System and method for electrical charge transfer across a conductive medium
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for supplying power to a plurality of devices comprising:
- a conductive backplane comprising a conductive metal or conductive textile, wherein each of said plurality of devices are coupled to the conductive backplane via a respective conductive pathway;
sensing circuitry comprising a signal generator and a signal detector, the sensing circuitry coupled to the conductive backplane;
a power supply coupled to the conductive backplane; and
a controller circuit including a memory configured to;
store information about power requirements of each of the plurality of devices in the memory;
control the signal generator to supply a plurality of sensing signals at a plurality of transmit impedance values to the conductive backplane;
analyze a plurality of return signals detected by the signal detector, the return signals corresponding to the sensing signals;
detect, based on the analyzed return signals, the presence of a sink device and its conductive pathway and identify said detected sink device, coupled to the conductive backplane;
retrieve the stored power requirements for the detected and identified sink device; and
control the power supply to supply power according to the retrieved power requirements to the detected and identified sink device via its conductive pathway.
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Abstract
A method for supplying power to detected devices coupled to a conductive backplane includes: supplying a plurality of sensing signals at a plurality of transmit impedance values to the conductive backplane; analyzing a plurality of return signals received from the conductive backplane, the return signals corresponding to the sensing signals; detecting the presence of a sink device coupled to the conductive backplane based on the analyzed return signals; and supplying power from a power supply to the sink device via the conductive backplane after detecting the presence of the sink device.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. An apparatus for supplying power to a plurality of devices comprising:
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a conductive backplane comprising a conductive metal or conductive textile, wherein each of said plurality of devices are coupled to the conductive backplane via a respective conductive pathway; sensing circuitry comprising a signal generator and a signal detector, the sensing circuitry coupled to the conductive backplane; a power supply coupled to the conductive backplane; and a controller circuit including a memory configured to; store information about power requirements of each of the plurality of devices in the memory; control the signal generator to supply a plurality of sensing signals at a plurality of transmit impedance values to the conductive backplane; analyze a plurality of return signals detected by the signal detector, the return signals corresponding to the sensing signals; detect, based on the analyzed return signals, the presence of a sink device and its conductive pathway and identify said detected sink device, coupled to the conductive backplane; retrieve the stored power requirements for the detected and identified sink device; and control the power supply to supply power according to the retrieved power requirements to the detected and identified sink device via its conductive pathway. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for supplying power to a plurality of devices coupled to a conductive backplane, the method comprising:
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storing information about power requirements of each of the plurality of devices, in a memory; supplying a plurality of sensing signals at a plurality of transmit impedance values to the conductive backplane; analyzing a plurality of return signals received from the conductive backplane, the return signals corresponding to the sensing signals; detecting the presence of a sink device coupled to the conductive backplane based on the analyzed return signals; identifying said detected sink device; retrieving the stored power requirements for the identified sink device; and supplying power according to the retrieved power requirements from a power supply to the identified sink device via the conductive backplane. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification