detail, a more particular description may be had by reference to the features of various embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. The appended drawings, however, merely illustrate pertinent features of the present disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting, for the description may admit to other effective features.

FIGS. 1A-1B show diagrams illustrating a representative transmitter pad in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a top section of a transmitter pad, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 3A-3D show cross-sectional views of a transmitter pad, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 4A-4C show various views of a respective near-field antenna of a transmitter pad, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 5A-5B show top views of a respective near-field antenna of a transmitter pad, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing a method of operating a near-field antenna, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram showing a method of fabricating a near-field antenna, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 8 shows various power distributions (e.g., accumulations of energy) formed on a transmitter pad, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a graph that shows an example radiation pattern for a unit cell antenna that includes one or more cutouts.

In accordance with common practice, the various features illustrated in the drawings may not be drawn to scale. Accordingly, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity. In addition, some of the drawings may not depict all of the components of a given system, method or device. Finally, like reference numerals may be used to denote like features throughout the specification and figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Numerous details are described herein in order to provide a thorough understanding of the example embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings. However, some embodiments may be practiced without many of the specific details, and the scope of the claims is only limited by those features and aspects specifically recited in the claims. Furthermore, well-known processes, components, and materials have not been described in exhaustive detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure pertinent aspects of the embodiments described herein.

FIG. 1A is a high-level block diagram of a transmitter pad 100, in accordance with some embodiments. The transmitter pad 100 (also referred to herein as near-field radio- frequency (RF) charging pad or near-field charging pad) includes components 102. The transmitter pad is configured to generate controlled, near-field accumulations of electromagnetic energy that are provided to a receiver that is placed near or on top of (e.g., within 5 mm of a surface)of the transmitter pad 100. For example, FIG. 1B illustrates a wireless power receiver 120 (e.g., a receiver coupled to or housed within any type of electronic device that requires electricity to operate) placed on top of the transmitter pad 100 that is harvesting energy from the near-field accumulations of electromagnetic energy to charge or power a device coupled to the wireless power receiver. In the descriptions herein, radio frequency (RF) power transmission waves are used as a primary illustrative example, but one or ordinary skill in the art will appreciate in view of these descriptions that any type of electromagnetic radiation waves may be used instead in certain embodiments or implementations.

The components 102 of the transmitter pad 100 include, for example, one or more processor(s) 104, a memory 106, one or more unit cell antennas 110 (also referred to herein as near-field antennas), one or more communications components 112, and/or one or more transmitter sensors 114. In some embodiments, these components 102 are interconnected by way of a communications bus 108. In some embodiments, the components 102 are housed within the transmitter pad 100. Alternatively, in some embodiments, one or more of the components 102 are disposed outside (e.g., external) the transmitter pad 100. For example, the one or more processor(s) 104, the memory 106, the one or more communications components 112, may be external while the one or more unit cell antennas 110 and the one or more transmitter sensors 114 may be internal (or some other combination/arrangement of components).

In some embodiments, the communication component(s) 112 include, e.g., hardware capable of data communications using any of a variety of wireless protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.15.4, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, 6LoWPAN, Thread, Z-Wave, Bluetooth Smart, ISA100.11a, WirelessHART, MiWi, etc.) wired protocols (e.g., Ethernet, HomePlug, etc.), and/or any other suitable communication protocol, including communication protocols not yet developed as of the filing date of this document.

In some embodiments, the communications component 112 transmits communication signals to the receiver 120 by way of the electronic device. For example, the communications component 112 may convey information to a communications component of the electronic device (e.g., electronic device 210, FIG. 2), which the electronic device may in turn convey to the receiver 120 (e.g., via a bus).

In some embodiments, the receiver 120 includes a communications component configured to communicate various types of data with the transmitter pad 100, through a respective communication signal generated by the receiver-side communications component. The data may include location indicators for the receiver 120, a power status of the electronic device, status information for the receiver 120, status information for the electronic device, status information about the power waves, and/or status information for accumulations of energy (e.g., the distinct zones). In other words, the receiver 120 may provide data to the transmitter pad 100, by way of a communication signal, regarding the current operation of the transmitter pad 100 (or a current operation of a unit cell), including: information identifying a present location of the receiver 120, an amount of energy (i.e., usable power) received by the receiver 120, and an amount of usable power received and/or used by the electronic device, among other possible data points containing other types of information. This information may be used by the transmitter pad 100 in conjunction with the embodiments described herein.

In some embodiments, the data contained within communication signals is used by the electronic device, the receiver 120, and/or the transmitter pad 100 for determining adjustments of the one or more characteristics used by the unit cell antenna 110 to transmit the power waves. Using a communication signal, the transmitter pad 100 receives data that is used, e.g., to identify receivers 120 on the transmitter pad 100, identify electronic devices, determine safe and effective waveform characteristics for power waves, and/or hone the placement of the accumulations of energy. In some embodiments, the receiver 120 uses a communication signal to communicate data for, e.g., alerting the transmitter pad 100 that the receiver 120 has or is about to be placed on the transmitter pad 100, provide information about electronic device, provide user information that corresponds to electronic device, indicate the effectiveness of received power waves, and/or provide updated characteristics or transmission parameters that are used to form the near-field accumulations of energy.

Non-limiting examples of transmitter sensors 114 include, e.g., infrared, pyroelectric, ultrasonic, laser, optical, Doppler, gyro, accelerometer, microwave, millimeter, RF standing-wave sensors, resonant LC sensors, capacitive sensors, light sensor, and/or inductive sensors. In some embodiments, technologies for the transmitter sensor(s) 114 include binary sensors that acquire stereoscopic sensor data, such as the location of a human or other sensitive object.

In some embodiments, the memory 106 of the transmitter pad 100 stores one or more programs (e.g., sets of instructions) and/or data structures, collectively referred to herein as “modules.” In some embodiments, the memory 106, or the non-transitory computer readable storage medium of memory 106 stores the following modules 107 (e.g., programs and/or data structures), or a subset or superset thereof:

- information received from the receiver 120 (e.g., generated by a sensor of the receiver 120 and then transmitted to the transmitter pad 100);
- information received from transmitter sensor(s) 114;
- RF power transmission signals generation module for generating and transmitting (e.g., in conjunction with unit cell antenna(s) 110) RF power transmission signals (e.g., RF power transmission signals 422, FIG. 4C);
- a characteristic selection module for selecting waveform characteristics of the RF power transmission signals; and/or
- a beacon transmitting module that transmits (or receives) a communication signal for detecting a receiver 120 (e.g., within a near-field transmission range of the transmitter pad 100).

The above-identified modules (e.g., data structures and/or programs including sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures, or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwise re-arranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments, the memory 106 stores a subset of the modules identified above. Furthermore, the memory 106 may store additional modules not described above. In some embodiments, the modules stored in memory 106, or a non-transitory computer readable storage medium of the memory 106, provide instructions for implementing respective operations in the methods described below. In some embodiments, some or all of these modules may be implemented with specialized hardware circuits that subsume part or all of the module functionality. One or more of the above-identified elements may be executed by one or more of processor(s) 104. In some embodiments, one or more of the modules described with regard to memory 106 is implemented on the memory 104 of a server (not shown) that is communicatively coupled to the transmitter pad 100 and/or by a memory of the electronic device and/or the receiver 120. In addition, the memory 106 may store other information such as certain thresholds and criteria, as well as identifiers of certain receivers.

Turning to FIG. 1B, a simplified top view of the transmitter pad 100 is illustrated. FIG. 1B shows a wireless power receiver 120 (also referred to as a receiver 120, e.g., a receiver that is internally or externally coupled to an electronic device) that is placed on top of the transmitter pad 100 and then receives energy from near-filed accumulations of energy formed by the unit cell antennas 110. In some embodiments, the receiver 120 includes one or more antennas for receiving energy from the near-field accumulations of energy formed by the transmitter pad 100 and a communications component for receiving communications (or sending communications) sent by the transmitter pad 100. The communications component of the receiver 120 may also include hardware capable of data communications using the variety of wireless protocols listed above with reference to the communication component(s) 112.

The receiver 120 converts energy from received signals (also referred to herein as RF power transmission signals, or simply, RF signals, power waves, or power transmission signals) into electrical energy to power and/or charge an electronic device coupled to the receiver 120. For example, the receiver 120 uses a power converter to convert captured energy from power waves to alternating current (AC) electricity or direct current (DC) electricity usable to power and/or charge an electronic device. Non-limiting examples of power converter include rectifiers, rectifying circuits, voltage conditioners, among suitable circuitry and devices.

In some embodiments, the receiver 120 is a standalone device that is detachably coupled to one or more electronic devices (e.g., electronic device 210, FIG. 2). For example, electronic device has processor(s) for controlling one or more functions of electronic device and the receiver 120 has processor(s) for controlling one or more functions of receiver. In some embodiments, the receiver 120 is a component of the electronic device. For example, one or more processor(s) of the electronic device control functions of the electronic device and the receiver 120. In addition, in some embodiments, the receiver 120 includes processor(s) which communicate with processor(s) of the electronic device.

In some embodiments, the receiver 120 receives one or more power waves directly from the transmitter pad 100. In some embodiments, the receiver 120 harvests power waves from one or more accumulations of energy (e.g., accumulation of energy 412, FIG. 4B) created by one or more power waves transmitted by the transmitter pad 100. As will be discussed in greater detail below, the one or more power waves cause accumulations of energy to form at “cutouts” (e.g., cutouts 404-A and 404-B, FIG. 4A) defined in a respective unit cell 110 (e.g., unit cell 400, FIG. 4A). In some embodiments, the transmitter pad 100 is a near-field transmitter that transmits the one or more power waves within a near-field distance of its charging surface.

In some embodiments, after energy is harvested from the accumulations of energy (as discussed in greater detail below), circuitry (e.g., integrated circuits, amplifiers, rectifiers, and/or voltage conditioner) of the receiver 120 converts the energy to usable power (i.e., electricity), which powers the electronic device associated with the receiver 120 (and/or the usable power is stored in a battery of electronic device). In some embodiments, a rectifying circuit of the receiver 120 converts the electrical energy from AC to DC for use by the electronic device. In some embodiments, a voltage conditioning circuit increases or decreases the voltage of the electrical energy as required by the electronic device, and may produce a constant voltage for providing electricity in a form required by the electronic device.

In some embodiments, the receiver 120 harvests energy from near-field accumulations of electromagnetic energy formed by multiple unit cell antennas 110 of the transmitter pad 100. In some embodiments, a plurality of electronic devices may be positioned on a surface of the transmitter pad 100, each having at least one respective receiver 120 that is used to receive power waves from the transmitter pad 100. In some embodiments, the transmitter pad 100 adjusts one or more characteristics (e.g., waveform characteristics, such as phase, gain, amplitude, frequency, etc.) of the power waves to controllably form the one or more accumulations of energy. As described in more detail below in reference to FIGS. 4A-4C, the transmitter pad 100 may adjust sets of characteristics for transmitting the power waves to account for different receivers and electronic devices housing the receivers (e.g., distance between the receiver 120 (which may be embedded at different positions in different types of electronic devices) and the transmitter pad 100 may vary from one receiver to the next).

In some embodiments, circuits (not shown) of the transmitter pad 100, such as a controller circuit and/or waveform generator, may at least partially control the behavior of the unit cell antennas 110. For example, based on the information received from the receiver by way of a communication signal (or data gathered by transmitter sensor(s) 114), a controller circuit may determine a set of one or more waveform characteristics (e.g., amplitude, frequency, direction, phase, among other characteristics) used for transmitting the power waves that would effectively provide power to the receiver 120. The controller circuit may also identify one or more unit cell antennas 110 that would be effective in transmitting the power waves (e.g., receiver 120 may be positioned between two unit cells, and in such a case, two unit cell antennas may be activated).

As will be discussed in more detail, dimensions (e.g., width, depth, and length) of “cutouts” in a respective unit cell antenna are selected to reduce far-field gain of the power waves that are used to form the near-field accumulations of energy on a respective surface of a respective unit cell antenna. For example, the dimensions are selected so that when a current flows along a respective cutout, a near-field electromagnetic field is generated, and far-field electromagnetic fields generated by adjacent unit cell antennas cancel, thereby ensuring that only near-field accumulations of energy remain, thereby minimizing or eliminating far-field gain.

As also shown in FIG. 1B, the transmitter pad includes a plurality of unit cell antennas (e.g., unit cell 110-A, . . . unit cell 110-N). A unit cell antenna is also interchangeably referred to herein as a unit cell, near-field antenna, NF antenna, or non-inductive resonant NF antenna. In some embodiments, the unit cell antennas 110 cover all or a portion of a surface area of the transmitter pad 100. The plurality of unit cell antennas 110 may contact a top surface (i.e., a charging surface) of the transmitter pad 100 (e.g., the unit cells 100 and other components 102 of the transmitter pad 100 may be encapsulated within a plastic or other type of covering).

FIG. 2 is an oblique view of a transmitter pad 200, in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the transmitter pad 200 is the transmitter pad 100FIG. 1. The transmitter pad 200 includes a housing 202 that defines an internal cavity. The internal cavity houses, at a minimum, a plurality of unit cells 110. Moreover, the housing 202 may also house other components 102 of transmitter pad 100 (FIG. 1A). In some embodiments, the housing 202 may be formed using a unibody configuration in which some or all of the housing 202 is machined or molded as a single structure or may be formed using multiple structures (e.g., an internal frame structure, one or more structures that form exterior housing surfaces, etc.). The housing 202 may be formed of metal (e.g., steel, aluminum, brass, copper, etc.), other suitable materials, or a combination of any two or more of these materials. In some embodiments, at least two portions (e.g., a sidewall and a surface) of the housing 202 are made from different materials having different electromagnetic properties (e.g., permeability and permittivity). In some embodiments, the housing 202 is made entirely of a material that obstructs electromagnetic radiation (e.g., copper, steel, aluminum, etc.).

The transmitter pad 200 includes a conductive layer or plate 204. In some embodiments, the conductive plate 204 is part of the housing 202 (e.g., part of the housing's unibody configuration). In some embodiments, the housing 202 and the conductive plate 204 are separate components of the transmitter pad 200. In these embodiments, the housing 202 includes an opening at one end of the housing 202 and the conductive plate 204 closes the opening. In some embodiments, the conductive plate 204 and the housing 202 are made from the same material(s) (e.g., a same type of metal, such as copper, nickel, etc.). In some embodiments, the conductive plate 204 and the housing 202 are made from at least one different material.

In some embodiments, the transmitter pad 200 also includes a ground or grounding plate (e.g., grounding plate 308, FIG. 3A). As shown in FIG. 3A, an insulator (e.g., a dielectric material) may separate the conductive plate 204 from the grounding plate 308.

In some embodiments, the conductive plate 204 includes a plurality of distinct wireless charging regions that are each associated with at least one unit cell (dotted boxes 206-A and 206-B define respective wireless charging regions). A wireless charging region is an area of the conductive plate 204 where wireless charging of receiver 212 (e.g., receiver 120, FIG. 1B) is facilitated due to formation (by respective unit cells 110) of near-field accumulations of electromagnetic energy within one or more of the wireless charging regions. In some embodiments, the plurality of unit cells cover substantially all of a surface area (e.g., 80% or more) of the conductive plate 204. In this way, a user may wirelessly charge his or her device at various positions on the conductive plate 204. In other words, the user need only place his or her device including a receiver on the transmitter pad and charging will occur without needing to be concerned about the exact location or orientation of the device.

Each unit cell 206 includes one or more cutouts 208-A and 208-B (e.g., channels/slots extending through the conductive layer or plate 204) that facilitate formation of the near-field accumulations of electromagnetic energy within each of the wireless charging regions. For example, when RF power transmission signals 422 (FIG. 4C) are transmitted by a feed beneath wireless charging region 206-A, at least some of the RF signals reach the conductive plate 204 and excite a current flow 209 around an edge/perimeter of the conductive plate 204 that is along each of the cutouts 208-A, 208-B associated with the unit cell antenna of the wireless charging region 206-A. Based on dimensions of the cutouts 208, arrangement of the cutouts 208, and a direction of the current flow 209 at each particular segment of the cutouts 208 (e.g., the current 209 at segment 214 of the cutout 208-A is flowing in a first direction, as indicated by arrows, and the current 209 at segment 216 of the cutout 208-A is flowing in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction), the accumulations of energy radiate away from the cutouts 208 (e.g., an electromagnetic field radiates away from segment 214 and another electromagnetic field radiates away from segment 216). These accumulations of energy formed by the RF signals exciting the conductive plate 204 are also referred to herein as “hot zones” or simply “zones.” As noted above, the receiver may harvest energy from these accumulations of energy to deliver power or charge to an electronic device coupled to the receiver.

In some embodiments, each cutout includes a set of dimensions (e.g., a width, a depth (e.g., thickness of the conductive plate 204), and a length). Characteristics of the accumulations of energy (e.g., height, width, degree of concentration, near-field gain, far-field gain, etc.) formed at the one or more cutouts depend, at least in part, on the set of dimensions of the one or more cutouts. In some instances, the set of dimensions of a cutout (and in turn, a respective segment of the cutout) are carefully selected based on the requirements of the application so that characteristics of the accumulations of energy facilitate proper charging of the receiver 212, e.g., a width of the cutout 208-A is selected so that electromagnetic fields radiating from segments 214 and 216 of the cutout 208-A at least partially cancel each other out (e.g., in the far-field region), thereby minimizing far-field gain, while still creating accumulations of energy that extend far enough above the outer surface of the conductive plate 204 to deliver power to receivers that are embedded within electronic devices (and, since they are embedded, the accumulations need to travel above the surface of the conductive plate 204 to reach these embedded receivers.

