WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER FOR VEHICLES

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power transfer. A power transmitting device is attached to an existing vehicle item or is embedded in a vehicle element. The power transmitting device includes a transmit antenna to wirelessly transfer power to a receive antenna by generating a near-field radiation within a coupling-mode region. An amplifier applies a driving signal to the transmit antenna. A presence detector may detect a presence of a receiver device within the coupling-mode region. The presence detector may also detect a human presence. An enclosed compartment detector may detect when the vehicle element is in a closed state. A power output may be adjusted in response to the closed state, the presence of a receiver device, and the presence of a human.

Description

CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. §119

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to:

• • U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/151,830 entitled “WIRELESS POWER IN VEHICLES” filed on Feb. 11, 2009, and assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein;
  • U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/152,092 entitled “WIRELESS POWER IN TRANSPORTATION” filed on Feb. 12, 2009, and assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein; and
  • U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/151,290, entitled “MULTI DIMENSIONAL WIRELESS CHARGER” filed on Feb. 10, 2009, and assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

Typically, each battery powered device such as a wireless electronic device requires its own charger and power source, which is usually an alternating current (AC) power outlet. Such a wired configuration becomes unwieldy when many devices need charging.

Approaches are being developed that use over-the-air or wireless power transmission between a transmitter and a receiver coupled to the electronic device to be charged. Such approaches generally fall into two categories. One is based on the coupling of plane wave radiation (also called far-field radiation) between a transmit antenna and a receive antenna on the device to be charged. The receive antenna collects the radiated power and rectifies it for charging the battery. Antennas are generally of resonant length in order to improve the coupling efficiency. This approach suffers from the fact that the power coupling falls off quickly with distance between the antennas, so charging over reasonable distances (e.g., less than 1 to 2 meters) becomes difficult. Additionally, since the transmitting system radiates plane waves, unintentional radiation can interfere with other systems if not properly controlled through filtering.

Other approaches to wireless energy transmission techniques are based on inductive coupling between a transmit antenna embedded, for example, in a “charging” mat or surface and a receive antenna (plus a rectifying circuit) embedded in the host electronic device to be charged. This approach has the disadvantage that the spacing between transmit and receive antennas must be very close (e.g., within thousandths of meters). Though this approach does have the capability to simultaneously charge multiple devices in the same area, this area is typically very small and requires the user to accurately locate the devices to a specific area. Therefore, there is a need to provide a wireless charging arrangement that accommodates flexible placement and orientation of transmit and receive antennas.

With wireless power transmission there is a need for systems and methods for disposing the transmit antennas in vehicles for convenient and unobtrusive wireless power transmission. There is also a need for adjusting the operating characteristics of the antennas to adapt to different circumstances and optimize power transfer characteristics.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a simplified block diagram of a wireless power transfer system.

FIG. 2 shows a simplified schematic diagram of a wireless power transfer system.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a loop antenna for use in exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows simulation results indicating coupling strength between transmit and receive antennas.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show layouts of loop antennas for transmit and receive antennas according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows simulation results indicating coupling strength between transmit and receive antennas relative to various circumference sizes for the square and circular transmit antennas illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B.

FIG. 7 shows simulation results indicating coupling strength between transmit and receive antennas relative to various surface areas for the square and circular transmit antennas illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B.

FIG. 8 shows various placement points for a receive antenna relative to a transmit antenna to illustrate coupling strengths in coplanar and coaxial placements.

FIG. 9 shows simulation results indicating coupling strength for coaxial placement at various distances between the transmit and receive antennas.

FIG. 10 is a simplified block diagram of a transmitter, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a simplified block diagram of a receiver, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 shows a simplified schematic of a portion of transmit circuitry for carrying out messaging between a transmitter and a receiver.

FIGS. 13A-13C shows a simplified schematic of a portion of receive circuitry in various states to illustrate messaging between a receiver and a transmitter.

FIGS. 14A-14C shows a simplified schematic of a portion of alternative receive circuitry in various states to illustrate messaging between a receiver and a transmitter.

FIGS. 15A-15D are simplified block diagrams illustrating a beacon power mode for transmitting power between a transmitter and a receiver.

FIG. 16A illustrates a large transmit antenna with a smaller repeater antenna disposed coplanar with, and coaxial with, the transmit antenna.

FIG. 16B illustrates a transmit antenna with a larger repeater antenna with a coaxial placement relative to the transmit antenna.

FIG. 17A illustrates a large transmit antenna with a three different smaller repeater antennas disposed coplanar with, and within a perimeter of, the transmit antenna.

FIG. 17B illustrates a large transmit antenna with smaller repeater antennas with offset coaxial placements and offset coplanar placements relative to the transmit antenna.

FIG. 18 shows simulation results indicating coupling strength between a transmit antenna, a repeater antenna and a receive antenna.

FIG. 19A shows simulation results indicating coupling strength between a transmit antenna and receive antenna with no repeater antennas.

FIG. 19B shows simulation results indicating coupling strength between a transmit antenna and receive antenna with a repeater antenna.

FIG. 20 is a simplified block diagram of a transmitter according to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a simplified block diagram of a multiple transmit antenna wireless charging apparatus, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a simplified block diagram of a multiple transmit antenna wireless charging apparatus, in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 23A-23C illustrate an exemplary embodiment of an item bearing transmit antennas oriented in multiple directions.

FIGS. 24A and 24B illustrate an exemplary embodiment of a cabinet bearing transmit antennas oriented in multiple directions.

FIG. 25 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an antenna disposed in or on a section of an automobile dashboard.

FIG. 26 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an antenna in or on an automobile console.

FIG. 27 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an antenna disposed in or on a floor mat for an automobile.

FIGS. 28A and 28B illustrate an exemplary embodiment of an antenna disposed in or on an automobile storage bin.

FIGS. 29A and 29B illustrate an exemplary embodiment of an automobile storage bin including transmit antennas oriented in multiple directions.

FIG. 30 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an antenna disposed in or on a storage bag draped over a back of a seat of an automobile.

FIG. 31 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an antenna disposed in or on stowable surface in a vehicle.

FIG. 32 is a simplified flow chart illustrating acts that may be performed in one or more exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to represent the only embodiments in which the present invention can be practiced. The term “exemplary” used throughout this description means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration,” and should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other exemplary embodiments. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the exemplary embodiments of the invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the exemplary embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the novelty of the exemplary embodiments presented herein.

The words “wireless power” is used herein to mean any form of energy associated with electric fields, magnetic fields, electromagnetic fields, or otherwise that is transmitted between from a transmitter to a receiver without the use of physical electromagnetic conductors.

FIG. 1 illustrates wireless transmission or charging system 100, in accordance with various exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Input power 102 is provided to a transmitter 104 for generating a radiated field 106 for providing energy transfer. A receiver 108 couples to the radiated field 106 and generates an output power 110 for storing or consumption by a device (not shown) coupled to the output power 110. Both the transmitter 104 and the receiver 108 are separated by a distance 112. In one exemplary embodiment, transmitter 104 and receiver 108 are configured according to a mutual resonant relationship and when the resonant frequency of receiver 108 and the resonant frequency of transmitter 104 are exactly identical, transmission losses between the transmitter 104 and the receiver 108 are minimal when the receiver 108 is located in the “near-field” of the radiated field 106.

Transmitter 104 further includes a transmit antenna 114 for providing a means for energy transmission and receiver 108 further includes a receive antenna 118 for providing a means for energy reception. The transmit and receive antennas are sized according to applications and devices to be associated therewith. As stated, an efficient energy transfer occurs by coupling a large portion of the energy in the near-field of the transmitting antenna to a receiving antenna rather than propagating most of the energy in an electromagnetic wave to the far field. When in this near-field a coupling mode may be developed between the transmit antenna 114 and the receive antenna 118. The area around the antennas 114 and 118 where this near-field coupling may occur is referred to herein as a coupling-mode region.

FIG. 2 shows a simplified schematic diagram of a wireless power transfer system. The transmitter 104 includes an oscillator 122, a power amplifier 124 and a filter and matching circuit 126. The oscillator is configured to generate at a desired frequency, which may be adjusted in response to adjustment signal 123. The oscillator signal may be amplified by the power amplifier 124 with an amplification amount responsive to control signal 125. The filter and matching circuit 126 may be included to filter out harmonics or other unwanted frequencies and match the impedance of the transmitter 104 to the transmit antenna 114.

The receiver may include a matching circuit 132 and a rectifier and switching circuit to generate a DC power output to charge a battery 136 as shown in FIG. 2 or power a device coupled to the receiver (not shown). The matching circuit 132 may be included to match the impedance of the receiver 108 to the receive antenna 118.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, antennas used in exemplary embodiments may be configured as a “loop” antenna 150, which may also be referred to herein as a “magnetic” antenna. Loop antennas may be configured to include an air core or a physical core such as a ferrite core. Air core loop antennas may be more tolerable to extraneous physical devices placed in the vicinity of the core. Furthermore, an air core loop antenna allows the placement of other components within the core area. In addition, an air core loop may more readily enable placement of the receive antenna 118 (FIG. 2) within a plane of the transmit antenna 114 (FIG. 2) where the coupled-mode region of the transmit antenna 114 (FIG. 2) may be more powerful.

As stated, efficient transfer of energy between the transmitter 104 and receiver 108 occurs during matched or nearly matched resonance between the transmitter 104 and the receiver 108. However, even when resonance between the transmitter 104 and receiver 108 are not matched, energy may be transferred at a lower efficiency. Transfer of energy occurs by coupling energy from the near-field of the transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna residing in the neighborhood where this near-field is established rather than propagating the energy from the transmitting antenna into free space.

The resonant frequency of the loop or magnetic antennas is based on the inductance and capacitance. Inductance in a loop antenna is generally simply the inductance created by the loop, whereas, capacitance is generally added to the loop antenna's inductance to create a resonant structure at a desired resonant frequency. As a non-limiting example, capacitor 152 and capacitor 154 may be added to the antenna to create a resonant circuit that generates resonant signal 156. Accordingly, for larger diameter loop antennas, the size of capacitance needed to induce resonance decreases as the diameter or inductance of the loop increases. Furthermore, as the diameter of the loop or magnetic antenna increases, the efficient energy transfer area of the near-field increases. Of course, other resonant circuits are possible. As another non-limiting example, a capacitor may be placed in parallel between the two terminals of the loop antenna. In addition, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that for transmit antennas the resonant signal 156 may be an input to the loop antenna 150.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention include coupling power between two antennas that are in the near-fields of each other. As stated, the near-field is an area around the antenna in which electromagnetic fields exist but may not propagate or radiate away from the antenna. They are typically confined to a volume that is near the physical volume of the antenna. In the exemplary embodiments of the invention, magnetic type antennas such as single and multi-turn loop antennas are used for both transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) antenna systems since magnetic near-field amplitudes tend to be higher for magnetic type antennas in comparison to the electric near-fields of an electric-type antenna (e.g., a small dipole). This allows for potentially higher coupling between the pair. Furthermore, “electric” antennas (e.g., dipoles and monopoles) or a combination of magnetic and electric antennas is also contemplated.

