Wireless power has become a hot topic as wireless charging of mobile devices is get getting some popularity. Wireless charging isn’t something new; the technology exists since 1981 and Nikola Tesla has made first wireless power experiments over 100 years ago. Wireless charging for Qi technology is becoming the industry standard on smartphones (pushed by Wireless Power Consortium) as Nokia, HTC and some other companies use that. There is a competing AW4P wireless charging standard pushed by Samsung ja Qualcomm. And there is more standards coming. Power Matters Alliance is heavily pushing their own wireless charging standard. It seems there is going to be fight on wireless charging in near future. It seems that right now we’re in the midst of a battle between two standards for wireless charging – Qi from the Wireless Power Consortium and Power 2.0 from the Power Matters Alliance. It seems that a common Wireless Power Standard Years Off as Battle Heats Up.
As obviously useful as wireless charging is, it suffers from a Tower of Babel problem with incompatible standards and competing interests keeping it from truly going mainstream. Wireless charging continues to be a niche category until there’s a common standard. Heavyweights are backing the idea of wireless charging capabilities embedded in phones, and public charging stations are beginning to pop up. Differing standards, however, still make for a rocky adoption. Realistically there probably isn’t room for two or more standards, which do essentially the same to end user but are incompatible, so expect some technologies to disappear in the near future. Charging portable devices without needing to carry a power adapter sounds handy when we can agree on one standard. “Wireless charging continues to be a niche category until there’s a common standard,” said Daniel Hays, a consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers. “The hassle factor is still high.”
Qi seems to be at the moment standard that gets most attention. The news that Nokia to join Qi party with wireless-charging Lumia 920 have given lots of publicity to it. Even if the Lumia isn’t a big seller, the publicity and visibility it will provide for Qi should be enough to make everyone forget there was ever an alternative, if indeed there ever was. Also some HTC phones and Nexus 4 phone use this standard. Toyota launches the world’s first wireless charging of mobile phones in the car. Toyota’s car will get wireless mobile phone charger using Qi standard.
Qi has been here for some years. Qi has been around for a while, gaining the name and logo back in 2009. The Qi standard came out of water filtration units, which needed wireless power, and has been widely endorsed but devices are still quite rare. Under the Qi specification, “low power” for inductive transfer means a draw of 0 to 5 W, and that’s where mobile device charging solutions most probably go. The system used inductive coupling between two planar coils to transfer power from the power transmitter to the power receiver. The distance between the two coils is typically 5 mm, but can be expanded to 40mm.
The Qi system uses a digital control loop where the power receiver communicates with the power transmitter and requests more or less power via backscatter modulation. Besides low-power specification up to 5 watts, there is also a medium-power specification will deliver up to 120 watts. The frequency used for Qi chargers is located between about 110 and 205 kHz for the low power Qi chargers up to 5 watts and 80-300 kHz for the medium power Qi chargers.
Qi
Method: inductive coupling between two planar coils
Frequency: 110-205 kHz (80-300 KHz)
Communication: backscatter modulation
WiPower was a technology start-up company that used the principles of inductive coupling to develop a near-field wireless energy transfer system. Qualcomm bought WiPower in 2010 and started quietly negotiating with manufacturers to get the technology embedded in their kit. Qualcomm argues that the additional range of WiPower (which can charge devices up to 45mm away) allows new possibilities. WiPower system is based on modified coreless inductive technology and dynamically adjusts power supplied by the transmitter to power demanded by the receiver without the need for control systems or communication. WiPower chargers are claimed to operate at about 60-75 percent efficiency.
WiPower
Method: inductive coupling
Communication: no need for specific communication
Samsung and Qualcomm’s Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) promises more flexibility in wireless charging. Instead of induction, this standard will use loosely-coupled (LC) wireless power transfer (a series resonance-tuned pair of magnetically-coupled coils) to transmit power. This construction allows that the transmitter and receiver don’t have to be in direct contact, which gives more flexibility to industrial designers. This designs will support simultaneous charging of multiple devices with different power requirements. A4WP specification takes advantage of Bluetooth 4.0. The biggest downside in this design is that currently there are no products with this technology are yet on the market.
A4WP
Method: series resonance-tuned pair of magnetically-coupled coils (loosely coupled)
Frequency: 6.78 MHz
Communications: Bluetooth 4.0
The Power Matters Alliance (PMA) is working on an open standard for wireless charging. A group of companies back up this initiative (including Google, AT&T, ZTE, Starbucks, ,McDonalds, PowerKiss). PMA uses inductive charging method used in Duracell’s Powermat product. It requires the transmitter and receiver be close together, placing the mobile device on the charging pad.
This is quite new alliance but it seems to get lots of backers: over the last few months, the PMA has seen a tenfold increase in membership. One very big thing is that AT&T is seeking from its handset vendors a commitment to one standard of wireless charging.
The PMA is working to advance the widespread acceptance of the wireless power paradigm in multiple sectors. PMA is intent on leading and organizing the Power 2.0 agenda to commercial realization, while working under the umbrella of the most trusted name in standards: the IEEE. Powermat is capable of delivering 5-to-50 watts of power. Powermat allows a built-in check for alignment via light and voice signals based on RFiD Handshake feature. When you place a Powermat-enabled device on one of its mats, the two exchange a “handshake” using RFID: The mat identifies the device, determines how much power it needs and transfers energy to it. Powermat operates at 277-357 kHz frequency. Once a device is fully charged, Powermat stops the electricity from flowing. But as much momentum as the PMA has achieved, it is far from clear whether it will be that bandwagon.
Power Matters Alliance (PMA)
Method: inductive charging
Frequency: 277-357 kHz
Communication: RFID
As obviously useful as wireless charging is, it suffers from a Tower of Babel problem with incompatible standards and competing interests keeping it from truly going mainstream. There are also attempts to support several standards on one product. Samsung Galaxy SIII wireless power supports both Qualcomm’s WiPower and Wireless Power Consortium Qi. The Samsung Galaxy S4 will support both PMA and Qi standards. NXP has developed a charging station, which allows you to use both the general mobile phone charging standards (as well as one rare third standard).
The technologies I mentioned are not the only ones trying to push to the market in the near future. Apple is trying to patent wireless charging, claiming its magnetic resonance tech is new and that it can do it better than anyone else. Digitoday writes that Finnish research organization VTT is planning to combine wireless power and NFC technologies. The reasearchers believe that in the future NFC devices could be made to work as way to get power into device and send power to other device cheaply. Technology is not ready yet, because today’s NFC antenna circuits are not optimized for power transfer and there is no standard that covers this kind of use yet. NFC operates within the globally available and unlicensed radio frequency ISM band of 13.56 MHz.
