Mixed Analog Front-End for Wireless Charging

Abstract

Systems, methods and apparatus for wireless charging are disclosed. The apparatus operates as or includes a wireless charging device having a battery charging power source coupled to a charging circuit, a plurality of charging cells disposed on a surface of the wireless charging device, and a controller or processing circuit, which may include one or more processors. The apparatus may include a high pass filter configured to extract a high frequency component from a measurement signal representative of a voltage at a transmit coil during a charging operation, a first attenuator configured to attenuate the measurement signal to provide an attenuated measurement signal, a mixer configured to add a signal representative of the high frequency component to the attenuated measurement signal to obtain a scaled measurement signal, and a demodulator configured to decode one or more messages associated with the charging operation from the scaled measurement signal.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] Priority claim This application claims priority to and the benefit of Provisional Patent Application No. 17 / 736,689, filed in the United States Patent Office on May 4, 2022, and Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 184,776, filed in the United States Patent Office on May 5, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and for all applicable purposes as if fully set forth below.

[0002] The present invention relates generally to wireless charging of batteries, and more specifically to communication with a device being charged on the surface of a multi-coil wireless charging apparatus. [Background technology]

[0003] Wireless charging systems have been developed to allow certain types of devices to charge their internal batteries without using a physical charging connection. Devices that can take advantage of wireless charging include mobile computing / processing equipment and mobile communications equipment. Standards such as the Qi standard from the Wireless Power Consortium allow a device made by one supplier to be wirelessly charged by a charger made by a second supplier. Wireless charging standards are optimized for relatively simple devices and tend to provide basic charging functionality.

[0004] Conventional wireless charging systems typically use a "digital ping" to determine whether a receiving device is present on or near the transmitting coil of a wireless charging base station. A digital ping may also be called an active ping. The transmitting coil has an inductance (L) and a resonant capacitor with a capacitance (C) that couples to the transmitting coil to obtain a resonant LC circuit. A ping is generated by powering the resonant LC circuit. Power is supplied for a period of time (90 ms in one example) while the transmitter waits for a response from the receiving device. The response may be provided by a signal encoded using amplitude shift key (ASK) modulation. As an example, a typical transmitting base station transmits pings 12.5 times per second (period = 1 / 80 ms) and consumes (80 mJ x 12.5) = 1 W of power per second.

[0005] Improved wireless charging capabilities are necessary to accommodate the ever-increasing complexity of mobile devices and changing form factors, including improved communication between power transmitters and receivers to improve control of the charging procedure in multi-coil, multi-device chargers. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0006] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a charging cell that may be employed to provide a charging surface in accordance with certain embodiments disclosed herein. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an arrangement of charging cells in a single layer of a segment of a charging surface that may be adapted in accordance with certain embodiments disclosed herein. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a charging cell arrangement where multiple layers are stacked within a segment of a charging surface that may be adapted according to certain embodiments disclosed herein. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the layout of power transfer areas provided by a charging surface employing multiple layers of charging cells constructed in accordance with certain embodiments disclosed herein. [Diagram 5]FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a wireless transmitter that may be provided in a charger base station in accordance with certain aspects disclosed herein. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a first topology supporting matrix multiplexing switching for use in a wireless charging device adapted according to certain aspects disclosed herein. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 illustrates a second topology for supporting DC operation in a wireless charging device adapted in accordance with certain aspects disclosed herein. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a controller that supports ASK demodulation in accordance with certain aspects disclosed herein. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of an encoding scheme that may be adapted to digitally encode messages exchanged between a power receiver and a power transmitter in accordance with certain aspects disclosed herein. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 illustrates a wireless transmitter configured to detect a modulated signal transmitted by a power receiving device in accordance with certain aspects disclosed herein. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating certain aspects of signals used for demodulation in the wireless power transmitter shown in FIG. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a wireless power transmitter configured in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 illustrates adding an unattenuated ASK envelope to an attenuated peak voltage envelope in accordance with certain aspects disclosed herein. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a variable attenuation circuit configured in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 15] FIG. 15 is a flow chart illustrating an example method for communicating with a device being charged according to certain aspects disclosed herein. [Figure 16]FIG. 16 illustrates an example of an apparatus employing processing circuitry that can be adapted in accordance with certain aspects disclosed herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0007] The detailed description set forth below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings is intended to describe various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details to provide a thorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the concepts may be practiced without the specific details. At times, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring such concepts.