The Tx antenna can be operated at a frequency that is low enough and with an antenna size that is large enough to achieve good coupling (e.g., >−4 dB) to a small Rx antenna at significantly larger distances than allowed by far field and inductive approaches mentioned earlier. If the Tx antenna is sized correctly, high coupling levels (e.g., −2 to −4 dB) can be achieved when the Rx antenna on a host device is placed within a coupling-mode region (i.e., in the near-field) of the driven Tx loop antenna.

FIG. 4 shows simulation results indicating coupling strength between transmit and receive antennas. Curves 170 and 172 indicate a measure of acceptance of power by the transmit and receive antennas, respectively. In other words, with a large negative number there is a very close impedance match and most of the power is accepted and, as a result, radiated by the transmit antenna. Conversely, a small negative number indicates that much of the power is reflected back from the antenna because there is not a close impedance match at the given frequency. In FIG. 4, the transmit antenna and the receive antenna are tuned to have a resonant frequency of about 13.56 MHz.

Curve 170 illustrates the amount of power transmitted from the transmit antenna at various frequencies. Thus, at points 1a and 3a, corresponding to about 13.528 MHz and 13.593 MHz, much of the power is reflected and not transmitted out of the transmit antenna. However, at point 2a, corresponding to about 13.56 MHz, it can be seen that a large amount of the power is accepted and transmitted out of the antenna.

Similarly, curve 172 illustrates the amount of power received by the receive antenna at various frequencies. Thus, at points 1b and 3b, corresponding to about 13.528 MHz and 13.593 MHz, much of the power is reflected and not conveyed through the receive antenna and into the receiver. However, at point 2b corresponding to about 13.56 MHz, it can be seen that a large amount of the power is accepted by the receive antenna and conveyed into the receiver.

Curve 174 indicates the amount of power received at the receiver after being sent from the transmitter through the transmit antenna, received through the receive antenna and conveyed to the receiver. Thus, at points 1c and 3c, corresponding to about 13.528 MHz and 13.593 MHz, much of the power sent out of the transmitter is not available at the receiver because (1) the transmit antenna rejects much of the power sent to it from the transmitter and (2) the coupling between the transmit antenna and the receive antenna is less efficient as the frequencies move away from the resonant frequency. However, at point 2c corresponding to about 13.56 MHz, it can be seen that a large amount of the power sent from the transmitter is available at the receiver, indicating a high degree of coupling between the transmit antenna and the receive antenna.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show layouts of loop antennas for transmit and receive antennas according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Loop antennas may be configured in a number of different ways, with single loops or multiple loops at wide variety of sizes. In addition, the loops may be a number of different shapes, such as, for example only, circular, elliptical, square, and rectangular. FIG. 5A illustrates a large square loop transmit antenna 114S and a small square loop receive antenna 118 placed in the same plane as the transmit antenna 114S and near the center of the transmit antenna 114S. FIG. 5B illustrates a large circular loop transmit antenna 114C and a small square loop receive antenna 118′ placed in the same plane as the transmit antenna 114C and near the center of the transmit antenna 114C. The square loop transmit antenna 114S has side lengths of “a” while the circular loop transmit antenna 114C has a diameter of “Φ.” For a square loop, it can be shown that there is an equivalent circular loop whose diameter may be defined as: Φ_eq=4a/π.

FIG. 6 shows simulation results indicating coupling strength between transmit and receive antennas relative to various circumferences for the square and circular transmit antennas illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B. Thus, curve 180 shows coupling strength between the circular loop transmit antennas 114C and the receive antenna 118 at various circumference sizes for the circular loop transmit antenna 114C. Similarly, curve 182 shows coupling strength between the square loop transmit antennas 114S and the receive antenna 118′ at various equivalent circumference sizes for the transmit loop transmit antenna 114S.

FIG. 7 shows simulation results indicating coupling strength between transmit and receive antennas relative to various surface areas for the square and circular transmit antennas illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B. Thus, curve 190 shows coupling strength between the circular loop transmit antennas 114C and the receive antenna 118 at various surface areas for the circular loop transmit antenna 114C. Similarly, curve 192 shows coupling strength between the square loop transmit antennas 114S and the receive antenna 118′ at various surface areas for the transmit loop transmit antenna 114S.

FIG. 8 shows various placement points for a receive antenna relative to a transmit antenna to illustrate coupling strengths in coplanar and coaxial placements. “Coplanar,” as used herein, means that the transmit antenna and receive antenna have planes that are substantially aligned (i.e., have surface normals pointing in substantially the same direction) and with no distance (or a small distance) between the planes of the transmit antenna and the receive antenna. “Coaxial,” as used herein, means that the transmit antenna and receive antenna have planes that are substantially aligned (i.e., have surface normals pointing in substantially the same direction) and the distance between the two planes is not trivial and furthermore, the surface normal of the transmit antenna and the receive antenna lie substantially along the same vector, or the two normals are in echelon.

As examples, points p1, p2, p3, and p7 are all coplanar placement points for a receive antenna relative to a transmit antenna. As another example, point p5 and p6 are coaxial placement points for a receive antenna relative to a transmit antenna. The table below shows coupling strength (S21) and coupling efficiency (expressed as a percentage of power transmitted from the transmit antenna that reached the receive antenna) at the various placement points (p1-p7) illustrated in FIG. 8.

TABLE 1
			Efficiency (TX
	Distance from	S21 efficiency	DC power in to
Position	plane (cm)	(%)	RX DC power out)
p1	0	46.8	28
p2	0	55.0	36
p3	0	57.5	35
p4	2.5	49.0	30
p5	17.5	24.5	15
p6	17.5	0.3	0.2
p7	0	5.9	3.4

As can be seen, the coplanar placement points p1, p2, and p3, all show relatively high coupling efficiencies. Placement point p7 is also a coplanar placement point, but is outside of the transmit loop antenna. While placement point p7 does not have a high coupling efficiency, it is clear that there is some coupling and the coupling-mode region extends beyond the perimeter of the transmit loop antenna.

Placement point p5 is coaxial with the transmit antenna and shows substantial coupling efficiency. The coupling efficiency for placement point p5 is not as high as the coupling efficiencies for the coplanar placement points. However, the coupling efficiency for placement point p5 is high enough that substantial power can be conveyed between the transmit antenna and a receive antenna in a coaxial placement.

Placement point p4 is within the circumference of the transmit antenna but at a slight distance above the plane of the transmit antenna in a position that may be referred to as an offset coaxial placement (i.e., with surface normals in substantially the same direction but at different locations) or offset coplanar (i.e., with surface normals in substantially the same direction but with planes that are offset relative to each other). From the table it can be seen that with an offset distance of 2.5 cm, placement point p4 still has relatively good coupling efficiency.

Placement point p6 illustrates a placement point outside the circumference of the transmit antenna and at a substantial distance above the plane of the transmit antenna. As can be seen from the table, placement point p7 shows little coupling efficiency between the transmit and receive antennas.

FIG. 9 shows simulation results indicating coupling strength for coaxial placement at various distances between the transmit and receive antennas. The simulations for FIG. 9 are for square transmit and receive antennas in a coaxial placement, both with sides of about 1.2 meters and at a transmit frequency of 10 MHz. It can be seen that the coupling strength remains quite high and uniform at distances of less than about 0.5 meters.

FIG. 10 is a simplified block diagram of a transmitter, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. A transmitter 200 includes transmit circuitry 202 and a transmit antenna 204. Generally, transmit circuitry 202 provides RF power to the transmit antenna 204 by providing an oscillating signal resulting in generation of near-field energy about the transmit antenna 204. By way of example, transmitter 200 may operate at the 13.56 MHz ISM band.

Exemplary transmit circuitry 202 includes a fixed impedance matching circuit 206 for matching the impedance of the transmit circuitry 202 (e.g., 50 ohms) to the transmit antenna 204 and a low pass filter (LPF) 208 configured to reduce harmonic emissions to levels to prevent self-jamming of devices coupled to receivers 108 (FIG. 1). Other embodiments may include different filter topologies, including but not limited to, notch filters that attenuate specific frequencies while passing others and may include an adaptive impedance match, that can be varied based on measurable transmit metrics, such as output power to the antenna or DC current draw by the power amplifier. Transmit circuitry 202 further includes a power amplifier 210 configured to drive an RF signal as determined by an oscillator 212. The transmit circuitry may be comprised of discrete devices or circuits, or alternately, may be comprised of an integrated assembly. An exemplary RF power output from transmit antenna 204 may be on the order of 2.5 Watts.

Transmit circuitry 202 further includes a processor 214 for enabling the oscillator 212 during transmit phases (or duty cycles) for specific receivers, for adjusting the frequency of the oscillator, and for adjusting the output power level for implementing a communication protocol for interacting with neighboring devices through their attached receivers.

The transmit circuitry 202 may further include a load sensing circuit 216 for detecting the presence or absence of active receivers in the vicinity of the near-field generated by transmit antenna 204. By way of example, a load sensing circuit 216 monitors the current flowing to the power amplifier 210, which is affected by the presence or absence of active receivers in the vicinity of the near-field generated by transmit antenna 204. Detection of changes to the loading on the power amplifier 210 are monitored by processor 214 for use in determining whether to enable the oscillator 212 for transmitting energy to communicate with an active receiver.

Transmit antenna 204 may be implemented as an antenna strip with the thickness, width and metal type selected to keep resistive losses low. In a conventional implementation, the transmit antenna 204 can generally be configured for association with a larger structure such as a table, mat, lamp or other less portable configuration. Accordingly, the transmit antenna 204 generally will not need “turns” in order to be of a practical dimension. An exemplary implementation of a transmit antenna 204 may be “electrically small” (i.e., fraction of the wavelength) and tuned to resonate at lower usable frequencies by using capacitors to define the resonant frequency. In an exemplary application where the transmit antenna 204 may be larger in diameter, or length of side if a square loop, (e.g., 0.50 meters) relative to the receive antenna, the transmit antenna 204 will not necessarily need a large number of turns to obtain a reasonable capacitance.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a receiver, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. A receiver 300 includes receive circuitry 302 and a receive antenna 304. Receiver 300 further couples to device 350 for providing received power thereto. It should be noted that receiver 300 is illustrated as being external to device 350 but may be integrated into device 350. Generally, energy is propagated wirelessly to receive antenna 304 and then coupled through receive circuitry 302 to device 350.

