Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B5/00—Near-field transmission systems, e.g. inductive or capacitive transmission systems
  • H04B5/70—Near-field transmission systems, e.g. inductive or capacitive transmission systems specially adapted for specific purposes
  • H04B5/79—Near-field transmission systems, e.g. inductive or capacitive transmission systems specially adapted for specific purposes for data transfer in combination with power transfer
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B5/00—Near-field transmission systems, e.g. inductive or capacitive transmission systems
  • H04B5/20—Near-field transmission systems, e.g. inductive or capacitive transmission systems characterised by the transmission technique; characterised by the transmission medium
  • H04B5/24—Inductive coupling
  • H04B5/26—Inductive coupling using coils
  • H04B5/263—Multiple coils at either side

Definitions

• the disclosure herein relates to inductive power receivers.
• the disclosure relates to combined Near Field Communication and inductive receiver circuits.
• NFC Near Field Communication
• RFID Radio Frequency Identification
• NFC technology is particularly suited for transferring data to and from cellular telephones fitted with NFC readers. Apart from its compatibility with existing RFID devices, NFC has a number of advantages over Bluetooth technology and the like. Notably, NFC does not require manual configurations of the communicating devices and so has a much shorter set-up time than other technologies.
• NFC reader may behave as a transponder with the NFC antenna drawing energy from the incoming electromagnetic signal by electromagnetic induction.
• data may be transferred to an NFC-enabled mobile phone, even when the phone is switched off.
• Electromagnetic induction allows energy to be transferred from a power supply to an electric load without requiring a conduction path therebetween.
• a power supply is wired to a primary coil, and an oscillating electric potential is applied across the primary coil, thereby inducing an oscillating magnetic field.
• the oscillating magnetic field induces an oscillating electrical current in a secondary coil placed within this field.
• electrical energy may be transmitted from the primary coil to the secondary coil by electromagnetic induction, without the two coils being conductively connected.
• the pair is said to be inductively coupled.
• An electric load wired in series with such a secondary coil may draw energy from the power source when the secondary coil is inductively coupled to the primary coil.
• the combined inductive power receiving system comprising: at least one inductive power receiver module configured to couple with at least one Near Field Communication (NFC) module possibly using a combined communication antenna.
• the inductive receiver module may comprise a power reception circuit operable to receive power from a secondary inductor and to provide power to an electric load; a selection switch operable to allow transmission of wireless power from the secondary inductor to the power reception circuit, and a matching circuit operable to filter transmission of NFC signals to the NFC reader module.
• NFC Near Field Communication
• the combined communication antenna may be operable at a range of frequencies for receiving NFC and power signals concurrently and/or separately.
• the inductive power receiver module comprises the combined communication antenna.
• the NFC reader module comprises the combined communication antenna.
• the combined communication antenna is configured to split signals of inductive power reception and near field communication transmission and may optionally comprise a common single coil antenna.
• the combined communication antenna comprises at least one inductive power receiver secondary inductor and at least one near field communication antenna.
• the inductive power receiver module further comprises a control circuit.
• the NFC reader module may be externally coupled and operable at an approximately near field communication transmission frequency, where the range of operable frequencies is between 270 KHz to 360 KHz and 110 KHz to 205 KHz for inductive power reception and near field communication transmission frequency for NFC communication which is of 13.56 MHz.
• the receiving system is configured to block damaging signal transmission to NFC circuit by isolating the NFC circuit or by adding filters and may optionally, have a selection switch integrated in the NFC reader module.
• This selection switch optionally connects the combined communication antenna outputs to select manually between communication operation mode and power receiving operation mode.
• the selection switch controls the inductive power reception and the NFC reader by a passive selection switch connected to the combined communication antenna outputs.
• the selection switch may further be configured to prevent the NFC signal from reaching the inductive power reception branch through control signal from the control circuit.
• This control circuit optionally includes a low pass filter of which its output may trigger blocking the selection switch.
• the selection switch may further be configured to allow transmission of wireless power signal while blocking NFC signals with higher frequencies such as 13.56 MHz.
• the matching circuit further comprises a passive circuit configured to decrease inductive power transmission and may further comprise tuning elements and may be added to tune NFC circuit frequency to radio signals.
• a mobile communication device comprises the inductive power receiving system.
