Aira, Inc.

Apple Inc.

Other

Lixin Shi

John Judson MacDonald

William Paul Abajian

Jules Marie Xavier Laffitte

Xiaoping Zhu

Viswajit Natarajan

Jake Lee Vander Ploeg

Zaki Moussaoui

Weihong Qiu

Matthew J Chabalko

Zelin Xu

Mark Huan Mekkittikul

Christopher William Sarli

An electronic device (that is capable of both transmitting and receiving wireless power) may be physically and inductively coupled to a removable accessory (that only receives wireless power). The electronic device and removable accessory may optionally be placed on a power transmitting device. In response to the electronic device and removable accessory being placed on a wireless power transmitting device, the electronic device may switch from a power transmitting mode (in which the electronic device transmits wireless power to the removable accessory) to a power receiving mode (in which the electronic device receives wireless power from the wireless power transmitting device). To ensure the electronic device detects the wireless power transmitting device and switches to the power receiving mode in this scenario, the electronic device may transmit wireless power in bursts separated by sleep periods while in the power transmitting mode.

Wireless power mode switching

A wireless power transfer system can include an electronic device including a first wireless power transfer coil and wireless power transfer circuitry coupled to the wireless power transfer coil. The wireless power transfer circuitry can be capable of receiving power and transmitting power wirelessly via the first wireless power transfer coil. The system can further include an accessory device including a second wireless power transfer coil, a rectifier coupled to the second wireless power transfer coil, and an energy storage device coupled to the rectifier by a regulator circuit. The wireless power transfer circuitry can operate in a pulsed or burst wireless power transfer mode to deliver power to the accessory device.

Wireless power transfer power control techniques

A wireless charging system is configured to charge one or more receiver devices simultaneously. The wireless charging system includes multiple coils that may be driven independently based on a feedback system with one or more feedback channels. Each coil is driven by a coil driving signal selected based on a set of target characteristics. A coil drive circuit receives an input of a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal and outputs the coil driving signal to a corresponding coil.

Coil driving in wireless charging system

A wireless charging system is configured to charge one or more receiver devices simultaneously. The wireless charging system includes multiple coils that may be driven independently based on a feedback system with one or more feedback channels. One of the feedback channels may be demodulated communication signals from the one or more receiver devices. The demodulation may be performed by a communication demodulation circuit with configurable gain. The demodulated communication signals are processed for error correction at a bit level and a packet level, which improves accuracy despite presence of multiple receiver devices and noisy conditions.

Communication demodulation in wireless charging system

A wireless charging system is configured to charge one or more receiver devices simultaneously. The wireless charging system includes multiple coils that may be driven independently based on a feedback system with one or more feedback channels. One of the feedback channels may be a voltage and/or current measurement of coil driving signals from the coils that are indicative of receiver device presences on the wireless charging system. A coil driving signal may be sampled and processed using discrete Fourier transform to determine amplitude and phase information of the signal.

High precision signal measurement in wireless charging system

A wireless charging system is configured to charge one or more receiver devices simultaneously. The wireless charging system includes a plurality of coils for wireless charging the one or more receiver devices. The wireless charging system may use a machine learning algorithm to detect the one or more receiver devices and select which of the multiple coils to activate for charging the multiple coils. Based on measurements made from signal through the coils within the wireless charging system, the machine learning algorithm determines a subset of the coils to activate for charging the detected one or more receiver devices.

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Redwood City, CA, United States of America

Lixin Shi