Deterring theft in wireless power systems

• US 10,063,095 B2
• Filed: 09/09/2015
• Issued: 08/28/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Quantum Wave LLC
• Original Assignee: Cpg Technologies, LLC
• Inventors: Corum, James F., Corum, Kenneth L., Lilly, James D., Pinzone, Jr., Basil F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Thienvu
• Assistant Examiner(s): Stables, David M
• Application Number:
  US14/849,210
• Publication Number:
  US 20170070093A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,084 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/00 Circuit arrangements for ac mains or ac distribution networks
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/005 Mechanical details of housing or structure aiming to accommodate the power transfer means, e.g. mechanical integration of coils, antennas or transducers into emitting or receiving devices
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/80 involving the exchange of data, concerning supply or distribution of electric power, between transmitting devices and receiving devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/3225 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/222 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving

Abstract

Various embodiments for deterring theft in wireless power systems are disclosed. In one embodiment, an electrical device, comprise a guided surface wave receive structure configured to obtain electrical energy from a guided surface wave traveling along a terrestrial medium, and an electrical load coupled to the guided surface wave receive structure, the electrical load being experienced as a load at an excitation source coupled to a guided surface waveguide probe generating the guided surface wave. Processing circuitry of the electrical device may be configured to monitor the electrical load to determine whether a power consumption of the electrical load has exceeded a predefined amount of permitted power consumption and disable the wireless power receiver or the electrical load coupled to the wireless power receive structure in response to the electrical load exceeding the predefined amount of permitted power consumption.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a guided surface wave receive structure configured to obtain electrical energy from a guided surface wave traveling along a terrestrial medium;

an electrical load coupled to the guided surface wave receive structure, the electrical load being experienced as a load at an excitation source coupled to a guided surface waveguide probe generating the guided surface wave;

memory configured to store a predefined amount of permitted power consumption;

a network interface; and

processing circuitry configured to;

communicate an identifier over a network to a remote computing device via the network interface to authenticate the apparatus using the identifier;

in response to the apparatus being authenticated, monitor the electrical load to determine whether a power consumption of the electrical load has exceeded a predefined amount of permitted power consumption;

disable the guided surface wave receive structure or the electrical load coupled to the guided surface wave receive structure in response to the electrical load exceeding the predefined amount of permitted power consumption; and

cause an auxiliary power source of the apparatus to provide power to the electrical load in response to the electrical load exceeding the predefined amount of permitted power consumption.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a removable media interface that stores the predefined amount of permitted power consumption, wherein the memory is implemented in the removable media interface.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

identify a sequence of a plurality of predefined frequencies; and

tune the guided surface wave receive structure to match at least one of the plurality of predefined frequencies in accordance with the sequence to obtain the electrical energy from the guided surface wave.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the sequence is accessed from the memory of the removable media interface.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the identifier uniquely identifies the removable media interface.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the guided surface wave comprises one of a plurality of guided surface waves and the guided surface waveguide probe comprises one of a plurality of guided surface waveguide probes, each of the plurality of guided surface waves being generated by a respective one of the plurality of guided surface waveguide probes at a different frequency.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the auxiliary power source further comprises a battery or a wired power connection.

8. A method, comprising:

receiving electrical energy in the form of a guided surface wave using a guided surface wave receive structure;

storing, in memory, a predetermined amount of permitted power consumption by an electrical load coupled to the guided surface wave receive structure and an identifier that identifies a device;

authenticating the device by communicating an identifier over a network to a remote computing device via a network interface;

supplying the electrical energy to the electrical load coupled to the guided surface wave receive structure;

monitoring the electrical load to determine whether an actual power consumption of the electrical load has exceeded the predefined amount of permitted power consumption; and

disabling the guided surface wave receive structure or the electrical load coupled to the guided surface wave receive structure in response to the actual power consumption of the electrical load exceeding the predefined amount of permitted power consumption.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising causing an auxiliary power source to provide power to the electrical load in response to the electrical load exceeding the predefined amount of permitted power consumption.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising accessing the predefined amount of permitted power consumption from memory of a removable media interface.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the identifier uniquely identifies the removable media interface.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the guided surface wave comprises one of a plurality of guided surface waves, each of the plurality of guided surface waves being generated by a respective one of a plurality of guided surface waveguide probes at a different frequency.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

identifying a sequence of a plurality of predefined frequencies; and

tuning the guided surface wave receive structure to match at least one of the plurality of predefined frequencies in accordance with the sequence to obtain the electrical energy from the guided surface wave.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the sequence is accessed from the remote computing device via the network interface.

15. An electrical device, comprising:

a guided surface wave receive structure configured to obtain electrical energy from a guided surface wave traveling along a terrestrial medium;

an electrical load coupled to the guided surface wave receive structure, the electrical load being experienced as a load at an excitation source coupled to a guided surface waveguide probe generating the guided surface wave;

a removable media interface having memory configured to store a predefined amount of permitted power consumption by the electrical load and an identifier in the memory of the removable media interface;

a network interface; and

processing circuitry configured to;

communicate the identifier over a network to a remote computing device via the network interface to authenticate the electrical device using the identifier;

in response to the electrical device being authenticated by the remote computing device, monitor the electrical load to determine that an actual power consumption of the electrical load does not exceeded a predefined amount of permitted power consumption; and

enable the guided surface wave receive structure or the electrical load coupled to the guided surface wave receive structure in response to the actual power consumption of the electrical load not exceeding the predefined amount of permitted power consumption.

16. The electrical device of claim 15, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause an auxiliary power source to provide power to the electrical load in response to the electrical load exceeding the predefined amount of permitted power consumption.

17. The electrical device of claim 15, wherein the identifier uniquely identifies the removable media interface.

18. The electrical device of claim 15, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

identify a sequence of a plurality of predefined frequencies from the memory of the removable media interface; and

tune the guided surface wave receive structure to match at least one of the plurality of predefined frequencies in accordance with the sequence to obtain the electrical energy from the guided surface wave.

19. The electrical device of claim 15, wherein the guided surface wave comprises one of a plurality of guided surface waves and the guided surface waveguide probe comprises one of a plurality of guided surface waveguide probes, each of the plurality of guided surface waves being generated by a respective one of the plurality of guided surface waveguide probes at a different frequency.

20. The electrical device of claim 15, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

receive a sequence of a plurality of predefined frequencies from the remote computing device over the network;

store the sequence of the plurality of predefined frequencies in memory of the electrical device; and

tune the guided surface wave receive structure to match at least one of the plurality of predefined frequencies in accordance with the sequence to obtain the electrical energy from the guided surface wave.