In some embodiments, the one or more cutouts in a respective wireless charging region all have a same shape. For example, a unit cell within wireless charging region 206-A includes the first cutout 208-A and the second cutout 208-B. As shown, a shape of the first cutout 208-A mirrors a shape of the second cutout 208-B. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the first cutout 208-A and the second cutouts 208-B are arranged in an interleaved or interposed fashion (i.e., mated). In doing so, accumulations of energy formed at the first and second cutouts 208-A, 208-B cover a threshold amount of surface area associated with the wireless charging area 206-A (e.g., at least 80% of a surface area of the conductive plate 204 that is associated with wireless charging region 206-A, or some greater (or lesser) amount). Additionally, due to the interleaved or interposed arrangement of the first and second cutouts 208, far-field components of electromagnetic fields radiating from respective segments of the first cutout 208-A at least partially cancel far-field components electromagnetic fields radiating from respective segment of the second cutout 208-B (e.g., segments that are adjacent to one another). As such, far-field gain is further reduced.

In some embodiments, adjacent unit cells on the conductive plate 204 are rotated relative to one another. For example, a first unit cell within wireless charging region 206-A is rotated relative to a second unit cell within wireless charging region 206-B, which is adjacent to the first unit cell. The first unit cell and the second unit cell include cutouts arranged in the same interleaved or interposed fashion. However, the cutouts in the first unit cell are arranged along a first axis (e.g., a vertical axis) and the cutouts in the second unit cell are arranged along a second axis (e.g., a horizontal axis), the second axis being perpendicular to the first axis. Due to the rotated arrangement of the unit cells, some parts of electromagnetic fields radiating from the second cutout 208-B at least partially cancel some parts of electromagnetic fields radiating from cutout 209 of a unit cell associated with wireless charging region 206-B. As such, far-field gain is further reduced.

An electronic device 210 is disposed on the outer surface of the conductive plate 204 and is positioned over an additional unit cell (not pictured in FIG. 2). The receiver 212 (e.g., receiver 120, FIG. 1B) embedded in the electronic device 210 is also positioned over this additional unit cell. As such, the transmitter pad 200 (e.g., transmitter pad 100, FIGS. 1A-1B), after detecting the receiver 212, may initiate wireless charging of the receiver 212. In some embodiments, the transmitter pad 200 detects the receiver by receiving (or exchanging) a communication signal from the receiver 212. Alternatively or in addition, in some embodiments, the transmitter pad 200 detects the presence of the receiver via one or more transmitter sensors 114 (FIG. 1A). For example, a light sensor of the transmitter pad 200 may detect a change in light inside the internal cavity of the housing 202 when the electronic device is positioned over one of the cutouts in the conductive plate 204. In another example, an infrared sensor of the transmitter pad 200 may detect a change in temperature at the conductive plate 204 when the electronic device is positioned over one of the cutouts in the conductive plate 204. Other types of sensors and sensor data may be used to detect the receiver 212.

It should be understood that although the cutouts 208 are shown with a particular shape (e.g., a U or horseshoe shape), the cutouts may have other suitable shapes (e.g., different unit cell antennas within one transmitter pad could have different shapes). In addition, a size of the electronic device 210 and the receiver 212 relative to a size of the unit cells 206 shown in FIG. 2 is merely illustrative (e.g., the unit cells may be smaller (or larger) relative to a size on the electronic device 210 and the receiver 212).

In some embodiments, a respective unit cell may have dimensions of approximately 35 mm by 35 mm. Thus, a transmitter pad that includes a 2 by 2 arrangement of unit cells may have dimensions of approximately 70 mm by 70 mm. In other embodiments, the transmitter pad may include a 3 by 3 arrangement of unit cells, and the transmitter pad may therefore have dimensions of approximately 105 mm by 105 mm. These are merely examples, and other dimensions (for both transmitter pads and individual unit cells) and arrangements of unit cells are also possible.

FIGS. 3A-3D show cross-sectional views of the transmitter pad 200 (taken along the line A-A′ of FIG. 2), in accordance with some embodiments. Cross-sectional hashing has been removed from antennas 306 and feed elements 307 for clarity.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the conductive plate 204 includes a plurality of cutouts (e.g., cutout 302-A) extending through the conductive plate 204 (e.g., extending from an outer surface of the conductive plate 204 through to an inner surface of the conductive plate 204). The conductive plate 204, and in turn the plurality of cutouts, have a thickness of T1.

The transmitter pad 200 also includes an insulator 304, which is responsible, at least in part, for projecting the accumulations of energy at different distances above the conductor plate 204. The insulator 304 separates respective feeding elements 307-A and 307-B from an inner surface of the conductive plate 204. In addition, the insulator 304 is sandwiched between the conductive plate 204 and the grounding plate 308. The insulator 304 has a thickness of T2. In some embodiments, the thickness (T1) of the conductive plate 204 is greater than the thickness (T2) of the insulator 304, or vice versa. In some embodiments, the thickness (T1) of the conductive plate 204 is the same as the thickness (T2) of the insulator 304. In some embodiments, the thickness (T2) of the insulator 304 is selected based, at least in part, on the operating frequency. For example, the thickness (T2) of the insulator 304 may range from 0.03λ to 0.5λ of the operating frequency. As noted above, the transmitter pad 200 can transmit the plurality of RF power transmission signals at frequencies ranging from 400 MHz (λ=0.75 meters) to 60 GHz (λ=0.005 meters), depending on the application. Accordingly, when operating at a frequency of 400 MHz, the thickness (T2) of the insulator 304 can range from approximately 0.0225 meters (i.e., 22.5 mm) to approximately 0.375 meters (i.e., 375 mm) and when operating at a frequency of 60 GHz, the thickness (T2) of the insulator 304 can range from approximately 0.00015 meters (i.e., 0.15 mm) to approximately 0.0025 meters (i.e., 2.5 mm). One skilled in the art will appreciate that the thickness (T2) of the insulator 304 can vary from application to application and the examples provided above are simply used to provide context. Therefore, in some embodiments, the thickness (T2) of the insulator 304 can range from approximately 0.15 mm to approximately 375 mm.

The thickness (T2) of the insulator 304 may modify one or more characteristics of the accumulations of energy (e.g., height, width, degree of concentration, near-field gain, far-field gain, resonance frequency, etc.) radiating from the conductive plate 204. For example, when the insulator has a first thickness (T2′), the accumulations of energy may extend above the outer surface of the conductive plate 204 to a first height and when the insulator has a second thickness (T2″), the accumulations of energy may extend above the outer surface of the conductive plate 204 to a second height, the second height being different from the first height. Accordingly, the thickness (T2) of the insulator 304 may influence an overall efficiency of the electromagnetic fields radiating from the conductive plate 204.

In some embodiments or circumstances, the thickness of the conductive plate 204 may also be selected to influence formation of the accumulations (e.g., the thickness, T1, of the conductive plate 204 is selected to help influence (i) cancellation of parts of electromagnetic fields in the far-field region and (ii) accumulations of energy extend far enough in the near-field region above an outer surface of the conductive plate 204 to deliver power to the receiver 212).

In some embodiments, the insulator 304 is air. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the insulator 304 is a dielectric material (e.g., a polymer, a fiber reinforced polymer, glass, etc.) disposed inside the internal cavity of the housing 202. As mentioned above, the thickness (T2) of the insulator 304 can influence one or more characteristics of the accumulations of energy. In addition, using a first type of insulator over a second type of insulator may also influence one or more characteristics of the accumulations of energy. In some embodiments, the insulator 304 supports the conductive plate 204 (e.g., the conductive layer is formed on the insulating layer and the cutouts are etched from the conductive layer and through to the insulator).

The transmitter pad 200 includes a first unit cell 305-A and a second unit cell 305-B (separated by dashed line). The first unit cell 305-A includes a first feed element 307-A and the second unit cell 305-B includes a second feed element 307-B. The first and second unit cell antennas 305 may be an example of the one or more unit cell antennas 110 (FIGS. 1A-1B). As shown, the first and second feed elements 307 are separated from an inner surface of the conductive plate 204 by a distance (D). In some embodiments, however, the first and second antennas are separated from the inner surface of the conductive plate 204 by different distances. Variations in the distance (D) may modify one or more characteristics of the accumulations of energy (e.g., height, width, degree of concentration, near-field gain, control of far-field gain, etc.) radiating from the conductive plate 204. In some embodiments, to ensure proper forming of the accumulations of energy, the distance (D) is less than the thickness (T2) of the insulator 304. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the distance (D) is less than the thickness (T2) of the insulator 304 by a threshold amount. Put another way, a ratio between the distance (D) and the thickness (T2) of the insulator 304 satisfies a predefined range. For example, the predefined range may limit the ratio of (D)/(T2) from 0.05λ to 0.8λ, i.e., 0.05λ<(D)/(T2)<0.8λ. As noted above, at least in some embodiments, the thickness (T2) of the insulator 304 can range from approximately 0.15 mm to approximately 375 mm, depending on the operating frequency of the transmitter pad 200. Accordingly, in those embodiments, the distance (D) can range from approximately 0.0075 mm (e.g., when operating at a frequency of 60 GHz) to approximately 300 mm (when operating at a frequency of 400 MHz), in light of the predefined range limiting the ratio of (D)/(T2) from 0.05λ to 0.8λ.

In those embodiments having dielectric materials disposed in the internal cavity of the housing 202, the first and second feed elements 307 may be at least partially encapsulated by the dielectric material. In doing so, the first and second feed elements 307 (and the other antennas of the transmitter pad 200) are further supported, and as such, the durability of the transmitter pad 200 is increased (e.g., the insulator better absorbs impact forces, such as when the transmitter pad 200 is dropped). Additionally, interference between the first and second feed elements 307 (and other feed elements) is substantially reduced when the feed elements 307 are at least partially encapsulated by the dielectric material (i.e., the feed elements 307 are electrically isolated from one another). In light of this arrangement, an overall efficiency of the transmitter pad 200 is increased.

In some embodiments, the transmitter pad 200 includes a metal patch element 306 for each antenna element. The feed element 307 drives the corresponding patch element 306. For example, the first patch element 306-A is driven by a first feed element 307-A and the second patch element 306-B is driven by a second feed element 307-B. The feed element 307 may be made from any suitable material known by those skilled in the art (e.g., aluminum, copper, etc.).

In some embodiments, the transmitter pad 200 includes a ground or grounding layer or plate 308. In some embodiments, the grounding plate 308 forms a bottom surface of the housing 202 (FIG. 2). Alternatively, in some embodiments, the grounding plate 308 is placed on top of the bottom surface inside the housing 202. The grounding plate 308 may be formed out of the same material as the housing 202 or may be formed out of a different material. In some embodiments, the grounding plate 308 includes a hole (e.g., a via) allowing the feed element (e.g., feed element 307-A) to pass through the grounding plate 308. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the feed element does not pass through the grounding plate 308 but instead connects to the antenna element from some other direction (e.g., the side). In some embodiments, the grounding plate 308 acts as a reflector such that RF power transmission signals cannot pass through the grounding plate 308 and are reflected back towards respective cutouts of a unit cell instead.

FIG. 3B is a close-up cross-sectional view of the electronic device 210 placed on the conductive surface 204. As shown, the electronic device 210, and in turn the receiver 212, are positioned over cutout 302-B (e.g., one of the plurality of cutouts in the conductive plate 204). Accordingly, when the first feed 307-A transmits a plurality of RF power transmission signals towards the inner surface of the conductive plate 204, at least some of the RF power transmission signals of the plurality of RF power transmission signals excite a current to flow around the cutout 302-B and thereby cause accumulations of electromagnetic energy to form above the cutout 302-B within a near-field distance of the conductive plate 204. The receiver 212 may then harvest energy from the accumulation of energy formed above the cutout 302-B.

The electronic device 210 includes a sidewall 322 and an internal cavity 324 housing the receiver 212. As shown, the receiver 212 is not placed directly on an outer surface of the conductive plate 204. Instead, the receiver 212 is separated from the outer surface of the conductive plate 204 by a distance “X” (i.e., a thickness of the sidewall 322). Accordingly, the transmitter pad 200 may adjust one or more characteristics (e.g., waveform characteristics, such as phase, gain, amplitude, frequency, etc.) of power waves transmitted by feed element 307-A to ensure that an accumulation of energy extends above the outer surface of the conductive plate 204 by at least the distance X. In some embodiments, the transmitter pad 200 adjusts one or more characteristics of the power waves so that the accumulation of energy extends past the distance X by a predefined amount, thereby ensuring that the receiver 212 can harvest energy from the accumulation of energy.

In some embodiments, the transmitter pad 200 adjusts the one or more characteristics of the power waves (e.g., RF power transmission signals 422, FIG. 4C) after detecting a presence of the receiver 212. The transmitter pad 200 may detect a presence of the receiver 212 using the example techniques described above.

Alternatively or in addition, in some embodiments, the transmitter pad 100 adjusts the one or more characteristics of the power waves after receiving one or more communication signals from the receiver 212. For example, data contained within the one or more communication signals may indicate that the receiver 212 is separated from the first feed 307-A by a particular distance. The transmitter pad 200 may determine the separation distance based on signal strength of the one or more communication signals, triangulation, and/or response time (e.g., receiver 212 timestamps a communication signal when sent which is then compared against a timestamp of the communication signal when it is received at the transmitter pad 200). In some embodiments, the transmitter pad 200 determines the separation distance using two or more forms of data (e.g., signal strength in combination with a thermal imaging data, or some other combination). Using the separation distance, the transmitter pad 200 may determine a thickness of the sidewall 322 of the electronic device 210 (e.g., subtract fixed distance between feed 307-A and the outer surface of conductive plate 204 from the separation distance to obtain distance “X”).

In some embodiments, the transmitter pad 100 adjusts the one or more characteristics of the power waves by considering data obtained from the receiver 212, data obtained by the transmitter sensors, the set of dimensions of the cutout(s), and an arrangement of the cutouts.

FIG. 3C is another cross-sectional view 330 of the transmitter pad 200 (taken along the line A-A′ of FIG. 2), in accordance with some embodiments. The electronic device 210 and the receiver 212 are not shown in FIGS. 3C-3D for ease of illustration and discussion. In addition, some other references, which are included in FIG. 3A, are not included in FIGS. 3C-3D for clarity.

In those embodiments where the transmitter pad 200 includes housing 202, the housing 202 includes four sidewalls (e.g., sidewalls 332-A, 332-B, and so on), a bottom surface 334, and an opening defined opposite the bottom surface 334. The opening is configured to receive the conductive plate 204. In other words, the conductive plate 204 is coupled to the four sidewalls of the housing 202 such that the conductive plate 204 closes the opening.

In some embodiments, the bottom surface 334 is the grounding plate 308 (FIG. 3A). Alternatively, in some embodiments, the grounding plate 308 is disposed on top of the bottom surface 334 of the housing, as discussed above. In those embodiments where the bottom surface 334 is the grounding plate 308, the bottom surface 334 includes one or more holes (e.g., vias) allowing one or more feeds (e.g., feed element 307-A) to pass through the housing 202.

In some embodiments, an antenna type may dictate a separation distance of the antenna from an inner surface of the conductive plate 204. For example, referring to FIG. 3A, the first and second feeds 307-A, 307-B are separated from the inner surface of the conductive plate 204 by a first distance (D). The first and second feed elements 307-A, 307-B may feed metal patches 306-A and 306-B, respectively (e.g., the feed and metal patches form respective antennas of a first type, patch antennas, that excite the one or more cutouts located above). Additionally, the feed elements 307-A, 307-B may feed various other antenna types (e.g., monopole, dipole, magnetic loops, multilayer parasitic-fed antennas, etc.). Now referring to FIG. 3C, first and second feed elements 336-A, 336-B are separated from the inner surface of the conductive plate 204 by a second distance (J), which is less than the first distance (D). The first and feed elements 336-A, 336-B are a second type of antenna (e.g., a monopole antenna). Accordingly, depending on the circumstances (e.g., design restrictions such as a height restriction of the transmitter pad 200), one type of antenna may be used over another type of antenna. Moreover, at least in some instances, a complimentary relationship between the one or more cutouts and the feed elements 336-A, 336-B improves performance of the transmitter pad 200. An example of the “complimentary relationship” includes a cutout defined through the conductor plate 204 paired with a patch (e.g., micro-strip printed type of feed element) (as shown in FIG. 3A). One other example includes a wire conductor on an outer surface of the conductive plate 204 surface paired with a slot style feed. It should be noted that the example above is merely illustrative and the result may be opposite, depending on the circumstances.

FIG. 3D is another cross-sectional view 340 of the transmitter pad 200 (taken along the line A-A′ of FIG. 2), in accordance with some embodiments. As shown, the transmitter pad 200 may include one or more additional layers disposed on top of the conductive plate 204. In some embodiments, a first additional layer 342 is a dielectric material (e.g., a plastic layer, a glass layer, etc.) that separates the electronic device 212 from the outer surface of the conductive plate 204. Because the first additional layer 342 is a dielectric layer, it does not alter an accumulation of energy formed at a respective cutout. However, the transmitter pad 200 has to compensate for a thickness of the first additional layer 342 because a separation distance (i.e., distance “X,” FIG. 3B) between the receiver 212 and the antenna is increased when the first additional layer 342 is included. In some embodiments, the first additional layer 342 acts as a “lens,” meaning it increases a degree of concentration (e.g., focuses) of the accumulations of energy formed near the cutouts. Accordingly, the first additional layer 342 may improve isolation at specific locations relative to the center of the unit cell (e.g., reduce radiation to neighboring unit cells). In addition, the first additional layer 342 uniformly distributes energy across the outer surface of the conductive plate 204. As a result, gaps (i.e., “cold zones”) between adjacent accumulations of energy may be minimized, or even eliminated.

