Granted Patent B2

US 11,178,625 · App. 17/006,242 · Granted Nov 16, 2021

Inventors: Gustavo Navarro (Emeryville, CA); Varun Ramaswamy (Emeryville, CA); Christopher Joseph Davlantes (Emeryville, CA)

Assignee: Supply, Inc.

H04W52/367H04W52/06H04W52/223H04W52/283H04W52/34H04W52/50

Abstract

Claims (68)

1. A method for wireless power transmission, comprising:

determining a first transmission direction for wireless power transmission from a transmitter to a first receiver, wherein the first receiver is associated with a first power reception metric;

determining a second transmission direction, different from the first transmission direction, for wireless power transmission from the transmitter to a second receiver separate from the first receiver, wherein the second receiver is associated with a second power reception metric;

based on the first and second transmission directions, calculating a multi-beam configuration for the transmitter, the multi-beam configuration associated with a multi-beam transmission pattern comprising:

a first beam substantially along the first transmission direction; and

a second beam substantially along the second transmission direction;

based on the multi-beam configuration, determining an optimized configuration for the transmitter, wherein determining the optimized configuration comprises evaluating the first and second power reception metrics based on the optimized configuration; and

at the transmitter, wirelessly transmitting power to the first and second receivers based substantially on the optimized configuration.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein evaluating the first and second power reception metrics based on the optimized configuration comprises:

at the transmitter, throughout a time interval, transmitting power based on the optimized configuration;

at the first receiver, during the time interval, receiving power transmitted by the transmitter;

determining a first amount of power received at the first receiver during the time interval;

evaluating the first power reception metric based on the first amount of power;

at the second receiver, during the time interval, receiving power transmitted by the transmitter;

determining a second amount of power received at the second receiver during the time interval; and

evaluating the second power reception metric based on the second amount of power.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein:

the first power reception metric is substantially proportional to power delivery efficiency to the first receiver during the time interval; and

the second power reception metric is substantially proportional to power delivery efficiency to the second receiver during the time interval.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the optimized configuration comprises, based on an objective function and the multi-beam configuration, performing an optimum search comprising, for each of a plurality of transmitter configurations, evaluating the objective function for the transmitter configuration; wherein, for each transmitter configuration of the plurality, evaluating the objective function for the transmitter configuration comprises:

at the transmitter, throughout a respective time interval, transmitting power based on the transmitter configuration;

at the first receiver, during the respective time interval, receiving power transmitted by the transmitter;

determining a respective first amount of power received at the first receiver during the respective time interval;

evaluating the first power reception metric based on the respective first amount of power;

at the second receiver, during the respective time interval, receiving power transmitted by the transmitter;

determining a respective second amount of power received at the second receiver during the respective time interval;

evaluating the second power reception metric based on the respective second amount of power; and

based on the first and second power reception metrics, calculating a respective value of the objective function.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of transmitter configurations comprises the multi-beam configuration.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the optimum search is a local optimum search, wherein performing the optimum search comprises implementing a gradient-free local search algorithm.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the optimum search comprises a stochastic global optimum search.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, based on the multi-beam configuration, determining a plurality of optimized configurations, the plurality comprising the optimized configuration, wherein determining the plurality comprises, based on the first and second power reception metrics and the multi-beam configuration, performing a multi-objective optimum search.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

determining a charging plan based on the first and second power reception metrics, the charging plan comprising:

a first optimized configuration of the plurality;

a first duty cycle associated with the first transmitter configuration;

a second optimized configuration of the plurality; and

a second duty cycle associated with the second transmitter configuration; and

at the transmitter, wirelessly transmitting power to the first and second receivers based on the charging plan.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the method further comprises determining a third transmission direction, different from the first and second transmission directions, for wireless power transmission from the transmitter to a third receiver separate from the first and second receivers, wherein the third receiver is associated with a third power reception metric;

the multi-beam configuration is determined based further on the third transmission direction, wherein the multi-beam transmission pattern further comprises a third beam substantially along the third transmission direction; and

determining the optimized configuration further comprises evaluating the third power reception metric based on the optimized configuration.

11. A method for wireless power transmission from a transmitter to a plurality of receivers, the method comprising:

determining a plurality of transmission directions, wherein each transmission direction of the plurality of transmission directions is associated with wireless power transmission from the transmitter to a different receiver of the plurality of receivers;

selecting a subset of the plurality of receivers, wherein each receiver of the subset is associated with:

a respective transmission direction of a subset of the plurality of transmission directions; and

a respective power reception metric of a plurality of metrics;

based on the subset of transmission directions, calculating a multi-beam configuration for the transmitter, the multi-beam configuration associated with a multi-beam transmission pattern, wherein the multi-beam transmission pattern comprises a plurality of beams, each beam of the plurality directed substantially along a different transmission direction of the subset;

based on an objective function and the multi-beam configuration, performing an optimum search to determine an optimized configuration for the transmitter, wherein performing the optimum search comprises, for each of a plurality of transmitter configurations, evaluating the objective function for the transmitter configuration, wherein the objective function is determined based on the plurality of metrics; and

at the transmitter, wirelessly transmitting power to the subset of receivers based substantially on the optimized configuration.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein, for each transmitter configuration of the plurality, evaluating the objective function for the transmitter configuration comprises:

at the transmitter, throughout a respective time interval, transmitting power based on the transmitter configuration;

for each receiver of the subset of receivers:

at the receiver, during the respective time interval, receiving power transmitted by the transmitter;

determining a respective amount of power received at the receiver during the respective time interval; and

based on the respective amount of power, evaluating the respective power reception metric associated with the receiver; and

based on the plurality of metrics, calculating a respective value of the objective function.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein determining the plurality of transmission directions comprises:

at the transmitter, generating a series of beam-like transmission patterns, each beam-like transmission pattern of the series defining a respective beam directed along a respective transmission direction;

while the transmitter generates the series of beam-like transmission patterns, at each receiver of the subset, determining a respective amount of power received at the receiver; and

for each receiver of the subset, determining, based on the series of beam-like transmission patterns and the respective amount of power received at the receiver, a transmission direction for wireless power transmission to the receiver.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the transmitter generates the series of beam-like transmission patterns based on the amounts of power received at the receivers of the subset.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein, for each receiver of the subset, determining the transmission direction for wireless power transmission to the receiver comprises selecting an optimal beam-like transmission pattern of the series for which power transmission efficiency to the receiver is maximized, wherein the optimal beam-like transmission pattern is substantially aligned along the transmission direction.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein calculating the multi-beam configuration is performed using at least one of: a Fourier transform-based approach, a Woodward-Lawson method-based approach, an error optimization approach, or a superposition approach.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of receivers consists of the subset of receivers.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the optimum search comprises a local optimum search.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein, for any configuration for the transmitter, each respective power reception metric is substantially proportional to a power transmission efficiency, using the configuration, to the receiver associated with the respective power reception metric.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (16)

Cited By (2)

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