Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090231220 | ADAPTIVE TUNABLE ANTENNAS FOR WIRELESS DEVICES - Techniques for adjusting one or more antenna parameters to optimize the performance of a wireless device are disclosed. In an embodiment, a variable antenna match is provided with a control signal for selecting a preferred antenna match setting. The preferred antenna match setting may correspond to the setting having a best signal quality metric. In a further embodiment, a variable antenna electrical length module is provided with a control signal for selecting a preferred antenna electrical length. Further techniques for accommodating multiple antennas are disclosed. | 09-17-2009 |
20090284218 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AN ENLARGED WIRELESS CHARGING AREA - Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power transfer including a plurality of antenna circuits spatially arranged and each including an antenna configured to resonate and generate a near field coupling mode region thereabout in response to a driving signal from a power amplifier. The apparatus further includes a processor configured to control activation of resonance of each of the plurality of antenna circuits. The method for wirelessly charging includes driving a signal from a power amplifier and controlling activation of resonance of a plurality of antenna circuits spatially arranged and each including an antenna configured to resonate in response to the driving signal. | 11-19-2009 |
20090284220 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ADAPTIVE TUNING OF WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER - Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power transfer. A transmit antenna generates an electromagnetic field at a resonant frequency of to create a coupling-mode region within a near field of the transmit antenna. A receive antenna receives the resonant frequency when it is within the coupling-mode region and resonates substantially near the resonant frequency. One, or both, of the transmit and receive antennas are tunable antennas that can be adaptively tuned. The adaptive tuning is accomplished by detecting a mismatch at the tunable antenna and generating a mismatch signal responsive to a voltage standing wave ratio at the tunable antenna. A resonance characteristic of the tunable antenna can be modified by adjusting a capacitance of a variable capacitor network connected to the tunable antenna. | 11-19-2009 |
20090284227 | RECEIVE ANTENNA FOR WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER - Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power transfer to an electronic circuit including a wireless charging receive antenna comprising a first loop of an energy receiving conductor and at least another loop of said energy receiving conductor electrically coupled to the first loop. The loops form a multi-turn loop antenna to resonate at a wireless charging frequency and provide wirelessly received power to the electronic device. The multi-turn loop antenna is configured for affixing to a housing of the wireless device. | 11-19-2009 |
20090284245 | WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER FOR APPLIANCES AND EQUIPMENTS - Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power transfer. A transmitting device or a receiving device for use in a wireless transfer system may be equipment or a household appliance. The 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 an RF signal to the transmit antenna. A presence detector detects a presence of a receiver device within the coupling-mode region. A controller adjusts a power output of the amplifier responsive to the presence of a receiver device. The presence detector may also detect a human presence. The power output may be adjusted at or below the regulatory level when the presence signal indicates human presence and above a regulatory level when the presence signal indicates human absence. | 11-19-2009 |
20090286470 | REPEATERS FOR ENHANCEMENT OF WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER - Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power transfer. A wireless power transfer system include a transmit circuit with a transmit antenna driven from a power amplifier to generate a near field radiation at a resonant frequency within a first coupling mode region surrounding the transmit antenna. One or more repeater antennas are disposed at different locations within the first coupling mode region. Each repeater antenna generates an enhanced near field radiation at the resonant frequency within a coupling mode region corresponding to that repeater antenna. One or more receive circuits including a receive antenna receive power when they are disposed in one of the coupling mode regions corresponding to that repeater antenna. | 11-19-2009 |
20100008453 | ANTENNA ARRAY PATTERN DISTORTION MITIGATION - At least one feature provides a way to perform point-to-multipoint transmissions using adaptive or directional antennas while reducing antenna pattern distortion. Generally, rather than transmitting the same waveform to two or more receivers, an information-bearing signal is transformed into different decorrelated waveforms and each decorrelated waveform is transmitted to a different receiver. In one implementation, an information-bearing signal is transformed into two decorrelated signals such that their crosscorrelation, or autocorrelation of the information-bearing signal, is zero or very small. Such decorrelation may be achieved by sending a first signal to a first receiver while sending a second signal, having a radio frequency spectrum that is the spectrally inverted version of the first signal, to a second receiver. In another implementation, a first signal is transmitted to a first receiver and is also transmitted to a second receiver with a time delay. | 01-14-2010 |