In addition, in some embodiments, the transmitter pad 200 includes a second additional layer 344 disposed on top of the first additional layer 342. The second additional layer 344 may be a conductive material such as aluminum or copper. In some embodiments, the second additional layer 344 is another conductive plate, similar to the conductive plate 204. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the second additional layer 344 is deposited (e.g., printed, painted, etc.) onto the first additional layer 344. Again, the transmitter pad 200 has to compensate for a thickness of the second additional layer 344 because a separation distance (i.e., distance “X,” FIG. 3B) between the receiver 212 and the antenna is increased when the second additional layer 344 is included.

In some embodiments, the second additional layer 344 alters formation of one or more accumulations of energy formed at a respective cutout. For example, the second additional layer 344 may increase a concentration and/or may adjust a position of the accumulation of energy formed at the respective cutout (i.e., may offset a position). In another example, the second additional layer 344 can be used to merge one or more portions of a first accumulation of energy with one or more portions from a second (and perhaps a third) accumulation of energy (i.e., uniformly distribute energy across the outer surface of the conductive plate 204). In this way, gaps (i.e., “cold zones”) between adjacent accumulations of energy may be minimized, or even eliminated. In some instances, the second additional layer 344 further improves the benefits discussed above with regards to the first additional layer 344.

FIGS. 4A-4C show a unit cell and accumulations of energy that form at respective cutouts of the unit cell, in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 4A is a top view of a unit cell 400 (e.g., unit cell 110-A, FIG. 1). The unit cell 400 includes a conductive plate 402 (e.g., conductive plate 204, FIG. 2) having first and second cutouts 404 (e.g., channels, slots, etc.) defined through the conductive plate 402. In addition, the unit cell 400 includes a feed element 406 (e.g., feed 307-A, FIG. 3A) located beneath the conductive plate 402 (e.g., located in an internal cavity defined by housing 202, FIG. 2). Although the feed element 406 is shown to be centered in the unit cell 400, in some embodiments, the feed element 406 is not centered (or may be centered about a first axis but not centered about a second axis). Placing the feed element 406 at different positions can influence a distribution of the accumulations of energy (e.g., a first position may create a more uniform distribution and a second position may create a more focused distribution).

As shown, each of the first and second cutouts 404 includes a plurality of portions 408 (also referred to herein as cutout portions). Portions of a respective cutout may be arranged in numerous ways. For example, the first cutout 404-A includes a first portion 408-A that is perpendicular (e.g., orthogonal) to a second portion 408-B, and a third portion 408-C that is also perpendicular to the second portion 408-B. The second cutout 404-B includes similar portions (not labeled). In another example, the first portion 408-A may be perpendicular to the second portion 408-B, and the third portion 408-C may also be perpendicular to the second portion 408-B, but may extend downwards (instead of upwards as shown in FIG. 4A). These arrangements are merely illustrative, and other arrangements are possible.

In some embodiments, a shape of the first cutout 404-A mirrors a shape of the second cutout 404-B (e.g., a horseshoe shape). In addition, the first cutout 404-A interleaves or interposes with the second cutout 404-B. This arrangement minimizes gaps between the first and second cutouts (e.g., minimized gaps between respective portions of the first and second cutouts 404), which results in gaps between adjacent accumulations of energy also being minimized. In addition, the complimentary natural of the cutouts 404 (e.g., the interlocking arrangement) also (i) minimizes far-field gain of the unit cell 400 and (ii) reduces interference with other devices positioned on other unit cells. For example, far-field electromagnetic fields from a respective portion of the cutout 404-A is at least partially cancelled out (as discussed above with reference to FIG. 2) by far-field electromagnetic fields from portions that are adjacent to the respective cutout. In addition, due to the interlocking arrangement of the first and second cutouts 404, far-field gain of electromagnetic radiation is further minimized between each of the cutouts.

In some embodiments, each of the first and second cutouts 404 has a total length that is at least as large as a wavelength of a respective RF power transmission signal transmitted by the transmitter pad (e.g., transmitted by antenna element 406). As such, at least in some embodiments, a length of each portion of the cutouts 404 is less than the wavelength of the respective RF power transmission signal transmitted by the transmitter pad. For example, the second cutout 404-A includes first, second, and third portions 408-A, 408-B, and 408-C, respectively, that each have a length of “X,” which is less than the wavelength. However, when the three lengths of “X” are combined from each of the three portions, the total length of the cutout 404-A is at least as large as the wavelength. In some embodiments, the length of “X” is half (or approximately half) the wavelength of the respective RF power transmission signal transmitted by the transmitter (e.g., V2). In some embodiments, the length of “X” is some other percentage of the wavelength.

FIG. 4B is a top view 410 of the unit cell 400 showing accumulations of energy formed upon transmission of a plurality of RF power transmission signals by the feed element 406, in accordance with some embodiments. As shown, multiple accumulations of energy (e.g., accumulation of energy 412) form along a length of each cutout. The number of accumulations corresponds to the number of portions in a respective cutout. For example, the first and second cutouts 404 each include three portions (e.g., first portion 408-A, second portion 408-B, and third portion 408-C). As such, the first and second cutouts 404 each include three accumulations of energy. In light of this, any number of accumulations of energy may be created depending on a design of a respective cutout (e.g., a cutout having say, 10 perpendicular portions, facilitates creation of 10 accumulations of energy). A length of a respective portion dictates whether an accumulation of energy forms at the respective portion, and also dictates characteristics of the electromagnetic field radiating from the respective portion (e.g., an amount of energy present in the accumulation of energy).

FIG. 4C is a cross-sectional view 420 (taken along line C-C′ of FIG. 4B) of the unit cell 400 during transmission of the plurality of RF power transmission signals 422 by the feed element 406, in accordance with some embodiments. As shown, transmission of the plurality of RF power transmission signals 422 by the feed element 406 causes conduction of a current along a perimeter of the cutouts 404 located above, thereby causing a plurality of NF accumulations of energy 412-A-412-D to form at the first and second cutouts 404. The plurality of accumulations of energy 412-A-412-D extends above the conductive plate 402 by a distance “Y.” The distance “Y” is greater than the separation distance “X” discussed above with reference to FIG. 3B (e.g., the distance “X” concerns a distance between the receiver 212 and the outer surface of the conductive 204). Because of this, each of the plurality of accumulations of energy 412-A-412-D can reach a receiver placed on top of the conductive plate 402, thereby facilitating wireless charging of the receiver.

In some embodiments, the plurality of accumulations of energy 412-A-412-D extends approximately 1 to 5 millimeters above the outer surface of the conductive plate 402. For example, if a receiver is separated from the outer surface of the conductive plate 402 by 2 millimeters, then the plurality of accumulations of energy 412-A-412-D may extend above the outer surface of the conductive plate 402 by 2.1 to 5 millimeters. In some embodiments, a processor 104 of the transmitter pad 100 (FIG. 1A) modifies one or more characteristics of the plurality of RF power transmission signals 422 to increase (or decrease) the distance “Y.” In addition, a variety of variables may be manipulated to cause formation of NF accumulations of energy at various distances from the conductive plate 402, and these variables include a thickness of the conductive plate 402, a thickness of the insulator 414 (e.g., insulator 304, FIG. 3A), a width of the cutout, a length of a portion, and the type of antenna may also increase (or decrease) the distance “Y,” depending of types of devices that will be charged using a particular transmitter pad that includes a plurality of unit cells.

FIGS. 5A-5B show a unit cell and accumulations of energy that form at a single cutout of the unit cell, in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 5A is a top view of a unit cell 500 (e.g., unit cell 110-A, FIG. 1B). The unit cell 500 includes a conductive plate 502 (e.g., conductive plate 204, FIG. 2) having a cutout 504 (e.g., channel/slot). The unit cell 500 includes a feed element 506 (e.g., feed element 307-A, FIG. 3A) located beneath the conductive plate 502 (e.g., located in an internal cavity defined by housing 202, FIG. 2). Although the feed element 506 is shown to be centered in the unit cell 500, in some embodiments, the feed 506 is not centered (or may be centered about a first axis but not a second axis).

In some embodiments, the cutout 504 has a total length that is at least as large as a wavelength of a respective RF power transmission signal transmitted by the transmitter (e.g., transmitted by antenna element 506). In addition, the cutout 504 includes a plurality of portions (e.g., each vertical and horizontal section of the cutout 504). In some embodiments, a length for each portion of the cutout 504 is less than a wavelength of the respective RF power transmission signal transmitted by the transmitter pad (e.g., transmitter pad 200, FIG. 2). In some embodiments, a length of each of the plurality of portions is the same (e.g., λ/2). Alternatively, in some embodiments, a first set of portions of the plurality of portions has a first length and a second set of portions of the plurality of portions has a second length, the second length being greater than the first length. In some embodiments, the first length is a length that facilitates creation of accumulations of energy (e.g., λ/2) and the second length is a length that does not facilitate creation of accumulations of energy (e.g., λ).

FIG. 5B is a top view 510 of the unit cell 500 showing accumulations of energy formed after transmission of a plurality of RF power transmission signals by the antenna element 506, in accordance with some embodiments. Each of the plurality of accumulations of energy (e.g., accumulation of energy 508) forms along a portion of the cutout 504. In some embodiments, each respective portion of the cutout 504 has a corresponding accumulation of energy formed at the respective portion. Alternatively, in some embodiments, one or more portions of the cutouts 504 lack a corresponding accumulation of energy formed at the respective portion (e.g., when a length of the respective portion does not facilitate creation of an accumulation of energy).

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing a method of wireless power transmission for forming one or more accumulations of RF energy at a near-field distance with minimal far-field gain, in accordance with some embodiments. Operations (e.g., steps) of the method 600 may be performed by a near-field charging pad (e.g., transmitter pad 100, FIGS. 1A-1B; transmitter pad 200, FIG. 2) or by one or more components thereof (e.g., an RF power transmission signals generation module, a characteristic selection module, and/or a beacon transmitting module). At least some of the operations shown in FIG. 6 correspond to instructions stored in a computer memory or computer-readable storage medium (e.g., memory 106 of the transmitter pad 100, FIG. 1A).

The method 600 includes providing (602) a near-field antenna (e.g., unit cell 400, FIG. 4; unit cell 500, FIG. 5) that includes a conductive plate (e.g., conductive plate 204, FIG. 2) having (i) first and second opposing planar surfaces (e.g., an inner surface and an outer surface) and (ii) one or more cutouts (e.g., cutouts 404-A and 404-B, FIG. 4; cutout 504, FIG. 5A) extending through the conductive plate from the first surface to the second surface. The near-field antenna further includes a feed element (e.g., feed element 307, FIG. 3A) separated from the first surface of the conductive plate via an insulator (e.g., insulator 304, FIG. 3A). In some embodiments, the feed element is at least a component of a patch antenna, where the insulator is disposed between the feed element and the conductive plate. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the feed element is a component of a patch antenna that is at least partially encapsulated within the insulator. In some embodiments, the conductive plate is a plate specific to the unit cell (i.e., a distinct and separate plate). Alternatively, in some embodiments, the conductive plate extends to one or more adjacent unit cells.

In some embodiments, the near-field antenna further includes another insulator that separates the feed element from a grounding plate (e.g., grounding 308, FIG. 3A). Alternatively, in some embodiments, the insulator separates the feed element from the grounding plate.

In some embodiments, the conductive plate is a conductive layer deposited on a surface of the insulator (e.g., the insulator is a rigid polymer substrate and the conductive layer is deposited thereon). Alternatively, in some embodiments, the insulator is a dielectric layer that is deposited on the first surface of the conductive plate.

In some embodiments, the insulator is selected from the group consisting of: a polymer, a fiber reinforced polymer, glass, and air. In some embodiments, a thickness of the insulator is greater than a thickness of the conductive plate, or vice versa.

In some embodiments, a first cutout of the one or more cutouts forms a first meandering line pattern and a second cutout of the one or more cutouts forms a second meandering line pattern. In some embodiments, the first and second meandering line patterns are the same meandering line pattern (i.e., a shape of the first meandering line pattern mirrors a shape of the second meandering line pattern). For example, referring to FIG. 4A, a first cutout 404-A forms the first meandering line pattern and the second cutout 404-B forms the second meandering line pattern. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the first and second meandering line patterns are different meandering line patterns. In some embodiments, a line pattern is considered a meandering line pattern when the line pattern includes at least one direction change. In some embodiments, the at least one direction change is a perpendicular direction change. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the at least one direction change is some other angular direction change. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the line patterns in FIGS. 4 and 5 are non-limiting examples, and other meandering line patterns may be implemented.

In some embodiments, the first meandering line pattern is rotated with respect to the second meandering line pattern (e.g., rotated 180 degrees). Put another way, a shape of the first meandering line pattern may be disposed in a first direction and a shape of the second meandering line pattern may be disposed in a second direction, which is opposite to the first direction. For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, the first cutout 404-A (i.e., the first meandering line pattern) interlocks with the second cutout 404-B (i.e., the second meandering line pattern) because the two cutouts are disposed in opposing directions.

The method 600 further includes causing (604) the feed element to direct a plurality of RF power transmission signals (e.g., RF power transmission signals 422, FIG. 4C) towards the conductive plate (e.g., towards an inner surface of the conductive plate 204, FIG. 2). In some embodiments, the plurality of RF power transmission signals is transmitted at a frequency selected from the group consisting of: 5.8 GHz, 2.4 GHz, and 900 MHz.

In some embodiments, prior to causing the feed element to direct the plurality of RF power transmission signals towards the conductive plate, the transmitter pad 200 detects a receiver on the conductive plate (e.g., a user places an electronic device 210, which houses the receiver 212, on an outer surface of the conductive plate 204, thereby putting the receiver within a threshold distance of the wireless charging region 206-A, FIG. 2). In some embodiments, the feed element receives the one or more RF power transmission signals from a power amplifier in response to determining that a receiver is placed within the threshold distance of the outer surface. In some embodiments, the threshold distance is a predetermined threshold distance (e.g., the predetermined threshold distance is stored in memory 106 of the transmitter pad 100, FIG. 1A).

In some embodiments, the transmitter pad 200 detects the receiver using one or more sensors (e.g., transmitter sensors 114, FIG. 1A). Alternatively or in addition, in some embodiments, the transmitter pad 200 detects the receiver by receiving (or exchanging) one or more communication signals from (or with) the receiver (e.g., receiving the one or more communication signals via the communications component(s) 112, FIG. 1A). For example, a signal strength level associated with the one or more communication signals received by a processor 104 (FIG. 1A) connected to the near-field antenna may indicate that the receiver is within the threshold distance of the outer surface. Detecting the receiver is discussed in further detail above with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3A-3B.

The method 600 further includes receiving (606), at the conductive plate, the plurality of RF power transmission signals from the feed element. In some embodiments, receiving the plurality of RF power transmission signals from the feed element causes a current to flow (e.g., current flow 209, FIG. 2) along an edge/perimeter of the conductive plate defined by the one or more cutouts.

The method 600 further includes radiating (608), through the one or more cutouts, at least some of the plurality of RF power transmission signals so that RF energy from the plurality of RF power transmission signals accumulates within a near-field distance of the conductive plate to create at least two distinct zones of accumulated RF energy (e.g., accumulations of energy 412-A-412-D, FIG. 4C) at each of the one or more cutouts. The at least two distinct zones of accumulated RF energy at each of the one or more cutouts are defined based, at least in part, on (i) a set of dimensions defining each of the one or more cutouts and (ii) an arrangement of the one or more cutouts. For example, the set of dimensions defining each of the one or more cutouts may include: a thickness of the conductive plate, a width of the cutout, a shape of the cutout, a length of the cutout, and a number of portions (e.g., segments) of the cutout. The arrangement of the one or more cutouts minimizes gaps between adjacent zones of accumulated RF energy. In addition, depending on the arrangement, one or more adjacent zones of accumulated RF energy may substantially merge, thereby eliminating gaps between the zones of accumulated RF energy.

In some embodiments, the at least two distinct zones cover at least 80% of a surface area of the second surface of the conductive plate. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the at least two distinct zones cover at least 90% of the surface area of the second surface of the conductive plate. A degree of coverage of the surface area is based, at least in part, on (i) the set of dimensions defining each of the one or more cutouts and (ii) the arrangement of the one or more cutouts (e.g., arrangement in a given unit cell and also an arrangement of cutouts between adjacent unit cells).

In some embodiments, a respective cutout of the one or more cutouts has a respective length that is at least as large as a wavelength of a respective RF power transmission signal of the plurality of RF power transmission signals. Such a configuration promotes formation of the at least two distinct zones of accumulated RF energy along the length of the respective cutout, as discussed above with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, the respective cutout includes, at least, a first portion defined in a first direction (e.g., first portion 408-A, FIG. 4A) and a second portion (e.g., second portion 408-B, FIG. 4A) defined in a second direction, the second direction being orthogonal to the first direction. Moreover, a first of the at least two distinct zones of accumulated RF energy is created at the first portion and a second of the at least two distinct zones of accumulated RF energy is created at the second portion.

In some embodiments, the respective cutout further includes a third portion defined in the first direction (e.g., third portion 408-C, FIG. 4A) or some other direction. In some embodiments, the third portion mirrors the first portion, such that the respective cutout forms a horseshoe shape. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the third portion extends away from the first and second portions, such that the respective cutout forms an “S” shape. In some embodiments, a third distinct zone of accumulated RF energy is created at the third portion. The respective cutout may further include additional portions defined in various directions.

In some embodiments, the at least two distinct zones of accumulated RF energy extend no more than 5 millimeters above the second surface of the conductive plate (or some greater (or lesser) amount). In this way, far-field gain of the near-field charging pad is controlled and potential interference with other devices (or other metallic objects) located in proximity to the near-field charging pad is significantly reduced, and in some circumstances, completely eliminated.