Wireless Power: Convenient, But Its Shortcomings Are Somewhat Sour article tells that close-proximity inductive coupling is commonly estimated to deliver 50 to 70% efficiency. That’s considerably worse efficiency that what you get with a well designed wired charger. Intel increases consumer-product power consumption 50% blog post says that a system that is 50% efficient on top of the ac-dc conversion, and pumps RF energy all over the place is far from ideal in world where some other parties try to conserve every single watt. In a world with 15 billion chargers, energy efficiency is a big deal. Based in that is makes me a little bit hard to believe the Power Matter Alliance claims that wireless charging could save a lots of power in the future. How Wireless Charging Will Keep Toxic Waste Out of Landfills article tries to describe how wireless power could be more eco-friendly, but it is hard to believe all those claims without good data. I can believe that wireless chargers can have better energy efficiency than some old chargers supplied with consumer devices, but I given the limitations wireless charging it is very hard to believe that wireless charger could ever be more efficient than well designed wired charger. But wireless charger could be well “good enough” to be acceptable.
418 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why wireless charging Finland-herald PowerKiss went in a different direction than Nokia?
Wireless charging of mobile devices has become commonplace progressing slowly, but now Nokia smartphone manufacturers seem to set the standard for the outgoing technology.
Power Kiss belongs to a Wireless Power Consortium-alliance (WPC), which run Qi wireless charging standard. In March, Power Kiss announced it will join, in addition to competing in the Power Matters Alliance camp (PMA). It drives Qi-like, but incompatible technology.
“We have always been technology-agnostic and believe and know that wireless charging is progressing. PMA is a new way for us to increase our knowledge and learn. Qi products, deliveries will continue until further notice”
Standard soup is the similarities VCRs amusement decades ago.
The iPhone-maker Apple has not yet published a single device with wireless charging would be built-in. Some rumors kind of expected this year.
A4WP’s technology is based on magnetic resonance. Powerkiss Wolontiksen think it looks “better on paper”, but is not yet a commercial product.
Before the winner’s clear where the consumer can not know whether she can wirelessly download their device in the future.
- This is normal. Although it is now standard for up to three options, at some stage, it is likely that one bit is dominant during. It may also be of an entirely new technology.
The wireless charging basic problem is that it is never ultimately wireless. Something must always be connected to the wall, be it the download table, or even if the phone charging vessel
There are other disadvantages. Corded phone can be moved during the charging, but the wireless charging will normally require that the device is held in place.
- Our solution is integrated into the transmitter and hid under the table. The consumer does not see anything other than a sticker or a sign at the table, not wires. It is intuitive, cool and sexy to charge, Wolontis advertise.
next step in technology is an intelligent charger.
Cafe owner in turn can monitor who they are doing business, and what’s he doing there. This could be a new CRM, or customer relationship management tool.
- I fully believe that wireless charging is completely different in the future, than just charging.
Source: http://www.itviikko.fi/teknologia/2013/03/28/miksi-langattoman-latauksen-suomi-airut-lahti-eri-suuntaan-kuin-nokia/20134619/7
eliluedipse says:
I’m impressed, I have to say. Actually rarely do I encounter a blog that is both educative and entertaining, and let me tell you, you’ve hit the nail on the head. Your concept is outstanding; the issue is some thing that not enough people today are speaking intelligently about. I am very pleased that I stumbled across this in my search for something relating to this.
lurlempObbery says:
you’ve got a terrific weblog here! would you like to create some invite posts on my weblog?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wireless charging Power Kiss was sold to a competitor
Power Kiss in Europe has installed a mobile phone charging tables in Europe about a thousand a place such as airports, coffee shops and McDonald’s restaurants. Download required Powerkiss round the wireless charging device that connects to a mobile phone charging port.
Wired U.S. technology magazine ranked last fall Powerkiss hundred most promising companies in the world.
The first signs of business combination was back in March, when the power was transferred to kiss the Wireless Power Consortium alliance Power Matters Alliance, an alliance founded by a Powermat
The companies Powerkiss and Powermat announced the merger
Source: http://www.tietokone.fi/uutiset/langattoman_latauksen_powerkiss_myytiin_kilpailijalle
Tomi Engdahl says:
Electricity’s in the air: Powermat ties the knot with PowerKiss
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9239479/Electricity_s_in_the_air_Powermat_ties_the_knot_with_PowerKiss
By combining forces, the two wireless charging giants hope to create one consistent charging experience for customers
Powermat Technologies has announced an agreement to merge with its European counterpart, PowerKiss, in a deal that will make what once was two disparate wireless power specifications come together under one.
The two companies will come under the Powermat Technologies name, and both are Power Matters Alliance (PMA), which developed the Power 2.0 specification. PowerKiss joined the PMA in March.
The PMA’s Power 2.0 standard has the backing of AT&T, Procter & Gamble, and Starbucks.
Among airports, coffee shops, malls and arenas, Powermat, owned by Duracell, claims it has more than 1,500 charging spots in the U.S. In Europe, PowerKiss said it has 1,000 charging spots in airports, hotels and cafes; it also recently announced wireless charging at some McDonald’s restaurants.
The companies see the merger as an opportunity to create a consistent wireless charging experience for mobile users.
Powermat and PowerKiss are attempting to prevail against the competing Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), which supports the widely adopted Qi (pronounced “chee”) standard used in Nokia, Samsung, and LG products. Like the Qi standard, the PMA’s Power 2.0 specification is based on magnetic induction wireless power technology.
To date, most wireless charging products in the market have been built around magnetic induction charging techniques, which require that the device be in contact with a charging surface, such as a charging pad.
While resonant charging is based on the same transmitter/receiver coil technology as magnetic induction, it transmits power at a greater distance. Other companies, such as WiTricity and Power By Proxi, offer devices based on other specifications that can charge from feet away or can be charged simultaneously by dropping them into a box.
WiTricity also recently announced it has joined the PMA group. PMA recently formed a technical working group to add a magnetic resonant implementation to the “Power 2.0″ group of specifications.
WiTricity has been appointed to vice-chair of the magnetic resonant working group, and their first task is to create a specification for smartphone-ready highly resonant wireless power.
While TI said it would support the Power 2.0 specification being worked on by PMA, it already supports the Wireless Power Consortium’s Qi (pronounced “chee”) standard with its integrated circuits.
TI also said its next-generation of chips would additionally support the Alliance For Wireless Power’s (A4WP) “flexible wireless power” specification.
The A4WP specification is supported by more than 30 members, including Samsung Electronics, Broadcom, IDT and Qualcomm.
A4WP’s specification uses magnetic resonance.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adding wireless charging to any phone
http://hackaday.com/2013/06/19/adding-wireless-charging-to-any-phone/
The wireless charging options available on flagship phones is a great feature, but most of us aren’t rocking the latest and greatest cellphone. [Daniel] came up with a great mod that adds wireless charging to just about every cellphone ever, at a very low price and a few bits and bobs ordered off eBay.