20100150038 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION VIA AT LEAST ONE OF DIRECTIONAL AND OMNI-DIRECTION ANTENNAS - Techniques for using at least one of omni-directional and directional antennas for communication are described. A station may be equipped antenna elements selectable for use as an omni-directional antenna or one or more directional antennas. The station may select the omni-directional antenna or a directional antenna for use for communication based on various factors such as, e.g., whether the location or direction of a target station for communication is known, whether control frames or data frames are being exchanged, etc. | 06-17-2010 |
20100194206 | WIRELESS POWER FOR CHARGING DEVICES - Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power. A host device peripheral may comprise a wireless power charging apparatus, which may include transmit circuitry and at least one antenna coupled to the transmit circuitry. The at least one antenna may be configured to wirelessly transmit power within an associated near-field region. Additionally, the host device peripheral may be configured to couple to a host device. | 08-05-2010 |
20100194334 | RETROFITTING WIRELESS POWER AND NEAR-FIELD COMMUNICATION IN ELECTRONIC DEVICES - Exemplary embodiments are directed to retrofitting existing electronic devices for wireless power transfer and near-field communication. Retrofitting circuitry includes an antenna for receiving a signal from an external source, and conversion circuitry for converting the signal to be used by an electronic device. The antenna and conversion circuitry are configured to retrofit to the electronic device, where the electronic device did not originally include the antenna or conversion circuitry. The antenna and conversion circuitry may be configured to receive and convert the signal to generate wireless power for the electronic device. The antenna and the conversion circuitry may also be configured to enable the electronic device to send and receive near-field communication data. | 08-05-2010 |
20100194335 | WIRELESS POWER AND DATA TRANSFER FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICES - Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power. A wireless charging device may comprise a charging region configured for placement of one or more chargeable devices. The charging device may further include at least one transmit antenna configured for transmitting wireless power within the charging region. Furthermore, the charging device is configured to exchange data between at least one chargeable device of the one or more chargeable devices. | 08-05-2010 |
20100201314 | WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER FOR LOW POWER DEVICES - Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power transfer. A method of operating a wireless receiver may comprise receiving wireless power with a receive antenna and conveying power from the receive antenna to a chargeable element. The method may further include electrically isolating the receive antenna from the chargeable element upon detecting that the chargeable element is fully-charged. | 08-12-2010 |
20100201533 | CONVEYING DEVICE INFORMATION RELATING TO WIRELESS CHARGING - Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless charging. A charging device configured to wirelessly charge one or more electronic devices may comprise at least one charging region, wherein each charging region of the at least one is configured for placement of one or more electronic devices. The charging device may further include an interface configured to convey information relating at least one electronic device of the one or more electronic devices placed within the at least one charging region. | 08-12-2010 |
20100222010 | ANTENNA SHARING FOR WIRELESSLY POWERED DEVICES - Exemplary embodiments include an antenna for receiving electromagnetic radiation in a broadcast radiation band and a near-field radiation band to generate a Radio Frequency (RF) signal. A coupling element couples the RF signal to a first port and at least one additional port, which may be a second port and a third port. A wireless power receiver on the first port includes a rectifier for converting the RF signal to a DC signal when the antenna couples to radiation in the near-field radiation band in a coupling-mode region of the antenna. A near-field communication transceiver includes circuitry for communicating information on the antenna in the near-field radiation band when the coupling element couples the second port to the RF signal. A broadcast receiver on the third port includes circuitry for receiving and tuning the broadcast radiation band when the coupling element couples the third port to the RF signal. | 09-02-2010 |
20100225270 | WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER FOR CHARGEABLE DEVICES - Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power. A portable chargeable device may comprise an energy storage device configured to receive power from a power source. Furthermore, the portable chargeable device may comprise a transmitter including at least one antenna and configured to transmit power stored in the energy storage device within an associated near-field region. | 09-09-2010 |