In some embodiments, the near-field antenna is a first near-field antenna (e.g., a unit cell associated with wireless charging region 206-A, FIG. 2) and is part of a near-field charging pad (e.g., transmitter pad 200, FIG. 2) that also includes, at least, a second near-field antenna (e.g., a unit cell associated with wireless charging region 206-B, FIG. 2) that is positioned adjacent to the first near-field antenna within the near-field charging pad. In addition, respective cutouts associated with the second near-field antenna are rotated relative to the one or more cutouts associated with the first near-field antenna. For example, the second near-field antenna (e.g., a unit cell associated with wireless charging region 206-B, FIG. 2) may be rotated (e.g., 90 degrees) relative to the first near-field antenna (e.g., a unit cell associated with wireless charging region 206-A, FIG. 2), or vice versa. Rotating adjacent unit cells, and in turn the cutouts defined therein, helps to further increase control over far-field gain, and ensure that the far-field gain is substantially reduced for the near-field charging pad as a whole. In addition, gaps between adjacent accumulations of energy (e.g., unit cell to unit cell) are also minimized (e.g., eliminating “cold zones” on the near-field charging pad).

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram showing a method of fabricating a near-field antenna, in accordance with some embodiments. The near-field antenna may be an example of a single unit cell (e.g., unit cell 110-A, FIG. 1; unit cell 400, FIG. 4; etc.).

The method 700 includes selecting (702) a set of dimensions for one or more cutouts (e.g., cutouts 404-A and 404-B, FIG. 4A) to be defined through a conductive plate (e.g., conductive plate 402, FIG. 4A) of the near-field antenna, the conductive plate having opposing first (e.g., an inner) and second (e.g., an outer) planar surfaces. Dimensions for the one or more cutouts are discussed in further detail above.

The method 700 further includes forming (704) the one or more cutouts through the first and second surfaces of the conductive plate in a predefined arrangement (e.g., in an interlocking arrangement as shown in FIG. 4A), each of the one or more cutouts having the set of dimensions. In some embodiments, forming the one or more cutouts includes milling (e.g., CNC milling) the one or more cutouts, laser etching the one or more cutouts, chemically etching the one or more cutouts, or some other method known by those skilled in the art. It should be noted that a cutout itself may be formed in a “predefined arrangement,” e.g., the cutout 504 is formed in a predefined arrangement (FIG. 5).

The method 700 further includes coupling (706) an insulator (e.g., insulator 304, FIG. 3A) to the first surface (e.g., the inner surface) of the conductive plate. The insulator may be mechanically and/or chemically (e.g., using an adhesive) fastened to the first surface of the conductive plate. In some embodiments, the insulator supports one or more regions of the conductive plate.

In some embodiments, the insulator is coupled to the first surface (e.g., the inner surface) of the conductive plate prior to forming the one or more cutouts through the conductive plate (or the insulator is deposited on the first surface of the conductive plate prior to forming the one or more cutouts). As such, in these embodiments, forming (704) the one or more cutouts through the conductive plate includes, e.g., milling through the outer surface of the conductive plate to a surface of the insulator coupled to the inner surface of the conductive plate.

The method 700 further includes coupling (708) a feed element to the insulator. In some embodiments, the feed element is mechanically and/or chemically (e.g., using an adhesive) fastened to the insulator. Alternatively or in addition, in some embodiments, the feed element is embedded, at least partially, within the insulator. It should be noted that step 708 may be skipped in those embodiments where the insulator is air. In these embodiments, the feed element may be coupled to some other structure of the near-field antenna (e.g., a portion of the housing 202, FIG. 2).

In some embodiments, the insulator is a first insulator, and the method further includes coupling a second insulator to the feed element. For example, the first insulator may be coupled to a top portion of the feed element and the second insulator may be coupled to a bottom portion of the feed element. In this way, a sandwich structure is formed between the first insulator, the feed element, and the second insulator. The feed element may be mechanically and/or chemically (e.g., using an adhesive) fastened to the second insulator. Alternatively or in addition, in some embodiments, the feed element is embedded, at least partially, within the second insulator.

As discussed above, the feed element is configured to direct a plurality of RF power transmission signals towards the conductive plate and at least some of the RF power transmission signals of the plurality of RF power transmission signals radiate through the one or more cutouts and accumulate within a near-field distance of the conductive surface to create at least two distinct zones of accumulated RF energy at each of the one or more cutouts. The at least two distinct zones of accumulated RF energy at each of the one or more cutouts are defined based, at least in part, on (i) a set of dimensions defining each of the one or more cutouts and (ii) an arrangement of the one or more cutouts. Forming the accumulations of energy is discussed in further detail above with reference to FIGS. 2-5B.

In some embodiments, the steps of the method 700 may be repeated such that additional near-field antennas are fabricated. In addition, in some embodiments, the method 700 further includes forming an array of near-field antennas (e.g., an array of unit cell antennas 110-A-110-N, as shown in FIG. 1B). Moreover, in some embodiments, the conductive plate is a continuous plate associated with each near-field antenna in the array of near-field antennas. Alternatively, in some embodiments, each near-field antenna includes a distinct conductive plate.

The array of near-field antennas may be interconnected via busing (e.g., communication bus 108, FIG. 1A) and may further be connected to one or more processors (e.g., processor(s) 104 of transmitter pad 100, FIG. 1A).

In some embodiments, the array of near-field antennas is disposed in a housing (e.g., housing 202, FIG. 2). In this way, leakage of RF power transmission signals (e.g., via sidewalls) in substantially reduced, and even eliminated.

FIG. 8 shows various power distributions (e.g., accumulations of energy) formed on a transmitter pad, in accordance with some embodiments. In particular, FIG. 8 shows concentrations of accumulations of energy 802 on a transmitter pad (e.g., transmitter pad 100, FIGS. 1A-1B) having four unit cells (e.g., unit cell 400, FIG. 4A, unit cell 500, FIG. 5A), and each unit cell is being sequentially activated (e.g., activated meaning a feed element for a unit cell starts transmitting RF power transmission signals). As shown, the accumulations of energy 802 substantially cover a surface area of the unit cell 801. In addition, the surface area of the unit cell 801 has minimal cold zones 804. This results from, as discussed above, the set of dimensions defining each of the one or more cutouts and an arrangement of the one or more cutouts.

Also, the accumulations of energy 802 are substantially limited to the currently activated unit cell (i.e., electromagnetic radiation created at unit cell 801 does not substantially radiate to neighboring unit cells). The results from the controlled far-field gain and from the unit cells being substantially isolated relative to each other being minimized. Accordingly, objects on neighboring unit cells are not affected by radiation emitted from the currently activated unit cell 801, nor is an accumulation of energy at a particular unit cell impacted by metal objects that may be placed near to the particular unit cell.

FIG. 9 is a graph that shows an example radiation pattern for a unit cell antenna that includes one or more cutouts, as compared to a radiation pattern for an isotropic antenna that radiates uniformly in all directions. In particular, FIG. 9 shows that the radiation pattern for the unit cell antenna extends above a surface of the unit cell antenna in the near-field range (e.g., 1-5 millimeters) and that far-field gain is minimized and controlled to avoid any potential interference with other electronic devices operating (or other metal objects positioned) near the transmitter pad 100 (which includes a plurality of the unit cell antennas 110).

The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used in the description of the invention and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and/or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

It will also be understood that, although the terms “first,” “second,” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first region could be termed a second region, and, similarly, a second region could be termed a first region, without changing the meaning of the description, so long as all occurrences of the “first region” are renamed consistently and all occurrences of the “second region” are renamed consistently. The first region and the second region are both regions, but they are not the same region.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, the illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

Claims

1. A near-field antenna for transmitting radio frequency (RF) power transmission signals, comprising: a conductive plate including one or more channels extending through the conductive plate, a respective channel of the one or more channels includes a first segment and a second segment distinct from the first segment; anda feed element configured to direct a plurality of RF power transmission signals towards the conductive plate,wherein: at least some of the RF power transmission signals of the plurality of RF power transmission signals cause an accumulation of RF energy within a near-field distance of the conductive plate, the accumulation of RF energy including: a first zone of accumulated RF energy at the first segment of the respective channel; anda second zone of accumulated RF energy at the second segment of the respective channel, the second zone of accumulated RF energy being distinct from the first zone of accumulated RF energy.
2. The near-field antenna of claim 1, wherein the first zone of accumulated RF energy and the second zone of accumulated RF energy are within a near-field distance of the conductive plate; and the first zone of accumulated RF energy and the second zone of accumulated RF energy are configured to be provided to a receiver that is positioned near or on top of a wireless-power-transmitting device that includes the near-field antenna comprising the conductive plate.
3. The near-field antenna of claim 2, wherein the receiver is configured to harvest energy from at least one of the first zone of accumulated RF energy at the first segment of the respective channel and the second zone of accumulated RF energy at the second segment of the respective channel.
4. The near-field antenna of claim 2, wherein the first zone of accumulated RF energy and the second zone of accumulated RF energy within the near-field distance of the conductive plate facilitate a wireless charging region proximate to an area of the conductive plate.
5. The near-field antenna of claim 1, wherein the first zone of accumulated RF energy and second zone of accumulated RF energy are configured to extend approximately 1 to 5 millimeters above the conductive plate.
6. The near-field antenna of claim 1, wherein one or more characteristics of the first zone of accumulated RF energy at the first segment of the respective channel, depend, at least in part, on a set of dimensions defining the first segment of the respective channel; and one or more characteristics of the second zone of accumulated RF energy at a second segment of the respective channel, depend, at least in part, on a set of dimensions defining the second segment of the respective channel.
7. The near-field antenna of claim 1, wherein the first zone of accumulated RF energy at the first segment of the respective channel covers a first amount of surface area associated with a wireless charging area; and the second zone of accumulated RF energy at the second segment of the respective channel covers a second amount of surface area associated with the wireless charging area.
8. The near-field antenna of claim 7, wherein the second amount of surface area is distinct from the first amount.
9. The near-field antenna of claim 1, including: an insulator separating the feed element and the conductive plate, wherein a thickness of the insulator influences the distance the first zone of accumulated RF energy accumulates above the conductive plate.
10. The near-field antenna of claim 9, wherein the thickness of the insulator is determined based on an operating frequency of the near-field antenna.
11. The near-field antenna of claim 10, wherein a thickness of the conductive plate is equal to or greater than the thickness of the insulator.
12. The near-field antenna of claim 1, wherein a thickness of the conductive plate is selected to influence formation of at least one of the first zone of accumulated RF energy and the second zone of accumulated RF energy.
13. The near-field antenna of claim 1, wherein placement of the feed element at a certain position with respect to the conductive plate is selected to influence formation of at least one of the first zone of accumulated RF energy or the second zone of accumulated RF energy.
14. The near-field antenna of claim 1, wherein: the respective channel of the one or more channels is a first channel of the near-field antenna;the one or more channels also include a second channel that is distinct from the first channel, respective segments of the second channel are interleaved or interposed with respective segments of the first channel across a planar surface of the conductive plate, such that gaps in adjacent accumulations of energy near the first and second channels are minimized.
15. A wireless-power-transmitting device comprising: a near-field antenna that includes: a conductive plate including one or more channels extending through the conductive plate, a respective channel of the one or more channels includes a first segment and a second segment distinct from the first segment;a feed element configured to direct a plurality of RF power transmission signals towards the conductive plate; andone or more processors configured to cause the plurality of RF power transmission signals to be provided to the feed element,wherein: at least some of the RF power transmission signals of the plurality of RF power transmission signals cause an accumulation of RF energy within a near-field distance of the conductive plate, the accumulation of RF energy including: a first zone of accumulated RF energy at the first segment of the respective channel; anda second zone of accumulated RF energy at the second segment of the respective channel, the second zone of accumulated RF energy being distinct from the first zone of accumulated RF energy.
16. The wireless-power-transmitting device of claim 15, wherein the first zone of accumulated RF energy and the second zone of accumulated RF energy are within a near-field distance of the conductive plate; and the first zone of accumulated RF energy and the second zone of accumulated RF energy are configured to be provided to a receiver that is positioned near or on top of a wireless-power- transmitting device that includes the near-field antenna comprising the conductive plate.
17. The wireless-power-transmitting device of claim 16, wherein the receiver is configured to harvest energy from at least one of the first zone of accumulated RF energy at the first segment of the respective channel and the second zone of accumulated RF energy at the second segment of the respective channel.
18. The wireless-power-transmitting device of claim 16, wherein the first zone of accumulated RF energy and the second zone of accumulated RF energy within the near-field distance of the conductive plate facilitate a wireless charging region proximate to an area of the conductive plate.
19. The wireless-power-transmitting device of claim 15, wherein the first zone of accumulated RF energy and second zone of accumulated RF energy are configured to extend approximately 1 to 5 millimeters above the conductive plate.
20. The wireless-power-transmitting device of claim 15, wherein one or more characteristics of the first zone of accumulated RF energy at the first segment of the respective channel, depend, at least in part, on a set of dimensions defining the first segment of the respective channel; and one or more characteristics of the second zone of accumulated RF energy at a second segment of the respective channel, depend, at least in part, on a set of dimensions defining the second segment of the respective channel.
21. The wireless-power-transmitting device of claim 15, wherein the first zone of accumulated RF energy at the first segment of the respective channel covers a first amount of surface area associated with a wireless charging area; and the second zone of accumulated RF energy at the second segment of the respective channel covers a second amount of surface area associated with the wireless charging area.
22. The wireless-power-transmitting device of claim 21, wherein the second amount of surface area is distinct from the first amount.
23. The wireless-power-transmitting device of claim 15, including: an insulator separating the feed element and the conductive plate, wherein a thickness of the insulator influences the distance the first zone of accumulated RF energy accumulates above the conductive plate.
24. The wireless-power-transmitting device of claim 23, wherein the thickness of the insulator is determined based on an operating frequency of the near-field antenna.
25. The wireless-power-transmitting device of claim 15, wherein a thickness of the conductive plate is selected to influence formation of at least one of the first zone of accumulated RF energy and the second zone of accumulated RF energy.
26. The wireless-power-transmitting device of claim 24, wherein a thickness of the conductive plate is equal to or greater than the thickness of the insulator.
27. The wireless-power-transmitting device of claim 15, wherein placement of the feed element at a certain position with respect to the conductive plate is selected to influence formation of at least one of the first zone of accumulated RF energy or the second zone of accumulated RF energy.
28. The wireless-power-transmitting device of claim 15, wherein: the respective channel of the one or more channels is a first channel of the near-field antenna;the one or more channels also include a second channel that is distinct from the first channel, respective segments of the second channel are interleaved or interposed with respective segments of the first channel across a planar surface of the conductive plate, such that gaps in adjacent accumulations of energy near the first and second channels are minimized.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/718,060, filed on Dec. 17, 2019, entitled “Fabrication Of Near-Field Antennas For Accumulating Energy At A Near-Field Distance With Minimal Far-Field Gain,” which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/973,991 (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,511,097), filed on May 8, 2018, entitled “Near-Field Antennas For Accumulating Energy At A Near-Field Distance With Minimal Far-Field Gain,” which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/505,813, filed May 12, 2017, entitled “Near-Field Antennas for Accumulating Radio Frequency Energy at a Near-Field Distance with Minimal Far-Field Gain,” and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/506,556, filed May 15, 2017, entitled “Near-Field Antennas for Accumulating Radio Frequency Energy at a Near-Field Distance with Minimal Far-Field Gain.” each of which is herein fully incorporated by reference in its respective entirety.

US Referenced Citations (1129)