[Daniel] used a Palm Touchstone inductive charger – available for a few bucks on eBay – along with an inductive charging circuit from a Palm Pixi.
Add Wireless Charging to Your Smartphone
by harari
http://www.instructables.com/id/Add-Wireless-Charging-to-Your-Smartphone/?ALLSTEPS
Tomi Engdahl says:
Galaxy S4 inductive charging hack keeps everything inside the case
http://hackaday.com/2013/08/12/galaxy-s4-inductive-charging-hack-keeps-everything-inside-the-case/
We’ve seen this hack a bunch of times, but this does a great job of internalizing all of the phone-side inductive charging components.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 just happens to have two contacts available inside the removable back plate which are designed for Samsung’s own inductive charging hardware.
This is touted as a solution that costs under $30. That beats the current price of a genuine Samsung inductive charging kit by a wide margin.
Tomi Engdahl says:
An Inventor Wants One Less Wire to Worry About
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/technology/an-inventor-wants-one-less-wire-to-worry-about.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
SOMETIMES, there is an actual eureka moment. For Meredith Perry, it was in late 2010, during her senior year studying astrobiology at the University of Pennsylvania. She was searching for an idea to enter into the college’s innovation competition.
” Why are we using these 20-foot wires to plug in our quote-unquote wireless devices?”
As Ms. Perry soon learned, there are very good reasons that we don’t beam electricity through the air.
“I realized that anything on the right half of the spectrum was too dangerous to beam,” she said, “and anything on the left half of the spectrum that was closer to radio was either too inefficient or tightly regulated by the government.”
So she started looking elsewhere and came upon piezoelectricity
If you have seen Internet assertions about T-shirts “that charge your mobile phone while you wear them,” or about boots on the ground literally creating the charge for a soldier’s radio, you are familiar with the idea of piezoelectricity. Those applications rely on something that’s already in motion.
And here’s where the second eureka happened — enabling her to see how she might build a device to wirelessly charge a battery in a cellphone or a computer from across a room.
“How do I create vibration in the air without actually moving something?” The answer came instantly — it was almost like a stoner’s aha: “Sound is vibration in the air.”
So she did what most everybody else does. She clicked on Wikipedia. She started with the “ultrasound” page, then “acoustic.” Soon enough, she was reading academic papers at the forefront of various disciplines.
Her idea, she discovered, meant marrying the fields of sound, electricity, battery technology and other subspecialties. “It was such a multidisciplinary idea,” she said, “and everyone in each different department basically told me that there was basically no way that you could get past all the hurdles.”
She kept running into the same genre of problem. “I was working with a couple of different people at the beginning who would say there was no way to get this high-power sound over this distance without creating shock waves,” she said. “Of course, I would have my 10-minute panic attack and think the whole thing was over. Then I would do some research on my own, and figure out how to achieve high-power sound without creating shock waves.”
Even after winning attention at a D: All Things Digital conference, where she transmitted power an impressive three feet using piezoelectrical technology, she still couldn’t attract start-up money.
“Obviously her ability to do power transmission wirelessly through sound was something that was fundamentally new,” Mr. Nolan said, but “people have this perception — ‘oh, if I build it, they will come.’ ”
It’s one thing to pull an idea out of your head and shape it into a prototype. But it’s a whole other thing to figure out how that device will get out of your test kitchen and into the marketplace. Mr. Nolan said Ms. Perry had shown that chain stores and some “quick-service restaurants” were eager to integrate a wireless charger into their plans. She “had addressed all these key risks and got them nailed down early,” he said.
After the Founders Fund signed on, more than a half-dozen venture capitalists also kicked in to create $1.4 million in start-up financing — including Mark Cuban, the Yahoo chief Marissa Mayer, the Andreessen Horowitz firm and even Troy Carter, Lady Gaga’s manager.
In the end, it’s the problem-solving and the fiddling that keeps her interested. “It’s like being on crack — don’t quote me on that — but it’s just so much fun you can literally get sucked into solving the problem and all you want to do is tell everyone about it.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
E Ink screen draws images, power from NFC-enabled smartphone
http://liliputing.com/2013/08/e-ink-screen-draws-images-power-from-nfc-enabled-smartphone.html
A growing number of smartphones are shipping with NFC, or Near Field Communication technology. This lets you send information between devices by tapping them together. For example you can share a photo with a friend or make a mobile payment from a digital wallet app.
But a team of researchers is showing off a way you can transmit more than just data — you can also transmit power.
For instance, you could pair a low-power E Ink display with your smartphone and send across pictures and enough power to flip through a few of those images.
This lets you use the E Ink screen as a secondary, low-power display for your smartphone. E Ink only uses power when you refresh the screen
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cota By Ossia Aims To Drive A Wireless Power Revolution And Change How We Think About Charging
http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/09/cota-by-ossia-wireless-power/
Wireless power. It’s less sci-fi sounding than it once was, thanks to induction charging like that based on the Qi standard, but that’s still a tech that essentially requires contact, if not incredibly close proximity. Magnetic resonance is another means to achieve wireless power, and perfect for much higher-demand applications, like charging cars. But there’s been very little work done in terms of building a solution that can power your everyday devices in a way that doesn’t require thought or changing the way we use our devices dramatically.
That’s where Cota by Ossia comes in. The startup is the brainchild of physicist Hatem Zeine, who decided to focus on delivering wireless power in a way that was commercially viable, both for large-scale industrial applications and for consumer use.
Today, however, Zeine is ready to show what Ossia can do, and he’s presenting the first public demo of the Cota wireless charging prototype on-stage at Disrupt and revealing his company Ossia publicly for the first time. Despite the fact that no one’s heard of Ossia, the Cota prototype in its current form already managed to deliver power wirelessly to devices over distances of around 10 feet, delivering around 10 percent of the total original source power to recipient devices using the same unlicensed spectrum that powers Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee and other wireless communication standards.
“What we’re doing uses the same frequencies as Wi-Fi,” he explained. “It’s the unlicensed spectrum that’s used by Wi-Fi, and many phones, Bluetooth and Zigbee devices and so on in our lives. The nice thing about this frequency is that it’s just the sweet spot for our technology for distance, safety, for the size of the antennas and the hardware that we use, it’s just a perfect level. Also it’s well understood, since people have had Wi-Fi in their homes for a long time now.”
Obviously health and safety is going to be a foreground concern when it comes to new wireless tech of any kind, but something that’s designed to be able to provide enough energy to power up devices will definitely raise eyebrows. Aside from being at a late stage in terms of gaining FCC clearance, Zeine says Ossia also benefits from using the same kind of spectrum that Wi-Fi broadcasts at, and says Cota offers the same kind of health risks that Wi-Fi in-home does. Academic research on how much that actually is may differ, but consumers definitely seem willing to accept the risks associated with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and other similar specifications.
