Wearable device with wireless power and payload receiver

• US 10,243,414 B1
• Filed: 12/30/2014
• Issued: 03/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Energous Corporation
• Original Assignee: Energous Corporation
• Inventors: Leabman, Michael A., Brewer, Gregory Scott, Bell, Douglas, Yew, Fay
• Primary Examiner(s): Hiltunen, Thomas J
• Application Number:
  US14/586,509
• Time in Patent Office: 1,547 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/00 Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power
• 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 50/90 involving detection or optimisation of position, e.g. alignment

Abstract

A method includes: receiving, by a transmitter, an advertisement signal from a wearable device, the advertisement signal containing: (i) binary data indicating a direction of the wearable device, and (ii) one or more identifiers associated with the wearable device. The method also includes: in response to authenticating the wearable device based on the identifiers: establishing, by the transmitter, a communication channel with the wearable device; and transmitting, by the transmitter, one or more power transmission waves in the direction of the wearable device. The method further includes: receiving, by the transmitter, from the wearable device at least one control signal that indicates an adjustment for transmitting the one or more power transmission waves by the antennas of the transmitter. The method additionally includes: transmitting, by the transmitter, the one or more power transmission waves based on the adjustment and ceasing, by the transmitter, the communication channel with the wearable device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by a transmitter, an advertisement signal from a wearable device, the advertisement signal containing;

(i) binary data indicating a direction of the wearable device relative to the transmitter, and (ii) one or more identifiers associated with the wearable device;

authenticating, by the transmitter, the wearable device based on the one or more identifiers contained in the advertisement signal;

in response to authenticating the wearable device;

establishing, by the transmitter, a communication channel with the wearable device, wherein the communication channel hosts control signals containing data associated with power transmission waves;

transmitting, by antennas of the transmitter, one or more power transmission waves in the direction of the wearable device based on the advertisement signal;

receiving, by the transmitter, from the wearable device at least one control signal associated with the one or more power transmission waves, wherein the at least one control signal indicates an adjustment for transmitting the one or more power transmission waves by the antennas of the transmitter;

transmitting, by the antennas of the transmitter, the one or more power transmission waves based on the adjustment indicated by the at least one control signal; and

ceasing, by the transmitter, the communication channel with the wearable device, wherein the transmitter continues to transmit the one or more power transmission waves to the wearable device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein ceasing the communication channel with the wearable device is performed in response to determining, by the transmitter, that a predetermined period of communication has lapsed.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

ceasing the communication channel with the wearable device further comprises receiving, by the transmitter, an instruction to cease the power transmission waves from a smart device in communication with the wearable device; and

the smart device is distinct and separate from the wearable device and the transmitter.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising retransmitting, by the transmitter, one or more data packets of the at least one control signal to the wearable device, responsive to determining the one or more data packets were not received, according to one or more collision detection techniques executed by the transmitter.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein authenticating the wearable device further comprises transmitting, by the transmitter, the one or more identifiers to a computing service associated with the transmitter, the computing service being configured to authenticate the one or more identifiers of the wearable device.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein authenticating the wearable device further comprises querying, by the transmitter, non-transitory machine-readable storage media storing one or more identifiers associated with one or more wearable devices.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the one or more identifiers are selected from the group consisting of:

an internet protocol (IP) address, a Bluetooth unique identifier, a universal unique identifier (UUID), a media access control (MAC) address, and a user identifier associated with the wearable device.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the wearable device alternates between broadcasting the advertisement signal to the transmitter and broadcasting payload data to an electronic device that processes biometric information included in the payload data.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the wearable device continues to receive the one or more power transmission waves from the transmitter while broadcasting the payload data to the electronic device.