Number	Name	Date	Kind
787412	Tesla	Apr 1905	A
3167775	Guertler	Jan 1965	A
3434678	Brown et al.	Mar 1969	A
3696384	Lester	Oct 1972	A
3754269	Gavin	Aug 1973	A
4101895	Jones, Jr.	Jul 1978	A
4360741	Fitzsimmons et al.	Nov 1982	A
4944036	Hyatt	Jul 1990	A
4995010	Knight	Feb 1991	A
5200759	McGinnis	Apr 1993	A
5211471	Rohrs	May 1993	A
5548292	Hirshfield et al.	Aug 1996	A
5556749	Mitsuhashi et al.	Sep 1996	A
5568088	Dent et al.	Oct 1996	A
5646633	Dahlberg	Jul 1997	A
5697063	Kishigami et al.	Dec 1997	A
5712642	Hulderman	Jan 1998	A
5936527	Isaacman et al.	Aug 1999	A
5982139	Parise	Nov 1999	A
6046708	MacDonald, Jr. et al.	Apr 2000	A
6127799	Krishnan	Oct 2000	A
6127942	Welle	Oct 2000	A
6163296	Lier et al.	Dec 2000	A
6271799	Rief	Aug 2001	B1
6289237	Mickle et al.	Sep 2001	B1
6329908	Frecska	Dec 2001	B1
6421235	Ditzik	Jul 2002	B2
6437685	Hanaki	Aug 2002	B2
6456253	Rummeli et al.	Sep 2002	B1
6476795	Derocher et al.	Nov 2002	B1
6501414	Amdt et al.	Dec 2002	B2
6583723	Watanabe et al.	Jun 2003	B2
6597897	Tang	Jul 2003	B2
6615074	Mickle et al.	Sep 2003	B2
6650376	Obitsu	Nov 2003	B1
6664920	Mott et al.	Dec 2003	B1
6680700	Hilgers	Jan 2004	B2
6798716	Charych	Sep 2004	B1
6803744	Sabo	Oct 2004	B1
6853197	McFarland	Feb 2005	B1
6856291	Mickle et al.	Feb 2005	B2
6911945	Korva	Jun 2005	B2
6960968	Odendaal et al.	Nov 2005	B2
6967462	Landis	Nov 2005	B1
6988026	Breed et al.	Jan 2006	B2
7003350	Denker et al.	Feb 2006	B2
7027311	Vanderelli et al.	Apr 2006	B2
7068234	Sievenpiper	Jun 2006	B2
7068991	Parise	Jun 2006	B2
7079079	Jo et al.	Jul 2006	B2
7183748	Unno et al.	Feb 2007	B1
7191013	Miranda et al.	Mar 2007	B1
7193644	Carter	Mar 2007	B2
7196663	Bolzer et al.	Mar 2007	B2
7205749	Hagen et al.	Apr 2007	B2
7215296	Abramov et al.	May 2007	B2
7222356	Yonezawa et al.	May 2007	B1
7274334	O'Riordan et al.	Sep 2007	B2
7274336	Carson	Sep 2007	B2
7351975	Brady et al.	Apr 2008	B2
7359730	Dennis et al.	Apr 2008	B2
7372408	Gaucher	May 2008	B2
7392068	Dayan	Jun 2008	B2
7403803	Mickle et al.	Jul 2008	B2
7443057	Nunally	Oct 2008	B2
7451839	Perlman	Nov 2008	B2
7463201	Chiang et al.	Dec 2008	B2
7471247	Saily	Dec 2008	B2
7535195	Horovitz et al.	May 2009	B1
7614556	Overhultz et al.	Nov 2009	B2
7639994	Greene et al.	Dec 2009	B2
7643312	Vanderelli et al.	Jan 2010	B2
7652577	Madhow et al.	Jan 2010	B1
7679576	Riedel et al.	Mar 2010	B2
7702771	Ewing et al.	Apr 2010	B2
7786419	Hyde et al.	Aug 2010	B2
7812771	Greene et al.	Oct 2010	B2
7830312	Choudhury 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
7904117	Doan et al.	Mar 2011	B2
7911386	Ito et al.	Mar 2011	B1
7925308	Greene et al.	Apr 2011	B2
7948208	Partovi et al.	May 2011	B2
8055003	Mittleman et al.	Nov 2011	B2
8070595	Alderucci et al.	Dec 2011	B2
8072380	Crouch	Dec 2011	B2
8092301	Alderucci et al.	Jan 2012	B2
8099140	Arai	Jan 2012	B2
8115448	John	Feb 2012	B2
8159090	Greene et al.	Apr 2012	B2
8159364	Zeine	Apr 2012	B2
8180286	Yamasuge	May 2012	B2
8228194	Mickle	Jul 2012	B2
8234509	Gioscia et al.	Jul 2012	B2
8264101	Hyde et al.	Sep 2012	B2
8264291	Morita	Sep 2012	B2
8276325	Clifton et al.	Oct 2012	B2
8278784	Cook et al.	Oct 2012	B2
8284101	Fusco	Oct 2012	B2
8310201	Wright	Nov 2012	B1
8338991	Von Novak et al.	Dec 2012	B2
8362745	Tinaphong	Jan 2013	B2
8380255	Shearer et al.	Feb 2013	B2
8384600	Huang et al.	Feb 2013	B2
8410953	Zeine	Apr 2013	B2
8411963	Luff	Apr 2013	B2
8432062	Greene et al.	Apr 2013	B2
8432071	Huang et al.	Apr 2013	B2
8446248	Zeine	May 2013	B2
8447234	Cook et al.	May 2013	B2
8451189	Fluhler	May 2013	B1
8452235	Kirby et al.	May 2013	B2
8457656	Perkins et al.	Jun 2013	B2
8461817	Martin et al.	Jun 2013	B2
8467733	Leabman	Jun 2013	B2
8497601	Hall et al.	Jul 2013	B2
8497658	Von Novak et al.	Jul 2013	B2
8552597	Song et al.	Aug 2013	B2
8558661	Zeine	Oct 2013	B2
8560026	Chanterac	Oct 2013	B2
8604746	Lee	Dec 2013	B2
8614643	Leabman	Dec 2013	B2
8621245	Shearer et al.	Dec 2013	B2
8626249	Kuusilinna et al.	Jan 2014	B2
8629576	Levine	Jan 2014	B2
8653966	Rao et al.	Feb 2014	B2
8674551	Low et al.	Mar 2014	B2
8686685	Moshfeghi	Apr 2014	B2
8686905	Shtrom	Apr 2014	B2
8712355	Black et al.	Apr 2014	B2
8712485	Tam	Apr 2014	B2
8718773	Wills et al.	May 2014	B2
8729737	Schatz et al.	May 2014	B2
8736228	Freed et al.	May 2014	B1
8760113	Keating	Jun 2014	B2
8770482	Ackermann et al.	Jul 2014	B2
8772960	Yoshida	Jul 2014	B2
8823319	Von Novak, III et al.	Sep 2014	B2
8832646	Wendling	Sep 2014	B1
8854176	Zeine	Oct 2014	B2
8860364	Low et al.	Oct 2014	B2
8897770	Frolov et al.	Nov 2014	B1
8903456	Chu et al.	Dec 2014	B2
8917057	Hui	Dec 2014	B2
8923189	Leabman	Dec 2014	B2
8928544	Massie et al.	Jan 2015	B2
8937408	Ganem et al.	Jan 2015	B2
8946940	Kim et al.	Feb 2015	B2
8963486	Kirby et al.	Feb 2015	B2
8970070	Sada et al.	Mar 2015	B2
8989053	Skaaksrud et al.	Mar 2015	B1
9000616	Greene et al.	Apr 2015	B2
9001622	Perry	Apr 2015	B2
9006934	Kozakai et al.	Apr 2015	B2
9021277	Shearer et al.	Apr 2015	B2
9030161	Lu et al.	May 2015	B2
9059598	Kang et al.	Jun 2015	B2
9059599	Won et al.	Jun 2015	B2
9077188	Moshfeghi	Jul 2015	B2
9083595	Rakib et al.	Jul 2015	B2
9088216	Garrity et al.	Jul 2015	B2
9124125	Leabman et al.	Sep 2015	B2
9130397	Leabman et al.	Sep 2015	B2
9130602	Cook	Sep 2015	B2
9142998	Yu et al.	Sep 2015	B2
9143000	Leabman et al.	Sep 2015	B2
9143010	Urano	Sep 2015	B2
9153074	Zhou et al.	Oct 2015	B2
9178389	Hwang	Nov 2015	B2
9225196	Huang et al.	Dec 2015	B2
9240469	Sun et al.	Jan 2016	B2
9242411	Kritchman et al.	Jan 2016	B2
9244500	Cain et al.	Jan 2016	B2
9252628	Leabman et al.	Feb 2016	B2
9270344	Rosenberg	Feb 2016	B2
9276329	Jones et al.	Mar 2016	B2
9282582	Dunsbergen et al.	Mar 2016	B1
9294840	Anderson et al.	Mar 2016	B1
9297896	Andrews	Mar 2016	B1
9318898	John	Apr 2016	B2
9368020	Bell et al.	Jun 2016	B1
9401977	Gaw	Jul 2016	B1
9409490	Kawashima	Aug 2016	B2
9419335	Pintos	Aug 2016	B2
9419443	Leabman	Aug 2016	B2
9438045	Leabman	Sep 2016	B1
9438046	Leabman	Sep 2016	B1
9444283	Son et al.	Sep 2016	B2
9450449	Leabman et al.	Sep 2016	B1
9461502	Lee et al.	Oct 2016	B2
9520725	Masaoka et al.	Dec 2016	B2
9520748	Hyde et al.	Dec 2016	B2
9522270	Perryman et al.	Dec 2016	B2
9537354	Bell et al.	Jan 2017	B2
9537357	Leabman	Jan 2017	B2
9537358	Leabman	Jan 2017	B2
9538382	Bell et al.	Jan 2017	B2
9544640	Lau	Jan 2017	B2
9559553	Bae	Jan 2017	B2
9564773	Pogorelik et al.	Feb 2017	B2
9571974	Choi et al.	Feb 2017	B2
9590317	Zimmerman et al.	Mar 2017	B2
9590444	Walley	Mar 2017	B2
9620996	Zeine	Apr 2017	B2
9647328	Dobric	May 2017	B2
9706137	Scanlon et al.	Jul 2017	B2
9711999	Hietala et al.	Jul 2017	B2
9723635	Nambord et al.	Aug 2017	B2
9793758	Leabman	Oct 2017	B2
9793764	Perry	Oct 2017	B2
9800080	Leabman et al.	Oct 2017	B2
9800172	Leabman	Oct 2017	B1
9806564	Leabman	Oct 2017	B2
9812890	Leabman et al.	Nov 2017	B1
9819230	Petras et al.	Nov 2017	B2
9824815	Leabman et al.	Nov 2017	B2
9825674	Leabman	Nov 2017	B1
9831718	Leabman et al.	Nov 2017	B2
9838083	Bell et al.	Dec 2017	B2
9843213	Leabman et al.	Dec 2017	B2
9843229	Leabman	Dec 2017	B2
9843763	Leabman et al.	Dec 2017	B2
9847669	Leabman	Dec 2017	B2
9847677	Leabman	Dec 2017	B1
9847679	Bell et al.	Dec 2017	B2
9853361	Chen et al.	Dec 2017	B2
9853692	Bell et al.	Dec 2017	B1
9859756	Leabman et al.	Jan 2018	B2
9866279	Bell et al.	Jan 2018	B2
9867032	Verma et al.	Jan 2018	B2
9871301	Contopanagos	Jan 2018	B2
9876379	Leabman et al.	Jan 2018	B1
9876380	Leabman et al.	Jan 2018	B1
9876394	Leabman	Jan 2018	B1
9876536	Bell et al.	Jan 2018	B1
9876648	Bell	Jan 2018	B2
9882394	Bell et al.	Jan 2018	B1
9882427	Leabman et al.	Jan 2018	B2
9887584	Bell et al.	Feb 2018	B1
9887739	Leabman et al.	Feb 2018	B2
9891669	Bell	Feb 2018	B2
9893554	Bell et al.	Feb 2018	B2
9893555	Leabman et al.	Feb 2018	B1
9893564	de Rochemont	Feb 2018	B2
9899844	Bell et al.	Feb 2018	B1
9899861	Leabman et al.	Feb 2018	B1
9899873	Bell et al.	Feb 2018	B2
9906065	Leabman et al.	Feb 2018	B2
9906275	Leabman	Feb 2018	B2
9912199	Leabman et al.	Mar 2018	B2
9917477	Bell et al.	Mar 2018	B1
9923386	Leabman et al.	Mar 2018	B1
9939864	Bell et al.	Apr 2018	B1
9941747	Bell et al.	Apr 2018	B2
9941754	Leabman et al.	Apr 2018	B2
9948135	Leabman et al.	Apr 2018	B2
9954374	Bell et al.	Apr 2018	B1
9965009	Bell et al.	May 2018	B1
9966765	Leabman	May 2018	B1
9966784	Leabman	May 2018	B2
9967743	Bell et al.	May 2018	B1
9973008	Leabman	May 2018	B1
10003211	Leabman et al.	Jun 2018	B1
10008889	Bell et al.	Jun 2018	B2
10014728	Leabman	Jul 2018	B1
10027159	Hosseini	Jul 2018	B2
10027180	Hosseini	Jul 2018	B1
10038337	Leabman et al.	Jul 2018	B1
10050462	Leabman et al.	Aug 2018	B1
10056782	Leabman	Aug 2018	B1
10063064	Bell et al.	Aug 2018	B1
10063105	Leabman	Aug 2018	B2
10063106	Bell et al.	Aug 2018	B2
10068703	Contopanagos	Sep 2018	B1
10075008	Bell et al.	Sep 2018	B1
10079515	Hosseini et al.	Sep 2018	B2
10090699	Leabman	Oct 2018	B1
10090886	Bell et al.	Oct 2018	B1
10103552	Leabman et al.	Oct 2018	B1
10103582	Leabman et al.	Oct 2018	B2
10116170	Leabman	Oct 2018	B1
10122219	Hosseini et al.	Nov 2018	B1
10122415	Bell et al.	Nov 2018	B2
10124754	Leabman	Nov 2018	B1
10128686	Leabman et al.	Nov 2018	B1
10128693	Bell et al.	Nov 2018	B2
10128695	Leabman et al.	Nov 2018	B2
10128699	Leabman	Nov 2018	B2
10134260	Bell et al.	Nov 2018	B1
10135112	Hosseini	Nov 2018	B1
10135286	Hosseini et al.	Nov 2018	B2
10135294	Leabman	Nov 2018	B1
10135295	Leabman	Nov 2018	B2
10141768	Leabman et al.	Nov 2018	B2
10141771	Hosseini et al.	Nov 2018	B1
10141791	Bell et al.	Nov 2018	B2
10153645	Bell et al.	Dec 2018	B1
10153653	Bell et al.	Dec 2018	B1
10153660	Leabman et al.	Dec 2018	B1
10158257	Leabman	Dec 2018	B2
10158259	Leabman	Dec 2018	B1
10164478	Leabman	Dec 2018	B2
10170917	Bell et al.	Jan 2019	B1
10177594	Contopanagos	Jan 2019	B2
10186892	Hosseini et al.	Jan 2019	B2
10186893	Bell et al.	Jan 2019	B2
10186911	Leabman	Jan 2019	B2
10186913	Leabman et al.	Jan 2019	B2
10193396	Bell et al.	Jan 2019	B1
10199835	Bell	Feb 2019	B2
10199849	Bell	Feb 2019	B1
10199850	Leabman	Feb 2019	B2
10205239	Contopanagos et al.	Feb 2019	B1
10206185	Leabman et al.	Feb 2019	B2
10211674	Leabman et al.	Feb 2019	B1
10211680	Leabman et al.	Feb 2019	B2
10211682	Bell et al.	Feb 2019	B2
10211685	Bell et al.	Feb 2019	B2
10218207	Hosseini et al.	Feb 2019	B2
10218227	Leabman et al.	Feb 2019	B2
10223717	Bell	Mar 2019	B1
10224758	Leabman et al.	Mar 2019	B2
10224982	Leabman	Mar 2019	B1
10230266	Leabman et al.	Mar 2019	B1
10243414	Leabman et al.	Mar 2019	B1
10256657	Hosseini et al.	Apr 2019	B2
10256677	Hosseini et al.	Apr 2019	B2
10263432	Leabman et al.	Apr 2019	B1
10263476	Leabman	Apr 2019	B2
10270261	Bell et al.	Apr 2019	B2
10277054	Hosseini	Apr 2019	B2
10291056	Bell et al.	May 2019	B2
10305315	Leabman et al.	May 2019	B2
10355534	Johnston et al.	Jul 2019	B2
10381880	Leabman et al.	Aug 2019	B2
10396604	Bell et al.	Aug 2019	B2
10439448	Bell et al.	Oct 2019	B2
10447093	Hosseini	Oct 2019	B2
10476312	Johnston et al.	Nov 2019	B2
10511097	Kornaros et al.	Dec 2019	B2
10734717	Hosseini	Aug 2020	B2
10778041	Leabman	Sep 2020	B2
10790674	Bell et al.	Sep 2020	B2
10848853	Leabman et al.	Nov 2020	B2
10879740	Hosseini	Dec 2020	B2
10923954	Leabman	Feb 2021	B2
10965164	Leabman et al.	Mar 2021	B2
10992185	Leabman	Apr 2021	B2
10992187	Leabman	Apr 2021	B2
11011942	Liu	May 2021	B2
11245191	Kornaros et al.	Feb 2022	B2
20010027876	Tsukamoto et al.	Oct 2001	A1
20020001307	Nguyen et al.	Jan 2002	A1
20020024471	Ishitobi	Feb 2002	A1
20020028655	Rosener et al.	Mar 2002	A1
20020034958	Oberschmidt et al.	Mar 2002	A1
20020054330	Jinbo et al.	May 2002	A1
20020065052	Pande et al.	May 2002	A1
20020072784	Sheppard et al.	Jun 2002	A1
20020095980	Breed et al.	Jul 2002	A1
20020103447	Terry	Aug 2002	A1
20020123776	Von Arx	Sep 2002	A1
20020133592	Matsuda	Sep 2002	A1
20020171594	Fang	Nov 2002	A1
20020172223	Stilp	Nov 2002	A1
20030005759	Breed	Jan 2003	A1
20030038750	Chen	Feb 2003	A1
20030058187	Billiet et al.	Mar 2003	A1
20030076274	Phelan et al.	Apr 2003	A1
20030179152	Watada et al.	Sep 2003	A1
20030179573	Chun	Sep 2003	A1
20030192053	Sheppard et al.	Oct 2003	A1
20040019624	Sukegawa	Jan 2004	A1
20040020100	O'Brian et al.	Feb 2004	A1
20040036657	Forster et al.	Feb 2004	A1
20040066251	Eleftheriades et al.	Apr 2004	A1
20040107641	Walton et al.	Jun 2004	A1
20040113543	Daniels	Jun 2004	A1
20040119675	Washio et al.	Jun 2004	A1
20040130425	Dayan et al.	Jul 2004	A1
20040130442	Breed	Jul 2004	A1
20040142733	Parise	Jul 2004	A1
20040145342	Lyon	Jul 2004	A1
20040155832	Yuanzhu	Aug 2004	A1
20040196190	Mendolia et al.	Oct 2004	A1
20040203979	Attar et al.	Oct 2004	A1
20040207559	Milosavljevic	Oct 2004	A1
20040218759	Yacobi	Nov 2004	A1
20040259604	Mickle et al.	Dec 2004	A1
20040263124	Wieck et al.	Dec 2004	A1
20050007276	Barrick et al.	Jan 2005	A1
20050030118	Wang	Feb 2005	A1
20050046584	Breed	Mar 2005	A1
20050055316	Williams	Mar 2005	A1
20050077872	Single	Apr 2005	A1
20050093766	Turner	May 2005	A1
20050116683	Cheng	Jun 2005	A1
20050117660	Vialle et al.	Jun 2005	A1
20050134517	Gottl	Jun 2005	A1
20050171411	KenKnight	Aug 2005	A1
20050198673	Kit et al.	Sep 2005	A1
20050227619	Lee et al.	Oct 2005	A1
20050232469	Schofield	Oct 2005	A1
20050237249	Nagel	Oct 2005	A1
20050237258	Abramov et al.	Oct 2005	A1
20050282591	Shaff	Dec 2005	A1
20060013335	Leabman	Jan 2006	A1
20060019712	Choi	Jan 2006	A1
20060030279	Leabman et al.	Feb 2006	A1
20060033674	Essig, Jr. et al.	Feb 2006	A1
20060071308	Tang et al.	Apr 2006	A1
20060092079	de Rochemont	May 2006	A1
20060094425	Mickle et al.	May 2006	A1
20060113955	Nunally	Jun 2006	A1
20060119532	Yun et al.	Jun 2006	A1
20060136004	Cowan et al.	Jun 2006	A1
20060160517	Yoon	Jul 2006	A1
20060183473	Ukon	Aug 2006	A1
20060190063	Kanzius	Aug 2006	A1
20060192913	Shutou et al.	Aug 2006	A1
20060199620	Greene et al.	Sep 2006	A1
20060238365	Vecchione et al.	Oct 2006	A1
20060266564	Perlman et al.	Nov 2006	A1
20060266917	Baldis et al.	Nov 2006	A1
20060278706	Hatakayama et al.	Dec 2006	A1
20060284593	Nagy et al.	Dec 2006	A1
20060287094	Mahaffey et al.	Dec 2006	A1
20070007821	Rossetti	Jan 2007	A1
20070019693	Graham	Jan 2007	A1
20070021140	Keyes	Jan 2007	A1
20070060185	Simon et al.	Mar 2007	A1
20070070490	Tsunoda et al.	Mar 2007	A1
20070090997	Brown et al.	Apr 2007	A1
20070093269	Leabman et al.	Apr 2007	A1
20070097653	Gilliland et al.	May 2007	A1
20070103110	Sagoo	May 2007	A1
20070106894	Zhang	May 2007	A1
20070109121	Cohen	May 2007	A1
20070139000	Kozuma	Jun 2007	A1
20070149162	Greene et al.	Jun 2007	A1
20070164868	Deavours et al.	Jul 2007	A1
20070173196	Gallic	Jul 2007	A1
20070173214	Mickle et al.	Jul 2007	A1
20070178857	Greene et al.	Aug 2007	A1
20070178945	Cook et al.	Aug 2007	A1
20070182367	Partovi	Aug 2007	A1
20070191074	Harrist et al.	Aug 2007	A1
20070191075	Greene et al.	Aug 2007	A1
20070197281	Stronach	Aug 2007	A1
20070210960	Rofougaran et al.	Sep 2007	A1
20070222681	Greene et al.	Sep 2007	A1
20070228833	Stevens et al.	Oct 2007	A1
20070257634	Leschin et al.	Nov 2007	A1
20070273486	Shiotsu	Nov 2007	A1
20070291165	Wang	Dec 2007	A1
20070296639	Hook et al.	Dec 2007	A1
20070298846	Greene et al.	Dec 2007	A1
20080014897	Cook et al.	Jan 2008	A1
20080024376	Norris et al.	Jan 2008	A1
20080048917	Achour et al.	Feb 2008	A1
20080062062	Borau et al.	Mar 2008	A1
20080062255	Gal	Mar 2008	A1
20080067874	Tseng	Mar 2008	A1
20080074324	Puzella et al.	Mar 2008	A1
20080089277	Alexander et al.	Apr 2008	A1
20080110263	Klessel et al.	May 2008	A1
20080113816	Mahaffey et al.	May 2008	A1
20080122297	Arai	May 2008	A1
20080123383	Shionoiri	May 2008	A1
20080129536	Randall et al.	Jun 2008	A1
20080140278	Breed	Jun 2008	A1
20080169910	Greene et al.	Jul 2008	A1
20080197802	Onishi	Aug 2008	A1
20080204342	Kharadly	Aug 2008	A1
20080204350	Tam et al.	Aug 2008	A1
20080210762	Osada et al.	Sep 2008	A1
20080211458	Lawther et al.	Sep 2008	A1
20080233890	Baker	Sep 2008	A1
20080248758	Schedelbeck et al.	Oct 2008	A1
20080248846	Stronach et al.	Oct 2008	A1
20080258993	Gummalla et al.	Oct 2008	A1
20080266191	Hilgers	Oct 2008	A1
20080278378	Chang et al.	Nov 2008	A1
20080309452	Zeine	Dec 2008	A1
20090002493	Kates	Jan 2009	A1
20090010316	Rofougaran et al.	Jan 2009	A1
20090019183	Wu et al.	Jan 2009	A1
20090036065	Siu	Feb 2009	A1
20090047998	Alberth, Jr.	Feb 2009	A1
20090058354	Harrison	Mar 2009	A1
20090058361	John	Mar 2009	A1
20090058731	Geary et al.	Mar 2009	A1
20090060012	Gresset et al.	Mar 2009	A1
20090067208	Martin et al.	Mar 2009	A1
20090073066	Jordon et al.	Mar 2009	A1
20090096412	Huang	Apr 2009	A1
20090096413	Partovi	Apr 2009	A1
20090102292	Cook et al.	Apr 2009	A1
20090102296	Greene et al.	Apr 2009	A1
20090108679	Porwal	Apr 2009	A1
20090122847	Nysen et al.	May 2009	A1
20090128262	Lee et al.	May 2009	A1
20090157911	Aihara	Jun 2009	A1
20090200985	Zane et al.	Aug 2009	A1
20090206791	Jung	Aug 2009	A1
20090207090	Pettus et al.	Aug 2009	A1
20090207092	Nysen et al.	Aug 2009	A1
20090218884	Soar	Sep 2009	A1
20090218891	McCollough	Sep 2009	A1
20090219903	Alamouti et al.	Sep 2009	A1
20090243397	Cook et al.	Oct 2009	A1
20090264069	Yamasuge	Oct 2009	A1
20090271048	Wakamatsu	Oct 2009	A1
20090280866	Lo et al.	Nov 2009	A1
20090281678	Wakamatsu	Nov 2009	A1
20090284082	Mohammadian	Nov 2009	A1
20090284083	Karalis et al.	Nov 2009	A1
20090284220	Toncich et al.	Nov 2009	A1
20090284227	Mohammadian et al.	Nov 2009	A1
20090284325	Rossiter et al.	Nov 2009	A1
20090286475	Toncich et al.	Nov 2009	A1
20090286476	Toncich et al.	Nov 2009	A1
20090291634	Saarisalo	Nov 2009	A1
20090299175	Bernstein et al.	Dec 2009	A1
20090308936	Nitzan et al.	Dec 2009	A1
20090312046	Clevenger et al.	Dec 2009	A1
20090315412	Yamamoto et al.	Dec 2009	A1
20090322281	Kamijo et al.	Dec 2009	A1
20100001683	Huang et al.	Jan 2010	A1
20100007307	Baarman et al.	Jan 2010	A1
20100007569	Sim et al.	Jan 2010	A1
20100019686	Gutierrez, Jr.	Jan 2010	A1
20100019908	Cho et al.	Jan 2010	A1
20100026605	Yang et al.	Feb 2010	A1
20100027379	Saulnier et al.	Feb 2010	A1
20100029383	Dai	Feb 2010	A1
20100033021	Bennett	Feb 2010	A1
20100033390	Alamouti et al.	Feb 2010	A1
20100034238	Bennett	Feb 2010	A1
20100041453	Grimm, Jr.	Feb 2010	A1
20100044123	Perlman et al.	Feb 2010	A1
20100054200	Tsai	Mar 2010	A1
20100060534	Oodachi	Mar 2010	A1
20100066631	Puzella et al.	Mar 2010	A1
20100075607	Hosoya	Mar 2010	A1
20100079005	Hyde et al.	Apr 2010	A1
20100082193	Chiappetta	Apr 2010	A1
20100087227	Francos et al.	Apr 2010	A1
20100090524	Obayashi	Apr 2010	A1
20100090656	Shearer et al.	Apr 2010	A1
20100109443	Cook et al.	May 2010	A1
20100117926	DeJean, II	May 2010	A1
20100119234	Suematsu et al.	May 2010	A1
20100123618	Martin et al.	May 2010	A1
20100123624	Minear et al.	May 2010	A1
20100127660	Cook et al.	May 2010	A1
20100142418	Nishioka et al.	Jun 2010	A1
20100142509	Zhu et al.	Jun 2010	A1
20100148723	Cook et al.	Jun 2010	A1
20100151808	Toncich et al.	Jun 2010	A1
20100156721	Alamouti et al.	Jun 2010	A1
20100156741	Vazquez et al.	Jun 2010	A1
20100164296	Kurs et al.	Jul 2010	A1
20100164433	Janefalker et al.	Jul 2010	A1
20100167664	Szini	Jul 2010	A1
20100171461	Baarman et al.	Jul 2010	A1
20100174629	Taylor et al.	Jul 2010	A1
20100176934	Chou et al.	Jul 2010	A1
20100181961	Novak et al.	Jul 2010	A1
20100181964	Huggins et al.	Jul 2010	A1
20100194206	Burdo et al.	Aug 2010	A1
20100201189	Kirby et al.	Aug 2010	A1
20100201201	Mobarhan et al.	Aug 2010	A1
20100201314	Toncich et al.	Aug 2010	A1
20100207572	Kirby et al.	Aug 2010	A1
20100210233	Cook et al.	Aug 2010	A1
20100213895	Keating et al.	Aug 2010	A1
20100214177	Parsche	Aug 2010	A1
20100222010	Ozaki et al.	Sep 2010	A1
20100225270	Jacobs et al.	Sep 2010	A1
20100227570	Hendin	Sep 2010	A1
