Power supply device, communication terminal device, and non-contact power transmission method

• US 8,853,890 B2
• Filed: 04/01/2011
• Issued: 10/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Mobile Communications Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Suzuki, Katsuya, Suzuki, Kuniharu
• Primary Examiner(s): Fureman, Jared
• Assistant Examiner(s): BUKHARI, AQEEL H
• Application Number:
  US13/078,624
• Publication Number:
  US 20120009869A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,285 Days
• US Class Current: 307/104
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/22 The load being a portable electronic device
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/05 using capacitive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• 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 50/80 involving the exchange of data, concerning supply or distribution of electric power, between transmitting devices and receiving devices
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0013 acting upon several batteries simultaneously or sequentially H02J7/1423 takes precedence
• 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 5/26 using coils
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/281 taking into account user or data type priority

Abstract

A power supply apparatus including a near-field wireless communication unit that wirelessly communicates with a plurality of communication terminals, a power transmission unit that sets a plurality of resonance frequencies to transfer power in a non-contact manner to each of the plurality of communication terminals, and a control unit that determines a priority level of each of the communication terminals based on identification information received from the communication terminals and determines an amount of power transmitted at each of the resonance frequencies based on the determined priority levels.

Claims

1. A power supply apparatus comprising:

a near-field wireless communication interface configured to wirelessly communicate with a plurality of communication terminals; and

circuitry configured to

determine whether each of the communication terminals belong to a first priority level or a second priority level based on identification information received from each of the terminals via the near-field wireless communication unit;

set a first resonance frequency for communication terminals belonging to the first priority level and a second resonance frequency for communication terminals belonging to the second priority level; and

determine an amount of power that is transmitted in a non-contact manner to each of the plurality of communication terminals at each of the first and second resonance frequencies based on a number of communication terminals belonging to the first priority level and a number of communication terminals belonging to the second priority level.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to transmit information indicating the resonance frequency set for each of the communication terminals to each of the communication terminals.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to transmit power at the first resonance frequency for a first period of time over a predetermined period of time and transmit power at the second resonance frequency for a second period of time over the predetermined period of time, the first period of time being longer than the second period of time.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to transmit power at the first resonance frequency at a first power level and transmit power at the second resonance frequency at a second power level, the first power level being higher than the second power level.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to transmit power at the first resonance frequency at a first power level for a first period of time over a predetermined period of time and transmit power at the second resonance frequency at a second power level for a second period of time over the predetermined period of time, the first power level being higher than the second power level and the first period of time being longer than the second period of time.

6. A wireless power transmission method performed by a power supply apparatus, the method comprising:

receiving identification information corresponding to each of a plurality of communication terminals via near-field wireless communication;

determining whether each of the communication terminals belong to a first priority level or a second priority level based on the received identification information;

setting a first resonance frequency for communication terminals belonging to the first priority level and a second resonance frequency for communication terminals belonging to the second priority level; and

determining an amount of power that is transmitted in a non-contact manner to each of the plurality of communication terminals at each of the first and second resonance frequencies based a number of communication terminals belonging to the first priority level and a number of communication terminals belonging to the second priority level.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

transmitting information indicating the resonance frequency set for each of the communication terminals to each of the communication terminals.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium including computer program instructions, which when executed by a power supply apparatus, cause the power supply apparatus to perform a method comprising:

receiving identification information corresponding to each of a plurality of communication terminals via near-field wireless communication;

determining whether each of the communication terminals belong to a first priority level or a second priority level based on the received identification information;

setting a first resonance frequency for communication terminals belonging to the first priority level and a second resonance frequency for communication terminals belonging to the second priority level; and

determining an amount of power that is transmitted in a non-contact manner to each of the plurality of communication terminals at each of the first and second resonance frequencies based a number of communication terminals belonging to the first priority level and a number of communication terminals belonging to the second priority level.