10. A wireless power transmitter comprising:

a communications component configured to receive an advertisement signal from the wearable device, the advertisement signal containing;

(i) binary data indicating a direction of the wearable device relative to the transmitter, and (ii) one or more identifiers associated with the wearable device;

at least one processor configured to authenticate the wearable device based on the one or more identifiers associated with the wearable device received in the advertisement signal;

in response to authenticating the wearable device;

the communications component is further configured to establish a communication channel with the wearable device, wherein the communication channel hosts control signals containing data associated with power transmission waves;

one or more antennas configured to transmit one or more power transmission waves to the wearable device based on data contained in the advertisement signal,

the communications component is further configured to receive at least one control signal from the wearable device associated with the one or more power transmission waves, wherein the at least one control signal indicates an adjustment for transmitting the one or more power transmission waves by the one or more antennas; and

the one or more antennas are further configured to transmit the one or more power transmission waves based on the adjustment indicated by the at least one control signal,

wherein the transmitter ceases the communication channel with the wearable device and continues to transmit the one or more power transmission waves to the wearable device.

11. The transmitter according to claim 10, further comprising a processor configured to determine a location of the wearable device relative to the transmitter and a phase for the one or more power transmission waves, based upon data contained in the advertisement signal and the at least one control signal, wherein the transmitter transmits the one or more power transmission waves based upon the location of the wearable device, and wherein the transmitter produces the one or more power transmission waves to have the phase determined using the data in the at least one control signal.

12. The transmitter according to claim 11, wherein the transmitter continuously updates the location for transmitting the one or more power transmission waves in response to receiving one or more additional control signals from the wearable device.

13. The transmitter according to claim 11, wherein the transmitter continuously updates the phase of the one or more power transmission waves in response to receiving one or more additional control signals from the wearable device.

14. The transmitter according to claim 10, wherein the transmitter is configured to automatically transmit the one or more power transmission waves to the wearable device in response to authenticating the wearable device, based on the one or more identifiers for the wearable device received in the advertisement signal.

15. The transmitter according to claim 14, wherein the one or more identifiers are selected from the group consisting of:

an internet protocol (IP) address, a Bluetooth unique identifier, a universal unique identifier (UUID), a media access control (MAC) address, and a user identifier associated with the wearable device.

16. The transmitter according to claim 10, wherein the transmitter is configured to automatically determine a power level of a battery of the wearable device based on power level data contained in the advertisement signal, and wherein the transmitter transmits the one or more power transmission waves to the wearable device in response to determining the power level of the battery is below a threshold level.

17. The transmitter according to claim 10, further comprising a network interface card configured to transmit the one or more identifiers to an authentication server.

18. The transmitter according to claim 17, wherein the transmitter is configured to automatically transmit the one or more power transmission waves to the wearable device upon authenticating the wearable device.

19. The transmitter according to claim 10, wherein the at least one processor of the transmitter is configured to detect one or more data packets lost during transmission to the wearable device according to one or more collision detection algorithms executed by the at least one processor, and wherein the transmitter is configured to automatically retransmit the one or more data packets in response to detecting that the one or more data packets were lost during transmission to the wearable device.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable instructions that, when executed by a transmitter with one or more processors and a plurality of antennas configured to transmit one or more power transmission waves, cause the transmitter to:

receive an advertisement signal from a wearable device, the advertisement signal containing;

(i) binary data indicating a direction of the wearable device relative to the transmitter, and (ii) one or more identifiers associated with the wearable device;

authenticate the wearable device based on the one or more identifiers contained in the advertisement signal;

in response to authenticating the wearable device;

establish a communication channel with the wearable device, wherein the communication channel hosts control signals containing data associated with power transmission waves;

transmit, via the plurality of antennas, one or more power transmission waves in the direction of the wearable device based on the advertisement signal;

receive from the wearable device at least one control signal associated with the one or more power transmission waves, wherein the at least one control signal indicates an adjustment for transmitting the one or more power transmission waves by the plurality of antennas;

transmit, via the plurality of antennas, the one or more power transmission waves based on the adjustment indicated by the at least one control signal; and

cease the communication channel with the wearable device, wherein the transmitter continues to transmit the one or more power transmission waves to the wearable device.