Apple Inc.

Texas Instruments Corporation

California Institute of Technology

Agere Systems Inc.

Stephen Christopher Terry

Paul L Brohlin

Adam L Schwartz

Alireza Safaee

Yongxuan Hu

Ye Li

Zhiyuan Hu

Weiyun Chen

Gianpaolo Lisi

Rohan Dayal

Nileshbhai J Shah

Deepak Mohanlal Khanchandani

Zaki Moussaoui

Christopher S Graham

Sumant Ranganathan

David W Ritter

Todd K Moyer

Shimon Elkayam

Steven G Herbst

Chad A Bossetti

Antoin J Russell

Bin Gu

Narendra S Mehta

Zaid A Abukhalaf

Stephen James Franck

Liang Chen

Mohammad Mehdi Mojarradi

Nilay D Jani

Di Zhao

Richard Kane Stair

Wynand L Malan

Chi Kin Ho

Zachary Strachan Harris

Benjamin J Blalock

Ruchi Jagdish Parikh

Anthony Gene Antonacci

Greg Levanas

Ralph Douglass Smith

Yuan Chen

Raymond S Cozy

Robert Greenwell

Ge Wang

Michael D Black

Norah E Nakibuuka

José V Santos Martinez

Gaurav Kalra

Bingyao Sun

Detecting an object proximate an electronic device operable in a wireless power receiver (PRx) mode to receive power from a wireless power transmitter (PTx) or in a PTx mode to transmit power to an accessory can include using the wireless power transfer (WPT) coil to transmit a plurality of low power object detection (LPOD) pulses and detect a response thereto associated with the object, wherein the LPOD pulses can be generated without using a rectifier or an inverter of a WPT system associated with the device; responsive to detecting the object, identifying the object as a PRx or a PTx; responsive to identifying the object as a PRx, activating the PTx mode and transmitting power to the accessory using WPT circuitry of the electronic device; and responsive to identifying the object as a PTx, activating the PRx mode and receiving power from the PTx using the WPT circuitry.

Ultra low power object detection

A wireless charging system having a power transmitter may wirelessly transfer power to a power receiver. Shield saturation, such as saturation of a ferrite structure, in the wireless power receiver may occur under some operating conditions. Saturation can lead to disruptive oscillations in power transfer. The power transmitting may include control circuitry for detecting and mitigating saturation.

Methods and circuitry for mitigating saturation in wireless power systems

A wireless power system has a wireless power transmitting device and a wireless power receiving device. The devices in the wireless power system may communicate using in-band communication. The wireless power transmitting device may transmit data to the wireless power receiving device using frequency-shift keying (FSK) modulation. The receiving device may not be aware of the transmission rate of the FSK data. The FSK decoder may identify an actual transmission rate of the incoming bits and decode the wireless power signals into subsequent bits using the actual transmission rate.

Wireless power systems with frequency-shift-keying communications

A wireless power system can include a wireless power transmitter and a wireless power receiver. The transmitter can include a transmit coil, an inverter, and inverter control circuitry that can operate one or more switching devices of the inverter to communicate information to the receiver by controlling a delay between receipt of the burst request pulse and initiating operation of the inverter and/or controlling a polarity of a first pulse of the inverter. The receiver can include a receive coil magnetically coupled to the transmit coil, a rectifier, and rectifier control circuitry that initiates a burst request pulse to initiate operation of a transmitter. The rectifier control circuitry can operate one or more switching devices of the rectifier to communicate information to the transmitter by at least one of short circuiting an LC tank including the receive coil or controlling a polarity of the burst request pulse.

Wireless power transfer with integrated communications

A wireless power transmitter can include a coil, an inverter coupled to the coil, and control circuitry coupled to the inverter that, responsive to receiving a burst request pulse from a wireless power receiver, initiates inverter operation, driving the coil and powering the receiver. The control circuitry can operate inverter switches so bandwidth of the wireless power transfer signal falls within a specified range by: (a) extending a minimum on time of the switches, (b) modifying pulse width modulation (PWM) drive signals supplied to the switches to shape a coil current burst envelope, and/or (c) modifying PWM signal amplitude supplied to the switches. Modifying the PWM drive signals can include using a symmetrical PWM scheme in which the positive and negative pulses are symmetrical in width on a cycle-by-cycle basis or using a complementary PWM scheme in which the positive and negative pulse widths are complementary on a cycle-by-cycle basis.

Frequency management for wireless power transfer

A wireless charging mat and method of operating the same. The wireless charging mat includes a detection system configured to determine a location and an orientation of an electronic device on the wireless charging mat. The location and orientation are determined based on detected locations of one or more structural features of the electronic device. The wireless charging mat is operated according to the detected location and orientation.

Detection of object location and orientation on a wireless charge mat

A device includes a charge controller to regulate a battery output voltage based on an input voltage and an input current received from a charging circuit. A loop controller monitors the input voltage and the input current to generate a feedback signal to adjust the input voltage to the charge controller.

Inductively coupled charger

A wireless power transmitter can include an inverter that receives a DC input and generates an AC output to drive a wireless power transmit coil coupled to an output of the inverter as well as voltage and current sensors that measure the DC input. The wireless power transmitter can further include a power management accumulator including hardware that receives voltage and current samples from the voltage and current sensors and multiplies corresponding voltage and current samples to produce power samples and memory locations that store corresponding voltage, current, and power samples. The wireless power transmitter can still further include a programmable controller that controls switching devices of the inverter responsive at least in part to the voltage, current and power samples stored in the memory locations of the power management accumulator.

A battery case has first and second coils on opposing sides of a battery and has switching circuitry that is coupled between the first and second coils. The battery case has a battery that provides supplemental battery power wirelessly to a wireless power receiving device via the second coil when the switching circuitry is in an open state. The case can also receive power wirelessly with the first coil from a wireless charging mat when the switching circuitry is in the open state. In a closed state, the switching circuitry shorts the first and second coils together so that current flowing through the first coil flows through the second coil in series and so that wireless power from the wireless charging mat that is received with the first coil is transmitted wirelessly to the wireless power receiving device using the second coil.

Wireless power system

An embodiment of the invention provides a method for reducing data corruption in a wireless power transmission system. Power is transmitted from a primary coil to a secondary coil by induction. The voltage induced on the secondary coil by induction is rectified. The change in current supplied to a load configured to be coupled to the wireless power transmission system is limited.

Charge control circuitry in a wireless power receiver

A wireless power system has a wireless power transmitting device and a wireless power receiving device. The wireless power transmitting device uses a wireless power transmitting coil to transmit wireless power signals to the wireless power receiving device during wireless power transmission periods. During alternating foreign object detection periods, the wireless power transmitting device gathers signals from the wireless power transmitting coil to detect foreign objects. Another wireless power transmitting device may transmit signals that can cause interference. To help reduce interference, the wireless power transmitting device gathers signals with a sensing coil that is separate from the wireless power transmitting coil and subtracts these signals from signals gathered with the wireless power transmitting coil. A signal quality metric may be used in adjusting the timing of the foreign object detection periods to help avoid interference from the other wireless power transmitting device.

Wireless power systems with foreign object detection

Growing community of inventors

Knoxville, TN, United States of America

Stephen Christopher Terry