Optimization of wireless power devices

• US 8,803,474 B2
• Filed: 02/25/2010
• Issued: 08/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Hillan, John, Frankland, Stephen
• Primary Examiner(s): Dunn, Drew A
• Assistant Examiner(s): GRANT, ROBERT J
• Application Number:
  US12/713,091
• Publication Number:
  US 20100244576A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,629 Days
• Field of Search: 320/108
• US Class Current: 320/108
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0702 the arrangement including a battery
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0707 the arrangement being capable of collecting energy from external energy sources, e.g. thermocouples, vibration, electromagnetic radiation G06K19/0702 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0715 the arrangement including means to regulate power transfer to the integrated circuit
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0717 the sensor being capable of sensing environmental conditions such as temperature history or pressure
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0723 the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0726 the arrangement including a circuit for tuning the resonance frequency of an antenna on the record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0008 General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10128 the step consisting of detection of the presence of one or more record carriers in the vicinity of the interrogation device
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10217 parameter settings controlling the transmission power of the interrogator
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/12 of the resonant type
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/20 using microwaves or radio frequency waves
• 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 50/27 characterised by the type of receiving antennas, e.g. rectennas
• 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: H02J 7/00036 Charger exchanging data with battery

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power. A chargeable device may comprise receive circuitry for coupling to a receive antenna. The receive circuitry may comprise at least one sensor to sense one or more parameters associated with the chargeable device. Further, the receive circuitry may comprise a tuning controller operably coupled to the at least one sensor to generate one or more tuning values in response to the one or more sensed parameters. Additionally, the receive circuitry may comprise a matching circuit operably coupled to the tuning controller for tuning the receive antenna according to the one or more tuning values.

Claims

1. A device for receiving charging power wirelessly from a charger, the device comprising:

an antenna configured to receive the charging power via a wireless field at a level sufficient to charge a battery; and

a controller configured to generate a tuning value for the charger to increase a level of efficiency of charging power, the controller further configured to send the generated tuning value to the charger, the controller further configured to receive a reply signal from the charger in response to the generated tuning value, the reply signal indicative of a modification to the wireless field, the antenna further configured to couple to a modified wireless field based on the generated tuning value.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to generate a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) of a value the tuning value is based on, and/or generate a successive approximation of a value the tuning value is based on.

3. The device of claim 1, further comprising a sensor, wherein the sensor is configured to detect at least one of a type of transmitter sending a signal received by the antenna, a type of the device, relative positions of a transmitter sending a signal received by the antenna and the device, a frequency fluctuation associated with a transmitter sending a signal received by the antenna, a frequency fluctuation associated with the device, a temperature fluctuation associated with a transmitter sending a signal received by the antenna, a temperature fluctuation associated with the device, presence of a material within a wireless field generated by transmitter sending a signal received by the antenna, and an environmental factor within a wireless field generated by transmitter sending a signal received by the antenna.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the controller generates at least one tuning value based at least in part on an attribute of the battery, wherein the attribute of the battery comprises at least one of a type of the battery, a number of charging cycles of the battery, a charging level of the battery, a voltage level being supplied to the battery, and an amount of current being supplied to the battery.

5. The device of claim 3, wherein the controller is configured to generate a tuning value based in part on the detected parameter.

6. The device of claim 1, comprising a transmitter for sending the tuning value to the charger.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine an average value of or track a variation of a value on which the tuning value is based on.

8. The device of claim 1, comprising receiving circuitry configured to:

receive a data signal from the charger indicative of an amount of energy within a transmitted wireless field; and

compare the amount of energy within a transmitted wireless field to a measured amount of energy within a received wireless field.

9. The device of claim 1, comprising a transmitter configured to transmit a data signal to the charger requesting a modification to a wireless field transmitted from the charger to increase efficiency of charging power.

10. The device of claim 1, comprising:

a voltage regulator configured to extract available energy from a received data signal, the power management system configured to convey the extracted energy to the battery.

11. The device of claim 10, comprising a data processor configured to process the received data signal.

31. The device of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to generate a tuning value for the antenna.

32. The device of claim 31, further comprising a matching circuit coupled with the controller, the matching circuit configured to tune the antenna based in part on the tuning value for the antenna.

