BEAMFORMING FOR WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER

• US 20170256988A1
• Filed: 01/05/2017
• Published: 09/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: uBeam, Inc.
• Original Assignee: uBeam, Inc.
• Inventors: Joyce, Andrew, Adamson, Rob, MacDougall, Dan, Latham, Kate, Farrell, Josh
• Granted Patent: US 10,230,271 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/15 using ultrasonic waves
• 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 50/90 involving detection or optimisation of position, e.g. alignment

Abstract

Systems and techniques are provided for beamforming for wireless power transfer. A phase/amplitude map for a notional field in a plane of an aperture of the second wireless power transfer device may be determined. A Fourier transform may be performed on the phase/amplitude map for the notional field to generate a spatial frequency representation of the notional field. A phase/amplitude map for a second notional field in a plane of an aperture of the first wireless power transfer device may be determined based on the spatial frequency representation of the notional field and the position of the second wireless power transfer device. Control signals for transducer elements of the first wireless power transfer device may be generated based on the determined phase/amplitude map for the second notional field. The control signals for the transducer elements may be supplied to the transducer elements.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining a position of a second wireless power transfer device relative to a first wireless power transfer device;

determining a phase/amplitude map for a notional field in a plane of an aperture of the second wireless power transfer device;

performing a Fourier transform on the phase/amplitude map for the notional field to generate a spatial frequency representation of the notional field in the plane of the aperture of the second wireless power transfer device;

determining a phase/amplitude map for a second notional field in a plane of an aperture of the first wireless power transfer device based on the spatial frequency representation of the notional field in the plane of the aperture of the second wireless power transfer device and the position of the second wireless power transfer device;

generating control signals for one or more transducer elements of the first wireless power transfer device based on the determined phase/amplitude map for the second notional field in the plane of the aperture of the first wireless power transfer device;

supplying the control signals for the one or more transducer elements to the one or more transducer elements; and

transmitting waveforms from the one or more transducer elements based on the supplied control signals.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the aperture of the second wireless power transfer device is located at one or more transducers of the second wireless power transfer device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the phase/amplitude map represents the notional field in the plane of the aperture of the second wireless power transfer device at the one or more transducers of the second wireless power transfer device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a phase/amplitude map for a second notional field in a plane of an aperture of the first wireless power transfer device based on the spatial frequency representation of the notional field in the plane of the aperture of the second wireless power transfer device and the position of the second wireless power transfer device further comprises:

determining a spatial frequency representation of the second notional field based on a propagation of the notional field from the plane of the aperture of the second wireless power transfer device to the plane of the aperture of the first wireless power transfer device; and

performing an inverse Fourier transform on the spatial frequency representation of the second notional field to determine the phase/amplitude map of the second notional field.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining a spatial frequency representation of the phase/amplitude map of the second notional field based on a propagation of the notional field from the plane of the aperture of the second wireless power transfer device to the plane of the aperture of the first wireless power transfer device further comprises:

applying a transformation kernel to the spatial frequency representation of the notional field in the plane of the aperture of the second wireless power transfer device to determine the spatial frequency representation of the second notional field in the plane of the aperture of the first wireless power transfer device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein generating control signals for one or more transducer elements of the first wireless power transfer device based on the determined phase/amplitude map for the second notional field in the plane of the aperture of the first wireless power transfer device further comprises:

windowing the complex conjugate of the determined phase/amplitude map for the second notional field in the plane of the aperture of the first wireless power transfer device to the aperture of the first wireless power transfer device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining phase corrections for the aperture of the second wireless power transfer device that make the phase/amplitude map of the notional field quasi-parallel to the plane of the aperture of the first wireless power transfer device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more transducers are ultrasonic transducers, RF transducers, or optical transducers.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the phase/amplitude map of the notional field comprises coherent phase.

