Wireless power transmission system, and method and apparatus for allocating communication channel and transmitting power in wireless power transmission system

• US 9,142,997 B2
• Filed: 06/01/2012
• Issued: 09/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Nam Yun, Kwon, Sang Wook, Park, Yun Kwon, Hong, Young Tack
• Primary Examiner(s): WEST, LEWIS G
• Application Number:
  US13/486,449
• Publication Number:
  US 20120309308A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,208 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2210/10 DC to DC converters
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2210/30 AC to DC converters
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2210/40 DC to AC converters
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2250/16 by display
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/126 Methods for pairing a vehicle and a charging station, e.g. establishing a one-to-one relation between a wireless power transmitter and a wireless power receiver
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/36 by positioning the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/005 Mechanical details of housing or structure aiming to accommodate the power transfer means, e.g. mechanical integration of coils, antennas or transducers into emitting or receiving devices
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/12 of the resonant type
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/40 using two or more transmitting or receiving devices H02J50/50 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/70 involving the reduction of electric, magnetic or electromagnetic leakage fields
• 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
• 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: H04B 5/26 using coils
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/266 One coil at each side, e.g. with primary and secondary coils
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/72 Electric energy management in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 : Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 : Plug-in electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 : Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

A wireless power transmission system, and a method and an apparatus for allocating a communication channel and transmitting a power in the wireless power transmission system. If a target device configured to wirelessly receive power from a source device is detected, a controlling communication channel to be used for performing communication with the target device is selected. An initial control signal including an identifier (ID) of the source device and a channel fix command are transmitted to the target device through the selected controlling communication channel. The channel fix command includes a command requesting the target device to use the selected controlling communication channel. A charging power is transmitted from the source device to the target device through a magnetic coupling between the source device and the target device.

Claims

1. A method of allocating a communication channel and transmitting a power in a wireless power transmission system, the method comprising:

selecting a controlling communication channel to be used for performing communication with a target device configured to wirelessly receive a power from a source device when the target device is detected;

transmitting, to the target device, an initial control signal comprising an identifier (ID) of the source device and a channel fix command through the selected controlling communication channel;

receiving, from the target device, a signal in response to the channel fix command;

allocating a controlling ID to the target device; and

entering a charging mode in which a charging power to be used for charging is transmitted from the source device to the target device;

wherein the channel fix command comprises a command requesting the target device to use the selected controlling communication channel; and

the charging power is transmitted from the source device to the target device through a magnetic coupling between the source device and the target device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting of a controlling communication channel comprises:

transmitting, to the target device, a wake-up power that is used to activate a communication function and a control function of the target device;

searching for an available controlling communication channel based on detection of a carrier signal; and

selecting a controlling communication channel to be used for performing communication with the target device based on a result of the searching for the available controlling communication channel.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the searching for an available controlling communication channel comprises:

selecting a first communication channel from N communication channels, N being an integer greater than or equal to 2;

determining whether a carrier signal is detected through the first communication channel;

determining whether a level of the detected carrier signal is greater than a predetermined value if a carrier signal is detected through the first communication channel;

selecting a second communication channel from the N communication channels if the level of the carrier signal detected through the first communication channel is greater than or equal to the predetermined value; and

determining whether a carrier signal is detected through the second communication channel.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the selecting of a controlling communication channel further comprises selecting the first communication channel as the controlling communication channel if a carrier signal is not detected through the first communication channel, or if the level of the carrier signal detected through the first communication channel is less than the predetermined value.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the transmitting of an initial control signal comprises transmitting, to the target device, the initial control signal during consecutive time periods based on an amount of time used by the target device for scanning the N communication channels.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether a communication error has occurred in the charging mode;

searching for an empty channel among N communication channels if a communication error has occurred, N being an integer greater than or equal to 2;

transmitting, to the target device, a channel change command through the selected controlling communication channel if an empty channel is found; and

changing the controlling communication channel to the found empty channel if a response to the channel change command is received is received from the target device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

allocating a controlling ID to a new target device detected in the charging mode;

adjusting a level of the charging power based on a device load of the new target device;

detecting a reflected wave of the charging power; and

releasing a connection of the new target device if a signal level of the reflected wave is greater than a predetermined value.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the target device, information about a receiving sensitivity of the initial control signal and/or information about a receiving level of the charging power; and

determining whether the target device is located within a power transmission area of the source device based on the information about the receiving sensitivity of the initial control signal and/or the information about the receiving level of the charging power.