“Cota is the only wireless power technology that can deliver one watt of power at a distance of 30 ft safely,”
The next step for Cota is delivering a commercial-grade product capable of replacing the numerous wired power connections for sensors and monitors in sensitive facilities like oil and gas refineries with wirelessly powered devices, which decreases risk by minimizing the number of potential opportunities there are for generating sparks, since there are fewer live cables lying around.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wireless charging from 30 feet away — does startup have a game-changer?
Ossia exec says Cota device can wirelessly charge multiple devices through walls, around corners
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9242297/Wireless_charging_from_30_feet_away_does_startup_have_a_game_changer_
A startup on Tuesday unveiled technology that it claims can simultaneously charge multiple devices in a house, even through walls and around corners, by using the same radio spectrum as other wireless standards, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
“You don’t have to put [the charging] device in every room. You just put it into one room in your house and it will power all your devices,” said Hatem Zeine, founder of Ossia, developer of the technology. “It’s like your Wi-Fi signal. If you can get a Wi-Fi signal, you’ll be able to get power.”
After six years of development, Ossia today unwrapped the new Cota wireless charging technology, which it says will be available to consumers and enterprises by 2015.
Zeine, demonstrated a prototype of the charging system at the TechCrunch Disrupt technology conference in San Francisco this week.
In a video posted by TechCrunch, Zeine held a 2- by 2- by 1-in. cube-shaped dongle device, plugged it into an iPhone 5 via a standard charging cable and held it in the air until the iPhone’s screen displayed the green battery icon that indicated that it was wirelessly charging — whereupon the audience erupted in applause.
“For me, wireless means remote, automatic, effortless,” Zeine told the audience.
Zeine said the wireless charging technology should appeal to enterprises such as oil and gas companies, where removing power wires from equipment could improve safety.
The wireless charging technology can deliver 1 watt of power at a distance of 30 feet, and it could span an entire home and could power multiple devices, Zeine said.
“Cota is inherently safe, as safe as your Wi-Fi hub,” Zeine said. “A Cota-enabled device sends out a beacon signal that finds paths to the charger, which in turn returns the power signal through only those open paths back to the receiver, avoiding people or anything that absorbs its energy.”
The Cota wireless charging system does not require a line of sight to the device being charged — it can go through walls and around corners without interfering with other electronic equipment in its path, Zeine said.
According to Zeine, the Cota wireless charging technology was discovered by accident. While experimenting with wireless signal management, Zeine, a physicist, discovered that it’s possible to focus a signal on a receiving device.
Zeine said his company currently holds four core patents issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark office, as well as other patents issued internationally.
A consumer version of the Cota transmitter would sell for about the same amount as a Wi-Fi hub — “basically $100 or a little more,” Zeine said.
While Zeine may believe his technology is without compare, there are other wireless charging systems, though most use ether tightly or loosely coupled magnetic induction technology based on the Qi standard or magnetic resonance technology, which can wirelessly charge devices over very short distances.
The Cota wireless charging system is currently only available as a prototype. The charger that Zeine demonstrated at TechCrunch’s Disrupt show contained 200 transmitters; in the video, it is hidden behind a curtain during the demo, but afterward Zeine briefly pulls the curtain back while answering a question, revealing a piece of equipment that appears to be about 6 feet tall.
Zeine said that once the technology is miniaturized and is no longer based on “off-the-shelf electronics,” the Cota development team will be able fit 20,000 transmitters into an 18-in. cube. “The more transmitters, the higher the efficiency,” he said.
The charger can come in the form of a dongle that can be plugged into a device via a USB port or another connector, or charging technology can be integrated into a device’s circuitry.
The Cota wireless charger delivers about 1 watt, which is about one-third the power a device would get if it was charged via a USB power signal.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wireless charging is starting to be the latest smartphone as a standard feature. Also supports wireless charging infrastructure starts to increase. Now the device is successful in developing more easier, promises of Texas Instruments.
The company has introduced a new generation of transmitter circuit through which Qi-compliant wireless charging devices can be developed in a smaller number of components.
Supports WPC (Wireless Power Consortium) 1.1 specification. The adapter requires only the transmitter in addition to five other components (competitors need 15 other components). Operates from 5V power source (for example USB port).
Bq500212A circuit is already in volume production (chip cost a little bit over two Euros).
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=352:langatonta-latausta-helpommin&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi says:
Qualcomm joins Wireless Power Consortium board, sparks hope for A4WP and Qi unification
http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/20/qualcomm-wireless-power-consortium-board-of-management/
Qualcomm, the founding member of Alliance for Wireless Power (or A4WP in short), made a surprise move today by joining the management board of the rival Wireless Power Consortium (or WPC), the group behind the already commercially available Qi standard. This is quite an interesting development considering how both alliances have been openly critical of each other, and yet now there’s a chance of seeing just one standard getting the best of both worlds. That is, of course, dependent on Qualcomm’s real intentions behind joining the WPC.
While Qi is now a well-established ecosystem backed by 172 companies, its current “first-gen” inductive charging method is somewhat sensitive to the alignment of the devices on the charging mats (though there has been recent breakthrough). Another issue is Qi can currently provide just up to 5W of power (which is dependent on both the quality of the coil and the operating frequency), and this may not be sufficient for charging up large devices at a reasonable pace. For instance, even with the 10W USB adapter, the iPad takes hours to fully juice up, let alone with just half of that power.
Looking ahead, both the WPC and the 63-strong A4WP are already working on their own magnetic resonance implementations to enable longer range charging. Additionally, A4WP’s standard has also been approved for up to 24W of output, whereas the WPC is already developing medium power (from 15W) Qi specification for the likes of laptops and power tools.
Here’s where the two standards differentiate. A4WP’s implementation allows simultaneous charging of devices that require different power requirement on the same pad, thus offering more spacial freedom.
Tomi Engdahl says:
RADIATION SNATCHED from leaky microwave ovens to power gadgets
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/09/24/boffins_harvest_microwave_energy_outside_the_door/
Microwaves pump out energy in the 2.4GHz band: the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio space popularised by Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The casing of the oven contains almost all the energy used to heat the “meal for one”, but some escapes to interfere with nearby wireless networks and that’s the energy scooped up by the boffins and their new circuit.
The electronics in their microwave “rectenna” consists of an antenna, a diode and a capacitor, we’re told. The incoming waves induce a tiny voltage across the antenna’s terminals; the other components rectify and step up the voltage to a mighty 1.8V, enough for most gadgets.
Domestic microwave ovens are governed by regulations that restrict their leakage to five milliwatts per square centimetre, at a distance of five centimetres
The researchers discovered leakage was well below that across the brands they tested, but were able to harvest a good proportion of that power to run kitchen appliances including a thermometer and countdown timer.
