Systems and methods for wirelessly transmitting power from a transmitter to a receiver by determining refined locations of the receiver in a segmented transmission field associated with the transmitter

• US 10,199,850 B2
• Filed: 09/16/2015
• Issued: 02/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Energous Corporation
• Original Assignee: Energous Corporation
• Inventors: Leabman, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Pelton, Nathaniel
• Assistant Examiner(s): Torres Ruiz, Johali
• Application Number:
  US14/856,186
• Publication Number:
  US 20170077735A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,238 Days
• Field of Search: 320108
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/20 using microwaves or radio frequency waves
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/402 the two or more transmitting or the two or more receiving devices being integrated in the same unit, e.g. power mats with several coils or antennas with several sub-antennas
• 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 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer

Abstract

Embodiments disclosed herein may generate and transmit power waves that, as result of their physical waveform characteristics (e.g., frequency, amplitude, phase, gain, direction), converge at a predetermined location in a transmission field to generate a pocket of energy. Receivers associated with an electronic device being powered by the wireless charging system, may extract energy from these pockets of energy and then convert that energy into usable electric power for the electronic device associated with a receiver. The pockets of energy may manifest as a three-dimensional field (e.g., transmission field) where energy may be harvested by a receiver positioned within or nearby the pocket of energy.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

transmitting, by a transmitter device, into a transmission field associated with the transmitter device one or more first power waves and a first communications signal, the first communications signal containing a first set of transmission parameters defining one or more characteristics of the one or more first power waves;

in response to the transmitter device receiving via a receiver communications signal from a receiver device, device data indicating a location of the receiver within a segment of the transmission field;

transmitting, by the transmitter device, one or more second power waves and a second communications signal including a second set of transmission parameters into respective sub-segments within the segment of the transmission field in accordance with the device data, the second set of transmission parameters defining the one or more characteristics of the one or more second power waves;

determining, by the transmitter device, one or more refined characteristics for one or more refined power waves defined by a set of refined parameters, wherein the set of refined parameters is determined based upon refined location data received from the receiver device indicating a refined location within a sub-segment;

generating, by the transmitter device, the one or more refined power waves having the one or more refined characteristics, according to the set of refined parameters; and

transmitting, by the transmitter, the one or more refined power waves into the sub-segment of the transmission field, thereby forming a pocket of energy at the refined location.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the one or more refined characteristics further comprises:

receiving, by the transmitter device, from the receiver device the refined location data indicating the refined location of the receiver relative to the transmitter, wherein the refined location is within the sub-segment of the transmission field.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein generating the one or more refined power waves having the one or more refined characteristics further comprises:

determining, by the transmitter device, whether the refined location satisfies a predetermined sub-segment threshold level, wherein satisfying the predetermined sub-segment threshold level indicates that the refined location is sufficiently granular to define the pocket of energy at the refined location.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the transmitter device continues, while transmitting the one or more refined power waves, to sequentially transmit one or more other power waves defined by respective sets of transmission parameters into respective segments of the transmission field to identify additional receivers within the transmission field.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein generating the one or more refined power waves having the one or more refined characteristics further comprises:

increasing, by the transmitter device, a power level in the one or more characteristics of the power waves.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein a transmission parameter for a power wave is selected from the group consisting of:

a power level, a radial distance, an azimuth angle, an elevation angle, a relative height of the receiver, a height coordinate, a relative horizontal location of the receiver, a horizontal coordinate, a relative distance to the receiver, and a distance coordinate.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising continuously and sequentially scanning, by the transmitter device, the transmission field.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein continuously scanning the transmission field further comprises:

continuously receiving, by the transmitter device and from the receiver, updated location data indicating a relative location of the receiver device to the transmitter device; and

identifying, by the transmitter device, a displacement of the receiver device based upon the updated location data.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein continuously scanning the transmission field further comprises:

sequentially transmitting, by the transmitter device, a plurality sets of power waves and a plurality of communications signals each including a set of transmission parameters into a plurality of sequential sub-segments of the transmission field respectively, wherein each sub-segment is associated with a respective set of power waves and a respective communications signal including a set of transmission parameters for the respective set of power waves.