Receive antenna 304 is tuned to resonate at the same frequency, or near the same frequency, as transmit antenna 204 (FIG. 10). Receive antenna 304 may be similarly dimensioned with transmit antenna 204 or may be differently sized based upon the dimensions of an associated device 350. By way of example, device 350 may be a portable electronic device having diametric or length dimension smaller that the diameter of length of transmit antenna 204. In such an example, receive antenna 304 may be implemented as a multi-turn antenna in order to reduce the capacitance value of a tuning capacitor (not shown) and increase the receive antenna's impedance. By way of example, receive antenna 304 may be placed around the substantial circumference of device 350 in order to maximize the antenna diameter and reduce the number of loop turns (i.e., windings) of the receive antenna and the inter-winding capacitance.

Receive circuitry 302 provides an impedance match to the receive antenna 304. Receive circuitry 302 includes power conversion circuitry 306 for converting a received RF energy source into charging power for use by device 350. Power conversion circuitry 306 includes an RF-to-DC converter 308 and may also in include a DC-to-DC converter 310. RF-to-DC converter 308 rectifies the RF energy signal received at receive antenna 304 into a non-alternating power while DC-to-DC converter 310 converts the rectified RF energy signal into an energy potential (e.g., voltage) that is compatible with device 350. Various RF-to-DC converters are contemplated including partial and full rectifiers, regulators, bridges, doublers, as well as linear and switching converters.

Receive circuitry 302 may further include switching circuitry 312 for connecting receive antenna 304 to the power conversion circuitry 306 or alternatively for disconnecting the power conversion circuitry 306. Disconnecting receive antenna 304 from power conversion circuitry 306 not only suspends charging of device 350, but also changes the “load” as “seen” by the transmitter 200 (FIG. 2) as is explained more fully below. As disclosed above, transmitter 200 includes load sensing circuit 216 which detects fluctuations in the bias current provided to transmitter power amplifier 210. Accordingly, transmitter 200 has a mechanism for determining when receivers are present in the transmitter's near-field.

When multiple receivers 300 are present in a transmitter's near-field, it may be desirable to time-multiplex the loading and unloading of one or more receivers to enable other receivers to more efficiently couple to the transmitter. A receiver may also be cloaked in order to eliminate coupling to other nearby receivers or to reduce loading on nearby transmitters. This “unloading” of a receiver is also known herein as a “cloaking” Furthermore, this switching between unloading and loading controlled by receiver 300 and detected by transmitter 200 provides a communication mechanism from receiver 300 to transmitter 200 as is explained more fully below. Additionally, a protocol can be associated with the switching which enables the sending of a message from receiver 300 to transmitter 200. By way of example, a switching speed may be on the order of 100 μsec.

In an exemplary embodiment, communication between the transmitter and the receiver refers to a device sensing and charging control mechanism, rather than conventional two-way communication. In other words, the transmitter uses on/off keying of the transmitted signal to adjust whether energy is available in the near-filed. The receivers interpret these changes in energy as a message from the transmitter. From the receiver side, the receiver uses tuning and de-tuning of the receive antenna to adjust how much power is being accepted from the near-field. The transmitter can detect this difference in power used from the near-field and interpret these changes as a message from the receiver.

Receive circuitry 302 may further include signaling detector and beacon circuitry 314 used to identify received energy fluctuations, which may correspond to informational signaling from the transmitter to the receiver. Furthermore, signaling and beacon circuitry 314 may also be used to detect the transmission of a reduced RF signal energy (i.e., a beacon signal) and to rectify the reduced RF signal energy into a nominal power for awakening either un-powered or power-depleted circuits within receive circuitry 302 in order to configure receive circuitry 302 for wireless charging.

Receive circuitry 302 further includes processor 316 for coordinating the processes of receiver 300 described herein including the control of switching circuitry 312 described herein. Cloaking of receiver 300 may also occur upon the occurrence of other events including detection of an external wired charging source (e.g., wall/USB power) providing charging power to device 350. Processor 316, in addition to controlling the cloaking of the receiver, may also monitor beacon circuitry 314 to determine a beacon state and extract messages sent from the transmitter. Processor 316 may also adjust DC-to-DC converter 310 for improved performance.

FIG. 12 shows a simplified schematic of a portion of transmit circuitry for carrying out messaging between a transmitter and a receiver. In some exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a means for communication may be enabled between the transmitter and the receiver. In FIG. 12 a power amplifier 210 drives the transmit antenna 204 to generate the radiated field. The power amplifier is driven by a carrier signal 220 that is oscillating at a desired frequency for the transmit antenna 204. A transmit modulation signal 224 is used to control the output of the power amplifier 210.

The transmit circuitry can send signals to receivers by using an ON/OFF keying process on the power amplifier 210. In other words, when the transmit modulation signal 224 is asserted, the power amplifier 210 will drive the frequency of the carrier signal 220 out on the transmit antenna 204. When the transmit modulation signal 224 is negated, the power amplifier will not drive out any frequency on the transmit antenna 204.

The transmit circuitry of FIG. 12 also includes a load sensing circuit 216 that supplies power to the power amplifier 210 and generates a receive signal 235 output. In the load sensing circuit 216 a voltage drop across resistor Rs develops between the power in signal 226 and the power supply 228 to the power amplifier 210. Any change in the power consumed by the power amplifier 210 will cause a change in the voltage drop that will be amplified by differential amplifier 230. When the transmit antenna is in coupled mode with a receive antenna in a receiver (not shown in FIG. 12) the amount of current drawn by the power amplifier 210 will change. In other words, if no coupled mode resonance exist for the transmit antenna 210, the power required to drive the radiated field will be first amount. If a coupled mode resonance exists, the amount of power consumed by the power amplifier 210 will go up because much of the power is being coupled into the receive antenna. Thus, the receive signal 235 can indicate the presence of a receive antenna coupled to the transmit antenna 235 and can also detect signals sent from the receive antenna, as explained below. Additionally, a change in receiver current draw will be observable in the transmitter's power amplifier current draw, and this change can be used to detect signals from the receive antennas, as explained below.

FIGS. 13A-13C shows a simplified schematic of a portion of receive circuitry in various states to illustrate messaging between a receiver and a transmitter. All of FIGS. 13A-13C show the same circuit elements with the difference being state of the various switches. A receive antenna 304 includes a characteristic inductance L1, which drives node 350. Node 350 is selectively coupled to ground through switch S1A. Node 350 is also selectively coupled to diode D1 and rectifier 318 through switch SIB. The rectifier 318 supplies a DC power signal 322 to a receive device (not shown) to power the receive device, charge a battery, or a combination thereof. The diode D1 is coupled to a transmit signal 320 which is filtered to remove harmonics and unwanted frequencies with capacitor C3 and resistor R1. Thus the combination of D1, C3, and R1 can generate a signal on the transmit signal 320 that mimics the transmit modulation generated by the transmit modulation signal 224 discussed above with reference to the transmitter in FIG. 12.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention includes modulation of the receive device's current draw and modulation of the receive antenna's impedance to accomplish reverse link signaling. With reference to both FIG. 13A and FIG. 12, as the power draw of the receive device changes, the load sensing circuit 216 detects the resulting power changes on the transmit antenna and from these changes can generate the receive signal 235.

In the exemplary embodiments of FIGS. 13A-13C, the current draw through the transmitter can be changed by modifying the state of switches S1A and S2A. In FIG. 13A, switch S1A and switch S2A are both open creating a “DC open state” and essentially removing the load from the transmit antenna 204. This reduces the current seen by the transmitter.

In FIG. 13B, switch S1A is closed and switch S2A is open creating a “DC short state” for the receive antenna 304. Thus the state in FIG. 13B can be used to increase the current seen in the transmitter.

In FIG. 13C, switch S1A is open and switch S2A is closed creating a normal receive mode (also referred to herein as a “DC operating state”) wherein power can be supplied by the DC out signal 322 and a transmit signal 320 can be detected. In the state shown in FIG. 13C the receiver receives a normal amount of power, thus consuming more or less power from the transmit antenna than the DC open state or the DC short state.

Reverse link signaling may be accomplished by switching between the DC operating state (FIG. 13C) and the DC short state (FIG. 13B). Reverse link signaling also may be accomplished by switching between the DC operating state (FIG. 13C) and the DC open state (FIG. 13A).

FIGS. 14A-14C shows a simplified schematic of a portion of alternative receive circuitry in various states to illustrate messaging between a receiver and a transmitter.

All of FIGS. 14A-14C show the same circuit elements with the difference being state of the various switches. A receive antenna 304 includes a characteristic inductance L1, which drives node 350. Node 350 is selectively coupled to ground through capacitor C1 and switch SIB. Node 350 is also AC coupled to diode D1 and rectifier 318 through capacitor C2. The diode D1 is coupled to a transmit signal 320 which is filtered to remove harmonics and unwanted frequencies with capacitor C3 and resistor R1. Thus the combination of D1, C3, and R1 can generate a signal on the transmit signal 320 that mimics the transmit modulation generated by the transmit modulation signal 224 discussed above with reference to the transmitter in FIG. 12.

The rectifier 318 is connected to switch S2B, which is connected in series with resistor R2 and ground. The rectifier 318 also is connected to switch S3B. The other side of switch S3B supplies a DC power signal 322 to a receive device (not shown) to power the receive device, charge a battery, or a combination thereof.

In FIGS. 13A-13C the DC impedance of the receive antenna 304 is changed by selectively coupling the receive antenna to ground through switch SIB. In contrast, in the exemplary embodiments of FIGS. 14A-14C, the impedance of the antenna can be modified to generate the reverse link signaling by modifying the state of switches S1B, S2B, and S3B to change the AC impedance of the receive antenna 304. In FIGS. 14A-14C the resonant frequency of the receive antenna 304 may be tuned with capacitor C2. Thus, the AC impedance of the receive antenna 304 may be changed by selectively coupling the receive antenna 304 through capacitor C1 using switch S1B, essentially changing the resonance circuit to a different frequency that will be outside of a range that will optimally couple with the transmit antenna. If the resonance frequency of the receive antenna 304 is near the resonant frequency of the transmit antenna, and the receive antenna 304 is in the near-field of the transmit antenna, a coupling mode may develop wherein the receiver can draw significant power from the radiated field 106.

