System, method, and apparatus for wireless charging

• US 10,097,053 B2
• Filed: 08/02/2017
• Issued: 10/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Capital One Services LLC (Capital One Financial Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Capital One Services LLC (Capital One Financial Corporation)
• Inventors: Koeppel, Adam, Locke, Tyler, Wurmfeld, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Nay A
• Assistant Examiner(s): PEREZ, ANGELICA
• Application Number:
  US15/666,642
• Publication Number:
  US 20180191205A1
• Time in Patent Office: 433 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/54 Interprogram communication
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/041 Constructional details G06K19/06 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/071 the source being a field other than an interrogation field, e.g. WLAN, cellular phone network
• 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: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• 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: H04B 5/22 Capacitive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/24 Inductive coupling
• 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: 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 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

Using inductive currents to wirelessly charge a device via a device connected to a power source. This inductive charging may result when a first mobile device recognizes a second mobile device via a wireless connection (e.g., Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Near-Field Communication (NFC), or the like). An application stored on the first mobile device may recognize a second mobile device by transmitting an advertising packet when the first mobile device is connected to a power source. An advertising packet may be received by the second mobile device and the second mobile device may transmit a response to the advertising packet in order to generate a connection between the first and second mobile devices. The response may include data such as, connection strength, response time, connection preferences, and the like. Upon detection and connection, the second mobile device may be wirelessly charged by the first device via inductive charging.

Claims

1. A system for wirelessly charging a mobile device, the system comprising:

a first device comprising;

an energy storage component,

a Near-Field Communication (NFC) antenna connected to the energy storage component,

an application, that when executed, causes the first device to;

generate an advertising packet when the application receives a first signal that the energy storage component is connected to a power source;

transmit, via the NFC antenna, the advertising packet to a second device;

receive, via the NFC antenna, a response from the second device, wherein the response indicates that a connection is made between the first device and the second device, and wherein a frequency for energy transmission is determinable from the response;

generate a broadcast request to broadcast a second signal to the second device based on the received response; and

broadcast the second signal via the NFC antenna, the second signal being based on the frequency determined from the response and configured to charge the second device via inductive charging.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first device wirelessly connects to the second device via Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the response received by the first device from the second device comprises connection strength, response time, connection preferences, optimum frequencies and/or periodic communication checks.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the inductive charging of the second device is activated automatically upon connection with the first device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the inductive charging of the second device is activated when the application on the first device detects that energy stored in the second device is below a predefined threshold.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the predefined threshold is stored in data storage associated with the application on the first device.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the inductive charging of the second device is activated based on user preferences stored in data storage associated with the application on the first device.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the first device comprises an electronic transaction card.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the first and/or second device stores, transfers and receives electrical energy using a capacitor, supercapacitor inductor resistor, battery and/or transmitter.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the first and/or second device stores, transfers and receives electrical energy using an NFC chip, NFC antenna, Bluetooth chip, Bluetooth antenna, BLE chip and/or BLE antenna.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the first device transmits the advertising packet to the second device utilizing transmission protocols comprising ISO/IEC 14443 A/B, ISO/IEC 18092, MiFare, FeliCa, and/or tag/smartcard emulation.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein application utilizes an API comprising a card emulation API to enable NFC card emulation mode, a logic link control protocol (LLCP) API for peer-to-peer communication between mobile devices, a Bluetooth API supporting BLE, a real-time data (RTD) API and/or a NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF) API for reading/writing.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the application provides device-specific charging instructions.

14. A method comprising:

receiving, at a first device, a first signal that the first device is connected to a power source;

generating, using a microprocessor in the first device, an advertising packet;

transmitting, via a Near-Field Communication (NFC) antenna, the advertising packet to a second device;

receiving, via the NFC antenna, a response to the advertising packet from the second device, wherein a frequency for energy transmission is determinable from the response;

generating, using the microprocessor, a broadcast request to begin broadcasting a second signal from the first device to the second device via the NFC antenna;

broadcasting the second signal to the second device via the NFC antenna, the second signal being based on the frequency determined from the response and configured to charge the second device via inductive charging.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first device wirelessly connects to the second device via Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the response received by the first device from the second device comprises connection strength, response time, connection preferences, optimum frequencies and/or periodic communication checks.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising automatically activating the inductive charging of the second device upon connection with the first device.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising automatically activating the inductive charging of the second device when the first device detects that energy stored in the second device is below a predefined threshold.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising storing the predefined threshold in data storage associated with the application on the first device.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising activating the inductive charging of the second device based on user preferences stored in data storage associated with the application on the first device.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein the first device comprises an electronic transaction card.

22. The method of claim 14, further comprising storing, transferring and receiving electrical energy on the first and/or second devices using a capacitor, supercapacitor inductor resistor, battery and/or transmitter.

23. The method of claim 14, further comprising storing, transferring and receiving electrical energy using an NFC chip, NFC antenna, Bluetooth chip, Bluetooth antenna, BLE chip and/or BLE antenna.

24. The method of claim 14, further comprising transmitting the advertising packet from the first device to the second device utilizing transmission protocols comprising ISO/IEC 14443 A/B, ISO/IEC 18092, MiFare, FeliCa, and/or tag/smartcard emulation.

25. The method of claim 14, further comprising utilizing an API comprising a card emulation API to enable NFC card emulation mode, a logic link control protocol (LLCP) API for peer-to-peer communication between mobile devices, a Bluetooth API supporting BLE, a real-time data (RTD) API and/or a NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF) API for reading/writing.

26. The method of claim 14, further comprising providing device-specific charging instructions via an application on the first device.