Tomi says:
Nokia Lumia – Harnessing the power of lightning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RJTl2oqaWPs
Nokia have partnered with the University of Southampton to unveil ground-breaking, proof-of-concept research into harnessing the power of lightning for personal use, an industry first that could potentially see consumers tap one of nature’s significant energy sources to charge their devices in a sustainable manner.
That the Nokia Lumia 925 could withstand this sort of experiment
Tomi says:
Harnessing the power of lightning to charge a Nokia Lumia 925
http://conversations.nokia.com/2013/09/27/harnessing-the-power-of-lightning-to-charge-a-nokia-lumia-925/
Wireless charging, in and of itself, is pretty darn cool. But imagine if you could charge your phone using lightning! Nokia has been working with the University of Southampton to do just that, and the results are nothing short of brilliant.
For most of us, lightning can be a truly terrifying, powerful and awe-inspiring force of nature, but boffins (scientists for the rest of us) from Nokia and the University of Southampton put their heads together to try and tame the beast. They succeeded, and in a world’s first, they were able to use simulated lightning to charge a Nokia phone.
“Using an alternating current, driven by a transformer, over 200,000 volts was sent across a 300mm gap – giving heat and light similar to that of a lightning bolt. The signal was then stepped into a second controlling transformer, allowing us to charge the phone.”
What happened next surprised even the scientists, and Neil adds: “We were amazed to see that the Nokia circuitry somehow stabilized the noisy signal, allowing the battery to be charged in only seconds.”
“This discovery proves that the device can be charged with a current that passes through the air, and is a huge step towards understanding a natural power like lightning and harnessing its energy,” he added.
“We obviously aren’t recommending people try this experiment at home, but we are always looking to disrupt and push the boundaries of technology and find innovative ways to improve the performance of our products.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
FlameStower: Charge Your Camera with Fire
http://lensvid.com/gear/flamestower-charge-your-camera-with-fire/
The founders of FlameStower – Andy and Adam developed the innovative charger in their garage during their time off grad school. The FlameStower efficiently captures excess heat from a gas burner or campfire to charge almost any USB-powered device: cell phones, GPS units and even cameras (Samsung cameras, several Sony, Kodak and other cameras can be charged using USB).
The FlameStower is currently up on kickstarter and looking for backing (it already raised the goal of $15k and is now over $24k and counting). If you want one you can back it up for about $80.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Did you forget your charger at home? Microwave energy loss could be downloaded from a mobile phone
At the same time, when heated in the microwave oven for food, some of the energy used by the device is not used. This energy can be collected and used, for charging cell phones
Some of the microwave energy used in breaking out of the oven. University of Tokyo engineer Yoshihiro Kawahara has found a way to use the waste energy utilized. The furnace is installed outside the collector, the antenna picks up the extra energy and directs it to use elsewhere.
However, safety regulations restrict the amount of energy that must get out of the oven. Therefore, the amounts are so small that mobile phones should not confine to bed micron in the vicinity of a frustratingly long time.
In initial experiments, microwave oven is turned on for two minutes produced enough energy to household appliances, such as a digital countdown timer for a few minutes. Although the number is small, it is free energy.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/uutisia/unohtuiko+laturi+kotiin+mikroaaltouunin+hukkaenergialla+voisi+ladata+kannykan/a935297
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Microwave Could Be Your New Phone Charger
http://mashable.com/2013/09/29/charger-microwave/
The microwave typically has one use: heating leftovers. But now, it could soon be a handy cellphone charger, as well.
Researchers from the University of Tokyo are working on ways to harvest the wasted energy that microwaves produce while they run. When heating, microwaves continuously lose energy that could be put to better use. Engineer Yoshihiro Kawahara and his research team have designed a machine to gather and recycle that wasted energy.
Here’s how it works: The harvester has an antenna that picks up any excess energy, and channels it to other devices. However, the microwave probably won’t replace your cellphone charger just yet. Federal regulations limit the amount of energy that is allowed to leak from a microwave to “far below the level known to harm people,” according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Tomi says:
Duke researchers’ device pulls energy out of thin air
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9243908/Duke_researchers_device_pulls_energy_out_of_thin_air
Breakthrough device converts stray wireless signals into electricity and could be tuned to harvest energy from multiple sources, even sound
If you’ve ever wondered where all that errant power from wireless signals goes, you’re not alone. Researchers at Duke University wondered the same thing and have invented a cheap device that collects microwave signals and converts them into power for charging batteries.
The energy collection device works similarly to solar panels, which convert light energy into electrical current. The Duke researchers, however, say their converter can collect stray signals from just about anything wireless, including satellite signals, sound or Wi-Fi.
“Our work demonstrates a simple and inexpensive approach to electromagnetic power harvesting,” Steven Cummer, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, said in a a statement from the school.
The researchers created a series of five fiberglass and copper energy conductors on a circuit board, which was able to convert microwaves into 7.3V of electrical energy.
“We had been getting energy efficiency around 6% to 10%, but with this design we were able to dramatically improve energy conversion to 37%, which is comparable to what is achieved in solar cells.”
The energy collection device could be tuned for a multitude of frequencies to collect different types of energy, including vibration and sound energy.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Slideshow: Wireless Charging Comes to Automobiles
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=269448&cid=nl.dn14
Although a plug-in electric car has its advantages, some suppliers are betting that not all EV owners will want to plug in. Some, they say, will want to charge their cars wirelessly.
Today, the market for wireless car charging is small and moving slowly. A few manufacturers are working on internal projects, while others are talking with suppliers. Still, one study from RnRMarketResearch.com predicts rapid adoption of the technology, with total market size reaching $4.6 billion by 2019. ”We’re talking to a lot of auto manufacturers right now who are interested in the technology,” Lacy Heiberger, marketing manager for Evatran, told Design News.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Engineers Design Battery-Free Wireless Device
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1386&doc_id=269520&cid=nl.dn14
Since the onset of television, radio, and WiFi, we have been inundated with a vast array of RF signals, which allow us to listen to music, watch television, and stay connected to one another with our mobile devices.
Recently, Nickolay Lamm and colleague Dr. M. Browning Vogel were able to visualize the various signal patterns that make up WiFi transmissions and illustrate those using rather striking colors. Suffice it to say they are everywhere, covering just about every square foot of space in populated cities, and thanks to some ingenious engineers, can be utilized to provide another service besides communications and artwork. Those engineers, from the University of Washington, have developed a way to harness those signals to power communications devices without the need for batteries or other power sources.
Known as Ambient Backscatter, the device (or any device equipped with the technology) is equipped with an antenna that picks up broadcast signals from TV or cellular sources and converts them into hundreds of microwatts of electrical power.
