Wireless power transmitter and receiver

• US 10,340,749 B2
• Filed: 02/25/2016
• Issued: 07/02/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Park, Yongcheol
• Primary Examiner(s): Fleming, Fritz M
• Application Number:
  US15/554,876
• Publication Number:
  US 20180048189A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,223 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/12 of the resonant type
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/402 the two or more transmitting or the two or more receiving devices being integrated in the same unit, e.g. power mats with several coils or antennas with several sub-antennas
• 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: H02J 7/0013 acting upon several batteries simultaneously or sequentially H02J7/1423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/26 using coils
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries

Abstract

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for wirelessly transmitting power by a power transmitter including a plurality of coils comprises the steps of: detecting a second power receiver while transmitting power to a first power receiver; determining at least one primary coil appropriate for transmitting power; determining, by using the determined at least one primary coil, whether the second power receiver supports a shared mode protocol; and when the second power receiver supports the shared mode protocol, transmitting power to the first and second power receivers according to the shared mode protocol, wherein the shared mode protocol may be a protocol which simultaneously manages an information exchange between the power transmitter and a plurality of power receivers.

Claims

1. A method in which a power transmitter comprising multi coils transmits wireless power, the method comprising:

detecting a second power receiver while transmitting power to a first power receiver;

determining at least one primary coil appropriate for power transmission;

determining whether the second power receiver supports a shared mode protocol using the determined at least one primary coil;

transmitting, if the second power receiver supports a shared mode protocol, power to the first and second power receivers according to the shared mode protocol,

wherein the shared mode protocol is a protocol that simultaneously manages information exchange between the power transmitter and a plurality of power receivers; and

not transmitting, if the second power receiver does not support the shared mode protocol, power to the second power receiver until the power transmitter is prepared to serve the second power receiver in an exclusive mode,

wherein the exclusive mode is a mode that serves one power receiver at one time.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of whether the second power receiver supports the shared mode protocol comprises:

receiving a configuration packet from the second power receiver; and

determining whether the second power receiver supports the shared mode protocol through a mode field included in the configuration packet.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining of whether the second power receiver supports the shared mode protocol through the mode field comprises:

determining that the second power receiver supports the shared mode protocol when the mode field is set to ‘

1’

, and

determining that the second power receiver does not support the shared mode protocol when the mode field is set to ‘

0’

.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising starting, if the second power receiver supports the shared mode protocol, power transmission to the second power receiver at a start time point of a next slotted frame.

5. A method in which a power receiver receives wireless power, the method comprising:

being detected by a power transmitter transmitting power to another power receiver;

transmitting a configuration packet indicating whether the power receiver supports a shared mode protocol to the power transmitter;

detecting, if the power receiver supports the shared mode protocol, Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) in a power signal received from the power transmitter and participating in power transmission of the power transmitter together with the another power receiver according to the shared mode protocol,

wherein the shared mode protocol is a protocol that simultaneously manages information exchange between the power transmitter and a plurality of power receivers; and

not receiving, if the power receiver does not support the shared mode protocol, power from the power transmitter until the power transmitter is prepared to serve the power receiver in an exclusive mode,

wherein the exclusive mode is a mode in which the power transmitter serves one power receiver at one time.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein a mode field included in the configuration packet indicates whether the power receiver supports the shared mode protocol.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the mode field indicates that the power receiver supports the shared mode protocol, when the mode field is set to ‘

1’

, and

the mode field indicates that the power receiver does not support the shared mode protocol, when the mode field is set to ‘

0’

.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising starting, if the power receiver supports the shared mode protocol, power reception from the power transmitter at a start time point of a next slotted frame.

9. A power transmitter, comprising:

a coil assembly comprising multi coils;

an inverter configured to convert a DC signal to an AC signal;

a tank circuit configured to provide impedance matching;

a communication unit configured to perform communication with a power receiver; and

a control unit configured to control power transfer,

wherein the power transmitter is configured to;

detect a second power receiver while transmitting power to a first power receiver,

determine at least one primary coil appropriate for power transmission,

determine whether the second power receiver supports a shared mode protocol using the determined at least one primary coil,

transmit power to the first and second power receivers according to the shared mode protocol when the second power receiver supports the shared mode protocol,

wherein the shared mode protocol is a protocol that simultaneously manages information exchange between the power transmitter and a plurality of power receivers, and

not transmit power to the second power receiver until the power transmitter is prepared to serve the second power receiver in an exclusive mode when the second power receiver does not support the shared mode,

wherein the exclusive mode is a mode that serves one power receiver at one time.

10. The power transmitter of claim 9, wherein the power transmitter is further configured to receive a configuration packet from the second power receiver and determine whether the second power receiver supports the shared mode protocol through a mode field included in the configuration packet.

11. The power transmitter of claim 10, wherein the power transmitter is further configured to:

determine that the second power receiver supports the shared mode protocol when the mode field is set to ‘

1’

, and

determine that the second power receiver does not support the shared mode protocol when the mode field is set to ‘

0’

.

12. The power transmitter of claim 9, wherein the power transmitter is further configured to start power transmission to the second power receiver at a start time point of a next slotted frame when the second power receiver supports the shared mode protocol.

13. A power receiver, comprising:

a coil assembly comprising multi coils;

a power converter configured to convert AC power to a voltage and a current appropriate for a load circuit;

a tank circuit configured to provide impedance matching;

a communication unit configured to perform communication with a power receiver; and

a control unit configured to control power transfer,

wherein the power receiver is configured to;

be detected by a power transmitter transmitting power to another power receiver,

transmit a configuration packet indicating whether the power receiver supports a shared mode protocol to the power transmitter,

detect Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) in a power signal received from the power transmitter, and participate in power transmission of the power transmitter together with the another power receiver according to the shared mode protocol, when the power receiver supports the shared mode protocol,

wherein the shared mode protocol is a protocol that simultaneously manages information exchange between the power transmitter and a plurality of power receivers, and

not receive power from the power transmitter until the power transmitter is prepared to serve the power receiver in an exclusive mode when the power receiver does not support the shared mode protocol,

wherein the exclusive mode is a mode in which the power transmitter serves one power receiver at one time.

14. The power receiver of claim 13, wherein a mode field included in the configuration packet indicates whether the power receiver supports the shared mode protocol.

15. The power receiver of claim 14, wherein:

the mode field indicates that the power receiver supports the shared mode protocol when the mode field is set to ‘

1’

,

the mode field indicates that the power receiver does not support the shared mode protocol when the mode field is set to ‘

0’

.

16. The power receiver of claim 13, wherein the power receiver is further configured to start power reception from the power transmitter at a start time point of a next slotted frame when the power receiver supports the shared mode protocol.