20100277003 | ADAPTIVE IMPEDANCE TUNING IN WIRELESS POWER TRANSMISSION - Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power. A wireless power receiver includes a receive antenna for coupling with near field radiation in a coupling-mode region generated by a transmit antenna operating at a resonant frequency. The receive antenna generates an RF signal when coupled to the near filed radiation and a rectifier converts the RF signal to a DC input signal. A direct current (DC)-to-DC converter coupled to the DC input signal generates a DC output signal. A pulse modulator generate a pulse-width modulation signal to the DC-to-DC converter to adjust a DC impedance of the wireless power receiver by modifying a duty cycle of the pulse-width modulation signal responsive to at least one of a voltage of the DC input signal, a current of the DC input signal, a voltage of the DC output signal, and a current of the DC output signal. | 11-04-2010 |
20100279606 | WIRELESS POWER AND WIRELESS COMMUNICATION FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICES - Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless electronic devices. A method may comprise receiving a wireless signal with an antenna and identifying one of a wireless charging module and a near-field communication module to which the received signal is associated. The method may further comprise conveying the received signal to the identified one of the wireless charging module and the near-field communication module. | 11-04-2010 |
20100289341 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS RELATING TO MULTI-DIMENSIONAL WIRELESS CHARGING - Exemplary methods and systems related to wireless charging are disclosed. In an exemplary embodiment, a plurality of transmit antennas are used, wherein at least one transmit antenna of the plurality of transmit antennas is configured to be oriented in a different plane than at least one other transmit antenna of the plurality of transmit antennas. Furthermore, each transmit antenna of the plurality of transmit antennas is configured for transmitting power within an associated near-field. | 11-18-2010 |
20100323616 | DEVICES FOR CONVEYING WIRELESS POWER AND METHODS OF OPERATION THEREOF - Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power. A method may comprise receiving wireless power with a receiver and charging an accumulator with energy from the received wireless power. The method may further include conveying energy from the accumulator to an energy storage device upon a charging level of the accumulator reaching a threshold level. | 12-23-2010 |
20120200458 | GROUND STATION ANTENNA ARRAY FOR AIR TO GROUND COMMUNICATION SYSTEM - A ground station antenna array includes a first array of antenna elements. A second array of antenna elements are vertically aligned with the first array of antenna elements. The first array of antenna elements and the second array of antenna elements are coupled to the digital beam forming circuitry and each cover a same sector of azimuth; the first array of antenna elements only covering a first elevation; the second array of antenna elements only covering a second lower elevation. The digital beam forming circuitry directs a radiation pattern of the first array of antenna elements in a first range of elevation angles, and directs a radiation pattern of the second array of antenna elements in a second range of elevation angles. The second array of antenna elements has higher gain than the first array. A respective transceiver is coupled to respective antenna elements of the first and second arrays. | 08-09-2012 |
20120202418 | REAL-TIME CALIBRATION OF AN AIR TO GROUND COMMUNICATION SYSTEM - A method for real-time calibration of an air to ground two-way communication system. The method includes calibrating a ground base station antenna array according to forward link calibration coefficients received from an aircraft as part of a communication signaling protocol during operation of the air to ground two-way communication system. The method may also includes communicating between the ground base station antenna array and the aircraft over a narrow beam. | 08-09-2012 |
20120202430 | HIGH DATA RATE AIRCRAFT TO GROUND COMMUNICATION ANTENNA SYSTEM - A method for ground to air communication includes receiving a first pilot signal on a first wide beam from a first ground base station by a first antenna element covering a first range of azimuth angles from an aircraft. Data is received on a directed data beam from the first ground base station by the first antenna element. A second pilot signal is received on a second wide beam from a second ground base station by a second antenna element covering a second range of azimuth angles different than the first range of azimuth angles. A signal strength of the second pilot signal is compared with a signal strength of the first pilot signal. Data reception is switched from the first antenna element to the second antenna element if the signal strength of the second pilot signal is greater than the signal strength of the first pilot signal. | 08-09-2012 |
20130141037 | APPARATUS FOR WIRELESS DEVICE CHARGING USING RADIO FREQUENCY (RF) ENERGY AND DEVICE TO BE WIRELESSLY CHARGED - An apparatus for wireless charging using radio frequency (RF) energy includes a first charger portion having first and second charging areas. The first and second charging areas are located in a common plane, each having at least one coil for wirelessly charging a charge-receiving device placed in proximity thereto. The coils include respective windings, which are wound in opposing directions, each coil being connected in series, each coil configured to charge at least one charge-receiving device. A second charger portion has a third charging area having at least one coil including a winding for wirelessly charging a charge-receiving device placed in proximity to the third charging area, the coil in the third charging area being connected in series with the coils in the first and second charging areas, the third charging area located in a plane that is orthogonal to the plane of the first and second charging areas. | 06-06-2013 |
