Operating frequency based power level altering in extended range wireless power transmitters
A wireless power transmitter is configured to (i) send, to an external power supply, a request that the external power supply change a configurable voltage level of a supply voltage signal for the wireless power transmitter from a first voltage level to a second voltage level, (ii) after detecting that the external power supply has changed the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal from the first voltage level to the second voltage level, causing a configurable frequency of a drive signal for the wireless power transmitter to be changed from a first frequency to a second frequency, (iii) produce a wireless power signal for receipt by a wireless power receiver in accordance with an alternating current signal that (a) has the second frequency and the supply voltage signal having the second voltage level and (b) is produced by a power conditioning system of the wireless power transmitter.
1. A wireless power transmitter comprising:
a power-supply interface that is operable to receive, from an external power supply, a supply voltage signal having a configurable voltage level;
a power conditioning system that is operable to (i) receive the supply voltage signal having the configurable voltage level, (ii) receive a drive signal having a configurable frequency, and (iii) based on the supply voltage signal and the drive signal, produce an alternating current (“AC”) signal having the configurable frequency and a configurable power level that corresponds to the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal, wherein the power conditioning system comprises an inverter;
a capacitor circuit that is operable to (i) receive the AC signal that is produced by the power conditioning system comprising the inverter and (ii) tune the AC signal;
a transmission antenna that is operable to produce a wireless power signal for receipt by at least one receiver antenna of at least one wireless power receiver in accordance with the AC signal that is produced by the power conditioning system comprising the inverter and tuned by the capacitor circuit; and
at least one controller comprising:
at least one processor;
at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium; and
executable code stored on the at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one controller to:
send, to the external power supply, a request that the external power supply change the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal from a first voltage level to a second voltage level;
detect that the external power supply has changed the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal from the first voltage level to the second voltage level; and
after detecting that the external power supply has changed the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal from the first voltage level to the second voltage level, cause the configurable frequency of the drive signal to be changed from a first frequency to a second frequency.
2. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the at least one controller further comprises executable code stored on the at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one controller to:
produce the drive signal having the configurable frequency; and
provide the drive signal having the configurable frequency as input to the power conditioning system.
3. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1 , further comprising:
a driver that is configured to (i) produce the drive signal having the configurable frequency in accordance with a control signal received from the at least one controller; and
provide the drive signal having the configurable frequency as input to the power conditioning system.
4. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the second voltage level is higher than the first voltage level.
5. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the second frequency is higher than the first frequency.
6. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1 , wherein at least the first frequency is within a range of about 87 kilohertz (“KHz”) to about 205 kHz.
7. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the external power supply comprises one or both of (i) a voltage regulator or (ii) a power-supply controller.
8. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the executable code stored on the at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one controller to send the request that the external power supply change the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal from the first voltage level to the second voltage level comprises executable code stored on the at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one controller to:
send the request that the external power supply change the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal from the first voltage level to the second voltage level after detecting a presence of a given wireless power receiver.
9. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the executable code stored on the at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one controller to send the request that the external power supply change the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal from the first voltage level to the second voltage level comprises executable code stored on the at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one controller to:
send the request that the external power supply change the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal from the first voltage level to the second voltage level based on receiving a signal from a given wireless power receiver.
10. The wireless power transmitter of claim 9 , wherein the signal from the given wireless power received comprises an indication of a given power level that is desired by the given wireless power receiver.
11. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the executable code stored on the at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one controller to cause the configurable frequency of the drive signal to be changed from the first frequency to the second frequency comprises executable code stored on the at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one controller to:
cause the configurable frequency of the drive signal to be changed from the first frequency to the second frequency based on a change in power requirements for the wireless power transmitter.
12. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the executable code stored on the at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one controller to cause the configurable frequency of the drive signal to be changed from the first frequency to the second frequency comprises executable code stored on the at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one controller to:
cause the configurable frequency of the drive signal to be changed from the first frequency to the second frequency based on receiving a signal from a given wireless power receiver.
13. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the drive signal comprises a pulse width modulation (“PWM”) signal.
14. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the configurable voltage level is selected from a group of voltage levels that includes 5 volts, 9 volts, and 15 volts.
15. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the capacitor circuit comprises a capacitance in a range of about 400 nanofarads (“nF”) to about 450 nF.
16. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the inverter comprises a full-bridge inverter.
17. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the power conditioning system does not include a voltage regulator, and wherein the supply voltage signal having the configurable voltage level is passed to the inverter without being conditioned by any voltage regulator that is internal to the wireless power transmitter.
18. The wireless power transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the inverter is configured to receive an input voltage signal having a configurable inverter input voltage level that is in a range between 5 volts and 20 volts, and wherein the configurable inverter input voltage level is based on the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal.
