PC AS A POWER OVER WIFI STATION FOR SMALL DEVICES

• US 20180314312A1
• Filed: 04/27/2017
• Published: 11/01/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2017
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Lenovo Singapore Pte Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Lenovo Singapore Pte Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Kawakita, Koji, Fujii, Kazuo, Tsukamoto, Yasumichi, Araki, Naoyuki
• Application Number:
  US15/499,809
• Publication Number:
  US 20180314312A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/266 Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/23 characterised by the type of transmitting antennas, e.g. directional array antennas or Yagi antennas
• 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 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: H04L 41/0823 characterised by the purposes of a change of settings, e.g. optimising configuration for enhancing reliability for optimising operational conditions of wireless networks H04W24/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/283 Power depending on the position of the mobile
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/32 TPC of broadcast or control channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/00 Systems for electrical power generation, transmission, distribution or end-user application management characterised by the use of communication or information technologies, or communication or information technology specific aspects supporting them

Abstract

A personal computer providing power over Wi-Fi is provided, the personal computer comprising: a plurality of Wi-Fi antennas; and a processor configured to: determine a data activity level for the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas; in response to the determining of the data activity level, assign each of the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas to one of data transmission and power transmission, wherein the assigning is based on the data activity level; and send power packets using each of the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas that is assigned to power transmission.

Claims

1. A personal computer providing power over Wi-Fi, the personal computer comprising:

a plurality of Wi-Fi antennas; and

a processor configured to;

determine a data activity level for the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas;

in response to the determining of the data activity level, assign each of the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas to one of data transmission and power transmission, wherein the assigning is based on the data activity level; and

send power packets using each of the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas that is assigned to power transmission.

2. The personal computer of claim 1, wherein the determining of the data activity level occurs at periodic intervals.

3. The personal computer of claim 1, wherein the sending of the power packets further occurs during a low power sleep state of the personal computer.

4. The personal computer of claim 1, wherein the assigning of the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas further configures a Wi-Fi channel for each of the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas based on a Wi-Fi congestion survey.

5. The personal computer of claim 1, wherein the assigning is further based on one of a Wi-Fi profile, a location of the personal computer, and a user preference.

6. The personal computer of claim 1, wherein the assigning further configures a transmission power level for each of the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas that is assigned to power transmission.

7. The personal computer of claim 6, wherein the transmission power level is set in response to a user input from an augmented reality application that displays an effective range of the power packets from the personal computer according to the transmission power level.

8. A method for providing power over Wi-Fi using a personal computer, the method comprising:

determining a data activity level for a plurality of Wi-Fi antennas connected to the personal computer;

in response to detecting a threshold change to a monitored parameter, assigning each of the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas to one of data transmission and power transmission, wherein the assigning is based on the data activity level; and

sending power packets using each of the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas that is assigned to power transmission.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the monitored parameter is one of the data activity level, a Wi-Fi profile, a location of the personal computer, and a user preference.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the sending of the power packets further occurs during a low power sleep state of the personal computer.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the assigning of the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas further configures a Wi-Fi channel for each of the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas based on a Wi-Fi congestion survey.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the assigning is further based on one of a Wi-Fi profile, a location of the personal computer, and a user preference.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the assigning further configures a transmission power level for each of the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas that is assigned to power transmission.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the transmission power level is set in response to a user input from an augmented reality application that displays an effective range of the power packets from the personal computer according to the transmission power level.

15. A non-transitory computer readable media containing computer readable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes:

determining a data activity level for a plurality of Wi-Fi antennas connected to a personal computer;

in response to the determining of the data activity level, assigning each of the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas to one of data transmission and power transmission, wherein the assigning is based on the data activity level and further assigns a transmission power level for each of the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas that is assigned to power transmission; and

sending power packets using each of the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas that is assigned to power transmission.

16. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15, wherein the determining of the data activity level occurs at periodic intervals.

17. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15, wherein the sending of the power packets further occurs during a low power sleep state of the personal computer.

18. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15, wherein the assigning is further based on one of a Wi-Fi profile, a location of the personal computer, and a user preference.

19. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15, wherein the transmission power level is set in response to a user preference.

20. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15, wherein the transmission power level is set in response to a user input from an augmented reality application that displays an effective range of the power packets from the personal computer according to the transmission power level.