20130157578 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION VIA AT LEAST ONE OF DIRECTIONAL AND OMNI-DIRECTION ANTENNAS - Techniques for using at least one of omni-directional and directional antennas for communication are described. A station may be equipped antenna elements selectable for use as an omni-directional antenna or one or more directional antennas. The station may select the omni-directional antenna or a directional antenna for use for communication based on various factors such as, e.g., whether the location or direction of a target station for communication is known, whether control frames or data frames are being exchanged, etc. | 06-20-2013 |
20130249481 | WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER FOR CHARGEABLE DEVICES - Apparatus and methods directed to wireless power are disclosed. A charging device includes an antenna circuit for wirelessly receiving power from a first device via a power antenna. Received power can be stored in an energy storage device. The antenna circuit can wirelessly power or charge a plurality of second electronic devices via the power antenna based on power stored in the energy storage device. Furthermore, a wireless charging apparatus is disclosed that includes a display for receiving a device placed on its surface. Changes in a magnetic field in response to the placement of the chargeable electronic device on the surface of the display is detected. A communication link with the chargeable electronic device in response to the change in the level of the magnetic field is activated. A transmit antenna circuit wirelessly transmits power to the chargeable electronic device. | 09-26-2013 |
20130300358 | WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER FOR APPLIANCES AND EQUIPMENTS - Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power transfer. A transmitting device or a receiving device for use in a wireless transfer system may be equipment or a household appliance. The 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 an RF signal to the transmit antenna. A presence detector detects a presence of a receiver device within the coupling-mode region. A controller adjusts a power output of the amplifier responsive to the presence of a receiver device. The presence detector may also detect a human presence. The power output may be adjusted at or below the regulatory level when the presence signal indicates human presence and above a regulatory level when the presence signal indicates human absence. | 11-14-2013 |
20140028251 | UNIVERSAL APPARATUS FOR WIRELESS DEVICE CHARGING USING RADIO FREQUENCY (RF) ENERGY - An apparatus for wireless charging using radio frequency (RF) energy includes a charger coil configured to produce RF charging energy as a magnetic field, the charger coil located proximate to a magnetic material and a metal material, the magnetic material and the metal material located to attenuate the magnetic field generated by the charger coil beyond a plane defined by a major surface of the magnetic material and the metal material, a first portion of the magnetic material underlying the charger coil and a second portion of magnetic material overlying the charger coil. | 01-30-2014 |
20140103881 | REPEATERS FOR ENHANCEMENT OF WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER - Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power transfer. A wireless power transfer system include a transmit circuit with a transmit antenna driven from a power amplifier to generate a near field radiation at a resonant frequency within a first coupling mode region surrounding the transmit antenna. One or more repeater antennas are disposed at different locations within the first coupling mode region. Each repeater antenna generates an enhanced near field radiation at the resonant frequency within a coupling mode region corresponding to that repeater antenna. One or more receive circuits including a receive antenna receive power when they are disposed in one of the coupling mode regions corresponding to that repeater antenna. | 04-17-2014 |
20140152253 | ANTENNA SHARING FOR WIRELESSLY POWERED DEVICES - Exemplary embodiments include an antenna for receiving electromagnetic radiation in a broadcast radiation band and a near-field radiation band to generate a Radio Frequency (RF) signal. A coupling element couples the RF signal to a first port and at least one additional port, which may be a second port and a third port. A wireless power receiver on the first port includes a rectifier for converting the RF signal to a DC signal when the antenna couples to radiation in the near-field radiation band in a coupling-mode region of the antenna. A near-field communication transceiver includes circuitry for communicating information on the antenna in the near-field radiation band when the coupling element couples the second port to the RF signal. A broadcast receiver on the third port includes circuitry for receiving and tuning the broadcast radiation band when the coupling element couples the third port to the RF signal. | 06-05-2014 |
20140340036 | WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER FOR LOW POWER DEVICES - Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power transfer. A method of operating a wireless receiver may comprise receiving wireless power with a receive antenna and conveying power from the receive antenna to a chargeable element. The method may further include electrically isolating the receive antenna from the chargeable element upon detecting that the chargeable element is fully-charged. | 11-20-2014 |