In FIG. 14A, switch S1B is closed, which de-tunes the antenna and creates an “AC cloaking state,” essentially “cloaking” the receive antenna 304 from detection by the transmit antenna 204 because the receive antenna does not resonate at the transmit antenna's frequency. Since the receive antenna will not be in a coupled mode, the state of switches S2B and S3B are not particularly important to the present discussion.

In FIG. 14B, switch S1B is open, switch S2B is closed, and switch S3B is open, creating a “tuned dummy-load state” for the receive antenna 304. Because switch S1B is open, capacitor C1 does not contribute to the resonance circuit and the receive antenna 304 in combination with capacitor C2 will be in a resonance frequency that may match with the resonant frequency of the transmit antenna. The combination of switch S3B open and switch S2B closed creates a relatively high current dummy load for the rectifier, which will draw more power through the receive antenna 304, which can be sensed by the transmit antenna. In addition, the transmit signal 320 can be detected since the receive antenna is in a state to receive power from the transmit antenna.

In FIG. 14C, switch S1B is open, switch S2B is open, and switch S3B is closed, creating a “tuned operating state” for the receive antenna 304. Because switch S1B is open, capacitor C1 does not contribute to the resonance circuit and the receive antenna 304 in combination with capacitor C2 will be in a resonance frequency that may match with the resonant frequency of the transmit antenna. The combination of switch S2B open and switch S3B closed creates a normal operating state wherein power can be supplied by the DC out signal 322 and a transmit signal 320 can be detected.

Reverse link signaling may be accomplished by switching between the tuned operating state (FIG. 14C) and the AC cloaking state (FIG. 14A). Reverse link signaling also may be accomplished by switching between the tuned dummy-load state (FIG. 14B) and the AC cloaking state (FIG. 14A). Reverse link signaling also may be accomplished by switching between the tuned operating state (FIG. 14C) and the tuned dummy-load state (FIG. 14B) because there will be a difference in the amount of power consumed by the receiver, which can be detected by the load sensing circuit in the transmitter.

Of course, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other combinations of switches S1B, S2B, and S3B may be used to create cloaking, generate reverse link signaling and supplying power to the receive device. In addition, the switches S1A and S1B may be added to the circuits of FIGS. 14A-14C to create other possible combinations for cloaking, reverse link signaling, and supplying power to the receive device.

Thus, when in a coupled mode signals may be sent from the transmitter to the receiver, as discussed above with reference to FIG. 12. In addition, when in a coupled mode signals may be sent from the receiver to the transmitter, as discussed above with reference to FIGS. 13A-13C and 14A-14C.

FIGS. 15A-15D are simplified block diagrams illustrating a beacon power mode for transmitting power between a transmitter and a one or more receivers. FIG. 15A illustrates a transmitter 520 having a low power “beacon” signal 525 when there are no receive devices in the beacon coupling-mode region 510. The beacon signal 525 may be, as a non-limiting example, such as in the range of ˜10 to ˜20 mW RF. This signal may be adequate to provide initial power to a device to be charged when it is placed in the coupling-mode region.

FIG. 15B illustrates a receive device 530 placed within the beacon coupling-mode region 510 of the transmitter 520 transmitting the beacon signal 525. If the receive device 530 is on and develops a coupling with the transmitter it will generate a reverse link coupling 535, which is really just the receiver accepting power from the beacon signal 525. This additional power, may be sensed by the load sensing circuit 216 (FIG. 12) of the transmitter. As a result, the transmitter may go into a high power mode.

FIG. 15C illustrates the transmitter 520 generating a high power signal 525′ resulting in a high power coupling-mode region 510′. As long as the receive device 530 is accepting power and, as a result, generating the reverse link coupling 535, the transmitter will remain in the high power state. While only one receive device 530 is illustrated, multiple receive devices 530 may be present in the coupling-mode region 510. If there are multiple receive device 530 they will share the amount of power transmitted by the transmitter based on how well each receive device 530 is coupled. For example, the coupling efficiency may be different for each receive device 530 depending on where the device is placed within the coupling-mode region 510 as was explained above with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

FIG. 15D illustrates the transmitter 520 generating the beacon signal 525 even when a receive device 530 is in the beacon coupling-mode region 510. This state may occur when the receive device 530 is shut off, or the device cloaks itself, perhaps because it does not need any more power.

The receiver and transmitter may communicate on a separate communication channel (e.g., Bluetooth, zigbee, etc). With a separate communication channel, the transmitter may determine when to switch between beacon mode and high power mode, or create multiple power levels, based on the number of receive devices in the coupling-mode region 510 and their respective power requirements.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention include enhancing the coupling between a relatively large transmit antenna and a small receive antenna in the near-field power transfer between two antennas through introduction of additional antennas into the system of coupled antennas that will act as repeaters and will enhance the flow of power from the transmitting antenna toward the receiving antenna.

In exemplary embodiments, one or more extra antennas are used that couple to the transmit antenna and receive antenna in the system. These extra antennas comprise repeater antennas, such as active or passive antennas. A passive antenna may include simply the antenna loop and a capacitive element for tuning a resonant frequency of the antenna. An active element may include, in addition to the antenna loop and one or more tuning capacitors, an amplifier for increasing the strength of a repeated near-field radiation.

The combination of the transmit antenna and the repeater antennas in the power transfer system may be optimized such that coupling of power to very small receive antennas is enhanced based on factors such as termination loads, tuning components, resonant frequencies, and placement of the repeater antennas relative to the transmit antenna.

A single transmit antenna exhibits a finite near-field coupling mode region. Accordingly, a user of a device charging through a receiver in the transmit antenna's near-field coupling mode region may require a considerable user access space that would be prohibitive or at least inconvenient. Furthermore, the coupling mode region may diminish quickly as a receive antenna moves away from the transmit antenna.

A repeater antenna may refocus and reshape a coupling mode region from a transmit antenna to create a second coupling mode region around the repeater antenna, which may be better suited for coupling energy to a receive antenna. Discussed below in FIGS. 16A-19B are some non-limiting examples of embodiments including repeater antennas.

FIG. 16A illustrates a large transmit antenna 610A with a smaller repeater antenna 620A disposed coplanar with, and within a perimeter of, the transmit antenna 610A. The transmit antenna 610A and repeater antenna 620A are both formed on a table 640, as a non-limiting example. A device including a receive antenna 630A is placed within the perimeter of the repeater antenna 620A. With very large antennas, there may be areas of the coupling mode region that are relatively week near the center of the transmit antenna 610A. Presence of this weak region may be particularly noticeable when attempting to couple to a very small receive antenna 630A. The repeater antenna 620A placed coplanar with the transmit antenna 610A, but with a smaller size, may be able to refocus the coupling mode region generated by the transmit antenna 610A into a smaller and stronger repeated coupling mode region around the repeater antenna 620A. As a result, a relatively strong repeated near-field radiation is available for the receive antenna 630A.

FIG. 16B illustrates a transmit antenna 610B with a larger repeater antenna 620B with a coaxial placement relative to the transmit antenna 610B. A device including a receive antenna 630B is placed within the perimeter of the repeater antenna 620B. The transmit antenna 610B is formed around the lower edge circumference of a lamp shade 642, while the repeater antenna 620B is disposed on a table 640. Recall that with coaxial placements, the near-field radiation may diminish relatively quickly relative to distance away from the plane of an antenna. As a result, the small receive antenna 630B placed in a coaxial placement relative to the transmit antenna 610B may be in a weak coupling mode region. However, the large repeater antenna 620B placed coaxially with the transmit antenna 610B may be able to reshape the coupled mode region of the transmit antenna 610B to another coupled mode region in a different place around the repeater antenna 620B. As a result, a relatively strong repeated near-field radiation is available for the receive antenna 630B placed coplanar with the repeater antenna 620B.

FIG. 17A illustrates a large transmit antenna 610C with three smaller repeater antennas 620C disposed coplanar with, and within a perimeter of, the transmit antenna 610C. The transmit antenna 610C and repeater antennas 620C are formed on a table 640. Various devices including receive antennas 630C are placed at various locations within the transmit antenna 610C and repeater antennas 620C. As with the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 16A, the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 17A may be able to refocus the coupling mode region generated by the transmit antenna 610C into smaller and stronger repeated coupling mode regions around each of the repeater antennas 620C. As a result, a relatively strong repeated near-field radiation is available for the receive antennas 630C. Some of the receive antennas are placed outside of any repeater antennas 620C. Recall that the coupled mode region may extend somewhat outside the perimeter of an antenna. Therefore, receive antennas 630C may be able to receive power from the near-field radiation of the transmit antenna 610C as well as any nearby repeater antennas 620C. As a result, receive antennas placed outside of any repeater antennas 620C, may be still be able to receive power from the near-field radiation of the transmit antenna 610C as well as any nearby repeater antennas 620C.

FIG. 17B illustrates a large transmit antenna 610D with smaller repeater antennas 620D with offset coaxial placements and offset coplanar placements relative to the transmit antenna 610D. A device including a receive antenna 630D is placed within the perimeter of one of the repeater antennas 620D. As a non-limiting example, the transmit antenna 610D may be disposed on a ceiling 646, while the repeater antennas 620D may be disposed on a table 640. As with the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 16B, the repeater antennas 620D in an offset coaxial placement may be able to reshape and enhance the near-field radiation from the transmitter antenna 610D to repeated near-field radiation around the repeater antennas 620D. As a result, a relatively strong repeated near-field radiation is available for the receive antenna 630D placed coplanar with the repeater antennas 620D.

While the various transmit antennas and repeater antennas have been shown in general on surfaces, these antennas may also be disposed under surfaces (e.g., under a table, under a floor, behind a wall, or behind a ceiling), or within surfaces (e.g., a table top, a wall, a floor, or a ceiling).

FIG. 18 shows simulation results indicating coupling strength between a transmit antenna, a repeater antenna and a receive antenna. The transmit antenna, the repeater antenna, and the receive antenna are tuned to have a resonant frequency of about 13.56 MHz.

Curve 662 illustrates a measure for the amount of power transmitted from the transmit antenna out of the total power fed to the transmit antenna at various frequencies. Similarly, curve 664 illustrates a measure for the amount of power received by the receive antenna through the repeater antenna out of the total power available in the vicinity of its terminals at various frequencies. Finally, Curve 668 illustrates the amount of power actually coupled between the transmit antenna, through the repeater antenna and into the receive antenna at various frequencies.