[0008] Certain aspects of a wireless charging system are now presented with reference to various apparatus and methods that are described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, modules, components, circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements may be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0009] For example, an element, any portion of an element, or any combination of elements may be implemented in a "processing system" including one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gate logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform various functions described throughout this disclosure. The one or more processors of the processing system may execute software. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or the like. Software may reside in a processor-readable storage medium. The processor-readable storage medium, also referred to herein as computer-readable medium, may include, for example, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic strips), optical disks (e.g., compact disks (CDs), digital versatile disks (DVDs)), smart cards, flash memory devices (e.g., cards, sticks, key drives), near field wireless communication (NFC) tokens, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), registers, removable disks, carrier waves, transmission lines, or any other medium suitable for storing or transmitting software. The computer-readable medium may be resident in the processing system, external to the processing system, or distributed across multiple entities including the processing system. The computer-readable medium may be embodied in a computer program product.As an example, a computer program product may include a computer readable medium in packaging materials.Those skilled in the art will recognize the best way to implement the described functionality presented throughout this disclosure depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0010] overview Certain aspects of the disclosure relate to systems, devices, and methods relating to wireless charging devices, including wireless charging devices, that provide a freely configurable charging surface that can use multiple transmission coils or simultaneously charge multiple powered devices. In one aspect, a controller of the wireless charging device can determine the location of a device to be charged and configure one or more transmission coils optimally positioned to provide power to the powered device. The charging cells can include or configure one or more inductive transmission coils, and the multiple charging cells can be positioned or configured to provide a charging surface. The location of the device to be charged can be detected via a sensing technique that relates the device's location to a change in a physical property centered on a known location on the charging surface. In some examples, the location sensing can be implemented using capacitive, resistive, inductive, contact, pressure, load, strain, and / or another suitable type of sensing.

[0011] Certain aspects disclosed herein relate to improved wireless charging techniques. Systems, apparatus, and methods are disclosed that can improve the efficiency and capacity of wireless power transfer to a power receiving device by improving communication between the transmitting device and the power receiving device. According to certain aspects disclosed herein, power can be wirelessly transferred from a transmitting device to a power receiving device located anywhere on a charging surface that can have any defined size and / or shape, regardless of any individual placement location where charging is enabled. In the transmitting device, a high frequency component can be extracted from a measurement signal representing a voltage at a transmitting coil of a wireless charging apparatus during a charging operation. The measurement signal can be attenuated to obtain an attenuated measurement signal. A signal representing the high frequency component can be mixed with the attenuated measurement signal to obtain a scaled measurement signal. The scaled measurement signal can be demodulated to obtain one or more messages related to the charging operation.

[0012] Charging cell Certain aspects of the disclosure relate to systems, devices, and methods applicable to wireless charging devices that have multiple transmission coils or provide a freely configurable charging surface capable of simultaneously charging multiple powered devices. In one aspect, a controller of the wireless charging device can determine the location of the device to be charged and configure one or more transmission coils optimally positioned to provide power to the powered device. The charging cells can comprise or configure one or more inductive transmission coils, and the multiple charging cells can be positioned or configured to provide a charging surface. The location of the device to be charged can be detected via sensing techniques that relate the device's location to a change in a physical property centered on a known location on the charging surface. In some examples, location sensing can be implemented using capacitive, resistive.

[0013] According to certain aspects disclosed herein, a charging surface of a wireless charging device may be provided using charging cells disposed adjacent to a surface of the charging device. In one embodiment, the charging cells are arranged according to a honeycomb packaging configuration in one or more layers below or adjacent to the charging surface. The charging cells may be implemented in the wireless charging device using one or more coils, each capable of inducing a magnetic field along an axis substantially perpendicular to the charging surface adjacent the coil. As used herein, a charging cell refers to a component having one or more coils configured to generate an electromagnetic field that is additive to the fields generated by other coils in the charging cell and oriented along or adjacent a common axis. In this disclosure, the coils in the charging cells may be referred to as charging coils, transmission coils, Litz coils, or combinations of these terms.