20100231470	Lee et al.	Sep 2010	A1
20100237709	Hall et al.	Sep 2010	A1
20100244576	Hillan et al.	Sep 2010	A1
20100256831	Abramo et al.	Oct 2010	A1
20100259110	Kurs et al.	Oct 2010	A1
20100259447	Crouch	Oct 2010	A1
20100264747	Hall et al.	Oct 2010	A1
20100277003	Von Novak et al.	Nov 2010	A1
20100277121	Hall et al.	Nov 2010	A1
20100279606	Hillan et al.	Nov 2010	A1
20100289341	Ozaki et al.	Nov 2010	A1
20100295372	Hyde et al.	Nov 2010	A1
20100308767	Rofougaran et al.	Dec 2010	A1
20100309079	Rofougaran et al.	Dec 2010	A1
20100309088	Hyvonen et al.	Dec 2010	A1
20100315045	Zeine	Dec 2010	A1
20100316163	Forenza et al.	Dec 2010	A1
20100327766	Recker et al.	Dec 2010	A1
20100328044	Waffenschmidt et al.	Dec 2010	A1
20100332401	Prahlad et al.	Dec 2010	A1
20110013198	Shirley	Jan 2011	A1
20110018360	Baarman et al.	Jan 2011	A1
20110028114	Kerselaers	Feb 2011	A1
20110031928	Soar	Feb 2011	A1
20110032149	Leabman	Feb 2011	A1
20110032866	Leabman	Feb 2011	A1
20110034190	Leabman	Feb 2011	A1
20110034191	Leabman	Feb 2011	A1
20110043047	Karalis et al.	Feb 2011	A1
20110043163	Baarman et al.	Feb 2011	A1
20110043327	Baarman et al.	Feb 2011	A1
20110050166	Cook et al.	Mar 2011	A1
20110055037	Hayashigawa et al.	Mar 2011	A1
20110056215	Ham	Mar 2011	A1
20110057607	Carobolante	Mar 2011	A1
20110057853	Kim et al.	Mar 2011	A1
20110062788	Chen et al.	Mar 2011	A1
20110074342	MacLaughlin	Mar 2011	A1
20110074349	Ghovanloo	Mar 2011	A1
20110074620	Wintermantel	Mar 2011	A1
20110078092	Kim et al.	Mar 2011	A1
20110090126	Szini et al.	Apr 2011	A1
20110109167	Park et al.	May 2011	A1
20110114401	Kanno	May 2011	A1
20110115303	Baarman et al.	May 2011	A1
20110115432	El-Maleh	May 2011	A1
20110115605	Dimig et al.	May 2011	A1
20110121660	Azancot et al.	May 2011	A1
20110122018	Tarng et al.	May 2011	A1
20110122026	DeLaquil et al.	May 2011	A1
20110127845	Walley et al.	Jun 2011	A1
20110127952	Walley et al.	Jun 2011	A1
20110133655	Recker et al.	Jun 2011	A1
20110133691	Hautanen	Jun 2011	A1
20110148578	Aloi et al.	Jun 2011	A1
20110151789	Viglione et al.	Jun 2011	A1
20110154429	Stantchev	Jun 2011	A1
20110156494	Mashinsky	Jun 2011	A1
20110156640	Moshfeghi	Jun 2011	A1
20110163128	Taguchi et al.	Jul 2011	A1
20110175455	Hashiguchi	Jul 2011	A1
20110175461	Tinaphong	Jul 2011	A1
20110181120	Liu et al.	Jul 2011	A1
20110182245	Malkamaki et al.	Jul 2011	A1
20110184842	Melen	Jul 2011	A1
20110188207	Won et al.	Aug 2011	A1
20110194543	Zhao et al.	Aug 2011	A1
20110195722	Walter et al.	Aug 2011	A1
20110199046	Tsai et al.	Aug 2011	A1
20110215086	Yeh	Sep 2011	A1
20110217923	Ma	Sep 2011	A1
20110220634	Yeh	Sep 2011	A1
20110221389	Won et al.	Sep 2011	A1
20110222272	Yeh	Sep 2011	A1
20110243040	Khan et al.	Oct 2011	A1
20110243050	Yanover	Oct 2011	A1
20110244913	Kim et al.	Oct 2011	A1
20110248573	Kanno et al.	Oct 2011	A1
20110248575	Kim et al.	Oct 2011	A1
20110249678	Bonicatto	Oct 2011	A1
20110254377	Widmer et al.	Oct 2011	A1
20110254503	Widmer et al.	Oct 2011	A1
20110259953	Baarman et al.	Oct 2011	A1
20110273977	Shapira et al.	Nov 2011	A1
20110278941	Krishna et al.	Nov 2011	A1
20110279226	Chen et al.	Nov 2011	A1
20110281535	Low et al.	Nov 2011	A1
20110282415	Eckhoff et al.	Nov 2011	A1
20110285213	Kowalewski	Nov 2011	A1
20110286374	Shin et al.	Nov 2011	A1
20110291489	Tsai et al.	Dec 2011	A1
20110302078	Failing	Dec 2011	A1
20110304216	Baarman	Dec 2011	A1
20110304437	Beeler	Dec 2011	A1
20110304521	Ando et al.	Dec 2011	A1
20120013196	Kim et al.	Jan 2012	A1
20120013198	Uramoto et al.	Jan 2012	A1
20120013296	Heydari et al.	Jan 2012	A1
20120019419	Prat et al.	Jan 2012	A1
20120043887	Mesibov	Feb 2012	A1
20120051109	Kim et al.	Mar 2012	A1
20120051294	Guillouard	Mar 2012	A1
20120056486	Endo et al.	Mar 2012	A1
20120056741	Zhu et al.	Mar 2012	A1
20120068906	Asher et al.	Mar 2012	A1
20120074891	Anderson et al.	Mar 2012	A1
20120080944	Recker et al.	Apr 2012	A1
20120080957	Cooper et al.	Apr 2012	A1
20120086284	Capanella et al.	Apr 2012	A1
20120095617	Martin et al.	Apr 2012	A1
20120098350	Campanella et al.	Apr 2012	A1
20120098485	Kang et al.	Apr 2012	A1
20120099675	Kitamura et al.	Apr 2012	A1
20120103562	Clayton	May 2012	A1
20120104849	Jackson	May 2012	A1
20120105252	Wang	May 2012	A1
20120112532	Kesler et al.	May 2012	A1
20120119914	Uchida	May 2012	A1
20120126743	Rivers, Jr.	May 2012	A1
20120132647	Beverly et al.	May 2012	A1
20120133214	Yun et al.	May 2012	A1
20120142291	Rath et al.	Jun 2012	A1
20120146426	Sabo	Jun 2012	A1
20120146576	Partovi	Jun 2012	A1
20120146577	Tanabe	Jun 2012	A1
20120147802	Ukita et al.	Jun 2012	A1
20120149307	Terada et al.	Jun 2012	A1
20120150670	Taylor et al.	Jun 2012	A1
20120153894	Widmer et al.	Jun 2012	A1
20120157019	Li	Jun 2012	A1
20120161531	Kim et al.	Jun 2012	A1
20120161544	Kashiwagi et al.	Jun 2012	A1
20120169276	Wang	Jul 2012	A1
20120169278	Choi	Jul 2012	A1
20120173418	Beardsmore et al.	Jul 2012	A1
20120179004	Roesicke et al.	Jul 2012	A1
20120181973	Lyden	Jul 2012	A1
20120182427	Marshall	Jul 2012	A1
20120187851	Huggins et al.	Aug 2012	A1
20120193999	Zeine	Aug 2012	A1
20120200399	Chae	Aug 2012	A1
20120201153	Bharadia et al.	Aug 2012	A1
20120201173	Jian et al.	Aug 2012	A1
20120206299	Valdes-Garcia	Aug 2012	A1
20120211214	Phan	Aug 2012	A1
20120212071	Miyabayashi et al.	Aug 2012	A1
20120212072	Miyabayashi et al.	Aug 2012	A1
20120214462	Chu et al.	Aug 2012	A1
20120214536	Kim et al.	Aug 2012	A1
20120228392	Cameron et al.	Sep 2012	A1
20120228956	Kamata	Sep 2012	A1
20120231856	Lee et al.	Sep 2012	A1
20120235636	Partovi	Sep 2012	A1
20120242283	Kim et al.	Sep 2012	A1
20120248886	Kesler et al.	Oct 2012	A1
20120248888	Kesler et al.	Oct 2012	A1
20120248891	Drennen	Oct 2012	A1
20120249051	Son et al.	Oct 2012	A1
20120262002	Widmer et al.	Oct 2012	A1
20120265272	Judkins	Oct 2012	A1
20120267900	Huffman et al.	Oct 2012	A1
20120268238	Park et al.	Oct 2012	A1
20120274154	DeLuca	Nov 2012	A1
20120280650	Kim et al.	Nov 2012	A1
20120286582	Kim et al.	Nov 2012	A1
20120292993	Mettler et al.	Nov 2012	A1
20120293021	Teggatz et al.	Nov 2012	A1
20120293119	Park et al.	Nov 2012	A1
20120299389	Lee et al.	Nov 2012	A1
20120299540	Perry	Nov 2012	A1
20120299541	Perry	Nov 2012	A1
20120299542	Perry	Nov 2012	A1
20120300588	Perry	Nov 2012	A1
20120300592	Perry	Nov 2012	A1
20120300593	Perry	Nov 2012	A1
20120306705	Sakurai et al.	Dec 2012	A1
20120306707	Yang et al.	Dec 2012	A1
20120306720	Tanmi et al.	Dec 2012	A1
20120309295	Maguire	Dec 2012	A1
20120309308	Kim et al.	Dec 2012	A1
20120309332	Liao	Dec 2012	A1
20120313449	Kurs	Dec 2012	A1
20120313835	Gebretnsae	Dec 2012	A1
20120326660	Lu et al.	Dec 2012	A1
20130002550	Zalewski	Jan 2013	A1
20130018439	Chow et al.	Jan 2013	A1
20130024059	Miller et al.	Jan 2013	A1
20130026981	Van Der Lee	Jan 2013	A1
20130026982	Rothenbaum	Jan 2013	A1
20130032589	Chung	Feb 2013	A1
20130033571	Steen	Feb 2013	A1
20130038124	Newdoll et al.	Feb 2013	A1
20130038402	Karalis et al.	Feb 2013	A1
20130043738	Park et al.	Feb 2013	A1
20130044035	Zhuang	Feb 2013	A1
20130049471	Oleynik	Feb 2013	A1
20130049475	Kim et al.	Feb 2013	A1
20130049484	Weissentern et al.	Feb 2013	A1
20130057078	Lee	Mar 2013	A1
20130057205	Lee et al.	Mar 2013	A1
20130057210	Negaard et al.	Mar 2013	A1
20130057364	Kesler et al.	Mar 2013	A1
20130058379	Kim et al.	Mar 2013	A1
20130063082	Lee et al.	Mar 2013	A1
20130063143	Adalsteinsson et al.	Mar 2013	A1
20130069444	Waffenschmidt et al.	Mar 2013	A1
20130077650	Traxler et al.	Mar 2013	A1
20130078918	Crowley et al.	Mar 2013	A1
20130082651	Park et al.	Apr 2013	A1
20130082653	Lee et al.	Apr 2013	A1
20130083774	Son et al.	Apr 2013	A1
20130088082	Kang et al.	Apr 2013	A1
20130088090	Wu	Apr 2013	A1
20130088192	Eaton	Apr 2013	A1
20130088331	Cho	Apr 2013	A1
20130093388	Partovi	Apr 2013	A1
20130099389	Hong et al.	Apr 2013	A1
20130099586	Kato	Apr 2013	A1
20130106197	Bae et al.	May 2013	A1
20130107023	Tanaka et al.	May 2013	A1
20130119777	Rees	May 2013	A1
20130119778	Jung	May 2013	A1
20130119929	Partovi	May 2013	A1
20130120217	Ueda et al.	May 2013	A1
20130132010	Winger et al.	May 2013	A1
20130134923	Smith	May 2013	A1
20130137455	Xia	May 2013	A1
20130141037	Jenwatanavet et al.	Jun 2013	A1
20130148341	Williams	Jun 2013	A1
20130149975	Yu et al.	Jun 2013	A1
20130154387	Lee et al.	Jun 2013	A1
20130155748	Sundstrom	Jun 2013	A1
20130157729	Tabe	Jun 2013	A1
20130162335	Kim et al.	Jun 2013	A1
20130169061	Microshnichenko et al.	Jul 2013	A1
20130169219	Gray	Jul 2013	A1
20130169348	Shi	Jul 2013	A1
20130171939	Tian et al.	Jul 2013	A1
20130175877	Abe et al.	Jul 2013	A1
20130178253	Karaoguz	Jul 2013	A1
20130181881	Christie et al.	Jul 2013	A1
20130187475	Vendik	Jul 2013	A1
20130190031	Persson et al.	Jul 2013	A1
20130193769	Mehta et al.	Aug 2013	A1
20130197320	Albert et al.	Aug 2013	A1
20130200064	Alexander	Aug 2013	A1
20130207477	Nam et al.	Aug 2013	A1
20130207604	Zeine	Aug 2013	A1
20130207879	Rada et al.	Aug 2013	A1
20130210357	Qin et al.	Aug 2013	A1
20130221757	Cho et al.	Aug 2013	A1
20130222201	Ma et al.	Aug 2013	A1
20130234530	Miyauchi	Sep 2013	A1
20130234536	Chemishkian et al.	Sep 2013	A1
20130234658	Endo et al.	Sep 2013	A1
20130241306	Aber et al.	Sep 2013	A1
20130241468	Moshfeghi	Sep 2013	A1
20130241474	Moshfeghi	Sep 2013	A1
20130249478	Hirano	Sep 2013	A1
20130249479	Partovi	Sep 2013	A1
20130250102	Scanlon et al.	Sep 2013	A1
20130254578	Huang et al.	Sep 2013	A1
20130264997	Lee et al.	Oct 2013	A1
20130268782	Tam et al.	Oct 2013	A1
20130270923	Cook et al.	Oct 2013	A1
20130278076	Proud	Oct 2013	A1
20130278209	Von Novak	Oct 2013	A1
20130285464	Miwa	Oct 2013	A1
20130285477	Lo et al.	Oct 2013	A1
20130285606	Ben-Shalom et al.	Oct 2013	A1
20130288600	Kuusilinna et al.	Oct 2013	A1
20130288617	Kim et al.	Oct 2013	A1
20130293423	Moshfeghi	Nov 2013	A1
20130307751	Yu-Juin et al.	Nov 2013	A1
20130310020	Kazuhiro	Nov 2013	A1
20130311798	Sultenfuss	Nov 2013	A1
20130328417	Takeuchi	Dec 2013	A1
20130334883	Kim et al.	Dec 2013	A1
20130339108	Ryder et al.	Dec 2013	A1
20130343208	Sexton et al.	Dec 2013	A1
20130343251	Zhang	Dec 2013	A1
20140001846	Mosebrook	Jan 2014	A1
20140001875	Nahidipour	Jan 2014	A1
20140001876	Fujiwara et al.	Jan 2014	A1
20140006017	Sen	Jan 2014	A1
20140008993	Leabman	Jan 2014	A1
20140009110	Lee	Jan 2014	A1
20140011531	Burstrom et al.	Jan 2014	A1
20140015336	Weber et al.	Jan 2014	A1
20140015344	Mohamadi	Jan 2014	A1
20140021907	Yu et al.	Jan 2014	A1
20140021908	McCool	Jan 2014	A1
20140035524	Zeine	Feb 2014	A1
20140035526	Tripathi et al.	Feb 2014	A1
20140035786	Ley	Feb 2014	A1
20140043248	Yeh	Feb 2014	A1
20140049422	Von Novak et al.	Feb 2014	A1
20140054971	Kissin	Feb 2014	A1
20140055098	Lee et al.	Feb 2014	A1
20140057618	Zirwas et al.	Feb 2014	A1
20140062395	Kwon et al.	Mar 2014	A1
20140082435	Kitgawa	Mar 2014	A1
20140086125	Polo et al.	Mar 2014	A1
20140086592	Nakahara et al.	Mar 2014	A1
20140091756	Ofstein et al.	Apr 2014	A1
20140091968	Harel et al.	Apr 2014	A1
20140103869	Radovic	Apr 2014	A1
20140104157	Burns	Apr 2014	A1
20140111147	Soar	Apr 2014	A1
20140113689	Lee	Apr 2014	A1
20140117946	Muller et al.	May 2014	A1
20140118140	Amis	May 2014	A1
20140128107	An	May 2014	A1
20140132210	Partovi	May 2014	A1
20140133279	Khuri-Yakub	May 2014	A1
20140139034	Sankar et al.	May 2014	A1
20140139039	Cook et al.	May 2014	A1
20140139180	Kim et al.	May 2014	A1
20140141838	Cai et al.	May 2014	A1
20140142876	John et al.	May 2014	A1
20140143933	Low et al.	May 2014	A1
20140145879	Pan	May 2014	A1
20140145884	Dang et al.	May 2014	A1
20140152117	Sanker	Jun 2014	A1
20140159651	Von Novak et al.	Jun 2014	A1
20140159652	Hall et al.	Jun 2014	A1
20140159662	Fumi	Jun 2014	A1
20140159667	Kim et al.	Jun 2014	A1
20140169385	Hadani et al.	Jun 2014	A1
20140175893	Sengupta et al.	Jun 2014	A1
20140176054	Porat et al.	Jun 2014	A1
20140176061	Cheatham, III et al.	Jun 2014	A1
20140177399	Teng et al.	Jun 2014	A1
20140184148	Van Der Lee et al.	Jul 2014	A1
20140184155	Cha	Jul 2014	A1
20140184163	Das et al.	Jul 2014	A1
20140184170	Jeong	Jul 2014	A1
20140191568	Partovi	Jul 2014	A1
20140194092	Wanstedt et al.	Jul 2014	A1
20140194095	Wanstedt et al.	Jul 2014	A1
20140197691	Wang	Jul 2014	A1
20140206384	Kim et al.	Jul 2014	A1
20140210281	Ito et al.	Jul 2014	A1
20140217955	Lin	Aug 2014	A1
20140217967	Zeine et al.	Aug 2014	A1
20140225805	Pan et al.	Aug 2014	A1
20140232320	Ento July et al.	Aug 2014	A1
20140232610	Shigemoto et al.	Aug 2014	A1
20140239733	Mach et al.	Aug 2014	A1
20140241231	Zeine	Aug 2014	A1
20140245036	Oishi	Aug 2014	A1
20140246416	White	Sep 2014	A1
20140247152	Proud	Sep 2014	A1
20140252813	Lee et al.	Sep 2014	A1
20140252866	Walsh et al.	Sep 2014	A1
20140265725	Angle et al.	Sep 2014	A1
20140265727	Berte	Sep 2014	A1
20140265943	Angle et al.	Sep 2014	A1
20140266025	Jakubowski	Sep 2014	A1
20140266946	Bily et al.	Sep 2014	A1
20140273892	Nourbakhsh	Sep 2014	A1
20140281655	Angle et al.	Sep 2014	A1
20140292090	Cordeiro et al.	Oct 2014	A1
20140300452	Rofe et al.	Oct 2014	A1
20140312706	Fiorello et al.	Oct 2014	A1
20140325218	Shimizu et al.	Oct 2014	A1
20140327320	Muhs et al.	Nov 2014	A1
20140327390	Park et al.	Nov 2014	A1
20140333142	Desrosiers	Nov 2014	A1
20140346860	Aubry et al.	Nov 2014	A1
20140354063	Leabman et al.	Dec 2014	A1
20140354221	Leabman et al.	Dec 2014	A1
20140355718	Guan et al.	Dec 2014	A1
20140368048	Leabman et al.	Dec 2014	A1
20140368161	Leabman et al.	Dec 2014	A1
20140368405	Ek et al.	Dec 2014	A1
20140375139	Tsukamoto	Dec 2014	A1
20140375253	Leabman et al.	Dec 2014	A1
20140375258	Arkhipenkov	Dec 2014	A1
20140375261	Manova-Elssibony et al.	Dec 2014	A1
20150001949	Leabman et al.	Jan 2015	A1
20150002086	Matos et al.	Jan 2015	A1
20150003207	Lee et al.	Jan 2015	A1
20150008980	Kim et al.	Jan 2015	A1
20150011160	Uurgovan et al.	Jan 2015	A1
20150015180	Miller et al.	Jan 2015	A1
20150015182	Brandtman et al.	Jan 2015	A1
20150015192	Leabman et al.	Jan 2015	A1
20150021990	Myer et al.	Jan 2015	A1
20150022008	Leabman et al.	Jan 2015	A1
20150022010	Leabman et al.	Jan 2015	A1
20150023204	Wil et al.	Jan 2015	A1
20150028688	Masaoka	Jan 2015	A1
20150028694	Leabman et al.	Jan 2015	A1
20150028697	Leabman et al.	Jan 2015	A1
20150028875	Irie et al.	Jan 2015	A1
20150035378	Calhoun et al.	Feb 2015	A1
20150035709	Lim	Feb 2015	A1
20150035715	Kim et al.	Feb 2015	A1
20150039482	Fuinaga	Feb 2015	A1
20150041459	Leabman et al.	Feb 2015	A1
20150042265	Leabman et al.	Feb 2015	A1
20150044977	Ramasamy et al.	Feb 2015	A1
20150046526	Bush et al.	Feb 2015	A1
20150061404	Lamenza et al.	Mar 2015	A1
20150076917	Leabman et al.	Mar 2015	A1
20150076927	Leabman et al.	Mar 2015	A1
20150077036	Leabman et al.	Mar 2015	A1
20150077037	Leabman et al.	Mar 2015	A1
20150091520	Blum et al.	Apr 2015	A1
20150091706	Chemishkian et al.	Apr 2015	A1
20150097442	Muurinen	Apr 2015	A1
20150097663	Sloo et al.	Apr 2015	A1
20150102764	Leabman et al.	Apr 2015	A1
20150102769	Leabman et al.	Apr 2015	A1
20150102973	Hand et al.	Apr 2015	A1
20150108848	Joehren	Apr 2015	A1
20150109181	Hyde et al.	Apr 2015	A1
20150115877	Aria et al.	Apr 2015	A1
20150115878	Park	Apr 2015	A1
20150128733	Taylor et al.	May 2015	A1
20150130285	Leabman et al.	May 2015	A1
20150130293	Hajimiri et al.	May 2015	A1
20150137612	Yamakawa et al.	May 2015	A1
20150148664	Stolka et al.	May 2015	A1
20150155737	Mayo	Jun 2015	A1
20150155738	Leabman et al.	Jun 2015	A1
20150162751	Leabman et al.	Jun 2015	A1
20150162779	Lee et al.	Jun 2015	A1
20150171513	Chen et al.	Jun 2015	A1
20150171656	Leabman et al.	Jun 2015	A1
20150171658	Manova-Elssibony et al.	Jun 2015	A1
20150171931	Won et al.	Jun 2015	A1
20150177326	Chakraborty et al.	Jun 2015	A1
20150180133	Hunt	Jun 2015	A1
20150181117	Park et al.	Jun 2015	A1
20150187491	Anagawa	Jul 2015	A1
20150188352	Peek et al.	Jul 2015	A1
20150199665	Chu	Jul 2015	A1
20150201385	Mercer et al.	Jul 2015	A1
20150207333	Baarman et al.	Jul 2015	A1
20150207542	Zeine	Jul 2015	A1
20150222126	Leabman et al.	Aug 2015	A1
20150233987	Von Novak, III et al.	Aug 2015	A1
20150234144	Cameron et al.	Aug 2015	A1
20150236520	Baarman	Aug 2015	A1
20150244070	Cheng et al.	Aug 2015	A1
20150244080	Gregoire	Aug 2015	A1
20150244187	Horie	Aug 2015	A1
20150244201	Chu	Aug 2015	A1
20150244341	Ritter et al.	Aug 2015	A1
20150249484	Mach et al.	Sep 2015	A1
20150255989	Walley et al.	Sep 2015	A1
20150256097	Gudan et al.	Sep 2015	A1
20150263534	Lee et al.	Sep 2015	A1
20150263548	Cooper	Sep 2015	A1
20150270618	Zhu et al.	Sep 2015	A1
20150270622	Takasaki et al.	Sep 2015	A1
20150270741	Leabman et al.	Sep 2015	A1
20150280484	Radziemski et al.	Oct 2015	A1
20150288074	Harper et al.	Oct 2015	A1
20150288438	Maltsev et al.	Oct 2015	A1
20150311585	Church et al.	Oct 2015	A1
20150312721	Singh	Oct 2015	A1
20150318729	Leabman	Nov 2015	A1
20150326024	Bell et al.	Nov 2015	A1
20150326070	Petras et al.	Nov 2015	A1
20150326072	Petras et al.	Nov 2015	A1
20150326143	Petras et al.	Nov 2015	A1
20150327085	Hadani	Nov 2015	A1
20150333528	Leabman	Nov 2015	A1
20150333573	Leabman	Nov 2015	A1
20150333800	Perry et al.	Nov 2015	A1
20150340759	Bridgelall et al.	Nov 2015	A1
20150340903	Bell et al.	Nov 2015	A1
20150341087	Moore et al.	Nov 2015	A1
20150358222	Berger et al.	Dec 2015	A1
20150365137	Miller et al.	Dec 2015	A1
20150365138	Miller et al.	Dec 2015	A1
20160005068	Im et al.	Jan 2016	A1
20160012695	Bell et al.	Jan 2016	A1
20160013677	Bell et al.	Jan 2016	A1
20160013855	Campos	Jan 2016	A1
20160020636	Khlat	Jan 2016	A1
20160042206	Pesavento et al.	Feb 2016	A1
20160054440	Younis	Feb 2016	A1
20160056635	Bell	Feb 2016	A1
20160056640	Mao	Feb 2016	A1
20160065005	Won et al.	Mar 2016	A1
20160079799	Khlat	Mar 2016	A1
20160087483	Hietala et al.	Mar 2016	A1
20160087486	Pogorelik et al.	Mar 2016	A1
20160094091	Shin et al.	Mar 2016	A1
20160094092	Davlantes et al.	Mar 2016	A1
20160099601	Leabman et al.	Apr 2016	A1
20160099614	Leabman et al.	Apr 2016	A1
20160099755	Leabman et al.	Apr 2016	A1
20160099757	Leabman et al.	Apr 2016	A1
20160112787	Rich	Apr 2016	A1
20160126752	Vuori et al.	May 2016	A1
20160126776	Kim et al.	May 2016	A1
20160141908	Jakl et al.	May 2016	A1
20160164563	Khawand et al.	Jun 2016	A1
20160181849	Govindaraj	Jun 2016	A1
20160181867	Daniel et al.	Jun 2016	A1
20160181873	Mitcheson et al.	Jun 2016	A1
20160202343	Okutsu	Jul 2016	A1
20160204642	Oh	Jul 2016	A1
20160233582	Piskun	Aug 2016	A1
20160238365	Wixey et al.	Aug 2016	A1
20160240908	Strong	Aug 2016	A1
20160248276	Hong et al.	Aug 2016	A1
20160294225	Blum et al.	Oct 2016	A1
20160299210	Zeine	Oct 2016	A1
20160301240	Zeine	Oct 2016	A1
20160323000	Liu et al.	Nov 2016	A1
20160336804	Son et al.	Nov 2016	A1
20160339258	Perryman et al.	Nov 2016	A1
20160359367	Rothschild	Dec 2016	A1
20160380464	Chin et al.	Dec 2016	A1
20160380466	Yang et al.	Dec 2016	A1
20170005481	Von Novak, III	Jan 2017	A1
20170005516	Leabman et al.	Jan 2017	A9
20170005524	Akuzawa et al.	Jan 2017	A1
20170005530	Zeine et al.	Jan 2017	A1
20170025903	Song et al.	Jan 2017	A1
20170026087	Tanabe	Jan 2017	A1
20170040700	Leung	Feb 2017	A1
20170043675	Jones et al.	Feb 2017	A1
20170047784	Jung et al.	Feb 2017	A1
20170063168	Uchida	Mar 2017	A1
20170077733	Jeong et al.	Mar 2017	A1
20170077765	Bell et al.	Mar 2017	A1
20170085437	Condeixa et al.	Mar 2017	A1
20170092115	Sloo et al.	Mar 2017	A1
20170127196	Blum et al.	May 2017	A1
20170134686	Leabman	May 2017	A9
20170163076	Park et al.	Jun 2017	A1
20170168595	Sakaguchi et al.	Jun 2017	A1
20170179763	Leabman	Jun 2017	A9
20170338695	Port	Nov 2017	A1
20180040929	Chappelle	Feb 2018	A1
20180048178	Leabman	Feb 2018	A1
20180131238	Leabman	May 2018	A1
20180331429	Kornaros	Nov 2018	A1
20200203837	Kornaros et al.	Jun 2020	A1

