Wireless charging circuit

• US 10,566,843 B2
• Filed: 07/07/2015
• Issued: 02/18/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qorvo US, Inc. (Qorvo, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Qorvo US, Inc. (Qorvo, Inc.)
• Inventors: Khlat, Nadim
• Primary Examiner(s): Grant, Robert
• Assistant Examiner(s): Trischler, John T
• Application Number:
  US14/792,912
• Publication Number:
  US 20160020637A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,687 Days
• Field of Search: 320108, 307104
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/20 using microwaves or radio frequency waves
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00036 Charger exchanging data with battery
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00047 with provisions for charging different types of batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00302 Overcharge protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00714 in response to battery charging or discharging current
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/007182 in response to battery voltage
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/02 for charging batteries from ac mains by converters

Abstract

A wireless charging circuit is disclosed. In this regard, a wireless charging circuit is configured to charge a battery by harvesting radio frequency (RF) power from a wireless RF charging signal provided by a wireless charging station. The wireless charging circuit monitors an effective charging power provided to the battery and sends a battery charging signal indication (BCSI) to the wireless charging station to reduce the effective charging power if the effective charging power is greater than a target charging power. In another aspect, the wireless charging circuit sends the BCSI to increase the effective charging power if the effective charging power is less than the target charging power. By dynamically adjusting the effective charging power based on the charging profile of the battery, it is possible to provide fast charging to the battery while protecting the battery from overcharging damage.

Claims

1. A wireless charging circuit comprising:

a radio frequency (RF) power harvesting circuit comprising;

an RF tuner configured to receive a wireless RF charging signal from a wireless charging station and generate an alternating current (AC) charging signal, wherein the RF tuner comprises an input impedance;

an RF rectifier configured to convert the AC charging signal to generate a direct current (DC) signal;

impedance transformation circuitry provided between the RF tuner and the RF rectifier and configured to provide an adjustable load-line impedance; and

a DC-to-DC (DC-DC) converter configured to generate a DC charging signal based on the DC signal received from the RF rectifier;

an RF front-end module (FEM) comprising;

a plurality of RF paths corresponding to a plurality of RF spectrums, respectively; and

an antenna switch configured to couple the RF FEM to at least one antenna; and

a wireless charging controller configured to;

obtain a battery status reading from a battery;

determine a target charging power required by the battery based on the battery status reading and a battery charging profile;

receive an indication signal from the RF power harvesting circuit indicative of an effective charging power in the DC charging signal;

compare the effective charging power in the DC charging signal against the determined target charging power required by the battery;

send a battery charging signal indication (BCSI) to the wireless charging station to reduce a total RF power associated with the wireless RF charging signal if the effective charging power is greater than the determined target charging power;

send the BCSI to the wireless charging station to increase the total RF power associated with the wireless RF charging signal if the effective charging power is less than the determined target charging power;

adjust at least one of the adjustable load-line impedance of the impedance transformation circuitry and a duty-cycle of the DC-DC converter to decrease the effective charging power in the DC charging signal if the effective charging power is greater than the determined target charging power of the battery; and

adjust the at least one of the adjustable load-line impedance of the impedance transformation circuitry and the duty-cycle of the DC-DC converter to increase the effective charging power in the DC charging signal if the effective charging power is less than the determined target charging power of the battery;

wherein the BCSI is sent to the wireless charging station via the antenna switch configured to couple the at least one antenna to the RF power harvesting circuit and one of the plurality of RF paths.

2. The wireless charging circuit of claim 1 wherein the battery is a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery and the wireless charging controller is configured to determine the target charging power based on a Li-ion battery charging profile.

3. The wireless charging circuit of claim 1 wherein the wireless charging controller is further configured to control the at least one of the adjustable load-line impedance and the DC charging signal based on instructions received from the wireless charging station.

4. The wireless charging circuit of claim 1 wherein the wireless RF charging signal is a beamformed wireless RF charging signal.

5. The wireless charging circuit of claim 1 wherein the RF power harvesting circuit receives the wireless RF charging signal on an industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band.

6. The wireless charging circuit of claim 1 provided in a battery-operated electronic device selected from the group consisting of:

a smartphone;

a smartwatch;

a tablet;

a personal computer;

a digital camera;

a portable music player;

a portable video player;

a portable game player; and

a video recorder.

7. The wireless charging circuit of claim 1 further comprising a wireless communication system-on-chip (SoC) configured to encode the BCSI for transmission to the wireless charging station.

8. The wireless charging circuit of claim 7 wherein the wireless communication SoC is further configured to encode a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) corresponding to the wireless RF charging signal for transmission to the wireless charging station.

9. The wireless charging circuit of claim 7 wherein the wireless communication SoC comprises the wireless charging controller.

10. The wireless charging circuit of claim 7 wherein the wireless communication SoC is a SoC selected from the group consisting of:

a BLUETOOTH SoC;

a wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi) SoC;

a ZigBee SoC; and

a BLUETOOTH Low-Energy (BLE) SoC.

11. The wireless charging circuit of claim 7 wherein the plurality of RF paths comprises:

a first RF path corresponding to a nine hundred ten megahertz (910 MHz) RF spectrum;

a second RF path corresponding to a twenty-four hundred megahertz (2400 MHz) RF spectrum;

a third RF path corresponding to a fifty-eight hundred megahertz (5800 MHz) RF spectrum; and

a fourth RF path corresponding to a twenty-four gigahertz (24 GHz) RF spectrum.

12. The wireless charging circuit of claim 11 wherein the antenna switch is configured to couple the RF power harvesting circuit to the at least one antenna to receive the wireless RF charging signal.

13. The wireless charging circuit of claim 11 wherein the RF FEM further comprises an RF mixer configured to modulate the BCSI to an RF spectrum corresponding to one of the first RF path, the second RF path, the third RF path and the fourth RF path.

14. The wireless charging circuit of claim 13 wherein the antenna switch is configured to:

couple the at least one antenna to the first RF path if the BCSI is modulated to the 910 MHz RF spectrum;

couple the at least one antenna to the second RF path if the BCSI is modulated to the 2400 MHz RF spectrum;

couple the at least one antenna to the third RF path if the BCSI is modulated to the 5800 MHz RF spectrum; and

couple the at least one antenna to the fourth RF path if the BCSI is modulated to the 24 GHz RF spectrum.

15. The wireless charging circuit of claim 11 wherein the at least one antenna comprises:

a communication antenna configured to transmit the BCSI to the wireless charging station; and

a wireless charging antenna configured to receive the wireless RF charging signal from the wireless charging station.

16. The wireless charging circuit of claim 15 wherein the RF power harvesting circuit is coupled to the wireless charging antenna to receive the wireless RF charging signal.