Other devices outfitted with the technology can then receive the coded messages and respond accordingly, which is necessary if the Internet of Things (IoT) is to become mainstream.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Cell Phone Charging Purse
Inductive charging handbag
http://learn.adafruit.com/cell-phone-charging-purse/install-coil-in-bag
Tomi Engdahl says:
Slideshow: Wireless Charging Comes to Automobiles
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1320275&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Startup Puts Wireless Charging in a Box
Faraday cage eases user’s job
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1320380&
Humavox emerged from stealth mode adding another wireless charging technology to what some say is already too large a set of options. The startup uses RF technology in a closed container, aiming at generally small devices such as hearing aids, smart watches, and connected glasses.
Humavox formally launched its website Tuesday, but it supplies little detail so far on the company’s Thunderbolt RF interconnect or Nest container. Ironically both product names echo existing but unrelated brands, the Thunderbolt wired interconnect from Apple/Intel and the thermostat of Nest Labs.
“By using RF transmission in Nest, Humavox gained control over these waves and managed to accurately point it towards the devices under charge, setting an extremely high level of wireless power transfer efficiency,”
Humavox aims to license its technology to OEMs that can implement it in a variety of ways in their products using existing power management ICs and their own boards or ASICs. So far the company has not disclosed any OEM customers.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel Unveiled Some Massive Innovations Yesterday But The Only Thing People Are Talking About Is This ‘Smart Bowl’
http://www.businessinsider.com/intel-smart-bowl-2014-1
We’ve all got one: A large bowl that sits in the kitchen or the hall or the dining room where you put all the junk you don’t have any other place for: keys, mail, rubber bands, matches, batteries, take-out menus, whatever.
At CES, the big tech conference in Las Vegas, Intel unveiled a “smart bowl” that could change all that forever. It’s a wireless charging bowl: You dump your phone, iPod, earpiece, Fitbit or any other gadget that needs a charge into it and — boom! — pick it out a while later and it’s fully charged.
No more wires. No more jacks. No more plugs and sockets.
Basically, we’re all saying the same thing: I’ve got a bowl full of junk in my house, and I would totally use a smart bowl if it charged my stuff while it was in there.
The smart bowl, however, was sleekly designed, simple and useful.
Everyone seems to want one.
But as far as we can tell, right now, it’s simply a prototype and not a product.
Intel CES 2014: Wearable Technology Highlights
http://download.intel.com/newsroom/kits/ces/2014/pdfs/Intel_CES2014_Wearable_Technology_Factsheet.pdf
Intel Smart Wireless Charging Bowl Reference Design
Intel has developed a reference design for a smart wireless charging bowl. The reference design complements Intel’s smart headset , helping to make charging more convenient. Simply drop the smart headset into the smart wireless charging bowl and it will begin to recharge.
The smart wireless charging bowl with stand is approximately 10 inches in diameter. The reference design is capable of charging multiple devices simultaneously without exact alignment or placement. This is a key benefit of magnetic resonance technology, which is the foundation for the A4WP industry specification.
Intel is developing wireless charging technology to deliver “no wires” convenience across a broad range of mobile devices (e.g. headsets, phones, tablets, Ultrabooks and 2in1s) all based on the A4WP industry
specification that Intel is actively helping to develop.
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Superlens” may solve wireless charging dilemma
Metamaterial structure can charge devices from nearly a foot awa
http://techpageone.dell.com/downtime/superlens-may-solve-wireless-charging-dilemma/#.Ut51HbSxVaS
Wireless charging stations exist, but all they really eliminate is the need to plug in your exhausted device. You are still leashed because your phone has to be on top of the charger, which needs to be plugged into the wall. Buzz kill.
But researchers from Duke University and Toyota have found an exotic way to transfer useful energy across several inches of air. They call it a “superlens” and they said it can reach devices that are nearly a foot away from the charger.
There is reason to expect the superlens to achieve even greater distances in the future, however. The promise lies in metamaterials, which, if powered up, can send out various kinds of electromagnetic power. This capability is apparently great for creating security-screening images that are based on the energy that bounces off people’s bodies.
Yaroslav Urzhumov, assistant research professor of electrical and computer engineering at Duke, said the metamaterial that the team used is essentially a large square made up of dozens of small blocks. The inside and outside of the blocks are imprinted with intricate etchings made up of copper. This design enables the square to produce a cone of electromagnetic energy in a way that even experts have a hard time explaining.
The wireless charging systems available now can only send power as far as the charger is deep. If your electromagnet is an inch in diameter, it can only shoot energy an inch, maybe two. It’s simply a physical limitation of the technology
Getting today’s wireless charging technology to cut through a foot of air would require an electromagnet that’s a foot in diameter.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Slideshow: Wireless Charging Comes to Automobiles
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=269448&cid=nl.dn14
Although a plug-in electric car has its advantages, some suppliers are betting that not all EV owners will want to plug in. Some, they say, will want to charge their cars wirelessly.
Today, the market for wireless car charging is small and moving slowly. A few manufacturers are working on internal projects, while others are talking with suppliers. Still, one study from RnRMarketResearch.com predicts rapid adoption of the technology, with total market size reaching $4.6 billion by 2019. ”We’re talking to a lot of auto manufacturers right now who are interested in the technology,” Lacy Heiberger, marketing manager for Evatran, told Design News.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wireless charging takes big step forward as rival groups team up
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57618683-94/wireless-charging-takes-big-step-forward-as-rival-groups-team-up/
A universal wireless-charging standard is looking like more of a possibility as two major rivals — A4WP and PMA — have agreed to work together.
Two of the three major wireless charging groups, the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) and the Power Matters Alliance (PMA), have signed an agreement to ensure that their two standards will work together. By coming together with a common certification for the two different technologies, the groups hope to spur the inclusion of wireless technology in more devices.
The partnership between the PMA and A4WP doesn’t mean that their rival technologies will operate with each other, only that they will be able to sit alongside one other and play nice.
Ethan says:
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Two wireless charging technologies together
WPC (Wireless Power Consortium) Qi technology gets tough challenger when PMA organizations inductive wireless charging and A4WP organization magnetic resonance-based technology are to become compatible.
PMA Power 2.0 technology is very much similar to the induction of Qi are based. The main difference is the frequency at which the charging takes place. Power 2.0 runs on 277-357kilohertsin aueella when Qi charger operates from 100 to 205 kHz range.
IHS predicts that in 2023 sold for 1.7 billion wireless charging circuit. Last year, sales were 25 million.
Source: Elektroniikkalehti
http://www.elektroniikkalehti.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=973:kaksi-langatonta-lataustekniikkaa-yhteen&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wireless Charging Shift Ahead
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1321010
At least four different approaches to wireless charging are vying to power billions of next-generation mobile devices. Today only one has a beachhead in about a million systems: the Wireless Power Consortium’s Qi inductive charging technology.