[0014] In some implementations, the charging cells are stacked along a common axis and / or include overlapping coils to contribute to an induced magnetic field substantially perpendicular to a surface of the charging device. In some implementations, the charging cells are disposed within a defined portion of a surface of the charging device and include coils that contribute to an induced magnetic field within the defined portion of the charging surface, the magnetic field contributing to a magnetic flux that flows substantially perpendicular to the charging surface.

[0015] In some implementations, the charging cells may be configurable by providing excitation currents to coils included in one or more dynamically defined charging cells. For example, a wireless charging device may include a stack of multiple coils arranged across a charging surface, and the wireless charging device may detect the location of a device to be charged based on its proximity to one or more stacks of coils. The charging device may select some combination of the stack of coils to define or provide a charging cell adjacent to the device to be charged. In some implementations, a charging cell may include or be characterized as a single coil. However, it should be understood that a charging cell may include multiple stacked coils and / or multiple adjacent coils or stacks of coils. Coils may be referred to herein as charging coils, wireless charging coils, transmitter coils, transmission coils, power transmission coils, power transmitter coils, etc.

[0016] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a charging cell 100 that may be deployed and / or configured to provide a charging surface for a wireless charging device. In this disclosure, a charging surface may be understood to include an array of charging cells 100 disposed on one or more substrates 106 of a printed circuit board, or an array of charging coils embedded within a structure formed from one or more substrates 106. Circuitry consisting of one or more integrated circuits (ICs) and / or discrete electronic components may be disposed on the one or more substrates 106. The circuitry may include drivers and switches used to control current provided to the coils used to transfer power to the powered device. The circuitry may be implemented using a processing circuitry including one or more processors and / or one or more controllers that may be configured to perform certain functions disclosed herein. In some embodiments, some or all of the processing circuitry may be disposed external to the charging device. In some embodiments, a power source may be coupled to the charging device.

[0017] The charging cell 100 may be provided near an exterior surface area of ​​a charging apparatus on which one or more devices may be placed for charging. The charging apparatus may include multiple instances of the charging cell 100. In one embodiment, the charging cell 100 has a substantially hexagonal shape that bounds or surrounds one or more coils 102. Each coil may be constructed using conductors, wires, or circuit board traces capable of receiving sufficient current to generate an electromagnetic field in a power transfer area 104. In various embodiments, some of the coils 102 may have an overall shape that is substantially polygonal, including the hexagonal charging cell 100 illustrated in FIG. 1. In some implementations, one or more of the coils may have a flat spiral shape or a substantially circular shape. In other implementations, coils 102 having circular or elliptical shapes, or other shapes, are provided. The shape of the coils 102 may be determined at least in part to optimize the number of turns of each coil, the capabilities or limitations of manufacturing technology, and / or the layout of the charging cell on a substrate 106, such as a printed circuit board. Each coil 102 may be implemented using wires, printed circuit board traces, and / or other connectors in a spiral configuration. Each charge cell 100 may span two or more layers separated by an insulator or substrate 106 such that the coils 102 of the different layers are centered about a common axis 108 .

[0018] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an array 200 of charge cells 202 in a single layer of a segment or portion of a charging surface that may be included in a charging system adapted according to certain embodiments disclosed herein. The charge cells 202 are arranged according to a honeycomb packaging configuration. In this example, the charge cells 202 are arranged end-to-end with no overlap. This arrangement may be provided without through holes or wire routing. Other arrangements are possible, such as an arrangement in which some of the charge cells 202 overlap. For example, the wires of two or more coils may be interleaved, arranged concentrically, or overlap to some extent.

[0019] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of charge cell placement from two perspectives 300, 310 when multiple layers are stacked within a segment or portion of a charging surface that may be adapted according to certain embodiments disclosed herein. In this example, four layers of charge cells 302, 304, 306, 308 are provided within the charging surface. The charge cells within each layer of charge cells 302, 304, 306, 308 are arranged according to a honeycomb packaging configuration. In one embodiment, the copper layers of the charge cells 302, 304, 306, 308 may be formed on four or more layers of printed circuit boards. The placement of the charge cells 100 may be selected to completely cover the assigned charging area adjacent the illustrated segment.

