Techniques for encoding beacon signals in wireless power delivery environments

1. A wireless power delivery system comprising:

multiple antennas;

control circuitry operatively coupled to the multiple antennas, the control circuitry configured to:

receive client-specific information from client devices via one or more of the multiple antennas;

process the client-specific information to: select a set of the client devices for power reception; and generate beacon transmission scheduling information, wherein the beacon transmission scheduling information includes a beacon beat schedule and beacon transmission scheduling assignments for the selected set of client devices; and

direct one or more of the multiple antennas to send a beacon transmission scheduling assignment and a transmission code to each of the selected set of client devices, wherein the transmission code is used to isolate signals transmitted from the selected set of client devices.

2. The wireless power delivery system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to select a unique transmission code for each of the selected set of client devices.

3. The wireless power delivery system of claim 2 , wherein the transmission code is unique to the wireless power delivery system.

4. The wireless power delivery system of claim 1 , wherein the transmission code comprises a pseudo-random sequence.

5. The wireless power delivery system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

decode a coded beacon signal received from a particular client device to determine whether the particular client device is an authorized device, wherein authorized devices are included in the selected set of client devices.

6. The wireless power delivery system of claim 5 , wherein the coded beacon signal is phase-modulated based on the transmission code.

7. The wireless power delivery system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

measure a phase at which a beacon signal is received from a particular client device at one or more of the multiple antennas; and

determine location information corresponding to the particular client device based on the measured phase.

8. The wireless power delivery system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

process the client-specific information to generate power transmission scheduling information; and

direct at least one of the multiple antennas to send the power transmission scheduling information to the selected set of client devices.

9. The wireless power delivery system of claim 1 , wherein the beacon transmission scheduling assignments overlap.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the multiple antennas include at least one adaptively-phased antenna, and wherein the control circuitry is further configured to adjust the at least one adaptively-phased antenna to facilitate wireless power being directed to the particular client device according to the location information.

11. A method in a power reception apparatus, the method comprising:

transmitting client-specific information to a wireless power delivery system;

receiving a transmission code, and beacon transmission scheduling information including a beacon beat schedule, from the wireless power delivery system;

encoding a beacon signal with the transmission code resulting in an encoded beacon signal; and

sending the encoded beacon signal to the wireless power delivery system during a beacon transmission assignment, wherein the beacon transmission assignment is indicated by the beacon transmission scheduling information.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the transmission code comprises a pseudo-random sequence, and wherein encoding the beacon signal comprises at least one of: phase shifting the beacon signal based on the pseudo-random sequence, and modulating the beacon signal based on the pseudo-random sequence.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the transmission code comprises a pseudo-random sequence, wherein encoding the beacon signal comprises phase shifting the beacon signal based on the pseudo-random sequence, and wherein the pseudo-random sequence comprises a binary number where each “1” of the binary number indicates a predetermined amount of phase shift and each “0” indicates zero phase shift.

14. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

in response to sending the encoded beacon signal, receiving wireless power from the wireless power delivery system during an assigned power cycle.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the client-specific information includes system information specific to a device in which the power reception apparatus is embedded.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the client-specific information includes one or more of: a battery level of a device in which the power reception apparatus is embedded, battery usage information of wireless device, a battery level of the power reception apparatus, battery usage information of the power reception apparatus, information regarding a previous charge cycle, information regarding a previous charge time, information regarding a previous charger that provided power to the device, priority charging information, received signal strength indication (RSSI) information, temperature information of the device, and temperature information of the power reception apparatus.

17. A method in a wireless power delivery system, the method comprising:

receiving client-specific information from client devices;

selecting a set of the client devices for power reception;

generating beacon transmission scheduling information based, at least in part, on the client-specific information, wherein the beacon transmission scheduling information includes beacon transmission scheduling assignments for the selected set of client devices;

sending a beacon transmission scheduling assignment and a transmission code to each of the selected set of client devices, wherein the transmission code is used to isolate signals transmitted from the selected set of client devices;

receiving, and measuring a phase of, a beacon signal from a particular client device;

determining location information corresponding to the particular client device based on the measured phase; and

directing wireless power to the particular client device according to the location information.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the wireless power delivery system uses a unique transmission code for each of the selected set of client devices.

19. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

decoding an encoded beacon signal received from the particular client device to determine whether the particular client device is an authorized device, wherein authorized devices are included in the selected set of client devices and assigned a unique transmission code.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the wireless power delivery system includes at least one adaptively-phased antenna, the method further comprising:

adjusting the at least one adaptively-phased antenna to facilitate the directing step.