Power amplifier for wireless power transmission

• US 9,634,494 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2014
• Issued: 04/25/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Avago Technologies General IP PTE Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Vladan, Ionel Marius, Van Roeyen, Stefan Gaston P., Koleck, Jean-Francois
• Primary Examiner(s): Fureman, Jared
• Assistant Examiner(s): Yeshaw, Esayas
• Application Number:
  US14/319,357
• Publication Number:
  US 20150280443A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,030 Days
• Field of Search: 307104
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• 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 50/60 responsive to the presence of foreign objects, e.g. detection of living beings
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0013 acting upon several batteries simultaneously or sequentially H02J7/1423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/345 using capacitors as storage or buffering devices
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 1/0294 using vector summing of two or more constant amplitude phase-modulated signals
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 3/2171 with field-effect devices H03F3/2173 - H03F3/2178 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 3/2173 of the bridge type
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 3/245 with semiconductor devices only

Abstract

A power signal source may provide current to a transmit coil to support wireless power transmission. The power signal source may include one or more modulators in parallel that may be phase delayed by an angle with respect to one another. The phase delay angle allows for adjustment of the magnitude of the current. The current provided to the transmit coil may be independent of the load of the transmit coil.

Claims

1. A device, comprising:

a power supply input configured to provide a power supply signal;

a first path configured to receive a clock signal and the power supply signal, the first path comprising;

a first output;

a first driver configured to;

accept the clock signal and modulate the power supply signal to generate, on the first output, a first oscillating power signal based on the clock signal; and

drive a first modulator configured to modulate the power supply signal, the first modulator comprising a first high-side switch and a first low-side switch;

a second path configured to receive the clock signal and the power supply signal, the second path comprising;

a second output;

a delay element configured to phase shift the clock signal by an angle to generate a shifted clock signal; and

a second driver configured to;

accept the shifted clock signal and modulate the power supply signal to generate, on the second output, a second oscillating power signal that is phase shifted by the angle with respect to the first oscillating power signal; and

drive a second modulator configured to modulate the power supply signal, the second modulator comprising a second high-side switch and a second low-side switch; and

a transmission circuit coupled to the first output and second output and configured to transmit a wireless power signal based on a combination of the first and second oscillating power signals.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the wireless power signal is characterized by an amplitude that depends on the angle.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the delay comprises an adjustable delay.

4. The device of claim 3, further comprising adjustment logic configured to adjust the adjustable delay to change the angle and control an amplitude of the wireless power signal.

5. The device of claim 1, further comprising a signal combiner configured to form the combination.

6. The device of claim 5, further comprising a filter configured to adapt the combination.

7. The device of claim 6, wherein the filter is configured to remove harmonics from the combination.

8. The device of claim 6, wherein the filter comprises a tunable filter with an adjustable filter frequency.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the filter comprises an inductor and a capacitor, the capacitor connected in shunt with the combiner.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein:

the transmission circuit comprises an antenna characterized by a load; and

the inductor, the capacitor, or the inductor and the capacitor are selected such that the wireless power signal is independent of the load.

19. The device of claim 1, further comprising:

a capacitor coupled the transmission circuit, the capacitor comprising;

a capacitor input; and

a capacitor output;

a first phase detector circuit coupled to the capacitor input; and

a second phase detector circuit coupled to the capacitor output.

20. The device of claim 19, further comprising control circuitry configured to:

receive a first indication of a first phase value from the first phase detector circuit;

receive a second indication of a second phase value from the second phase detector circuit; and

compare the first and second indications to determine a current flowing through the capacitor.

11. A method, comprising:

providing a clock signal to a first path and a second path;

phase delaying the clock signal on the second path by an angle with respect to the first path;

driving a first modulator on the first path in accord with the clock signal, the first modulator comprising a first high-side switch and a first low-side switch;

modulating, via the first modulator a power supply signal on the first path to generate a first oscillating power signal;

after phase delaying the clock signal on the second path, driving a second modulator on the second path in accord with the clock signal, the second modulator comprising a second high-side switch and a second low-side switch;

modulating, via the second modulator, the power supply signal on the second path to generate a second oscillating power signal; and

combining the first and second oscillating power signals to generate a wireless power signal with an amplitude dependent on the angle.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising filtering a wireless power signal.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein filtering the wireless power signal comprises adjusting a filter frequency to attempt to match a clock frequency of the clock signal.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising sampling the first, second, or wireless power signals or any combination of the oscillating power signals to provide feedback for the adjustment of the filter frequency.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein sampling the wireless power signal comprises determining, for the wireless power signal, a phase difference between phase at a first point prior to a capacitor and phase at a second point after the capacitor.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein providing the clock signal to the first path and the second path comprises:

receiving a common clock signal for multiple power signal sources; and

adjusting a phase delay of the common clock signal to synchronize with one or more of the multiple power signal sources.

17. A device, comprising:

a clock source configured to generate a clock signal characterized by a center frequency;

a power source configured to generate a power signal;

a first path coupled to an output of the clock source, the first path comprising;

a first driver accepting the clock signal to generate a first driving signal; and

a first pair of gates coupled to the output of the power signal, the first pair of gates accepting the first driving signal to modulate the power signal to generate a first oscillating power signal characterized by the center frequency;

a second path coupled to the output of the clock source, the second path comprising;

a delay accepting the clock signal, the delay comprising an effective propagation length so as to phase delay the clock signal by an angle to generate a delayed clock signal;

a second driver coupled to the output of the delay so as to accept the delayed clock signal to generate a second driving signal; and

a second pair of gates coupled to the output of the power signal, the second pair of gates accepting the second driving signal to modulate the power signal to generate a second oscillating power signal characterized by the center frequency and phased delayed by the angle with respect to the first oscillating power signal;

a third path coupled to the output of the first and second paths so as to combine the first and second oscillating power signal to generate a wireless power signal characterized by the center frequency and with an amplitude dependent on the angle; and

a transmission circuit accepting the wireless power signal so as to drive an antenna.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the effective propagation length comprises a tunable effective propagation length configured to allow adjustment of the angle to control the amplitude.