Wireless power and wireless communication for electronic devices

• US 9,240,824 B2
• Filed: 02/01/2010
• Issued: 01/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Ozaki, Ernest T., Mangan, Michael J., Frankland, Stephen, Hillan, John, Kirby, Miles A., Heilsberg, Stuart A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gonzalez, April G
• Application Number:
  US12/697,970
• Publication Number:
  US 20100279606A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,178 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41.1, 455/41.2, 455/572, 455/573, 320/108, 307/45, 340/10.1, 343/866
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/00 Near-field transmission systems, e.g. inductive or capacitive transmission systems

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless electronic devices. A method may comprise receiving a wireless signal with an antenna and identifying one of a wireless charging module and a near-field communication module to which the received signal is associated. The method may further comprise conveying the received signal to the identified one of the wireless charging module and the near-field communication module.

Claims

1. A method of providing wireless charging power, comprising:

receiving a wireless signal with an antenna for identifying one of a wireless charging circuit and a communication circuit associated with the wireless signal; and

coupling the antenna to the one of the circuits via a switch in response to identifying the one of the circuits by the wireless signal, the antenna being coupled to the communication circuit in a default mode of operation, the wireless signal comprising information within a communication packet header.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the wireless signal includes sending a signal from the wireless charging circuit to the communication circuit requesting access to the antenna or sending a signal from the communication circuit to the wireless charging circuit requesting access to the antenna.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting an orientation of the antenna and the switch between one of the wireless charging circuit and the communication circuit based on the detected orientation.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the information comprises coding within the communication packet header.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication packet header comprises an NFC packet header.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless signal comprises energy fluctuations.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication circuit comprises a near-field communication circuit.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless signal comprises a charging level of a battery of the electronic device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the wireless signal further comprises receiving an input from a sensor.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising receiving light at a first frequency by the sensor.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising detecting vibration by the sensor.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising detecting orientation of the antenna by the sensor.

13. A wireless power apparatus for providing wireless charging power, comprising:

means for receiving a wireless signal for identifying one of a wireless charging circuit and a communication circuit associated with the wireless signal; and

means for conveying the wireless signal to the identified one of the circuits in response to identifying one of the circuits by the wireless signal, the receiving means being coupled to the communication circuit in a default mode of operation, the wireless signal comprising information within a communication packet header.

14. The wireless power apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a battery operably coupled to the wireless charging circuit and configured to receive power from the wireless charging circuit.

15. The wireless power apparatus of claim 13, wherein the wireless charging circuit is configured to extract energy from a communication signal.

16. A wireless power apparatus for providing wireless charging power, comprising:

an antenna configured to receive a wireless signal;

a communication circuit configured to identify one of a wireless charging circuit and the communication circuit associated with the wireless signal; and

a switch configured to convey the wireless signal to the identified one of the circuits associated with the wireless signal, the antenna being coupled to the communication circuit in a default mode of operation, the wireless signal comprising information within a communication packet header.

17. The wireless power apparatus of claim 16, wherein the switch is configured to selectively couple the antenna to one of the communication circuit and the wireless charging circuit.

18. The wireless power apparatus of claim 17, further comprising at least one of a mechanical selector and a sensor configured to detect an orientation of the wireless power apparatus, the selector and the sensor configured to automatically control the configuration of the switch based on the detected orientation.

19. The wireless power apparatus of claim 16, wherein each of the wireless charging circuit and the communication circuit is configured to transfer the wireless signal to each other.

20. The wireless power apparatus of claim 16, further comprising a sensor configured to detect coding the information within the communication packet header of the wireless signal.

21. The wireless power apparatus of claim 16, wherein the wireless charging circuit is configured to send a signal from the wireless charging circuit to the communication circuit and request access to the antenna.

22. The wireless power apparatus of claim 16, wherein the communication circuit comprises a near-field communication circuit.