INTEGRATED CIRCUITS FOR TRANSMITTING WIRELESS POWER, RECEIVING WIRELESS POWER, AND/OR COMMUNICATING WIRELESSLY

• US 20170141620A1
• Filed: 11/17/2016
• Published: 05/18/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ossia, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Ossia, Inc.
• Inventors: Zeine, Hatem, Shylendra, Prithvi, Johnson, Anthony L., Williams, Douglas Wayne, Mayes, Dale
• Granted Patent: US 9,866,074 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/20 using microwaves or radio frequency waves
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/342 The other DC source being a battery actively interacting with the first one, i.e. battery to battery charging with circuits for polarity protection H02J7/0034
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer

Abstract

The disclosed technology relates to wireless communication and wireless power transmission. In some implementations, the disclosed technology is directed to an integrated circuit having a transmitter that transmits radio frequency (RF) based wireless power and receives signals for detecting the location of a client device. The disclosed technology is also directed to an integrated circuit for a client device that receives power from the transmitter and transmits beacon signals, which the transmitter can use to locate the client device.

Claims

1. A system for transmitting wireless power, the system comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor and storing instructions for transmitting wireless power and receiving beacon signals from a client device according to a power delivery schedule and beacon schedule, respectively;

a clock source configured to synchronize transmission of wireless power;

at least four antenna management units (AMUs) configured to transmit RF wireless power and receive beacon signals from a client device,

wherein each of the AMUs includes;

a transceiver configured to switch between receiving a beacon signal from an antenna port and transmitting an RF power waveform to the client device;

a phase shifter configured to adjust the phase of the RF power waveform based on the received beach signal; and

a phase detector configured to detect the phase of the received beacon signal from the client device,

wherein each transceiver is configured to concurrently transmit the RF power waveform to the client device; and

at least one an antenna coupled to each of the at least four AMUs.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least four AMUs are configured to operate in a digital domain, and wherein the system further comprises an analog to digital converter and a digital to analog converter.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least four AMUs are monolithically integrated.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein each AMU employs phase modulation to uniquely address multiple client device concurrently, and wherein each antenna module is coupled to a client phase table that stores different phase steps for each client.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a housing structure configured to enclose the system, wherein the housing structure physically coupled to the system is moveable by hand.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a temperature sensor physically coupled to the system and configured to sense temperature information of the system and send the sensed temperature information to the processor, wherein the processor is configured to shut down the transmission of wireless power based on determining that the sensed temperature information exceeds a threshold value.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one of the following:

a Bluetooth,

a WiFi,

a ZigBee, or

IEEE 802.11 communications chip electrically coupled to the processor.

8. An integrated circuit for wireless power transmission, comprising:

at least four antenna modules configured to transmit radio frequency (RF) wireless power and receive beacon signals from a client device,

wherein each of the antenna modules includes;

a transceiver configured to—

receive a beacon signal from an antenna port and,

transmit an RF power waveform to the client device via the antenna port;

a phase shifter configured to adjust the phase of the RF power waveform based on the received beacon signal; and

a phase detector configured to detect the phase of the received beacon signal from the client device,

wherein each transceiver is configured to concurrently transmit the RF power waveform to the client device.

9. The integrated circuit of claim 8, wherein the at least four antenna modules are configured to be under control of a processing unit, and wherein the processing unit is coupled to memory storing instructions for a beacon signaling schedule and power delivery schedule.

10. The integrated circuit of claim 8, wherein the at least four antenna modules are configured to operate in an analog domain, and wherein the at least four antenna modules are monolithically integrated.

11. The integrated circuit of claim 8, wherein the phase shifter is configured to receive control signals from a processing unit, and wherein the control signals, when received by the phase shifter, cause the phase shifter to adjust a phase of the RF power waveform based on the received beacon signal.

12. The integrated circuit of claim 8, wherein each antenna module employs phase modulation to uniquely address multiple client device concurrently, and wherein each antenna module is coupled to a client phase table that stores different phase steps for each client.

13. The integrated circuit of claim 8, wherein the integrated circuit operates in a range of 2.4 to 2.483 GHz or 5.725 to 5.875 GHz, and wherein each transceiver is configured to concurrently transmit the RF power waveform to each client device within a different time slot.

14. A tangible computer-readable storage medium containing machine-implementable instructions for performing a method of providing wireless power to a client device, the method comprising:

transmitting a beacon signaling schedule to a client device;

sending a control signal to a transceiver to thereby switch an antenna from transmitting wireless power to receiving beacon signals;

receiving a beacon signal from the client device, wherein the received beacon signal is in accordance with the beacon signaling schedule;

amplifying the received beacon signal;

detecting a phase of the amplified beacon signal;

determining an adjusted phase for transmitting wireless power to the client device at least partially based on the detected phase of the amplified beacon signal;

sending control instructions to a phase shifter to transmitting the adjusted phase wireless power to the client device;

amplifying the transmitted adjusted phase wireless power to client device; and

transmit the adjusted phase wireless power to the client device.

15. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a synchronizing signal from a clock source; and

adjusting the adjusted phase for transmitting wireless power based on the received synchronizing signal from the clock source.

16. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises:

transmitting another beacon signaling schedule to another client device;

receiving another beacon signal from the other client device, the received other beacon signal in accordance with the beacon signaling schedule;

amplifying the received other beacon signal;

detecting another phase of the other amplified beacon signal;

sending the other detected phase to a processing unit;

determining another adjusted phase for transmitting wireless power to the other client device at least partially based on the other detected phase of the other amplified beacon signal;

sending other control instructions to the phase shifter to transmit the other adjusted phase wireless power to the client device;

amplifying the other adjusted phase wireless power to the other client device; and

transmitting the other adjusted phase wireless power to the other client device.

17. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises:

after amplifying the received beacon signal, converting the amplified signal from analog to digital.

18. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, further comprises:

receiving a signal associated with a temperature for transmitting the wireless power;

based on the received signal, determining the temperature has exceeded a threshold value; and

in response to determining the temperature has exceeded a threshold value, shutting down the transmission of wireless power.

19. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises:

communicating with the client device using at least one of following;

Bluetooth,

WiFi,

ZigBee, or

IEEE 802.11.

20. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the client device is moving or recently moved from a first location to a second location, wherein the first location is at least 1 meter away from the second location.