9. A source device of a wireless power transmission system, the source device comprising:

a power converter configured to generate a wake-up power or a charging power by converting a direct current (DC) voltage to an alternating current (AC) voltage using a resonant frequency;

a source resonator configured to transmit, to a target device, the generated wake-up power or the generated charging power through a magnetic coupling between the source device and the target device; and

a control and communication (control/communication) unit configured to;

search for an available controlling communication channel based on detection of a carrier signal;

select a controlling communication channel to be used for performing communication with the target device based on a result of the searching for the available controlling communication channel; and

transmit, to the target device, an initial control signal comprising an identifier (ID) of the source device and a channel fix command through the selected controlling communication channel.

10. The source device of claim 9, wherein the control/communication unit is further configured to:

select a first communication channel from N communication channels, N being an integer greater than or equal to 2;

determine whether a carrier signal is detected through the first communication channel;

determine whether a level of the detected carrier signal is greater than a predetermined value if a carrier signal is detected through the first communication channel;

select a second communication channel from the N communication channels if the level of the carrier signal detected through the first communication channel is greater than or equal to the predetermined value; and

determine whether a carrier signal is detected through the second communication channel.

11. A method of allocating a communication channel and transmitting a power in a source device of a wireless power transmission system, the method comprising:

detecting a target device configured to wirelessly receive a power from the source device though a magnetic coupling between the source device and the target device;

selecting a controlling communication channel to be used for performing communication with the target device;

transmitting a channel fix command requesting the target device to use the controlling communication channel to communicate with the source device to the target device through the controlling communication channel;

determining whether an acknowledgement has been received from the target device in response to the channel fix command;

if an acknowledgement has been received from the target device in response to the channel fix command, allocating a controlling ID to the target device; and

if a controlling ID has been allocated to the target device, initiating a charging mode of the source device and transmitting a charging power to operate the target device or charge an energy storage element of the target device from the source device to the target device through the magnetic coupling between the source device and the target device.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

if an acknowledgement has not been received from the target device in response to the channel fix command, determining whether a number of times the channel fix command has been transmitted to the target device is greater than a predetermined number of times;

if the number of times the channel fix command has been transmitted to the target device is not greater than the predetermined number of times, transmitting the channel fix command to the target device through the selected controlling communication channel again; and

if the number of times the channel fix command has been transmitted to the target device is greater than the predetermined number of times, performing an error process.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the selecting of a controlling communication channel comprises:

searching for a communication channel that is not being used by another source device to transmit a power to another target device among a plurality of communication channels;

if a communication channel that is not being used by another source device to transmit a power to another target device is found during the searching, selecting the communication channel that was found as the controlling communication channel; and

if a communication channel that is not being used by another source device to transmit a power to another target device is not found during the searching after all of the communication channels have been searched, repeating the searching.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

determining whether an error in communication between the source device and the target device has occurred while the source device is operating in the charging mode;

if an error in communication has not occurred, repeating the determining of whether an error in communication has occurred;

if an error in communication has occurred, searching for another communication channel that is not being used by another source device to transmit a power to another target device among a plurality of communication channels;

if another communication channel that is not being used by another source device to transmit a power to another target device is found during the searching, changing the controlling communication channel to the other communication channel that is not being used by another source device to transmit a power to another target device;

if another communication channel that is not being used by another source device to transmit a power to another target device is not found during the searching after all of the communication channels have been searched, determining whether a number of times all of the communication channels have been searched is greater than a predetermined number of times;

if the number of times all of the communication channels have been searched is not greater than the predetermined number of times, repeating the searching; and

if the number of times all of the communication channels have been searched is greater than the predetermined number of times, performing an error process.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the changing of the controlling communication channel to the other communication channel that is not being used by another source device to transmit a power to another target device comprises:

transmitting a channel change command requesting the target device to use the other communication channel to communicate with the source device to the target device through the controlling communication channel;

determining whether an acknowledgement has been received from the target device in response to the channel change command;

if an acknowledgement has been received from the target device in response to the channel change command, changing the controlling communication channel to the other communication channel;

if an acknowledgement has not been received from the target device in response to the channel change command, determined whether a predetermined time has elapsed since the channel change command was transmitted to the target device;

if the predetermined time has not elapsed, repeating the determining of whether an acknowledgement has been received from the target device in response to the channel change command; and

if the predetermined time has elapsed, performing an error process.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising, after the changing of the controlling communication channel to the other communication channel:

transmitting an inquiry as to whether the target device has changed a communication channel for communicating with the source device to the other communication channel to the target device through the controlling communication channel that has been changed to the other communication channel;

determining whether an acknowledgement has been received from the target device in response to the inquiry;

if an acknowledgement has been received from the target device in response to the inquiry, continuing to operate the source device in the charging mode; and

if an acknowledgement has not been received from the target device in response to the inquiry, performing an error process.