Foreign Referenced Citations (70)

Number	Date	Country
1829999	Sep 2006	CN
101465471	Jun 2009	CN
101507044	Aug 2009	CN
102027690	Apr 2011	CN
102292896	Dec 2011	CN
102860037	Jan 2013	CN
103594776	Feb 2014	CN
104040789	Sep 2014	CN
203826555	Sep 2014	CN
104090265	Oct 2014	CN
105762946	Jul 2016	CN
105932407	Sep 2016	CN
103380561	Sep 2017	CN
20016655	Feb 2002	DE
102014219679	Mar 2016	DE
1028482	Aug 2000	EP
1081506	Mar 2001	EP
2346136	Jul 2011	EP
2397973	Feb 2012	EP
2545635	Jan 2013	EP
3067983	Sep 2016	EP
3145052	Mar 2017	EP
2404497	Feb 2005	GB
2006157586	Jun 2006	JP
2007043432	Feb 2007	JP
2008167017	Jul 2008	JP
2009071835	Apr 2009	JP
2009290764	Dec 2009	JP
2013162624	Aug 2013	JP
2015128349	Jul 2015	JP
WO2015177859	Apr 2017	JP
20060061776	Jun 2006	KR
20070044302	Apr 2007	KR
100755144	Sep 2007	KR
20110132059	Dec 2011	KR
20110135540	Dec 2011	KR
20120009843	Feb 2012	KR
20120108759	Oct 2012	KR
20130026977	Mar 2013	KR
WO 199952173	Oct 1999	WO
WO 2000111716	Feb 2001	WO
WO 2003091943	Nov 2003	WO
WO 2004077550	Sep 2004	WO
WO 2006122783	Nov 2006	WO
WO 2008156571	Dec 2008	WO
WO 2010022181	Feb 2010	WO
WO 2010039246	Apr 2010	WO
WO 2010138994	Dec 2010	WO
WO 2011112022	Sep 2011	WO
WO 2012153529	Nov 2012	WO
WO 2012177283	Dec 2012	WO
WO 2013031988	Mar 2013	WO
WO 2013035190	Mar 2013	WO
WO 2013038074	Mar 2013	WO
WO 2013042399	Mar 2013	WO
WO 2013052950	Apr 2013	WO
WO 2013105920	Jul 2013	WO
WO 2014075103	May 2014	WO
WO 2014132258	Sep 2014	WO
WO 2014134996	Sep 2014	WO
WO 2014182788	Nov 2014	WO
WO 2014182788	Nov 2014	WO
WO 2014197472	Dec 2014	WO
WO 2014209587	Dec 2014	WO
WO 2015038773	Mar 2015	WO
WO 2015097809	Jul 2015	WO
WO 2015161323	Oct 2015	WO
WO 2016024869	Feb 2016	WO
WO 2016048512	Mar 2016	WO
WO 2016187357	Nov 2016	WO