At the peak of curve 668, corresponding to about 13.56 MHz, it can be seen that a large amount of the power sent from the transmitter is available at the receiver, indicating a high degree of coupling between the combination of the transmit antenna, the repeater antenna and the receive antenna.

FIG. 19A show simulation results indicating coupling strength between a transmit antenna and receive antenna disposed in a coaxial placement relative to the transmit antenna with no repeater antennas. The transmit antenna and the receive antenna are tuned to have a resonant frequency of about 10 MHz. The transmit antenna in this simulation is about 1.3 meters on a side and the receive antenna is a multi-loop antenna at about 30 mm on a side. The receive antenna is placed at about 2 meters away from the plane of the transmit antenna. Curve 682A illustrates a measure for the amount of power transmitted from the transmit antenna out of the total power fed to its terminals at various frequencies. Similarly, curve 684A illustrates a measure of the amount of power received by the receive antenna out of the total power available in the vicinity of its terminals at various frequencies. Finally, Curve 686A illustrates the amount of power actually coupled between the transmit antenna and the receive antenna at various frequencies.

FIG. 19B show simulation results indicating coupling strength between the transmit and receive antennas of FIG. 19A when a repeater antenna is included in the system. The transmit antenna and receive antenna are the same size and placement as in FIG. 19A. The repeater antenna is about 28 cm on a side and placed coplanar with the receive antenna (i.e., about 0.1 meters away from the plane of the transmit antenna). In FIG. 19B, Curve 682B illustrates a measure of the amount of power transmitted from the transmit antenna out of the total power fed to its terminals at various frequencies. Curve 684B illustrates the amount of power received by the receive antenna through the repeater antenna out of the total power available in the vicinity of its terminals at various frequencies. Finally, Curve 686B illustrates the amount of power actually coupled between the transmit antenna, through the repeater antenna and into the receive antenna at various frequencies.

When comparing the coupled power (686A and 686B) from FIGS. 19A and 19B it can be seen that without a repeater antenna the coupled power 686A peaks at about −36 dB. Whereas, with a repeater antenna the coupled power 686B peaks at about −5 dB. Thus, near the resonant frequency, there is a significant increase in the amount of power available to the receive antenna due to the inclusion of a repeater antenna.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention include low cost unobtrusive ways to properly manage how the transmitter radiates to single and multiple devices and device types in order to optimize the efficiency by which the transmitter conveys charging power to the individual devices.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention include low cost unobtrusive ways to properly manage how the transmitter radiates to single and multiple devices and device types in order to optimize the efficiency by which the transmitter conveys charging power to the individual devices.

FIG. 20 is a simplified block diagram of a transmitter 200 for use in vehicles 299 and other modes of transportation 299. As non-limiting examples, a vehicle may be an automobile, a truck, a train, an airplane, a boat, and other suitable means of transportation. The transmitter is similar to that of FIG. 10 and, therefore, does not need to be explained again. However, in FIG. 20 the transmitter 200 may include a presence detector 280, an enclosed detector 290, or a combination thereof, connected to the controller 214 (also referred to as a processor herein). The controller 214 may adjust an amount of power delivered by the amplifier 210 in response to presence signals from the presence detector 280 and the enclosed detector 290. The transmitter may receive power through a number of power sources, such as, for example, an AC-DC converter (not shown) to convert conventional AC power present in a vehicle 299, a DC-DC converter (not shown) to convert a conventional DC power source to a voltage suitable for the transmitter 200, or directly from a conventional DC power source (not shown).

As a non-limiting example, the presence detector 280 may be a motion detector utilized to sense the initial presence of a device to be charged that is inserted into the coverage area of the transmitter. After detection, the transmitter is turned on and the RF power received by the device is used to toggle a switch on the Rx device in a pre-determined manner, which in turn results in changes to the driving point impedance of the transmitter.

As another non-limiting example, the presence detector 280 may be a detector capable of detecting a human, for example, by infrared detection, motion detection, or other suitable means. In some exemplary embodiments, there may be regulations limiting the amount of power that a transmit antenna may transmit at a specific frequency. In some cases, these regulations are meant to protect humans from electromagnetic radiation. However, there may be environments where transmit antennas are placed in areas not occupied by humans, or occupied infrequently by humans, such as, for example, garages, factory floors, shops, and the like. If these environments are free from humans, it may be permissible to increase the power output of the transmit antennas above the normal power restrictions regulations. In other words, the controller 214 may adjust the power output of the transmit antenna 204 to a regulatory level or lower in response to human presence and adjust the power output of the transmit antenna 204 to a level above the regulatory level when a human is outside a regulatory distance from the electromagnetic field of the transmit antenna 204.

As a non-limiting example, the enclosed detector 290 (may also be referred to herein as an enclosed compartment detector or an enclosed space detector) may be a device such as a sense switch for determining when an enclosure is in a closed or open state, as is explained more fully below. In many of the examples below, only one receiver device is shown being charged. In practice, a multiplicity of the devices can be charged from a near-field generated by each host.

In exemplary embodiments, a method by which the transmitter 200 does not remain on indefinitely may be used. In this case, the transmitter 200 may be programmed to shut off after a user-determined amount of time. This feature prevents the transmitter 200, notably the power amplifier, from running long after the wireless devices in its perimeter are fully charged. This event may be due to the failure of the circuit to detect the signal sent from either the repeater or the receive coil that a device is fully charged. To prevent the transmitter 200 from automatically shutting down if another device is placed in its perimeter, the transmitter 200 automatic shut off feature may be activated only after a set period of lack of motion detected in its perimeter. The user may be able to determine the inactivity time interval, and change it as desired. As a non-limiting example, the time interval may be longer than that needed to fully charge a specific type of wireless device under the assumption of the device being initially fully discharged.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention include using elements in vehicles and other modes of transportation such as storage bins, dashboards, stowable surfaces, consoles and storage bags to bear power transmitting devices housing totally, or partially, the transmit antenna and other circuitry necessary for wireless transfer of power to other often smaller receiver devices.

The power transmitting devices may be partially or fully embedded in the aforementioned vehicles and vehicle elements, such as at the time of manufacture.

The power transmitting devices may also be retrofitted into existing vehicle elements by attaching the transmit antenna thereto. Such vehicle elements are referred to herein as existing vehicle items. In this context, attachment may mean affixing the antenna to a an existing vehicle item, such as, for example, a wall or the underside of a compartment so the transmit antenna is held in place. Attachment may also mean simply placing the transmit antenna in a position where it will naturally be held in place, such as, for example, in the bottom of a compartment or on a dashboard.

Electrically small antennas have low efficiency, often no more than a few percent as explained by the theory of small antennas. The smaller the electric size of an antenna, the lower is its efficiency. The wireless power transfer can become a viable technique replacing wired connection to the electric grid in industrial, commercial, and household applications if power can be sent over meaningful distances to the devices that are in the receiving end of such power transfer system. While this distance is application dependent, a few tens of a centimeter to a few meters can be deemed a suitable range for most applications. Generally, this range reduces the effective frequency for the electric power in the interval between 5 MHz to 100 MHz.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention include converting a variety of the vehicle elements to hosts that can transfer electric power wirelessly to guest devices either to charge their rechargeable batteries or to directly feed them.

FIGS. 21 and 22 are plan views of block diagrams of a multiple transmit antenna wireless charging apparatus, in accordance with exemplary embodiments. As stated, locating a receiver in a near-field coupling mode region of a transmitter for engaging the receiver in wireless charging may be unduly burdensome by requiring accurate positioning of the receiver in the transmit antenna's near-field coupling mode region. Furthermore, locating a receiver in the near-field coupling mode region of a fixed-location transmit antenna may also be inaccessible by a user of a device coupled to the receiver especially when multiple receivers are respectively coupled to multiple user accessible devices (e.g., laptops, PDAs, wireless devices) where users need concurrent physical access to the devices. For example, a single transmit antenna exhibits a finite near-field coupling mode region.

Accordingly, a user of a device charging through a receiver in the transmit antenna's near-field coupling mode region may require a considerable user access space that would be prohibitive or at least inconvenient for another user of another device to also wirelessly charge within the same transmit antenna's near-field coupling mode region and also require separate user access space. For example, covering a large automobile trunk area configured with a single transmit antenna may make it difficult to access devices in different areas of the trunk due to the local nature of the transmitters near-field coupling mode region.

Referring to FIG. 21, an exemplary embodiment of a multiple transmit antenna wireless charging apparatus 700 provides for placement of a plurality of adjacently located transmit antenna circuits 702A-702D to define an enlarged wireless charging region 708. By way of example and not limitation, a transmit antenna circuit includes a transmit antenna 710 having a diameter or side dimension, for example, of around 30-40 centimeters for providing uniform coupling to an receive antenna (not shown) that is associated with or fits in an electronic device (e.g., wireless device, handset, PDA, laptop, etc.). By considering the transmit antenna circuit 702 as a unit or cell of the multiple transmit antenna wireless charging apparatus 700, stacking or adjacently tiling these transmit antenna circuits 702A-702D next to each other, for example, on substantially a single planar surface 704 (e.g., on a table top) allows for reorienting or increasing the charging region. The enlarged wireless charging region 708 results in an increased charging region for one or more devices.

The multiple transmit antenna wireless charging apparatus 700 further includes a transmit power amplifier 720 for providing the driving signal to transmit antennas 710. In configurations where the near-field coupling mode region of one transmit antenna 710 interferes with the near-field coupling mode regions of other transmit antennas 710, the interfering adjacent transmit antennas 710 are “cloaked” to allow improved wireless charging efficiency of the activated transmit antenna 710.

The sequencing of activation of transmit antennas 710 in multiple transmit antenna wireless charging apparatus 700 may occur according to a time-domain based sequence. The output of transmit power amplifier 720 is coupled to a multiplexer 722 which time-multiplexes, according to control signal 724 from the transmitter processor, the output signal from the transmit power amplifier 720 to each of the transmit antennas 710.

In order to inhibit inducing resonance in adjacent inactive transmit antenna 710 when the power amplifier 720 is driving the active transmit antenna, the inactive antennas may be “cloaked” by altering the resonant frequency of that transmit antenna by, for example, activating the cloaking circuit 714. By way of implementation, concurrent operation of directly or nearly adjacent transmit antenna circuits 702 may result in interfering effects between concurrently activated and physically nearby or adjacent other transmit antenna circuits 702. Accordingly, transmit antenna circuit 702 may further include a transmitter cloaking circuit 714 for altering the resonant frequency of transmit antennas 710.