By 2018, analysts say, the race will be all but over with one player dominating the 700 million systems using wireless charging. Experts expect a technology shift to resonant charging after a generation of hybrid inductive/resonant products currently coming on the market. Before it’s over, Apple is expected to debut what could be a wild-card proprietary approach.
Wireless charging “standards have to converge, and I think this year they will figure out this market is not taking off until they get together,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wireless Charging Gets Power And Efficiency Boosts
http://mwrf.com/semiconductors/wireless-charging-gets-power-and-efficiency-boosts
Inductive technology is making rapid inroads into wireless charging, serving anything from the passenger buses currently running in the UK city of Milton Keynes to mobile phones.
To support the expected growth of this novel technology, solutions ranging from transmitters and receivers to integrated circuits (ICs) are now being developed at a rapid pace.
The Qi interface standard was developed by the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) for inductive electrical power transfer over distances to 4 cm.
The Qi specification defines low power for inductive transfer as being a draw of 0 to 5 W. The systems that fall within the standard’s scope use inductive coupling between two planar coils to transfer power from the power transmitter to the power receiver. Precise control of the output voltage is provided by a digital control loop.
Tomi Engdahl says:
New system wirelessly powers your home
WiTricity system can power your gadgets up to 7 feet away
http://www.electronicproducts.com/Power_Products/Power_and_Control/New_system_wirelessly_powers_your_home.aspx
the new WiTricity system might just be the first step towards creating a truly wireless world. Developed by a startup of the same name, WiTricity allows users to wirelessly charge or power their devices, for up to 7 feet of the power source.
WiTricity uses “resonant inductive coupling” technology in order to generate a magnetic field that can travel longer distances, and carry more energy, than traditional wireless charging methods.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wireless charging is coming with many mobile devices, the basic technique. In 2020, the charging circuits are sold forecasted five billion dollars.
IDT has introduced both Qi and PMA technology to support the charging circuits which are as much as 70 percent smaller than previous chips.
New arrivals IDTP9024 PMA supports charging technology and IDTP9025A Qi standard. IDTP9028 download seamlessly supports both standards, as it is able to automatically switch to the correct standard protocol.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1226:langaton-lataus-yha-pienempaan-tilaan&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Researchers charge 40 smartphones wirelessly from 5m
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-04/22/charge-phones-wirelessly-from-five-metres
Engineers from the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed a system that can power devices up to five metres away.
The Dipole Coil Resonant System (DCRS) extends the range of inductive power transfer to a distance of five metres between the transmitter and receiver coils. It was demonstrated to charge 40 smartphones simultaneously, even when the power source was metres away.
The system improves upon MIT’s Coupled Magnetic Resonance System (CMRS)
When the sytem was operated at 20 kHz, the maximum output power was 1,403 watts at a three-metre distance, 471 watts over four metres and 209 watts over five metres. For 100 watts of electric power transfer efficiency was 36.9 percent at three metres, 18.7 percent at four metres and 9.2 percent over five metres.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wireless power transfer achieved at 5-meter distance
17.04.2014
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/energy-engineering/wireless-power-transfer-achieved-at-5-meter-distance.html
With a maximum output power of 209 W at 20 kHz, the Dipole Coil Resonant System can charge 40 smart phones simultaneously, even if the power source is 5 meters away
Since MIT’s (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) introduction of the Coupled Magnetic Resonance System (CMRS) in 2007, which used a magnetic field to transfer energy for a distance of 2.1 meters, the development of long-distance wireless power transfer has attracted much attention for further research.
Professor Rim proposed a meaningful solution to these problems through DCRS, an optimally designed coil structure that has two magnetic dipole coils, a primary one to induce a magnetic field and a secondary to receive electric power.
Scalable and slim with a size of 3 m in length, 10 cm in width, and 20 cm in height, DCRS is significantly smaller than CMRS. The system has a low Q factor of 100, showing 20 times stronger against the environment changes, and works well at a low frequency of 100 kHz.
“With DCRS,” Professor Rim said, “a large LED TV as well as three 40 W-fans can be powered from a 5-meter distance.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Long-Distance Wireless Power Transfer: Dipole Coil Resonant System
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6UCwqjdpo0
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel aims to eliminate all PC cables in 2016
http://www.cnet.com/news/intel-aims-to-eliminate-all-pc-cables-in-2016/
Goodbye rat’s nest! Intel says wireless power, docking and connectivity will form the basis of its post-Broadwell “Skylake” reference designs.
On stage at the Computex show here, Intel’s Kirk Skaugen, senior vice president and general manager of the PC Client Group, demonstrated wireless display, docking and charging features that will close the loop on the final few mandatory cables in the typical PC environment.
The high-speed WiGig standard will be used as the short range “docking” technology
For power, Skaugen demonstrated Rezence, the magnetic resonance charging technology, promoted by the Alliance 4 Wireless Power (A4WP), that Intel is aligned with.
Skaugen demonstrated a table that charged a laptop, phone, headset and tablet all at once.
With Skylake expected second half of 2015 it’s likely devices based on Intel’s reference designs would start to hit the market in 2016.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wireless Charging expands to 50 W
A4WP-organization, the Alliance for Wireless Power has expanded its Rezence name branded wireless charging technique. Charge rate will increase by 50 watts, so the technology can be used in devices like mobile phones, tablets and laptops.
The organization says to publish the new Baseline System Specification specifications and certification program later this year.
At the same time, it indicates that the Alliance members has grown to over one hundred Dell, Fujitsu, Foxconn, Lenovo, Logitech and Panasonic have joined in.
Until now, the market had wireless charging solutions have been about five watts of class, in practice the smartphone has been a typical application. Charging Techniques for developing organizations have been talking about 10-15 watts charging power, but A4WP of the new standard takes technology to a new level.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1470:langaton-lataaminen-laajenee-50-wattiin&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Starbucks starts rolling out wireless phone chargers nationwide
http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/12/5801716/starbucks-rolling-out-powermat-wireless-chargers-nationwide
19
inShare
Starbucks plans to install Powermat’s wireless charging stations at its coffee stores across the US. After a small pilot run with these “Powermat Spots” — small circles that are seamlessly implanted in tables and counters — the larger rollout will kick off within Starbucks and Teavana locations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Eventually the charging stations will make their way to the company’s coffee and tea shops nationwide.
The deal is a major victory for Powermat and the Power Matters Alliance, which remains embroiled in a standards war with the Wireless Power Consortium, purveyor of the Qi charging standard.
most people still need to buy a compatible case for their phone before ditching the USB cable that came with it.