• the mobile communication device may be selected from a group consisting of handheld devices, mobile phones, tablets, PDAs, media players and the like.
• a method for charging an electrochemical cell of a communication device.
• the communication device which may be a mobile telephone or the like, may comprise a near field communication antenna, a near field communication circuit, a power receiving circuit and a switching unit operable to selectively connect said communication circuit or said power receiving circuit to the near field communication antenna.
• the method may comprise the steps of: providing a rectification unit wired to the electrochemical cell; connecting the power receiving circuit to the near field communication antenna; and bringing the near field communication antenna into the vicinity of an operating inductive power outlet; such that a secondary voltage, induced in the near field communication antenna, may be rectified by said rectification unit, thereby providing a charging voltage for the electrochemical cell.
• various tasks may be performed or completed manually, automatically, or combinations thereof.
• some tasks may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware or combinations thereof using an operating system.
• hardware may be implemented as a chip or a circuit such as an ASIC, integrated circuit or the like.
• selected tasks according to embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented as a plurality of software instructions being executed by a computing device using any suitable operating system.
• one or more tasks as described herein may be performed by a data processor, such as a computing platform or distributed computing system for executing a plurality of instructions.
• the data processor includes or accesses a volatile memory for storing instructions, data or the like.
• the data processor may access a non-volatile storage, for example, a magnetic hard-disk, flash-drive, removable media or the like, for storing instructions and/or data.
• a network connection may additionally or alternatively be provided.
• User interface devices may be provided such as visual displays, audio output devices, tactile outputs and the like.
• user input devices may be provided such as keyboards, cameras, microphones, accelerometers, motion detectors or pointing devices such as mice, roller balls, touch pads, touch sensitive screens or the like.
• Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing selected elements of a combined inductive power and NFC receiver system
• Fig. 2 illustrates a possible NFC reader module which may be integrated with a wireless power functionality module of the disclosure
• Fig. 3 is an illustration of a possible printed circuit board of a wireless power functionality module for integration with an NFC reader module;
• Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a possible example of a combined power and NFC receiver system, including a connector to an NFC reader module;
• Fig. 5 is a top view illustration of a combined power receiver and NFC receiver system
• Figs. 6A and 6B represent various configurations for combined antennas for NFC and inductive power reception
• Figs. 7A and 7B are circuit diagrams of a possible matching circuit and a possible control circuit for use in a wireless power functionality module such as described herein; and Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating selected actions of a method for charging an electrochemical cell of a communication device.
• NFC Near Field Communication
• a single coil NFC & wireless power antenna may be configured to operate at frequencies around the range of 270- 360 KHz and 110-205 KHz for wireless power and 13.56 MHz for NFC communication.
• Both wireless charging and NFC communication may be provided on a common coil antenna possibly by splitting the inductive power signal to its circuit and NFC signal to its module. Additionally or alternatively, the NFC and the inductive power transmissions may operate in a time-division-mode (TDM) such that the two signals do not interfere with each other.
• TDM time-division-mode
• the antenna may be assembled onto an inductive power receiver such as those integrated into backdoors of mobile phones, retrofittable receiver units, skins or the like. It is further noted that the antenna may be integrated into retrofittable inserts or the like such as various platforms described in the applicants' co-pending patent application PCT/IL2012/050544 titled, "System and Method for Providing Wireless Power Transfer Functionality to an Electrical Device” which is incorporated herein by reference. Other electronic elements may be assembled on the main board of a mobile device by a third party.
• the shape of host electrical devices, such as telephones, tablet computers, media players or the like, and the interface of the antenna to the host electrical device may vary from model to model and customization may be provided for each model as required. Customization units may be provided as evaluation boards and accompanying reference design.
• multiple antennas may be provided in parallel including at least one inductive power receiver secondary inductor and at least one NFC antenna.
• two coils may be provided side by side, nested, one inside the other or the like.
• a common antenna may be provided for both inductive power reception and NFC reception. Accordingly, a selection switch may be connected to the antenna outputs to select between the operations modes. Such a selection switch may be controlled by logic circuits, possibly integrated with the NFC or the induction power reception circuits.
• a common inductive power reception and NFC antenna may be controlled by a passive selection switch for both types of communication with a passive switch on the antenna outputs.
• the common antenna may be operable to receive power inductively and to receive NFC signals concurrently. Accordingly, filters and the like may be provided to protect circuit elements as appropriate.