The transmitter cloaking circuit may be configured as a switching means (e.g. a switch) for shorting-out or altering the value of reactive elements, for example capacitor 716, of the transmit antenna 710. The switching means may be controlled by control signals 721 from the transmitter's processor. In operation, one of the transmit antennas 710 is activated and allowed to resonate while other of transmit antennas 710 are inhibited from resonating, and therefore inhibited from adjacently interfering with the activated transmit antenna 710. Accordingly, by shorting-out or altering the capacitance of a transmit antenna 710, the resonant frequency of transmit antenna 710 is altered to prevent resonant coupling from other transmit antennas 710. Other techniques for altering the resonant frequency are also contemplated.

In another exemplary embodiment, each of the transmit antenna circuits 702 can determine the presence or absence of receivers within their respective near-field coupling mode regions with the transmitter processor choosing to activate ones of the transmit antenna circuits 702 when receivers are present and ready for wireless charging or forego activating ones of the transmit antenna circuits 702 when receivers are not present or not ready for wireless charging in the respective near-field coupling mode regions. The detection of present or ready receivers may occur according to the receiver detection signaling protocol described herein or may occur according to physical sensing of receivers such as motion sensing, pressure sensing, image sensing or other sensing techniques for determining the presence of a receiver within a transmit antenna's near-field coupling mode region. Furthermore, preferential activation of one or more transmit antenna circuits by providing an enhanced proportional duty cycle to at least one of the plurality of antenna circuits is also contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 22, an exemplary embodiment of a multiple transmit antenna wireless charging apparatus 800 provides for placement of a plurality of adjacently located repeater antenna circuits 802A-802D inside of a transmit antenna 801 defining an enlarged wireless charging region 808. Transmit antenna 801, when driven by transmit power amplifier 820, induces resonant coupling to each of the repeater antennas 810A-810D. By way of example and not limitation, a repeater antenna 810 having a diameter or side dimension, for example, of around 30-40 centimeters provides uniform coupling to a receive antenna (not shown) that is associated with or affixed to an electronic device. By considering the repeater antenna circuit 802 as a unit or cell of the multiple transmit antenna wireless charging apparatus 800, stacking or adjacently tiling these repeater antenna circuits 802A-802D next to each other on substantially a single planar surface 804 (e.g., on a table top) allows for increasing or enlarging the charging region. The enlarged wireless charging region 808 results in an increased charging space for one or more devices.

The multiple transmit antenna wireless charging apparatus 800 includes transmit power amplifier 820 for providing the driving signal to transmit antenna 801. In configurations where the near-field coupling mode region of one repeater antenna 810 interferes with the near-field coupling mode regions of other repeater antennas 810, the interfering adjacent repeater antennas 810 are “cloaked” to allow improved wireless charging efficiency of the activated repeater antenna 810.

The sequencing of activation of repeater antennas 810 in multiple transmit antenna wireless charging apparatus 800 may occur according to a time-domain based sequence. The output of transmit power amplifier 820 is generally constantly coupled (except during receiver signaling as described herein) to transmit antenna 801. In the present exemplary embodiment, the repeater antennas 810 are time-multiplexed according to control signals 821 from the transmitter processor. By way of implementation, concurrent operation of directly or nearly adjacent repeater antenna circuits 802 may result in interfering effects between concurrently activated and physically nearby or adjacent other repeater antennas circuits 802. Accordingly, repeater antenna circuit 802 my further include a repeater cloaking circuit 814 for altering the resonant frequency of repeater antennas 810.

The repeater cloaking circuit may be configured as a switching means (e.g. a switch) for shorting-out or altering the value of reactive elements, for example capacitor 816, of the repeater antenna 810. The switching means may be controlled by control signals 821 from the transmitter's processor. In operation, one of the repeater antennas 810 is activated and allowed to resonate while other of repeater antennas 810 are inhibited from resonating, and therefore adjacently interfering with the activated repeater antenna 810. Accordingly, by shorting-out or altering the capacitance of a repeater antenna 810, the resonant frequency of repeater antenna 810 is altered to prevent resonant coupling from other repeater antennas 810. Other techniques for altering the resonant frequency are also contemplated.

In another exemplary embodiment, each of the repeater antenna circuits 802 can determine the presence or absence of receivers within their respective near-field coupling mode regions with the transmitter processor choosing to activate ones of the repeater antenna circuits 802 when receivers are present and ready for wireless charging or forego activating ones of the repeater antenna circuits 802 when receivers are not present or not ready for wireless charging in the respective near-field coupling mode regions. The detection of present or ready receivers may occur according to the receiver detection signaling protocol described herein or may occur according to physical sensing of receivers such as motion sensing, pressure sensing, image sensing or other sensing techniques for determining a receiver to be within a repeater antenna's near-field coupling mode region.

The various exemplary embodiments of the multiple transmit antenna wireless charging apparatus 700 and 800 may further include time domain multiplexing of the input signal being coupled to transmit/repeater antennas 710, 810 based upon asymmetrically allocating activation time slots to the transmit/repeater antennas based upon factors such as priority charging of certain receivers, varying quantities of receivers in different antennas' near-field coupling mode regions, power requirements of specific devices coupled to the receivers as well as other factors.

As stated, efficient transfer of energy between the transmitter and receiver occurs during matched or nearly matched resonance between the transmitter and the receiver. However, even when resonance between the transmitter and receiver are not matched, energy may be transferred at a lower efficiency. Transfer of energy occurs by coupling energy from the near-field of the transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna residing in the neighborhood where this near-field is established rather than propagating the energy from the transmitting antenna into free space.

It should be noted that the foregoing approach is applicable to variety of communication standards such as CDMA, WCDMA, OFDM etc Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

FIGS. 21 and 22 illustrate multiple loops in a charging region that is substantially planar. However, embodiments of the present invention are not so limited. In the exemplary embodiments described herein, multi-dimensional regions with multiple antennas may be performed by the techniques described herein. In addition, multi-dimensional wireless powering and charging may be employed, such as the means described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/567,339, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHOD RELATING TO MULTI-DIMENSIONAL WIRELESS CHARGING” filed on Sep. 25, 2009, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

When placing one or more devices in a wireless charging apparatus (e.g. near-field magnetic resonance, inductive coupling, etc.) the orientation between the receiver and the wireless charging apparatus transmit antenna(s) may vary. For example, when charging a medical device while disinfecting it in a solution bath or when charging tools while working under water. When a device is dropped into a container with fluid inside, the angle in which the device lands on the bottom of the container would depend on the way its mass is distributed. As another non-limiting example, when the wireless charging apparatus takes the form of a box or a bowl, careless placement of the device, while convenient, may not guarantee the useful positioning of the device with respect to the wireless charging apparatus. The wireless charging apparatus may also be integrated into a large container or cabinet that can hold many devices, such as a glove box, a console, a baggage trunk, a container in a vehicle for professional equipment (e.g. field technician equipment) or an enclosure designed specifically for wireless charging. The receiver integration into these devices may be inconsistent because the devices have different form factors and may be placed in different orientations relative to the wireless power transmitter.

Existing designs of wireless charging apparatus may perform best under a predefined orientation and deliver lower power levels if the orientation between the wireless charging apparatus and the receiver is different. In addition, when the charged device is placed in a position where only a portion of the wireless power can be delivered, charging times may increase. Some solutions may design the wireless charging apparatus in a way that requires a user to place the device in a special cradle or holder that positions the device to be charged in an advantageous orientation, resulting in a loss of convenience to the user.

Other approaches are based on inductive coupling between a transmit antenna embedded, for example, in a “charging” mat or surface and a receive antenna plus rectifying circuit embedded in the host device to be charged. In this approach the spacing between transmit and receive antennas generally must be very close (e.g., several millimeters).

In addition, it is desirable to have wireless power available in places most used by the users for placement of their device to be charged, to enable users to charge their device more conveniently. Many users prefer storing objects in containers or inside furniture as part of maintaining their home, vehicle, or workplace organized. Sometimes they put the devices in the storage space while they are inside a bag, a pocket or a package (e.g. in a retail store). However, given the need to maintain the devices charged the user has to deal with taking them out and charging them. The user may also forget to charge these devices and be subject to delay when the devices are actually needed.

FIGS. 23A-23C illustrate an exemplary embodiment of an item bearing transmit antennas oriented in multiple directions. This multi-dimension orientation may increase the power that can be delivered to the receiver positioned in various orientations in respect to the multiple dimensions of the transmit antennas.

In FIGS. 23A-23C, a three-dimensional wireless charging apparatus is shown in which the transmit antenna(s) are embedded in approximately orthogonal surfaces along the X, Y, and Z axes. The surfaces can be for example, three sides of a rectangular enclosure. Flexibility is provided so that any one of the three Tx antennas, any pair of them, or all three at once can be used to wirelessly provide RF power to the Rx antenna in a device placed within the enclosure. A means such as that discussed above with respect to FIGS. 21 and 22 may be used for selecting and multiplexing between the differently oriented antennas.

In FIGS. 23A-23C, an exemplary tool 930 is disposed in a box 910. A first-orientation transmit antenna 912 is disposed on a bottom of the box 910. A second-orientation transmit antenna 914 is disposed on a first side of the box 910 and a third-orientation transmit antenna 916 is disposed on a second side of the box 910 and substantially orthogonal to the second-orientation transmit antenna 914. FIG. 23A illustrates the box 910 with the lid open to show the tool 930 disposed therein. FIG. 23B illustrates the box 910 with the lid closed.

FIG. 23C illustrates an alternate configuration of a continuous loop transmit antenna 920 that includes multiple facets in substantially orthogonal directions. If the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 23C, the continuous loop transmit antenna 920 includes a first facet 922 along the bottom of the box 910, a second facet 924 along a side of the box 910, and a third facet 926 along the back of the box 910.

In a small wireless charging apparatus, there maybe only one transmitter in each dimension. In a large wireless charging apparatus, where the parallel panels are sufficiently far from each other to prevent interference, a transmitter may be set on the opposite panels so that devices placed in the middle between them can get power from both directions.

FIGS. 24A and 24B illustrate an exemplary embodiment of a cabinet 950 bearing transmit antennas oriented in multiple directions with transmit antennas in opposite panels. FIG. 24A shows the cabinet 950 with an open door and FIG. 24B shows the cabinet 950 with the door closed.

Transmit antennas 972 and 974 are on opposing sides (i.e., the left and the right respectively) of the cabinet 950. Transmit antennas 962 and 964 are on opposing sides (i.e., the door and the back respectively) of the cabinet 950. Transmit antennas 982 and 984 are on opposing sides (i.e., the top and the bottom respectively) of the cabinet 950.