12. A method of receiving wireless charging power from a charger, comprising:

receiving the charging power via a wireless field with an antenna of an electronic device;

generating a tuning value for the charger to increase a level of efficiency of charging power;

sending the generated tuning value to the charger;

receiving a reply signal from the charger in response to the generated tuning value, the reply signal indicative of a modification to the wireless field; and

coupling to a modified wireless field based on the generated tuning value.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein sending the generated tuning value comprises requesting a modification to the wireless field.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein sending the generated tuning value comprises transmitting a signal to the charger, the signal including the tuning value.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein receiving a reply signal from the charger comprises receiving a signal from the charger based in part on the tuning value.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein coupling to a modified wireless field comprises coupling to a modified wireless field after requesting the modification to the wireless field.

17. The method of claim 14, comprising tuning an antenna of the charger based in part on the generated tuning value.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein tuning the antenna of the charger comprises modifying at least one of a Q factor of the antenna, an impedance of the antenna, a center frequency transmitted by the antenna, a directionality of the antenna, and a number of turns of the antenna.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein coupling to a modified wireless field comprises coupling to a modified wireless field from the charger after transmitting a signal to the wireless charger requesting the modification to the wireless field.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein coupling to a modified wireless field comprises coupling to a modified wireless field having one of increased power and decreased power.

21. The method of claim 12, comprising:

detecting a parameter associated with a battery associated with the electronic device; and

wherein a generated tuning value is based at least in part on an attribute of the battery associated with the electronic device and wherein the attribute of the battery comprises at least one of a voltage supplied to the battery and an amount of current supplied to the battery.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein generating a tuning value comprises at least one of generating a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) based in part on the detected parameter and generating a successive approximation based in part on the detected parameter.

33. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

generating a tuning value for the antenna; and

tuning the antenna based in part on the generated tuning value for the antenna.

23. A device, comprising:

means for receiving charging power via a wireless field

means for generating a tuning value for a charger to increase a level of efficiency of charging power;

means for sending the generated tuning value to the charger;

means for receiving a reply signal from the charger in response to the generated tuning value, the reply signal indicative of a modification to the wireless field; and

means for coupling to a modified wireless field based on the generated tuning value.

34. The device of claim 23, further comprising:

means for generating a tuning value for the means for receiving the modified wireless field; and

means for tuning the receiving means of the modified wireless field based in part on the generated tuning value for the means for receiving the modified wireless field.

24. A charger for transmitting power via a wireless field to a wireless power receiver, comprising:

an antenna configured to transmit the power via the wireless field;

a transmitter configured to provide the power to the antenna; and

a receiver configured to receive a data signal from the wireless power receiver comprising a request to modify the wireless field, the transmitter further configured to modify the wireless field based in part on the request and to transmit a reply signal to the wireless power receiver in response to the request, the reply signal indicative of a modification to the wireless field based on the request.

25. A method, comprising:

transmitting charging power via a wireless field to a wireless power receiver;

receiving a data signal from the wireless power receiver comprising a request to modify the wireless field;

modifying the wireless field based in part on the request; and

transmitting a reply signal to the wireless power receiver in response to the request, the reply signal indicative of a modification to the wireless field based on the request.

26. A charger, comprising:

means for transmitting charging power via a wireless field to a wireless power receiver;

means for receiving a data signal from the wireless power receiver comprising a request to modify the wireless field;

means for modifying the wireless field based in part on the request; and

means for transmitting a reply signal to the wireless power receiver in response to the request, the reply signal indicative of a modification to the wireless field based on the request.

27. A computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, executable by a processor of an apparatus, that cause the apparatus to:

transmit charging power via a wireless field to a wireless power receiver;

receive a data signal from the wireless power receiver comprising a request to modify the wireless field;

modify the wireless field based in part on the request; and

transmit a reply signal to the wireless power receiver in response to the request, the reply signal indicative of a modification to the wireless field based on the request.

28. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, executable by a processor of an apparatus, that cause the apparatus to:

receive charging power via a wireless field with an antenna of an electronic device;

generate a tuning value for a charger;

send the generated tuning value to the charger;

receive a reply signal from the charger in response to the generated tuning value, the reply signal indicative of a modification to the wireless field; and

couple to a modified wireless field based on the generated tuning value.

29. The computer readable storage medium of claim 28, wherein sending the generated tuning value comprises requesting a modification to the wireless field.

30. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein sending the generated tuning value comprises transmitting a signal to the charger, the signal including the tuning value.

35. The computer readable storage medium of claim 28, further comprising instructions causing the apparatus to:

generate a tuning value for the antenna; and

tune the antenna based in part on the generated tuning value for the antenna.