10. A system for beamforming for wireless power transfer comprising:

a plurality of elements adapted and configured to transmit waveforms for a transmitted beam based on supplied control signals;

a receiver position detector adapted to determine a position of a receiving wireless power transfer device; and

a computing device comprising a transducer signal generator configured to determine a phase/amplitude map for a notional field in a plane of an aperture of the receiving wireless power transfer device, perform a Fourier transform on the phase/amplitude map for the notional field to generate a spatial frequency representation of the notional field in the plane of the aperture of the receiving wireless power transfer device, determine a phase/amplitude map for a second notional field in a plane of an aperture of the a transmitting wireless power transfer device comprising the plurality of elements based on the spatial frequency representation of the notional field in the plane of the aperture of the receiving wireless power transfer device and the position of the receiving wireless power transfer device, generate control signals for one or more of the plurality of elements based on the determined phase/amplitude map for the second notional field in the plane of the aperture of the transmitting wireless power transfer device, and supply the control signals for one or more of the plurality of elements to the one or more of the plurality of elements.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the plurality of elements are ultrasonic transducers, RF transducers, or optical transducers.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the aperture of the receiving wireless power transfer device is located at one or more transducer elements of the receiving wireless power transfer device.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the phase/amplitude map represents the notional field in the plane of the aperture of the receiving wireless power transfer device at the one or more transducer elements of the receiving wireless power transfer device.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the transducer signal generator is configured to determine the phase/amplitude map for the second notional field in a plane of the aperture of the transmitting wireless power transfer device based on the spatial frequency representation of the notional field in the plane of the aperture of the receiving wireless power transfer device and the position of the receiving wireless power transfer device by determining a spatial frequency representation of the second notional field based on a propagation of the notional field from the plane of the aperture of the receiving wireless power transfer device to the plane of the aperture of the transmitting wireless power transfer device, and performing an inverse Fourier transform on the spatial frequency representation of the second notional field to determine the phase/amplitude map of the second notional field.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the wherein the transducer signal generator is configured to determine the spatial frequency representation of the phase/amplitude map of the second notional field based on the propagation of the notional field from the plane of the aperture of the receiving wireless power transfer device to the plane of the aperture of the transmitting wireless power transfer device by applying a transformation kernel to the spatial frequency representation of the notional field in the plane of the aperture of the receiving wireless power transfer device to determine the spatial frequency representation of the second notional field in the plane of the aperture of the transmitting wireless power transfer device.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the transducer signal generator is configured to generate control signals for the one or more of the plurality of transducer elements of the transmitting wireless power transfer device based on the determined phase/amplitude map for the second notional field in the plane of the aperture of the transmitting wireless power transfer device by windowing the complex conjugate of the determined phase/amplitude map for the second notional field in the plane of the aperture of the transmitting wireless power transfer device to the aperture of the transmitting wireless power transfer device.

18. The system of claim 10, further comprising determining phase corrections for the aperture of the receiving wireless power transfer device that make the phase/amplitude map of the notional field quasi-parallel to the plane of the aperture of the transmitting wireless power transfer device.

19. The method of claim 10, wherein the phase/amplitude map of the notional field comprises coherent phase.

11. The system of claim 30, further comprising a transducer control adapted and configured to receive the control signals from the transducer signal generator and supply the control signals to the one or more of the plurality of elements.

20. A system comprising:

one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions which are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

determining a position of a second wireless power transfer device relative to a first wireless power transfer device;

determining a phase/amplitude map for a notional field in a plane of an aperture of the second wireless power transfer device;

performing a Fourier transform on the phase/amplitude map for the notional field to generate a spatial frequency representation of the notional field in the plane of the aperture of the second wireless power transfer device;

determining a phase/amplitude map for a second notional field in a plane of an aperture of the first wireless power transfer device based on the spatial frequency representation of the notional field in the plane of the aperture of the second wireless power transfer device and the position of the second wireless power transfer device;

generating control signals for one or more transducer elements of the first wireless power transfer device based on the determined phase/amplitude map for the second notional field in the plane of the aperture of the first wireless power transfer device;

supplying the control signals for the one or more transducer elements to the one or more transducer elements; and

transmitting waveforms from the one or more transducer elements based on the supplied control signals.