Referring to FIGS. 23A-24B, a self-calibrating method that defines the optimal selection of Tx antennas leading to the highest power received by the device may be provided. If multiple devices are to be charged in the same enclosure, a means to assign a different selection of Tx antennas to each device is possible by assigning different time slots to each device.

FIGS. 23A-23C illustrate a generic box 910 and FIGS. 24A and 24B illustrate a generic cabinet 950. However, this box 910 or cabinet 950 could be any enclosure in a vehicle, such as, for example, a glove box, a console, a baggage trunk, a container in a vehicle for professional equipment (e.g. field technician equipment), or an enclosure designed specifically for wireless charging

In an exemplary embodiment, the frequency of operations is chosen to be low enough such the reasonably-sized Tx antennas are within the near-field regions of each other. This allows for much higher coupling levels (−1.5 to −3 dB) than would be possible if the antennas were spaced farther apart. The orthogonality of the surfaces the embedded Tx antennas results in the electromagnetic fields radiated by them to be approximately orthogonally polarized which in turn improves the isolation between them so that the power lost due to unwanted coupling is reduced. Allowing the power transmitted from each Tx antenna to be intelligently selectable allows for the reduction efficiency losses due to polarization mismatch between the ensemble of Tx and the arbitrarily placed Rx antenna.

In an exemplary embodiment, each Rx device and Tx antenna may utilize techniques for signaling between them described in above with respect to FIGS. 13A-15D. In addition, more sophisticated signaling means may be employed, such as the means described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/249,816, entitled “SIGNALING CHARGING IN WIRELESS POWER ENVIRONMENT” filed on Oct. 10, 2008, the contents of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

These signaling methods can be used during a “calibration period,” in which power is transmitted for all each possible combination of Tx antennas in sequence and the Rx signals back which results the highest power received. The Tx system can then begin the charging period using this optimum combination of Tx antennas. For charging multiple, arbitrarily-oriented devices in the same enclosure, the signaling scheme allows the Tx system to assign a device a time slot of duration of 1/N times T where N is the number of units being charged and T is the charging period. During its time slot, the Rx device can determine the optimum combination of Tx antennas for best power transfer, independent of the combination desired for the other Rx devices. This is not to say that time slotting is required for optimum power transfer to multiple devices. It is possible for instance, that the relative orientations of two Rx devices are such that the polarizations of their antennas are orthogonal to each other (e.g., X-Y plane for device A, Y-Z plane for device B). In this case, the optimum Tx antenna configuration would be to use the Tx antenna oriented in the X-Y plane for device A and the Tx antenna in the Y-Z plane for device B. Due to the inherent isolation between the two Tx antennas, it may be possible to charge them simultaneously. The intelligent nature of the Tx antenna selection by each Rx device allows for such a circumstance.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention include converting a variety of the equipment around vehicles to hosts with transmitters, repeaters, or a combination thereof that can transfer electric power wirelessly to guest devices with receivers either to charge their rechargeable batteries or to directly feed them. This equipment may be generally referred to herein as vehicle elements and existing vehicle items. Thus, these vehicle elements can provide several hot spots in the environment where the hosts are located for wireless transfer of power to guest devices without having to establish independent infrastructure for wireless transmission of electric power. These exemplary embodiments may not require a large transmit antenna, which is often more difficult to blend into the décor of the environment and may not be as esthetically acceptable. In addition, larger antennas may generate larger electromagnetic (EM) fields and it may be harder to comply with safety issues.

Exemplary embodiments disclosed may use transmit antennas in vehicle elements as well as extra antennas such as repeaters in the same or other vehicle elements. These repeaters could be fed with electric power or they could be passively terminated. The combination of the repeaters and the coupled antennas in the power transfer system can be optimized such that coupling of power to very small Rx antennas is enhanced. The termination load and tuning component in the repeaters could also be used to optimize the power transfers in a system.

FIGS. 25-31 illustrate exemplary transportation modes, such as vehicles, trains, etc in which exemplary embodiments of the invention can be practiced. For exemplary purposes, trains, planes and automobiles are used herein but it is understood that the exemplary embodiments of the invention are not limited to such.

Within a transportation means, wireless charging may be useful for charging nearby items within the coupling-mode region such as, for example, music players, personal digital assistants, cell phones, radar detectors, navigational units such as GPS, etc.

In addition, any of these exemplary embodiments and other embodiments within the scope of the present invention that have an enclosed region may use the enclosed detector 290 discussed above with reference to FIG. 20 for determining whether the vehicle element is in an enclosed state or an open state. When in an enclosed state, enhanced power levels may be possible. The enclosed detector 290 may be any sensor capable of detecting an enclosed state, such as, for example, a switch on a door or drawer. Furthermore, any of these exemplary embodiments and other embodiments within the scope of the present invention that may use the presence detector 280 discussed above with reference to FIG. 20 for determining if a receiver device is within the coupling-mode region of a transmit antenna or if a human is near the coupling-mode region and adjust power levels of the transmit antennas in response to those determinations.

The wireless charging can be implemented, for example, using inductive coupling, near-field magnetic resonance power energy transfer, etc. The transmitter can be integrated (built in), laid over or attached to one or more internal surfaces (shelf, side panel, back panel, upper panel, etc). The receiver is connected to the electronic device as an accessory or is integrated into it.

In the inductive coupling implementation, there may be a designated spot, active area, slot, shelf, groove or holder where a primary coil is integrated or set using an overlaying pad attached to the internal panel of the storage area. The charged device is placed in this designated location to align the receiving coil with the transmitting coil in order to ensure adequate alignment (and therefore coupling) between the transmitting and receiving coil. As a non-limiting example, the designated area can be in the form of a special slot within a console or glove box of an automobile.

In the near-field magnetic resonance implementation, the transmitting loop can be added to one or multiple internal surfaces of the storage area. When adding to one surface, the charged device can be placed in parallel to that surface and may be charged within a short distance from it (depending on the power level that is transmitted). The charged device with the receiver can be placed anywhere within the transmitting loop boundaries. The transmitting loop layout in the storage area may be such that it would prevent users from placing the charged device on its boundaries. Adding additional antennas to multiple surfaces provides further flexibility in the orientation of the charged device as explained above with reference to FIGS. 23A-24B. These multi-orientation transmit antennas and repeater antennas may be especially helpful if the receiver device is placed inside a storage area that contains other items on top of each other (e.g. a storage bin) or inside a bag that is then placed in a coupling-mode region.

FIG. 25 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an antenna 1015 disposed in or on a section of an automobile dashboard 1010. The antenna 1015 may be a transmit antenna or a repeater antenna. The antenna 1015 may be originally manufactured as part of the dashboard 1010 (i.e., a vehicle element). Integrating a transmit antenna into plastic or other non-conductive materials of the dashboard may improve coupling.

In addition, the antenna 1015 may be disposed on the dashboard 1010 afterwards (i.e., an existing vehicle item). As a non-limiting example, the antenna 1015 may be under, over, or embedded in a dashboard charging pad (not shown) that rests on the dashboard 1010.

Currently aftermarket automotive electronics such as radar detectors and navigational units that may be placed near the dashboard may be powered via wired connections to the automotive power supply system (typically the cigarette lighter). Using exemplary embodiment of the invention, automotive consumer electronics can be wirelessly powered while they are on or near the automotive dashboard. Wirelessly charging automotive electronics using a charging pad placed on the dashboard 1010 reduces in-car cabling, and allows multiple automotive-electronic devices to be powered simultaneously.

Exemplary embodiment include a wirelessly charging dashboard pad with an antenna 1015 that is capable of one or more of the following, amongst others: a) may be plugged into the automotive electrical systems through a cigarette lighter, USB port, or other auxiliary plug, (b) may rest on the dashboard underneath the automotive electronics to be charged, and (c) may be flexible to fit the contour and color of the car's dashboard.

FIG. 26 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of antennas (1025, 1035, and 1037) in or on an automobile console 1020. In these exemplary embodiment, the transmit antennas (1025, 1035, and 1037) may be originally manufactured as part of the console 1020 (i.e., a vehicle element) or the transmit antennas (1025, 1035, and 1037) may be disposed on or in the console 1020 afterwards (i.e., an existing vehicle item). These exemplary embodiments allow drivers to charge electronic devices in a convenient, safe manner while driving. In an exemplary embodiment, the cup-holders 1030 and storage bin 1022 are in natural locations where many drivers already place their portable electronic equipment while driving. Converting the cup holders 1030 and storage bin 1022 into wireless charging areas allows consumers to charge their equipment in a natural, convenient manner.

As a non-limiting example, antennas 1035 may be integrated into a base of the cup holders 1030 or placed in the bottom of the cup holders 1030 to create a coupling-mode region therein. In addition, other antennas, such as substantially vertical antenna 1037 may be added to create a three-dimensional wireless charging apparatus when placed orthogonal to the base antennas 1035.

As another non-limiting example, antenna 1025 may be integrated into a base or a lid of the storage bin 1022 to create a coupling-mode region therein. While not illustrated in FIG. 26, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that within the scope of the present invention, the storage bin may be a good candidate for a three-dimensional wireless charging apparatus by augmenting the antenna 1035 in the base or the lid with one or more additional antennas orthogonal to the first antenna 1025 in the storage bin. Furthermore, as explained above with reference to FIG. 20, presence detection and enclosed state detection may be used to adjust power levels of the transmit antennas (1025, 1035, and 1037).

FIG. 27 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an antenna 1045 disposed in or on a floor mat 1040 for an automobile. In an exemplary embodiment, the wireless charging transmitter 1045 could be embedded into the floor mat 1040. Thus, allowing devices resting on the floor of the car to be charged.

FIGS. 28A and 28B illustrate an exemplary embodiment of an antenna 1065 disposed in or on an automobile storage bin 1060. The storage bin may be a compartment such as, for example, a glove box or a coin box. FIGS. 29A and 29B illustrate an exemplary embodiment of an automobile storage bin 1060 including transmit antennas 1065 oriented in multiple directions. The antennas 1065 may be transmit antennas, repeater antennas, or a combination thereof. The antennas 1065 may be originally manufactured as part of the storage bin 1060 (i.e., a vehicle element). Integrating a transmit antenna into plastic or other non-conductive materials of the storage bin 1060 may improve coupling.

In addition, the antenna 1065 may be disposed in the storage bin 1060 afterwards (i.e., an existing vehicle item). As a non-limiting example, the transmit antennas 1065 may be attached to the door, base, sides, back, or top of the storage bin 1060.