“Devices will come out with compatible technology, and we’ll see an industry that’s been hamstrung a bit with standards issues and conflicting implementations coalesce a common ground,”
During the early trials in Boston and San Jose, Schreiber said people typically used the Powermat Spots for an average of 15 minutes — not quite topping off the battery, but giving them enough of a boost to get them to their next destination.
“The way we interact with power today is unchanged since the time of Thomas Edison,”
And while the battle between PMA and Qi is by no means over, Schreiber may be right in claiming that deals like this one will decide the outcome.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Starbucks’ new wireless charging won’t work for most devices
Wireless charging wars are likely to limit the technology adoption for the time being
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9249059/Starbucks_new_wireless_charging_won_t_work_for_most_devices?taxonomyId=128&pageNumber=1
Starbucks today announced the rollout of wireless charging nationwide, but nearly all mobile handsets and consumer devices currently in use that incorporate wireless charging technology won’t be able to use it.
Nevertheless, with more than 8,000 company-operated stores in the U.S., the move by Starbucks will create a substantial network and infrastructure for wireless charging in the hospitality sector and lead to shipments of more than 100,000 Powermat wireless chargers, according to IHS research.
There are now three wireless charging consortiums vying for dominance in the market, which has enormous potential. The combined global market for wireless power receivers and transmitters is expected to rise to 1.7 billion unit shipments in 2023, up from about 25 million last year, according to IHS.
According to IHS, 80% of consumers want wireless charging in public places, so the move by Starbucks was expected.
Of the 20 million consumer devices estimated to have shipped in 2013 with wireless charging capabilities, nearly all were built with the Qi specification, according to IHS.
“These devices will not be compatible with the wireless chargers due to be installed in Starbucks stores,”
AT&T now offers an upgrade for the Samsung Galaxy S5, which supports the PMA specification, and an add-on case for the Apple iPhone is also available from Duracell Powermat.
The conflicting and competing standards continue to create uncertainty for mobile device manufacturers looking to adopt wireless charging.
“A developer who wishes to produce something compatible to both standards needs to be a member of both associations, so they both exist very much as single entities still,” Sanderson said. “Producing something compatible with both will cost more and provides a reasonable challenge (multiple antennas, separate shielding etc.).”
All three wireless charging consortiums have massive backing from large mobile device manufacturers and consumer product brands.
Long-term, the added premium that multi-standard wireless charging demands is unlikely to allow for mass adoption, said Sanderson, adding that a single mode solution will be required to drive costs down.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel Goes Wireless With Resonant Power
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322709&
Intel has announced a technology licensing agreement with wireless charging company WiTricity, further driving adoption of magnetic resonance technology. While consumer acceptance of wireless charging currently suffers because of a lack of standardization, Intel may provide the big-name appeal to push loosely coupled coil charging.
Many available wireless charging devices are based on tightly coupled coils in a device receiver and charging transmitter, which must be closely aligned for power to pass. WiTricity’s technology, known as resonance or “Rezence,” offers more flexibility in the distance between the coils.
At this year’s CES, Intel debuted a resonance-based wireless charging bowl for wearable devices.
“Intel demonstrated the technology embedded into a prototype notebook, tablet, smartphone and wireless headset. Each was lowered on to a table top which had an [Association 4 Wireless Power] ‘Rezence’ wireless charger fixed underneath it and began charging when it came within range,”
Despite Intel’s renewed attachment to resonance charging — the company is already on the board for Association 4 Wireless Power, an industry group touting the technology
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Mobe battery flat? These ELECTRIC PANTS will pump things up
Is that an inductive charger in your trousers or are you just pleased to see me?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/19/microsoft_inductive_charging_jeans/
MicroNokia’s ongoing efforts to convince world+dog that inductive charging is a very good idea has just taken important strides with the release of a pair of electric pants.
The product of British designer A. Sauvage, the pants are said to have “used the technology from the new Nokia DC-50 wireless charging plate”, a new inductive charging gewgaw that appears to combine a battery and a Qi charger.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Global Wireless Power Standard
http://www.eeweb.com/company-blog/mouser/a-global-wireless-power-standard/
This article presents the global wireless power standard that will be used as a universal standards to ensure interoperability across products. The article will also discuss the different bodies that provides the standard and how to define the requirements for a certain standard.
The continued development of the wireless power market depends on broad consensus about technical standards that will ensure interoperability across products and platforms. Much like the standard established by the Wi-Fi Alliance that delivered seamless wireless networking, a standard for wireless power will free millions of people around the world from the inconvenience of power cords.
Three standards bodies at different phases of development are jockeying for position in this stillemerging market. Texas Instruments (TI) is a member of all three organizations.
The first and most-adopted wireless power standard started being developed in 2008 by the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), a body that has grown steadily and has established the Qi (pronounced “chee”) global standard.
A second standards body, Power Matters Alliance (PMA), was formed in 2012 and offers an alternative solution.
A third body, Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP), was also introduced in 2012
The standards developed – or under development – by these three bodies differ.
The market is beginning to gain momentum. Mobile phone service providers are choosing which standards to incorporate into their devices. A major coffee chain has selected a standard for the wireless power infrastructure in its shops. About 10,000 wireless charging stations are expected to be available in Japan by the end of 2013. But some industries – such as automobile makers – are waiting to see which standard will become dominant before making the significant investment required to include wireless charging in all their products. Three auto makers have committed to implement Qi transmitters in at least one of their models.
One of the three organizations promoting specifications – Wireless Power Consortium, Power Matters Alliance or Alliance for Wireless Power – likely will become dominant as the market matures. It’s also possible that these specifications might converge or that some products could be designed to support multiple standards. Designers today rely on discrete ICs supporting one specification, but we believe they will quickly move toward circuits with dual-mode wireless power capability, such as those demonstrated by TI.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Inductive Charging Takes Shape at BMW & Daimler
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1323039&
BMW has shared some insight into its development of inductive charging schemes for electric vehicles. In the medium term, the company plans to launch series production for the technology. The project is conducted along with competitor Daimler. Each company plans to provide a uniform charging technology for the garage at home.
The system consists of two components: A primary coil integrated into a base plate that is placed beneath the vehicle, for instance in the floor of a garage or parking lot. This coil induces electric energy to the secondary coil in the car floor.
The alternating magnetic field between the coils transmits the electric energy wirelessly at a power of up to 3.6 kW. BMW specifies the energy efficiency of this arrangement at 90%. The system aims at charging high-voltage batteries for plug-in hybrid and battery electric cars.
At a charging power of 3.6 kW, many plug-in hybrids can be charged completely in less than three hours.
tandard offers the option to increase the charging power to 7kW
Tomi Engdahl says:
Embedding Wireless Charging into Your Laptop
http://hackaday.com/2014/07/12/embedding-wireless-charging-into-your-laptop/
Looking for a project to do [Jason Clark] thought it might be fun to integrate a spare wireless Qi charger into his HP Chromebook 14.