Reconfigurable bidirectional wireless charging transceiver

• US 10,256,661 B1
• Filed: 12/15/2017
• Issued: 04/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: University of Macau
• Original Assignee: University of Macau
• Inventors: Lu, Yan, Huang, Mo, U, Seng-Pan, Martins, Rui Paulo Da Silva
• Primary Examiner(s): Tso, Edward
• Application Number:
  US15/843,138
• Time in Patent Office: 480 Days
• Field of Search: 320108, 320114, 320137, 320140, 307104
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/12 of the resonant type
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/342 The other DC source being a battery actively interacting with the first one, i.e. battery to battery charging with circuits for polarity protection H02J7/0034

Abstract

Bidirectional wireless power transfer (WPT) manages to provide a first aid to a mobile device that is running out of energy in urgent circumstances. To facilitate bidirectional WPT with minimum additional cost, a WPT transceiver reconfigurable for performing WPT and wireless power reception (WPR) is provided. The transceiver is reconfigurable between a differential class-D power amplifier (PA) and a full-wave rectifier. A maximum current charging mode (MCCM) is used to maximize a battery-to-battery (B2B) charging efficiency, by directly charging the loading battery with the rectifier, and by powering the PA with the sourcing battery. No output voltage or current regulation is used. Then the number of cascaded charging stages is reduced from five in the conventional design to three.

Claims

1. A bidirectional wireless power transceiver reconfigurable for performing wireless power transfer (WPT) and wireless power reception (WPR), the transceiver comprising:

a positive-voltage node and a ground node for connecting to a positive terminal and a negative terminal, respectively, of a rechargeable battery;

a first power input-output (IO) node and a second power IO node;

a series resonant tank comprising a capacitor and an inductor connected in series, the inductor being used for transferring and receiving wireless power, wherein the series resonant tank has two terminals respectively connected to the first and second power IO nodes;

a first p-type metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (PMOS), wherein a source and a drain of the first PMOS are connected to the positive-voltage node and the first power IO node, respectively;

a second PMOS, wherein a source and a drain of the second PMOS are connected to the positive-voltage node and the second power IO node, respectively;

a first n-type metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (NMOS), wherein a source and a drain of the first NMOS are connected to the ground node and the first power IO node, respectively;

a second NMOS, wherein a source and a drain of the second NMOS are connected to the ground node and the second power IO node, respectively;

a clock generator for generating a clock (CLK) signal and a complementary CLK (CCLK) signal;

a first multiplexer (MUX) having an output and two inputs, the output of the first MUX coupling to a gate of the first PMOS, a first input of the first MUX coupling to the CLK signal, a second input of the first MUX coupling to the second power IO node;

a second MUX having an output and two inputs, the output of the second MUX coupling to a gate of the second PMOS, a first input of the second MUX coupling to the CCLK signal, a second input of the second MUX coupling to the first power IO node;

a first comparator for comparing a first voltage appeared at the first power IO node with a ground voltage appeared at the ground node;

a second comparator for comparing a second voltage appeared at the second power IO node with the ground voltage;

a third MUX having an output and two inputs, the output of the third MUX coupling to a gate of the first NMOS, a first input of the third MUX coupling to the CLK signal, a second input of the third MUX coupling to an output of the first comparator; and

a fourth MUX having an output and two inputs, the output of the fourth MUX coupling to a gate of the second NMOS, a first input of the fourth MUX coupling to the CCLK signal, a second input of the fourth MUX coupling to an output of the second comparator,

wherein;

the transceiver is configured to perform WPT by connecting the output of each of the first, second, third and fourth MUXes to the first input thereof; and

the transceiver is configured to perform WPR by connecting the output of each of the first, second, third and fourth MUXes to the second input thereof.

2. The transceiver of claim 1, further comprising:

a first buffer and a second buffer each for buffering the CLK signal, the first buffer being arranged such that the first input of the first MUX couples to the CLK signal through the first buffer, the second buffer being arranged such that the first input of the second MUX couples to the CCLK signal through the second buffer.

3. The transceiver of claim 2, wherein:

a combination of the first MUX and the first buffer is implemented as a first tri-state buffer and a first switch, wherein;

(a) when the transceiver is configured to perform the WPT, the first tri-state buffer buffers the CLK signal and presents the buffered CLK signal to the gate of the first PMOS whereas the first switch is switched off; and

(b) when the transceiver is configured to perform the WPR, the first tri-state buffer is set to have a high impedance so as to disconnect the CLK signal from the gate of the first PMOS whereas the first switch is switched on to connect the gate of the first PMOS and the second power IO node;

 

and

a combination of the second MUX and the second buffer is implemented as a second tri-state buffer and a second switch, wherein;

(a) when the transceiver is configured to perform the WPT, the second tri-state buffer buffers the CCLK signal and presents the buffered CCLK signal to the gate of the second PMOS whereas the second switch is switched off; and

(b) when the transceiver is configured to perform the WPR, the second tri-state buffer is set to have a high impedance so as to disconnect the CCLK signal from the gate of the second PMOS whereas the second switch is switched on to connect the gate of the second PMOS and the first power IO node.

4. The transceiver of claim 1, further comprising:

a third buffer for buffering the output of the third MUX, wherein the third buffer is arranged such that the output of the third MUX after buffering drives the gate of the first NMOS; and

a fourth buffer for buffering the output of the fourth MUX, wherein the fourth buffer is arranged such that the output of the fourth MUX after buffering drives the gate of the second NMOS.

5. The transceiver of claim 4, wherein:

the first comparator is configured to introduce a first input offset in comparing the first voltage and the ground voltage so as to turn off the first NMOS earlier to compensate for a first delay introduced by the third buffer, and

the second comparator is configured to introduce a second input offset in comparing the second voltage and the ground voltage so as to turn off the second NMOS earlier to compensate for a second delay introduced by the fourth buffer.

6. The transceiver of claim 5, wherein:

the first input offset is maintained by keeping a first reverse current control (RCC) signal on;

the first comparator further comprises a first RS latch to keep the first RRC signal on in order to prevent a multiple-pulsing problem of the first NMOS;

the second input offset is maintained by keeping a second RCC signal on; and

the second comparator further comprises a second RS latch to keep the second RRC signal on in order to prevent a multiple-pulsing problem of the second NMOS.

7. The transceiver of claim 1, wherein each of the first PMOS, the second PMOS, the first NMOS and the second NMOS is a power transistor.