• the system may prevent potential damage to the NFC circuit by the inductive power transmission, possibly by isolating the NFC circuit therefrom.
• the system may further prevent reading errors and the like which may be generated from interference to the NFC data from inductive power transfer signals.
• the system may be configured to maintain uncompromised NFC or inductive power transmission functionality.
• the NFC reading capability may not be compromised due to using a wireless power matched antenna.
• the wireless power transmission efficiency may not be compromised due to using an NFC matched antenna.
• the system 100 includes a common NFC and inductive reception coil 120 configured to connect to either an inductive power reception circuit 130 and an NFC reader module 150.
• the system 100 comprises the NFC reader module 150 and a wireless power functionality module 110.
• the wireless power functionality module 110 may comprise a control circuit 140, a selection switch 125, a matching circuit 160 and the inductive power reception circuit 130.
• the common antenna 120 may be selectably connectable to the inductive power reception circuit 130 or the NFC reader module 150. Accordingly, the selection switch 125 may be biased to disconnect the inductive power reception circuit 130 from the antenna 120 until a wireless power communication is detected.
• the common antenna 120 may be connected to both the inductive power reception circuit 130 and the NFC reader module 150.
• the selection switch 125 may be operable to allow the transmission of a wireless power signal, while blocking NFC signals, which may have higher frequencies, say of 13.56MHz. Indeed, it will be appreciated that such an arrangement may allow NFC signals to be received concurrently with a wireless power signal.
• the common antenna 120 may be an inductor such as a coil antenna for providing NFC communication and wireless power selectively.
• a coil antenna having a magnet and ferrite, for example, may be embedded into an inductive power reception unit such as being incorporated into a battery cover, sleeve, skin or the like associated with handheld devices such as mobile phones, for example.
• the selection switch 125 may be configured to prevent the NFC signal from reaching the inductive power reception branch.
• the switch 125 may be configured to be normally biased in the OFF state such that NFC communication is enabled. Once the inductive power transmission is initiated, the switch 125 may receive a control signal from the control circuit 140 triggering the switch 125 to move to the ON state.
• switches may be used which are normally biased in the ON state such that the device is by default inductive power reception enabled as where required.
• the bias of the switch may be manually or otherwise user selectable to suit requirements.
• a switch 125 may be implemented as a MEMS component, a PIN diode, an IAC switch or the like which may be reflective and operable to block a signal when no supply current is applied.
• Other technologies may be used as required such as magnetic switches, filters, reed relay, GaAr, GaNi switches or the like and combinations thereof.
• the control circuit 140 may be a passive circuit configured to provide a signal to the switch 125 only when an inductive power transmission signal is detected.
• a circuit may comprise a low pass filter or the like which produces an output signal only when signals are detected having frequencies associated with wireless power transmission.
• Fig. 4 and Fig 5 show possible implementations of a combined power and NFC receiver system.
• the embodiments include a first connector for connecting to an NFC circuit such as a seven pin male connector, for example, of the PN544 chip often used in mobile phones. Additionally, the embodiments may include a second connector for connecting an inductive power charging circuit to a charging circuit of an electrical device, for example, via a charging connector, possibly a USB type connector for a mobile device.
• a chip such as the PN544 chip may be responsible for the NFC protocol and has its own evaluation board possibly given by NXP.
• the sample application may be provided with a connector that enables connection to a PN544 Evaluation Board (EVB), thus allowing testing and developing NFC applications for it.
• the receiver system may further be provided with a USB connector 4132 or the like for connecting its wireless charging units to an electrical device, thus enabling the integrated dual functionality of the disclosure.
• the system 4100 includes a common NFC and inductive reception coil antenna 4120, an inductive power reception PowerMat circuit 4130, an NFC reader module male connector 4150 and a wireless power functionality module 4110.
• the inductive reception coil antenna 4120 may be configured to connect selectively to an inductive power reception circuit 4130 or an NFC reader module possibly through its 7 pin male connector 4150.
• the wireless power functionality module 4110 may comprise an AC control switch 4140, an AC switch 4125, a matching circuit 4160 and the PowerMat circuit of inductive power reception 4130.
• the NFC reader module connectivity may be effected via a 7 pin connector 4150.
• the 7 Pins functionality may be as described below:
• Gnd connecting the system to the ground of connected chip.
