Electronic circuit and system for wireless charging

• US 9,660,703 B1
• Filed: 05/04/2016
• Issued: 05/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dialog Semiconductors (UK) Limited
• Original Assignee: Dialog Semiconductors (UK) Limited
• Inventors: Knoedgen, Horst
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Tuan
• Application Number:
  US15/146,853
• Time in Patent Office: 384 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00712 the cycle being controlled or terminated in response to electric parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/007184 in response to battery voltage gradient
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/385 Transceivers carried on the body, e.g. in helmets
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/24 Inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

An electronic circuit for a portable battery-powered electronic device and a related system for wireless charging an electronic circuit for a portable battery-powered electronic device are disclosed. The electronic circuit is operable in a first mode as an actuator and in a second mode as a wireless charging receiver and comprises an electromechanical actuator, a capacitance, and a multi-mode switching circuitry. The electromechanical actuator comprises an inductor. The capacitance is selectively connectable to the inductor, at least in the second mode, to form therewith a resonant circuit for inductively receiving an electromagnetic wireless charging signal. The multi-mode switching circuitry comprises one or more switching devices for switching the electronic circuit between its different modes, wherein at least one of the switching devices is configurable as a rectifying device.

Claims

1. An electronic circuit for a portable battery-powered electronic device, the electronic circuit being operable in a first mode as an actuator and in a second mode as a wireless charging receiver;

wherein the electronic circuit comprises;

an electromechanical actuator comprising an inductor;

a capacitance selectively connectable to the inductor, at least in the second mode, to form therewith a resonant circuit for inductively receiving an electromagnetic wireless charging signal; and

a multi-mode switching circuitry comprising one or more switching devices for switching the electronic circuit between its different modes, at least one of the switching devices being configurable as a rectifying device, wherein;

in the first mode, the switching circuitry is configured to connect the actuator to an electrical power input of the electronic circuit; and

in the second mode, the switching circuitry is configured as a rectifier circuit for rectifying a voltage induced in the resonant circuit in response to a received electromagnetic wireless charging signal and for providing the rectified voltage at a power output of the electronic circuit as a charging voltage for a battery of the portable electronic device, wherein said at least one configurable switching device is configured as a rectifying device of the rectifier circuit.

2. The electronic circuit according to claim 1, wherein, in the second mode, the switching circuitry is configured as a full wave bridge rectifier circuit for rectifying said voltage induced in the resonant circuit in response to a received electromagnetic wireless charging signal.

3. The electronic circuit according to claim 2, wherein:

the switching circuitry comprises a first and a second voltage divider, each voltage divider having at least two serially connected ones of the switching devices and a connection point therebetween;

in the second mode, the actuator and the capacitance are each electrically connected between said connection points of the first and second voltage dividers; and

said switching devices of the first and second voltage dividers are transistors, each being configurable to operate, in the second mode, as a rectifying diode such that the switching circuitry forms a full-wave rectifier bridge circuit for rectifying the voltage induced in the resonant circuit.

4. The electronic circuit according to claim 3, wherein in the second mode the switching circuitry is selectively operable to bring said connection points of the first and second voltage dividers to substantially the same potential in order to inhibit further wireless charging.

5. The electronic circuit according to claim 1, wherein the at least one switching device being configurable as a rectifying device is a MOS-transistor having a gate, a source region, a drain region and a bulk region;

wherein, at least in the second mode, the bulk region is conductively connected to a first one of the drain and source regions such that a p-n-junction is present between the bulk region and the second one of the source and drain regions, the p-n-junction causing the transistor to act as a rectifier when a voltage is applied between its source region and its drain region and the potential at the gate is selected such that the transistor is switched off.

6. The electronic circuit according to claim 1, wherein the resonance frequency of the resonant circuit of the second mode is tunable.

7. The electronic circuit according to claim 6, wherein:

the capacitance comprises two or more individual capacitors and at least one configuration switch to selectively connect one or more of the capacitors to the inductor to form therewith the resonant circuit and to tune its resonance frequency based on the combined effective capacitance of the selectively connected one or more capacitors; and

/or

the inductor comprises one or more individual inductor elements and at least one configuration switch to selectively connect one or more of the inductor elements together and to the capacitance to form therewith the resonant circuit and to tune its resonance frequency based on the combined effective inductance of the selectively connected one or more inductor elements.

8. The electronic circuit according to claim 7, further comprising a control circuit configured to selectively operate, in the second mode, the at least one configuration switch for tuning, in accordance with a signal modulation scheme, the resonance frequency of the resonant circuit and thus the dampening of said received wireless charging signal in order to produce a wireless charging signal that is modulated in accordance with the signal modulation scheme.

9. The electronic circuit according to claim 8, wherein the modulation scheme defines a communication signal to be transmitted via the modulated wireless charging signal to a charger device providing the received wireless charging signal.

10. The electronic circuit according to claim 1, further comprising a housing or shielding structure that at least partially encloses the inductor and comprises a magnetic material.

11. The electronic circuit according to claim 1, wherein the inductor is part of a drive for generating a mechanical motion of a moving mass comprised in the actuator.

12. A portable electronic device comprising:

a battery; and

an electronic circuit according to claim 1;

wherein the output of the electronic circuit is electrically connected to the battery and configured to provide, in the second mode, said rectified voltage to the battery for charging it.

13. A system for wireless charging, comprising:

a portable electronic device according to claim 12 and comprising a housing or shielding structure which comprises a magnetic material and at least partially encloses the inductor of the electronic circuit; and

a charger device comprising;

an induction device for generating a wireless charging signal and providing same to a wireless charging space defined in the surrounding of the charge device; and

a magnet configured to generate a magnetic field extending into the wireless charging space, such that within the wireless charging space there is at least one possible spatial arrangement of the portable electronic device relative to the charger device, where the magnetic field generated by the magnet reduces the magnetic shielding effect of the housing or shielding structure with respect to the wireless charging signal to such an extent that the battery of the device is chargeable by a current induced in the inductor by the wireless charging signal.