19. A wireless power transmitter comprising:
a power-supply interface that is operable to receive, from an external power supply, a supply voltage signal having a configurable voltage level;
a power conditioning system that is operable to (i) receive the supply voltage signal having the configurable voltage level, (ii) receive a drive signal having a configurable frequency, and (iii) based on the supply voltage signal and the drive signal, produce an alternating current (“AC”) signal having the configurable frequency and a configurable power level that corresponds to the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal, wherein the power conditioning system comprises an inverter;
a driver that is configured to (i) produce the drive signal having the configurable frequency and (ii) provide the drive signal having the configurable frequency as input to the power conditioning system comprising the inverter;
a capacitor circuit that is operable to (i) receive the AC signal that is produced by the power conditioning system comprising the inverter and (ii) tune the AC signal;
a transmission antenna that is operable to produce a wireless power signal for receipt by at least one receiver antenna of at least one wireless power receiver in accordance with the AC signal that is produced by the power conditioning system comprising the inverter and tuned by the capacitor circuit; and
at least one controller comprising:
at least one processor;
at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium; and
executable code stored on the at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one controller to:
send, to the external power supply, a request that the external power supply change the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal from a first voltage level to a second voltage level;
detect that the external power supply has changed the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal from the first voltage level to the second voltage level; and
after detecting that the external power supply has changed the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal from the first voltage level to the second voltage level, cause the configurable frequency of the drive signal to be changed from a first frequency to a second frequency by sending a drive-control signal to the driver that instructs the driver to change the configurable frequency of the drive signal from the first frequency to the second frequency.
20. The wireless power transmitter of claim 19 , wherein the configurable voltage level is selected from a group of voltage levels that includes 5 volts, 9 volts, and 15 volts.
21. The wireless power transmitter of claim 19 , wherein the inverter is configured to receive an input voltage signal having a configurable inverter input voltage level that is in a range between 5 volts and 20 volts, and wherein the configurable inverter input voltage level is based on the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal.
22. The wireless power transmitter of claim 19 , wherein the second voltage level is higher than the first voltage level.
23. The wireless power transmitter of claim 19 , wherein the second frequency is higher than the first frequency.
24. The wireless power transmitter of claim 19 , wherein at least the first frequency is within a range of about 87 kilohertz (“kHz”) to about 205 kHz.
25. The wireless power transmitter of claim 19 , wherein the executable code stored on the at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one controller to send the request that the external power supply change the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal from the first voltage level to the second voltage level comprises executable code stored on the at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one controller to:
send the request that the external power supply change the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal from the first voltage level to the second voltage level based on receiving a signal from a given wireless power receiver.
26. The wireless power transmitter of claim 19 , wherein the power conditioning system does not include a voltage regulator, and wherein the supply voltage signal having the configurable voltage level is passed to the inverter without being conditioned by any voltage regulator that is internal to the wireless power transmitter.
27. A method of operating a wireless power transmitter comprising (i) a power-supply interface through which the wireless power transmitter receives a supply voltage signal having a configurable voltage level from an external power supply, (ii) a power conditioning system comprising an inverter, (iii) a capacitor circuit, and (iv) a transmission antenna, the method comprising:
sending, to the external power supply, a request that the external power supply change a configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal from a first voltage level to a second voltage level;
receiving, via the power supply interface from an external power supply, the supply voltage signal having the second voltage level;
after detecting that the external power supply has changed the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal from the first voltage level to the second voltage level, causing a configurable frequency of a drive signal to be changed from a first frequency to a second frequency;
providing, to the power conditioning system comprising the inverter, the drive signal having the second frequency and the supply voltage signal having the second voltage level, wherein the power conditioning system functions to (i) receive the drive signal having the second frequency, (ii) receive the supply voltage signal having the second voltage level, and (iii) based on the drive signal and the supply voltage signal produce an alternating current (“AC”) signal having the second frequency and a configurable power level that corresponds to the second voltage level of the supply voltage signal;
providing, to the capacitor circuit, the AC signal, wherein the capacitor circuit functions to (i) receive the AC signal, (ii) tune the AC signal; and
providing the AC signal to the transmission antenna, wherein the transmission antenna functions to (i) receive the AC signal, and (ii) produce a wireless power signal for receipt by at least one receiver antenna of at least one wireless power receiver in accordance with the AC signal that is produced by the power conditioning system and tuned by the capacitor circuit.
28. The method of claim 27 , wherein sending, to the external power supply, the request that the external power supply change the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal from the first voltage level to the second voltage level comprises:
sending the request that the external power supply change the configurable voltage level of the supply voltage signal from the first voltage level to the second voltage level based on receiving a signal from a given wireless power receiver.
29. The method of claim 27 , wherein causing the configurable frequency of the drive signal to be changed from the first frequency to the second frequency comprises:
causing the configurable frequency of the drive signal to be changed from the first frequency to the second frequency based on receiving a signal from a given wireless power receiver.
30. The method of claim 27 , wherein the power conditioning system does not include a voltage regulator, and wherein the supply voltage signal having the configurable voltage level is passed to the power conditioning system comprising the inverter without being conditioned by any voltage regulator that is internal to the wireless power transmitter.