An auto glove box 1060 is often used to store personal items while driving. When a portable electronic device, such as a cell phone, portable media player, camera, or any other electronic component that can be charged is placed in the auto glove box 1060 it generally cannot be connected to the car charger outside the glove box 1060. The auto glove box may also contain other personal items. Therefore, solutions for charging inside the glove box should take into account the position of the charged device inside the glove box 1060 in regards to the orientation between the receive antenna and the transmit antenna 1065.

In FIG. 28A a single antenna 1065 is shown in a base of the storage bin 1060. In FIG. 28B, a receiver device 1069 including a receive antenna is shown along with the transmit antenna 1065 in the storage bin 1060.

In FIG. 29A multiple transmit antennas 1065 are shown in substantially orthogonal placements within the storage bin 1060. In FIG. 29B, a receiver device 1069 including a receive antenna is shown in the storage bin 1060. For clarity, the multiple transmit antennas 1065 are not shown in FIG. 29B.

Furthermore, as explained above with reference to FIG. 20, presence detection and enclosed state detection may be used to adjust power levels of the transmit antennas 1065 in the exemplary embodiments of FIGS. 28A-29B.

FIG. 30 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a transmit antenna 1075 disposed in or on a storage bag 1078 draped over a back of a seat 1072 of an automobile to create a coupling-mode region 1076 in and around the storage bag 1078. As another example, the antenna 1075 may be integrated into, or attached to, a pocket in the back of the seat in front of a user, such as in the back of a car's front seat. Passengers seated on planes, trains, automobiles, buses, taxis, and the like could have their electronic devices on their person be charged while they are seated, or place their electronic devices in the pocket in the back of the seat in front of them and have the charger within that pocket charge the traveler's consumer electronic devices. As non-limiting examples, the transmit antenna 1075 may be integrated into each seat (i.e., a vehicle element) on a mass transport vehicle and would be oriented to charge electronic devices that were in the possession of the person sitting behind the charger. Alternatively, the transmit antenna 1075 may be integrated into the pocket in the back of the seat in front of the traveler. The wireless charging technique of magnetic resonance may be well suited to such a wireless charger as it would not need exact placement of the consumer electronic device receiving the charge. Charging devices in this manner may permit devices to be charged without any interaction by the owner of the device and may reduce the frequency with which devices needed to be consciously placed in charging stations of any sort. Thus, a transmit antenna 1075 embedded within the seat may allow devices to be charged while the owner of the device was traveling in the vehicle.

In an exemplary embodiment, a transmit antenna 1075 may be inserted inside the seat in front of the owner of the electronic devices that would be receiving the charge. The charging unit may be vertically oriented and capable of charging devices that were in the possession of the person seated behind the charger. In another exemplary embodiment, a transmit antenna 1075 may be inserted into the pocket or storage bag 1078 in the back of the seat in front of the traveler and would only charge devices placed within the pocket. This lower range requirement may allow for a lower, and hence safer, transmit power level.

FIG. 31 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a transmit antenna 1085 disposed in or on a stowable surface 1080 in a vehicle, such as for example a tray that folds down, folds out of an arm rest, or is otherwise positioned for the convenience of a user seated in a seat of a vehicle such as those on airplane trains, and buses. In this exemplary embodiment, a charging pad may be attached to the tray table 1080 or integrated into the tray table 1080. By embedding a transmit antenna 1085 into the tray table 1080 to create a coupling-mode region 1086, charging service can be provided to devices on or near the tray table 1080. Thus, the duration that those electronic devices can operate without re-charging may be extended without the need for awkward charging cables needing to be connected to the electronic devices on the tray table 1080.

In an exemplary embodiment of the a wireless charging in an airplane tray 1080, the wireless charging pad would be attached to or integrated into the tray 1080 that is mounted on the seat in-front of each passenger. The wireless charging pad or transmit antenna 1085 may be embedded in the plastic of the tray 1080 itself, and may use a magnetic resonance wireless charging technology such that exact placement of the consumer electronic device on the tray was unnecessary. The wireless charging pad may get power from the aircraft electrical system. Thus, a wireless power transmitter in a tray 1080 of a mass transit vehicle, such as an airplane may extend the powered duration for consumer electronics used during flight, reduce the clutter caused by wired charging cables during flight, and charge devices in a user friendly way so that the device is fully charged when the user departs the aircraft. This charging may match user behavior and may occur even if the device is not used during flight, but was simply placed on the aircraft tray.

FIG. 32 is a simplified flow chart 2100 illustrating acts that may be performed in one or more exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Various exemplary embodiments may include some or all of the acts illustrated in FIG. 32, as well as other acts not illustrated. In operation 2102, a wireless charging apparatus including one or more transmit antennas, one or more repeater antennas, or a combination thereof may be disposed on or in a vehicle element or an existing vehicle item. In operation 2104, an electromagnetic field at a resonant frequency of the transmit antenna may be generated to create a coupling-mode region within a near-field of the transmit antenna. In operation 2106, a receive device with a receive antenna may be disposed in the coupling-mode region.

In operation 2108, the process may check to see if a receiver is present in the coupling-mode region. If so, in operation 2110 the wireless charging apparatus may apply power, or increase power, to the transmit antenna. If not, in operation 2112 the wireless charging apparatus may remove power from, or decrease power to, the transmit antenna.

In operation 2114, the process may check to see if the vehicle element is in an enclosed state. If so, in operation 2116 the wireless charging apparatus may increase the power to the transmit antenna to a level that is compatible with an enclosed state of the vehicle element.

In operation 2118, the process may check to see if a human is present in or near the coupling-mode region. If so, in operation 2120 the wireless charging apparatus may adjust the power output of the transmit antenna to a regulatory level or lower. If not, in operation 2124 the wireless charging apparatus may adjust the power output of the transmit antenna above the regulatory level.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the exemplary embodiments of the invention.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in Random Access Memory (RAM), flash memory, Read Only Memory (ROM), Electrically Programmable ROM (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

The previous description of the disclosed exemplary embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these exemplary embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a power transmitting device for use on a vehicle element comprising: a transmit antenna to wirelessly transfer power to a receive antenna by generating a near-field radiation at a resonant frequency within a coupling-mode region; and an amplifier for applying a driving signal to the transmit antenna at the resonant frequency.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a vehicle element having associated therewith at least a planar portion of the transmit antenna.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising one or more additional power transmitting devices integrated as part of the vehicle element, each of the one or more additional power transmitting devices, comprising a transmit antenna operably coupled to the amplifier for wirelessly transferring power to the receive antenna by generating a near-field radiation at a resonant frequency within its coupling-mode region.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, comprising:

a controller to control activation of resonance of each of the power transmitting device and the one or more additional power transmitting devices; and

a multiplexer coupled to the controller and for multiplexing a common driving signal from the amplifier to the driving signal of each of the power transmitting device and the one or more additional power transmitting devices.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the controller controls activation of each of the power transmitting device and the one or more additional power transmitting devices by controlling the multiplexer according to a time-domain sequencing of activation of the power transmitting device and the one or more additional power transmitting devices.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the one or more additional power transmitting devices are positioned in a plane substantially orthogonal to the power transmitting device.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmit antenna comprises a continuous loop transmit antenna including a plurality of facets oriented in a plurality of directions.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the plurality of directions are substantially orthogonal.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the power transmitting device further comprises:

a presence detector for detecting a presence of a receiver device including the receive antenna within the coupling-mode region and generating a presence signal; and

a controller operably coupled to the presence detector and the amplifier, the controller for adjusting a power output of the amplifier responsive to the presence signal.

10. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the vehicle element comprises an enclosure for accepting one or more receiver devices bearing the receive antenna.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the power transmitting device further comprises:

an enclosed compartment detector for detecting an enclosed state for the vehicle element; and

a controller operably coupled to the enclosed compartment detector and the amplifier, the controller for adjusting a power output of the amplifier responsive to the enclosed state for the vehicle element.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the enclosure comprises at least one of a console and a storage bin.

13. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the vehicle element is selected from the group consisting of a dashboard, a floor mat, a cup holder, a stowable surface, and a storage bag.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmit antenna is configured for a retrofit disposition on the substantially planar portion of an existing vehicle item.

15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein:

the presence detector is further for detecting a human presence and modifying the presence signal to indicate the human presence and a human absence; and

the controller is further for: adjusting the power output of the amplifier to a high power level above a regulatory level when the presence signal indicates the human absence; and adjusting the power output of the amplifier to at or below the regulatory level when the presence signal indicates the human presence.

16. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the existing vehicle item comprises an enclosure for accepting one or more receiver devices bearing the receive antenna.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the power transmitting device further comprises:

an enclosed compartment detector for detecting an enclosed state for the vehicle element; and

a controller operably coupled to the enclosed compartment detector and the amplifier, the controller for adjusting a power output of the amplifier responsive to the enclosed state for the vehicle element.

18. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least a planar portion of the transmit antenna is one of disposed thereon the vehicle element or integrated therein with the vehicle element.

19. A method, comprising:

disposing a power transmitting device bearing a transmit antenna on an existing vehicle item:

generating an electromagnetic field at a resonant frequency of the transmit antenna to create a coupling-mode region within a near-field of the transmit antenna; and

disposing a receiver device including a receive antenna in the coupling-mode region.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

detecting a human presence within a regulatory distance of the electromagnetic field;

adjusting a power output of the transmit antenna responsive to the human presence to a regulatory level or lower; and

adjusting the power output of the transmit antenna responsive to a human absence to a level above the regulatory level.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

detecting a presence of the receiver device within the coupling-mode region; and

stopping the generating the electromagnetic field when the detecting the presence indicates the absence of any receiver devices in the coupling-mode region.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

detecting an enclosed state for the existing vehicle item; and

adjusting a power output of the transmit antenna responsive to the enclosed state for the existing vehicle item.

23. A wireless power transfer system, comprising:

means for disposing a power transmitting device in or on a vehicle element;

means for generating an electromagnetic field at a resonant frequency of a transmit antenna in the power transmitting device to create a coupling-mode region within a near-field of the transmit antenna;

means for detecting a presence of a receive antenna in the coupling-mode region;

means for adjusting a power output of the transmit antenna responsive to the presence of the receive antenna; and

means for receiving power from the coupling-mode region with the receive antenna disposed within the coupling-mode region.

24. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

means for detecting a human presence within a regulatory distance of the electromagnetic field;

means for adjusting the power output of the transmit antenna responsive to the human presence to a regulatory level or lower; and

means for adjusting the power output of the transmit antenna responsive to a human absence to a level above the regulatory level.

25. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

means for detecting an enclosed state for the vehicle element; and

adjusting the power output of the transmit antenna responsive to the enclosed state for the vehicle element.