ADAPTIVE POWER CONTROL FOR WIRELESS CHARGING OF DEVICES

• US 20140361741A1
• Filed: 08/25/2014
• Published: 12/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Von Novak, William H. III, Toncich, Stanley Slavko, Braden, Stanton C., Fevrier, Ian J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,559,526 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 320/108
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 38/14 Inductive couplings for wireless supply or distribution of electric power using inductive coupling H02J50/10
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/20 using microwaves or radio frequency waves
• 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 7/00034 Charger exchanging data with an electronic device, i.e. telephone, whose internal battery is under charge
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/04 TPC

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power transfer. A wireless power transmitter includes a transmit antenna and a controller. The transmit antenna inductively transfers power to a plurality of receiver devices. The controller is operably coupled to the transmit antenna and causes a first one of the plurality of receiver devices to be enabled to receive the power from the transmit antenna and causes at least a portion of the remaining receiver devices to be disabled from receiving the power while the first receiver device is enabled.

Claims

1. A wireless power transmitter, comprising:

a transmit antenna configured to inductively transfer power to a plurality of receiver devices; and

a controller operably coupled to the transmit antenna and configured to cause a first one of the plurality of receiver devices to be enabled to receive the power from the transmit antenna and cause at least a portion of the remaining receiver devices to be disabled from receiving the power while the first receiver device is enabled.

2. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to cause the first receiver device to be enabled and cause the at least portion of the remaining receiver devices to be disabled based on a message sent to the plurality of receiver devices.

3. The wireless power transmitter of claim 2, wherein the controller is further configured to send the message to the plurality of receiver devices via an on/off keying communication protocol or a separate communication channel.

4. The wireless power transmitter of claim 3, wherein the separate communication channel comprises Bluetooth, Zigbee or cellular network.

5. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to adjust the amount of time during which the first receiver device is enabled based on a charging level of the first receiver device.

6. The wireless power transmitter of claim 5, wherein the controller is further configured to cause the first receiver device to be disabled from receiving the power when the first receiver device has been substantially fully charged with the received power.

7. The wireless power transmitter of claim 6, wherein the controller is further configured to cause a second one of the plurality of receiver devices to be enabled to receive the power from the transmit antenna and cause at least a portion of the remaining receiver devices to be disabled from receiving the power while the second receiver device is enabled.

8. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to sequentially cause the plurality of receiver devices to be enabled to receive the power and substantially equally apportion the amount of time during which each of the receiver devices is enabled.

9. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to sequentially cause the plurality of receiver devices to be enabled to receive the power and unequally apportion the amount of time during which each of the receiver devices is enabled.

10. A method of wirelessly transferring power, comprising:

inductively transferring power to a plurality of receiver devices; and

causing a first one of the plurality of receiver devices to be enabled to receive the power and causing at least a portion of the remaining receiver devices to be disabled from receiving the power while the first receiver device is enabled.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising sending a message to the plurality of receiver devices, wherein the causing is performed based on the message.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the message is sent to the plurality of receiver devices via an on/off keying communication protocol or a separate communication channel, and wherein the separate communication channel comprises Bluetooth, Zigbee or cellular network.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising adjusting the amount of time during which the first receiver device is enabled based on a charging level of the first receiver device.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

causing the first receiver device to be disabled from receiving the power when the first receiver device has been substantially fully charged; and

causing a second one of the plurality of receiver devices to be enabled to receive the power from the transmit antenna and causing the at least portion of the remaining receiver devices to be disabled from receiving the power while the second receiver device is enabled.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of receiver devices are sequentially caused to be enabled and are substantially equally apportioned with respect to the amount of time during which each of the receiver devices is enabled.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of receiver devices are sequentially caused to be enabled and are unequally apportioned with respect to the amount of time during which each of the receiver devices is enabled.

17. A wireless power receiver, comprising:

a receive antenna configured to inductively receive power from a transmitter which is configured to inductively transfer the power to a plurality of receiver devices spaced apart from the receive antenna; and

a controller operably coupled to the receive antenna and configured to cause the receive antenna to be enabled to receive the power from the transmitter while at least a portion of the plurality of receiver devices is disabled from receiving the power from the transmitter.

18. The wireless power receiver of claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to cause the receive antenna to be enabled based on a message received from the transmitter.

19. The wireless power receiver of claim 18, wherein the receive antenna is configured to receive the message via an on/off keying communication protocol or a separate communication channel, and wherein the separate communication channel comprises Bluetooth, Zigbee or cellular network.

20. The wireless power receiver of claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to cause the receive antenna to be enabled until the wireless power receiver is substantially fully charged with the received power.