Non-Patent Literature Citations (169)

Entry
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/037072, Nov. 10, 2015, 6 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/037109, Apr. 12, 2016, 9 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/037170, Nov. 10, 2015, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/040648, Dec. 8, 2015, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/040697, Dec. 8, 2015, 9 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/040705, Dec. 8, 2015, 6 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/041323, Dec. 22, 2015, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/041342, Dec. 15, 2015, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/041534, Dec. 29, 2015, 7 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/041546, Dec. 29, 2015, 9 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/041558, Dec. 29, 2015, 6 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/044810, Jan. 5, 2016, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/045102, Jan. 12, 2016, 11 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/045119, Jan. 12, 2016, 9 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/045237, Jan. 12, 2016, 12 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/046941, Jan. 19, 2016, 9 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/046956, Jan. 19, 2016, 7 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/046961, Jan. 19, 2016, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/047963, Jan. 26, 2016, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/048002, Feb. 12, 2015 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/049666, Feb. 9, 2016, 5 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/049669, Feb. 9, 2016, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/049673, Feb. 9, 2016, 6 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/054891, Mar. 15, 2016, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/054897, Mar. 15, 2016, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/054953, Mar. 22, 2016, 5 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/055195, Mar. 22, 2016, 9 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/059317, Apr. 12, 2016, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/059340, Apr. 12, 2016, 11 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/059871, Apr. 12, 2016, 9 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/062661, May 3, 2016, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/062672, May 10, 2016, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/062682, May 3, 2016, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/068282, Jun. 7, 2016, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/068568, Jun. 14, 2016, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2014/068586, Jun. 14, 2016, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2015/067242, Jun. 27, 2017, 7 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2015/067243, Jun. 27, 2017, 7 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2015/067245, Jun. 27, 2017, 7 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2015/067246, Jun. 27, 2017, 9 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2015/067249, Jun. 27, 2017, 7 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2015/067250, Mar. 30, 2016, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2015/067271, Jul. 4, 2017, 5 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2015/067275, Jul. 4, 2017, 7 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2015/067279, Jul. 4, 2017, 7 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2015/067282, Jul. 4, 2017, 6 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2015/067287, Jul. 4, 2017, 6 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2015/067291, Jul. 4, 2017, 4 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2015/067294, Jul. 4, 2017, 6 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2015/067325, Jul. 4, 2017, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2015/067334, Jul. 4, 2017, 5 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2016/068495, Jun. 26, 2018, 7 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2016/068498, Jun. 26, 2018, 6 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2016/068504, Jun. 26, 2018, 5 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2016/068551, Jun. 26, 2018, 6 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2016/068565, Jun. 26, 2018, 9 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2016/068987, Jul. 3, 2018, 7 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2016/068993, Jul. 3, 2018, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2016/069313, Jul. 3, 2018, 7 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2016/069316, Jul. 3, 2018, 12 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2017/046800, Feb. 12, 2019, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., IPRP, PCT/US2018/031768, Nov. 12, 2019, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/037072, Sep. 12, 2014, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/037109, Apr. 8, 2016, 12 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/037170, Sep. 15, 2014, 11 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/040648, Oct. 10, 2014, 11 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/040697, Oct. 1, 2014, 12 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/040705, Sep. 23, 2014, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/041323, Oct. 1, 2014, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/041342, Jan. 27, 2015, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/041534, Oct. 13, 2014, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/041546, Oct. 16, 2014, 12 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/041558, Oct. 10, 2014, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/044810 Oct. 21, 2014, 12 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/045102, Oct. 28, 2014, 14 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/045119, Oct. 13, 2014, 11 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/045237, Oct. 13, 2014, 16 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/046941, Nov. 6, 2014, 11 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/046956, Nov. 12, 2014, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/046961, Nov. 24, 2014, 16 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/047963, Nov. 7, 2014, 13 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/048002, Nov. 13, 2014, 11 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/049666, Nov. 10, 2014, 7 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/049669, Nov. 13, 2014, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/049673, Nov. 18, 2014, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/054891, Dec. 18, 2014, 12 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/054897, Feb. 17, 2015, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/054953, Dec. 4, 2014, 7 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/055195, Dec. 22, 2014, 11 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/059317, Feb. 24, 2015, 13 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/059340, Jan. 15, 2015, 13 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/059871, Jan. 23, 2015, 12 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/062661, Jan. 27, 2015, 12 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/062672, Jan. 26, 2015, 11 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/062682, Feb. 12, 2015, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/068282, Mar. 19, 2015, 13 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/068568, Mar. 20, 2015, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2014/068586, Mar. 20, 2015, 11 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2015/067242, Mar. 16, 2016, 9 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2015/067243, Mar. 10, 2016, 11 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2015/067245, Mar. 17, 2016, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2015/067246, May 11, 2016, 18 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2015/067249, Mar. 29, 2016, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2015/067250, Mar. 30, 2016, 11 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2015/067271, Mar. 11, 2016, 6 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2015/067275, Mar. 2, 2016, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2015/067279, Mar. 11, 2015, 13 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2015/067282, Jul. 5, 2016, 7 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2015/067287, Feb. 2, 2016, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2015/067291, Mar. 4, 2016, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2015/067294, Mar. 29, 2016, 7 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2015/067325, Mar. 10, 2016, 9 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2015/067334, Mar. 3, 2016, 6 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2016/068495, Mar. 30, 2017, 9 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2016/068498, May 17, 2017, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2016/068504, Mar. 30, 2017, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2016/068551, Mar. 17, 2017, 8 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2016/068565, Mar. 8, 2017, 11 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2016/068987, May 8, 2017, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2016/068993, Mar. 13, 2017, 12 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2016/069313, Nov. 13, 2017, 10 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2016/069316, Mar. 16, 2017, 15 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2017/046800, Sep. 11, 2017, 13 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2017/065886, Apr. 6, 2018, 13 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2018/012806, Mar. 23, 2018, 9 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2018/031768, Jul. 3, 2018, 9 pgs.
Energous Corp., ISRWO, PCT/US2018/051082, Dec. 12, 2018, 9 pgs.
Notice of Intent to Issue Reexam Certificate: 90/013,793 dated Feb. 2, 2017, 8 pgs.
Order Granting Reexamination Request, U.S. Appl. No. 90/013,793 Aug. 31, 2016, 23 pgs.
Ossia Inc. vs Energous Corp., Declaration of Stephen B. Heppe in Support of Petition for Post-Grant Review of U.S. Pat. No. 9,124,125, PGR2016-00023, May 31, 2016, 144 pgs.
Ossia Inc. vs Energous Corp., Declaration of Stephen B. Heppe in Support of Petition for Post-Grant Review of U.S. Pat. No. 9,124,125, PGR2016-00024, May 31, 2016, 122 pgs.
Ossia Inc. vs Energous Corp., Patent Owner Preliminary Response, Sep. 8, 2016, 95 pgs.
Ossia Inc. vs Energous Corp., Petition for Post Grant Review of U.S. Pat. No. 9,124,125, May 31, 2016, 86 pgs.
Ossia Inc. vs Energous Corp., Petition for Post-Grant Review of U.S. Pat. No. 9,124,125, May 31, 2016, 92 pgs.
Ossia Inc, vs Energous Corp., PGR2016-00023-Institution Decision, Nov. 29, 2016, 29 pgs.
Ossia Inc. vs Energous Corp., PGR2016-00024-Institution Decision, Nov. 29, 2016, 50 pgs.
Ossia Inc. vs Energous Corp., PGR2016-00024-Judgement-Adverse, Jan. 20, 2017, 3 pgs.
Extended European Search Report, EP14818136.5, dated Jul. 21, 2016, 9 pgs.
Extended European Search Report, EP14822971.9, dated Feb. 10, 2017, 10 pgs.
Extended European Search Report, EP14868901.1, dated Jul. 17, 2017, 6 pgs.
Extended European Search Report, EP15874273.4, dated May 11, 2018, 7 pgs.
Extended European Search Report, EP15876033.0, dated Jun. 13, 2018, 10 pgs.
Extended European Search Report, EP15876036.3, dated May 3, 2018, 9 pgs.
Extended European Search Report, EP15876043.9, dated Aug. 9, 2018, 9 pgs.
Extended European Search Report, EP16189052.0, dated Feb. 10, 2017, 13 pgs.
Extended European Search Report, EP16189300.3, dated Mar. 24, 2017, 6 pgs.
Extended European Search Report, EP16189319.3, dated Feb. 10, 2017, 11 pgs.
Extended European Search Report, EP16189974.5, dated Mar. 13, 2017, 7 pgs.
Extended European Search Report, EP16189982.8, dated Feb. 7, 2017, 11 pgs.
Extended European Search Report, EP16189987.7, dated Feb. 9, 2017, 10 pgs.
Extended European Search Report, EP16189988.5, dated Mar. 13, 2017, 6 pgs.
Extended European Search Report, EP16193743.8, dated Feb. 8, 2017, 9 pgs.
Extended European Search Report, EP16196205.5, dated Apr. 7, 2017, 9 pgs.
Extended European Search Report, EP18204043,6, dated Feb. 14, 2019, 5 pgs.
Extended European Search Report, EP18797695.6, dated Nov. 19, 2020, 9 pgs.
Adamiuk et al., “Compact, Dual-Polarized UWB-Antanna, Embedded in a Dielectric,” IEEE Transactions on Antenna and Propagation, IEEE Service Center, Piscataway, NJ, US vol. 56, No. 2, Feb. 1, 2010, 8 pgs.
Gill et al., “A System for Change Detection and Human Recognition in Voxel Space using the Microsoft Kinect Sensor,” 2011 IEEE Applied Imagery Pattern Recognition Workshop. 8 pgs.
Han et al., Enhanced Computer Vision with Microsoft Kinect Sensor: A Review, IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics vol. 43, No. 5., pp. 1318-1334, Oct. 3, 2013.
Hsieh et al., “Development of a Retrodirective Wireless Microwave Power Transmission System”, IEEE, 2003, pp. 393-396.
Leabman, “Adaptive Band-partitioning for Interference Cancellation in Communication System,” Thesis Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Feb. 1997, pp. 1-70.
Li et al., “High-Efficiency Switching-Mode Charger System Design Considerations with Dynamic Power Path Management,” Mar./Apr. 2012 Issue, 8 pgs.
Mao et al., “BeamStar: An Edge-Based Approach to Routing in Wireless Sensors Networks”, IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, IEEE Service Center, Los Alamitos, CA, vol. 6, No. 11,Nov. 1, 2007, 13 pgs.
Mascarenas et al., “Experimental Studies of Using Wireless Energy Transmission for Powering Embedded Sensor Nodes,” Nov. 28, 2009, Journal of Sound and Vibration, 13 pgs.
Mishra et al., “SIW-based Slot Array Antenna and Power Management Circuit for Wireless Energy Harvesting Applications”, IEEE APSURSI, Jul. 2012, 2 pgs.
Nenzi et al., “U-Helix: On-Chip Short Conical Antenna”, 7th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP), ISBN: 978-1-4673-2187-7, IEEE, Apr. 8, 2013, 5 pgs.
Singh, “Wireless Power Transfer Using Metamaterial Bonded Microstrip Antenna for Smart Grid WSN”, 4th International Conference on Advances in Computing and Communications (ICACC), Aug. 27-29, 2014, 1 pg.
Smolders, “Broadband Microstrip Array Antennas”, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Digest of the Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, Seattle, WA, Jun. 19-24, 1994, 3 pgs.
Van Veen et al., “Beamforming: A Versatile Approach to Spatial Filtering”, IEEE, ASSP Magazine, Apr. 1988, pp. 4-24.
Zhai et al., “A Practical Wireless Charging System Based on Ultra-Wideband Retro-Reflective Beamforming”, 2010 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, Toronto, ON, 2010, 4 pgs.

Related Publications (1)

	Number	Date	Country
	20220302593 A1	Sep 2022	US

Provisional Applications (2)

	Number	Date	Country
	62506556	May 2017	US
	62505813	May 2017	US

Continuations (2)

	Number	Date	Country
Parent	16718060	Dec 2019	US
Child	17667407		US
Parent	15973991	May 2018	US
Child	16718060		US

Near-field antennas for accumulating radio frequency energy at different respective segments included in one or more channels of a conductive plate

Information

Patent Number

Date Filed

Date Issued

Inventors

Original Assignees

Examiners

Agents

CPC

Field of Search

US

CPC

International Classifications

Abstract