10. The method according to claim 7, wherein the transmitter device comprises a plurality of transmitter antennas including a first subset of transmitter antennas continuously scanning the transmission field, and a second subset of transmitter antennas continuously transmitting one or more power waves to the receiver device.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the one or more refined characteristics for the power waves further comprises:

updating, by the transmitter device, a heat-map memory according to location data received from the receiver, the heat-map memory comprising non-transitory machine-readable storage configured to store location data of one or more receiver devices for each sub-segment of the transmission field.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first set of transmission parameters define (1) a first energy level of the one or more first power waves, wherein the first energy level is lower than a second energy level of the one or more refined power waves, and/or (2) identifications of respective segments within the transmission field to which the one or more first power waves were transmitted.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the one or more second power waves are transmitted using the first energy level.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the receiver communications signal received from the receiver device further comprises (1) an efficiency indicator associated with the one or more first power waves received at the receiver device, and/or (2) a battery level of the receiver device.

15. A wireless power transmitter comprising:

an antenna array;

a communications component; and

a transmitter processor configured to execute instructions for;

transmitting, by the wireless power transmitter, into a transmission field associated with the wireless power transmitter one or more first power waves and a first communications signal, the first communications signal containing a first set of transmission parameters defining one or more characteristics of the one or more first power waves;

in response to the wireless power transmitter receiving via a receiver communications signal from a receiver device, device data indicating a location of the receiver within a segment of the transmission field;

transmitting, by the wireless power transmitter, one or more second power waves and a second communications signal including a second set of transmission parameters into respective sub-segments within the segment of the transmission field in accordance with the device data, the second set of transmission parameters defining the one or more characteristics of the one or more second power waves;

determining, by the wireless power transmitter, one or more refined characteristics for one or more refined power waves defined by a set of refined parameters, wherein the set of refined parameters is determined based upon refined location data received from the receiver device indicating a refined location within a sub-segment;

generating, by the wireless power transmitter, the one or more refined power waves having the one or more refined characteristics, according to the set of refined parameters; and

transmitting, by the wireless power transmitter, the one or more refined power waves into the sub-segment of the transmission field, thereby forming a pocket of energy at the refined location.

16. The wireless power transmitter according to claim 15, wherein the transmitter processor is further configured to store location data of one or more receiver devices for each sub-segment of the transmission field into a heat-map memory comprising non-transitory machine-readable storage.

17. The wireless power transmitter according to claim 15, wherein the transmitter processor is further configured to determine whether the refined location of the receiver device satisfies a predetermined sub-segment threshold level, where satisfying the predetermined sub-segment threshold level indicates that the refined location is sufficiently granular to define the pocket of energy at the refined location.

18. The wireless power transmitter according to claim 15, the antenna array of the wireless power transmitter further comprising a plurality of transmitter antennas,

wherein a first subset of the plurality of transmitter antennas continuously scans the transmission field, and

wherein a second subset of the plurality of transmitter antennas continuously transmits one or more power waves to the refined location of the receiver device in the sub-segment.

19. The wireless power transmitter according to claim 18, wherein the transmitter processor is further configured to increase a power level in the one or more characteristics to establish a new power level in the one or more characteristics of the one or more refined power waves transmitted to the refined location of the receiver device in the sub-segment.

20. The wireless power transmitter according to claim 19, wherein the communications component continuously receives updated location data from the receiver device indicating a relative location of the receiver device to the wireless power transmitter, and

wherein the transmitter processor identifies a displacement of the receiver device based upon the updated location data.

21. The wireless power transmitter according to claim 20, wherein the transmitter processor is further configured to update a heat-map memory according to the updated location data received from the receiver device.