• ANT1 + input connected to the matching circuit. It enables the battery off mode and allows the chip to operate as a tag when battery is not connected.
• ANT2 - input same functionality as ANT1.
• TX1 + output of the chip transmitter, the transmitted signal passes throw the EMI filter across the matching circuit and eventually arrives to the antenna.
• TX2 - output of the chip transmitter the same functionality as TX1.
• Vmid the chip may sample this voltage for its Rx functionality, after the matching circuit and EMI filter the received signal arrives to Rx back signaling module that need to be tuned for each design
• Vrx the ratio between Vrx and Vmid, may allow the connected chip to process the received signal.
• FIG. 5 showing an illustration of a top view of a combined power receiver and NFC with a PN544 NXP chip with a 7 pin male connector linking between the antenna and RF part to the PN544 chip periphery, on one side and a USB connector for applying its wireless charging abilities, on the other side.
• Fig. 6A and Fig. 6B showing selected examples of possible common antenna connectivity configurations represented schematically by their diagrams.
• a common coil antenna 6120 may be provided with three terminals 6122, 6124, 6126.
• a first terminal 6122 may be a common terminal for both NFC and wireless power circuits.
• a second terminal 6124 may be a second wireless power circuit terminal.
• a third terminal 6126 may be an exclusively NFC terminal. It is noted that the third terminal 6126 may be connected to the common coil antenna at a mid-junction 6125 situated at some midway point along the common coil antenna 6120.
• the first terminal 6122 may be wired to the control circuit, switch and matching circuit of a reception circuit such as described herein.
• the second terminal 6124 may be wired to the control circuit of the wireless power control module such as described herein.
• the third terminal 6126 may be wired to the matching circuit of the NFC reader module.
• the inductance of the wireless power coil 6127 as measured between the first and a second terminal may be different from the inductance of the NFC coil 6123 as measured between the first and third terminal. Accordingly the length of the common coil antenna 6120 of the common coil antenna 6120 may be selected such that the wireless power coil 6127 is tuned to receive signals at a wireless power transfer frequency. Similarly, the position of the mid-junction 6125 of the common coil antenna 6120 may be selected such that the NFC coil 6123 is tuned to receive signals at a NFC reception frequency.
• a common coil antenna 7120 may be provided with four terminals 7122, 7124, 7126, and 7128.
• the first terminal 7122 and second terminal 7124 may be a pair of exclusively wireless power circuit terminals.
• the third terminal 7126 and fourth terminal 7128 may be a pair of exclusively NFC terminals. It is noted that the first terminal 7122 may be connected to the common coil antenna 6120 at a first mid-junction 7125A situated at a first midway point along the common coil antenna 7120 and the second terminal 7124 may be connected to the common coil antenna 7120 at a second mid-junction 7125B situated at a second midway point along the common coil antenna 7120.
• the wireless power circuit terminals 7122, 7124 may be wired to the control circuit of the wireless power control module.
• the NFC terminals 7126, 7128 may be wired to the matching circuit of the NFC reader module.
• the length of the common coil antenna 7120 may be selected such that the NFC coil 7123 is tuned to receive signals at a NFC reception frequency and the position of the mid-junctions 7125A, 7125B of the common coil antenna 7120 may be selected such that the wireless power coil 7127 is tuned to receive signals at a wireless power transmission frequency.
• control circuit 8140 and selection switch 8125 for use with the common NFC and inductive reception coil 120 is represented schematically by the circuit diagram of Fig. 7B. It is noted that the control circuit 8140 includes a low pass filter 8142 the output of which may trigger the switching block 8125.
• the matching circuit 160 is provided to match the NFC reader module to received NFC signals. It is a particular feature of the current disclosure that the matching circuit 160 may further comprise a passive circuit configured to decrease an inductive power transmission signal and prevent it from damaging the NFC circuit. In addition, the matching circuit 160 may include tuning elements enabling it to function as a matching circuit of a NFC chip. Accordingly the matching circuit 160 reception unit may be integrated with an external NFC reader module 150 without a standard NFC matching circuit.
• An example of a possible matching circuit 8160 for use with the common NFC and inductive reception coil 120 is represented schematically by the circuit diagram of Fig. 7A. It is noted that the matching circuit 8160 may function as a filter blocking the transmission of low frequency signals associated with inductive power transmission.
