Wireless power transmission system
The wireless power transmission is a system for providing wireless charging and/or primary power to electronic/electrical devices via microwave energy. The microwave energy is focused to a location by a power transmitter having one or more adaptively-phased microwave array emitters. Rectennas within the device to be charged receive and rectify the microwave energy and use it for battery charging and/or for primary power.
1. A wireless sensor, comprising:
a wireless microwave power receiver, comprising:
one or more rectennas configured to receive power transmission signals from a wireless microwave power transmitter to charge the wireless microwave power receiver;
wherein the wireless microwave power transmitter comprising:
a controller and a phased array antenna having a plurality of microwave array transceivers for transmitting the microwave power transmission signals, the transceiver being adaptively-phased by the controller to transmit the power transmission signals at a respective selected phase;
each transceiver further operable to receive multipath calibration signals from the microwave power receiver and detect a phase at which each of the multipath calibration signals is received by the transceiver;
a transmitter configured to transmit said multipath calibration signals to said microwave power transmitter; and,
wherein each rectenna is further configured to receive a power transmission signal having a determined phase, the determined phase of the power transmission signal generated under the control of the controller at the microwave power transmitter being substantially a complex conjugate of a detected phase of the calibration signal; and
wherein the microwave power transmitter and wireless microwave power receiver are not required to be in line of sight of each other; and
wherein the controller is further configured to determine a prioritization order for transmission of the power transmission signals to the wireless microwave power receiver based upon a predefined criteria.
2. The wireless sensor of claim 1 wherein the determined phase is a phase angle within a margin of deviation from the complex conjugate of the detected phase of the calibration signal.
3. The wireless sensor of claim 2 wherein the determined phase is a phase angle within plus or minus 36 degrees of the complex conjugate of the detected phase of the calibration signal.
4. The wireless sensor of claim 1 wherein the predefined criteria includes any of the following: the wireless microwave power receiver is paired with the wireless power transmitter, the wireless microwave power receiver has a greater need for power than another wireless microwave power receiver, or the wireless microwave power receiver includes a higher rank than another wireless microwave power receiver.
5. The wireless sensor of claim 1 , wherein the wireless sensor is hermetically sealed.
6. The wireless sensor of claim 1 , further comprising:
a sensing device configured to sense at least one environmental condition; and
a transceiver configured to transmit information relating to the sensed environmental condition.
7. The wireless sensor of claim 6 wherein the transceiver is configured to receive control information wirelessly from a source indicating a control command relating to the sensed environmental condition.
8. The wireless sensor of claim 6 wherein the at least one environmental condition includes any one of the following: heat, light, radiation or motion.