Cluster management of transmitters in a wireless power transmission system

• US 9,882,430 B1
• Filed: 12/31/2014
• Issued: 01/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Energous Corporation
• Original Assignee: Energous Corporation
• Inventors: Leabman, Michael, Bell, Douglas, Nelson, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Fleming, Fritz M
• Application Number:
  US14/587,616
• Time in Patent Office: 1,126 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 38/14 Inductive couplings for wireless supply or distribution of electric power using inductive coupling H02J50/10
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/20 using microwaves or radio frequency waves
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/23 characterised by the type of transmitting antennas, e.g. directional array antennas or Yagi antennas
• 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 50/80 involving the exchange of data, concerning supply or distribution of electric power, between transmitting devices and receiving devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/02 Details electronic switching or gating H03K17/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/22 using time-division multiplexing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

The embodiments described herein include a transmitter that transmits a power transmission signal (e.g., radio frequency (RF) signal waves) to create a three-dimensional pocket of energy. At least one receiver can be connected to or integrated into electronic devices and receive power from the pocket of energy. A wireless power network may include a plurality of wireless power transmitters each with an embedded wireless power transmitter manager, including a wireless power manager application. The wireless power network may include a plurality of client devices with wireless power receivers. Wireless power receivers may include a power receiver application configured to communicate with the wireless power manager application. The wireless power manager application may include a device database where information about the wireless power network may be stored.

Claims

1. A system for wireless power delivery, the system comprising:

at least one transmitter manager; and

a plurality of power transmitters communicatively coupled to (i) the at least one transmitter manager and (ii)

a power receiver communicatively coupled to a user device,

wherein a respective power transmitter of the plurality of power transmitters;

is configured to transmit to the at least one transmitter manager signals received by the respective power transmitter from the power receiver and

has a respective power transfer range that defines a distance at which the respective power transmitter is able to wirelessly transmit power;

wherein the at least one transmitter manager is configured to;

(i) based on the signals received by the respective power transmitter from the power receiver, determine one or more power transmitters with respective power transfer ranges that cover a location of the power receiver;

(ii) determine a master transmitter and at least one secondary transmitter in the determined one or more power transmitters for transmitting power transmission signals to the power receiver so as to charge or power the user device;

wherein the master transmitter is different from the at least one secondary transmitter,

the master transmitter is configured to (i) notify the at least one secondary transmitter that it is authorized to transmit the power transmission signals to the power receiver and (ii) determine a respective time period for each of the master transmitter and the at least one secondary transmitter in the determined one or more power transmitters to communicate with the power receiver, and

the master transmitter and the at least one secondary transmitter substantially simultaneously transmit the power transmission signals to the power receiver based on respective communications with the power receiver.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the system determines the master transmitter by comparing respective IP addresses of the one or more power transmitters with respective power transfer ranges that cover the location of the power receiver.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one transmitter manager is configured to determine a new secondary power transmitter based on the signals received by the respective power transmitter, the new secondary power transmitter being able to transmit the power transmission signals to the power receiver so as to charge or power the user device.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein following the determination of the new secondary power transmitter, the at least one transmitter manager is configured to determines that the secondary power transmitter is a new master transmitter, wherein the new master transmitter and the at least one secondary transmitter substantially simultaneously transmit the power the power transmission signals to the power receiver.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the power receiver is less than 30 feet away from the master transmitter and the at least one secondary transmitters.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one database configured for storing information related to the user device, the information comprising at least one of a charging history, a charging schedule, a charging status, or a device ID.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the master transmitter and the at least one secondary transmitter communicate with the user device or the power receiver via a protocol selected form the group consisting of BLUETOOTH®

, Bluetooth Low Energy, Wi-Fi, NFC, ZIGBEE®

, and combinations thereof.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one power transmitter manager further comprises an antenna manager for mapping a location of the user device.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one transmitter manager communicably delivers to at least one remote server information related to the performance of the plurality of power transmitters, the performance of the power receiver, or information related to the user device.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the respective transmitter receives updated signals from the power receiver and the at least one transmitter manager is further configured to repeat steps (i) and (ii) performed by the at least one transmitter manager based on the updated signals received by the respective power transmitter from the power receiver.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the master transmitter is a power transmitter that is located closest to the power receiver, relative to the other transmitters in the plurality of power transmitters.

11. A method in a wireless power delivery network, comprising:

(i) receiving, by a respective power transmitter of a plurality of power transmitters, signals from a power receiver communicatively coupled to a user device, the respective power transmitter having a respective power transfer range that defines a distance at which the respective power transmitter is able to wirelessly transmit power;

(ii) transmitting, by the respective power transmitter of the plurality of power transmitters, the signals received from the power receiver to at least one transmitter manager;

(iii) determining, by the at least one transmitter manager, one or more power transmitters with respective power transfer ranges that cover a location of the power receiver based on the signals received by the respective power transmitter from the power receiver; and

(iv) determining a master transmitter and at least one secondary transmitter in the determined one or more power transmitters for transmitting power transmission signals to the power receiver so as to charge or power the user device,

wherein the master transmitter is different from the at least one secondary transmitter,

the master transmitter is configured to (i) notify the at least one secondary transmitter that it is authorized to transmit the power transmission signals to the power receiver and (ii) determine a respective time period for each of the master transmitter and the at least one secondary transmitter in the determined one or more power transmitters to communicate with the power receiver, and

the master transmitter and the at least one secondary transmitter substantially simultaneously transmit the power transmission signals to the power receiver based on respective communication with the power receiver.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising, determining by the at least one transmitter manager the master transmitter by comparing respective IP addresses of the one or more power transmitters with respective power transfer ranges that cover the location of the power receiver.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining a new secondary power transmitter based on the signals received by the respective power transmitter, the new secondary power transmitter being able to transmit the power transmission signals to the power receiver so as to charge or power the user device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one transmitter manager is configured to determine that the new secondary power transmitter is a new master transmitter, the new master transmitter and the at least one secondary transmitter substantially simultaneously transmitting the power transmission signals to the power receiver.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising, receiving updated signals from the power receiver and repeating steps (iii) and (iv) performed by the at least one transmitter managers based on the updated signals transmitter from the power receiver.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the master transmitter is a power transmitter that is located closest to the power receiver, relative to the other transmitters in the plurality of power transmitters.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the power receiver is less than 30 feet away from the master transmitter and the at least one secondary transmitters.