• the inductive power reception circuit 130 may be provided incorporated into a wireless charging PCB.
• a reception circuit 130 may include various elements such as rectification units, smoothers, regulators, feedback circuits and the like as required.
• the NFC reader module 150 may be provided to connect to an electrical device reader component of the art.
• the module 150 described herein may be operable to replace an analog section and antenna of an NFC reader module whilst retaining the features of the integrated circuit and its peripherals.
• the reader module 250 includes a reader circuit 252 including the integrated circuit and peripherals, a matching circuit 254 and connecting pins 256 therebetween.
• the wireless power functionality module 110 of the system 100 may be connected to the NFC reader module 250 by connecting the matching circuit 160 of the wireless power functionality module 110 directly to the connecting pins 256 of the reader circuit 252. Accordingly, the matching circuit 254 of the reader module 250 may be replaced by the wireless power functionality module 110.
• FIG. 3 shows a possible PCB of a wireless power functionality module 1110 for integration with an NFC reader module including a common NFC and inductive reception coil 1120.
• a combined NFC and inductive power transfer module may be operable in time-division- mode (TDM).
• the combined NFC and inductive power transfer module may be operable to prevent concurrent communication of both signals, such that reception of signals of one type are interrupted while reception of the other signals is received.
• NFC signals are generally of shorter duration and are more time critical than inductive power transfer signals. Accordingly, the NFC reader may be configured to serve as a master and operable to override the inductive power receiver ceasing inductive power transfer when appropriate. Alternatively, if the NFC was less time critical say, the inductive power receiver may be configured to serve as the master.
• a mutual logic control unit may be provided between the NFC reader and the inductive power receiver.
• the mutual logic control may be operable to instruct the inductive power receiver to interrupt power transmission, when an NFC signal is received.
• the incoming NFC communication may include a request signal, detectable by the combined NFC and inductive power transfer module. Receipt of the request signal may trigger the control unit to interrupt inductive power reception for the duration of the NFC communication.
• an end-of-communication (EOC) signal may be sent at the end of the NFC communication. The EOC signal may be used to trigger the control unit to resume inductive power reception.
• the NFC signal may be initially received concurrently with the inductive power transfer, for example, as a superimposed signal. Detection of the NFC communication may trigger the control unit to interrupt inductive power reception. When the NFC communication is no longer detected, the system may revert to inductive power transfer mode.
• an NFC reader chip may be configured to include a pin providing a signal when a communication is received.
• Such an output pin may be used to interrupt inductive power transmission, for example, where the output pin is connected to an override pin of a corresponding inductive receiver chip.
• the controller may further control switching between the antenna and the inductive power receiver.
• interruption of the inductive transmission signal may be used to reduce interference during the reception of the NFC signal.
• the method functionality of the method may be to rectify the secondary voltage induced in the near field communication antenna, to provide a charging voltage for the electrochemical cell.
• the mobile communication device for example, comprising a near field communication antenna 120, a near field communication circuit 150, a power receiving circuit 130 and a switching unit 125 that is operable to connect the communication circuit 150 selectively or the power receiving circuit 130 to the near field communication antenna 120.
• the method may include the steps of providing, or obtaining from a provider, a rectification unit wired to the electrochemical cell - step 802, connecting the power receiving circuit to the near field communication antenna - step 804 and bringing the near field communication antenna into the vicinity of an operating inductive power outlet - step 806, and provide rectified charging voltage for the electrochemical cell - step 808.
• composition or method may include additional ingredients and/or steps, but only if the additional ingredients and/or steps do not materially alter the basic and novel characteristics of the claimed composition or method.
• a compound or “at least one compound” may include a plurality of compounds, including mixtures thereof.
• ranges such as from 1 to 6 should be considered to have specifically disclosed subranges such as from 1 to 3, from 1 to 4, from 1 to 5, from 2 to 4, from 2 to 6, from 3 to 6 etc., as well as individual numbers within that range, for example, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 as well as non- integral intermediate values. This applies regardless of the breadth of the range.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Charge And Discharge Circuits For Batteries Or The Like (AREA)

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Applications Claiming Priority (6)

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Cited By (3)

Citations (3)

• 2013
  • 2013-01-03 WO PCT/IL2013/050011 patent/WO2013102901A1/fr not_active Ceased

Patent Citations (3)

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