METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WIRELESS CHARGING OF A MOBILE DEVICE
Examples disclosed herein relate to a Wireless Charging Unit (“WCU”) for charging a mobile device. The WCU has a beacon control module to receive a power request from the mobile device and transmit the power request to a transmission hub, a metastructure antenna having an array of cells to receive an RF signal from the transmission hub in response to the power request from the mobile device, and a storage and charge transfer module to store energy from the RF signal for transferring to the mobile device for charging.
1 . A Wireless Charging Unit (“WCU”) for charging a mobile device, the WCU comprising:
a beacon control module to receive a power request from the mobile device and transmit the power request to a transmission hub;
a metastructure antenna comprising an array of cells to receive an RF signal from the transmission hub in response to the power request from the mobile device; and
a storage and charge transfer module to store energy from the RF signal for transferring to the mobile device for charging.
2 . The WCU of claim 1 , further comprising an analog-to-digital converter to convert the RF signal received by the metastructure antenna into a digital signal and transmit the digital signal to the storage and charge transfer module.
3 . The WCU of claim 1 , wherein the beacon control module is configured to identify the WCU.
4 . The WCU of claim 1 , wherein the cells comprise metamaterial cells.
5 . The WCU of claim 4 , wherein at least one of the metamaterial cells comprises a reactance control mechanism.
6 . The WCU of claim 5 , wherein the reactance control mechanism is a varactor coupled between a conductive area and a conductive loop in the at least one metamaterial cell.
7 . The WCU of claim 1 , wherein the array of cells comprises a plurality of subarrays, each subarray to respond to a set of frequencies.
8 . The WCU of claim 1 , wherein the metastructure antenna is a multi-layer metastructure antenna comprising a power division layer, an antenna array layer and a metastructure array layer.
9 . The WCU of claim 8 , wherein the antenna array layer comprises a plurality of transmission lines coupled to the power division layer.
10 . A method for wireless charging of a mobile device, comprising:
receiving a low power signal from the mobile device;
transmitting a power request to a transmission hub;
receiving an RF signal from the transmission hub at a metastructure antenna in a wireless charging unit;
storing energy from the received RF signal; and
wirelessly transferring the stored energy to the mobile device for charging.
11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising detecting a low power level at the mobile device.
12 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising configuring the RF signal at the transmission hub to charge the mobile device.
13 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising converting the received RF signal into a digital signal for storage.
14 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising indicating to the wireless charging unit that the mobile device has full power.
15 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising indicating to the transmission hub to terminate delivery of the RF signal.
16 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising configuring the metastructure into a plurality of subarrays, each subarray responding to a set of frequencies.
17 . A wireless charging unit, comprising:
a multi-layer metastructure antenna adapted to receive energy from a transmission signal, the multi-layer metastructure antenna configured on a substrate comprising:
a conductive layer; and
a lossy dielectric layer coupled to the conductive layer, wherein the lossy dielectric layer absorbs energy from the transmission signal received at the metastructure antenna; and
a storage and charge transfer module for transferring the energy to a mobile device.
18 . The wireless charging unit of claim 17 , wherein the multi-layer metastructure antenna comprises a power division layer, an antenna array layer and a metastructure array layer.
19 . The wireless charging unit of claim 18 , wherein the metastructure array layer comprises an array of cells configured into a plurality of subarrays, each subarray to respond to a set of frequencies.
20 . The wireless charging unit of claim 19 , wherein the cells comprise metamaterial cells and at least one of the metamaterial cells comprises a reactance control mechanism.