[0020] 4 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement of power transfer areas defined or configured on a charging surface 400 provided by a charging system according to certain embodiments disclosed herein. The illustrated charging surface 400 is configured using four layers of charging cells 402, 404, 406, 408. In FIG. 4, each power transfer area provided by the charging cells of the first layer of charging cells 402 is labeled "L1," each power transfer area provided by the charging cells of the second layer of charging cells 404 is labeled "L2," each power transfer area provided by the charging cells of the third layer of charging cells 406 is labeled "L3," and each power transfer area provided by the charging cells of the fourth layer of charging cells 408 is labeled "L4."

[0021] Wireless transmitter FIG. 5 illustrates a particular embodiment of a wireless transmitter 500 that may be provided in a wireless charging device base station. The wireless charging device base station may include one or more processing circuits used to control the operation of the wireless charging device. The controller 502 may receive a feedback signal that is filtered or otherwise processed in a filter circuit 508. The controller may control the operation of a driver circuit 504 that provides an alternating current to a resonant circuit 506. In some examples, the controller 502 generates a digital frequency reference signal that is used to control the frequency of the alternating current output by the driver circuit 504. In some examples, the digital frequency reference signal may be generated using a programmable counter or the like. In some examples, the driver circuit 504 includes a power inverter circuit and one or more power amplifiers that cooperate to generate an alternating current from a DC source or input. In some examples, the digital frequency reference signal may be generated by the driver circuit 504 or may be generated by a separate circuit. The resonant circuit 506 includes a capacitor 512 and an inductor 514. The inductor 514 may represent or include one or more transmission coils in a charging cell that generate a magnetic flux in response to the alternating current. The resonant circuit 506 is also referred to herein as a tank circuit, an LC tank circuit, or an LC tank, and the voltage 516 measured at the LC node 510 of the resonant circuit 506 is also referred to as the tank voltage.

[0022] A passive ping technique can use the voltage and / or current measured or observed at the LC node 510 to identify the presence of a receiving coil in proximity to a charging pad of a device adapted according to certain aspects disclosed herein. Conventional wireless charging devices include circuitry that measures the voltage at the LC node 510 of the resonant circuit 506 and / or the current in the resonant circuit 506. These voltages and currents can be monitored for power regulation purposes and / or to support communication between devices. According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, the voltage at the LC node 510 of the wireless transmitter 500 shown in FIG. 5 can be monitored to support a passive ping technique that can detect the presence of a rechargeable device or other object based on the response of the resonant circuit 506 to a short burst (ping) of energy transmitted through the resonant circuit 506.

[0023] Passive Ping discovery techniques can be used to provide fast, low power discovery. A passive Ping can be generated by driving a fast pulse containing a small amount of energy through a network including a resonant circuit 506. The fast pulse excites the resonant circuit 506, causing the network to oscillate at its natural resonant frequency until the injected energy decays and dissipates. The response of the resonant circuit 506 to the fast pulse can be determined in part by the resonant frequency of the resonant LC circuit. The response of the resonant circuit 506 to a passive Ping (initial voltage V0) is determined by the voltage V observed at the LC node 510. LC This can be expressed as follows: TIFF2024516720000002.tif12170

[0024] The voltage or current of the resonant circuit 506 may be monitored as the controller 502 or other processor uses a digital ping to detect the presence of an object. The digital ping is generated by driving the resonant circuit 506 for a period of time. The resonant circuit 506 is a tuned network that includes the transmission coil of the wireless charging device. The powered device may modulate the voltage or current observed at the resonant circuit 506 by changing the impedance presented by the powered circuit in response to the signaling state of the modulated signal. The controller 502 or other processor then waits for a data modulated response indicating that the powered device is nearby.

[0025] Selective Coil Excitation According to certain aspects disclosed herein, power transfer coils in one or more charging cells can be selectively activated to provide an optimal electromagnetic field for charging a compatible device. In some examples, power transfer coils are assigned to charging cells, and some charging cells may overlap with other charging cells. An optimal charging configuration can be selected on a per-charge cell basis. In some examples, the charging configuration can include charging cells on the charging surface that are determined to be aligned with or located near a device to be charged. The controller can activate a single power transfer coil or a combination of power transfer coils based on a charging configuration based on sensing the location of the device to be charged. In some implementations, the wireless charging device can have a driver circuit that can selectively activate one or more power transfer coils or one or more predetermined charging cells during a charging event.

[0026] FIG. 6 illustrates a first topology 600 supporting matrix multiplexing switching for use in a wireless charging device adapted according to certain aspects disclosed herein. The wireless charging device can select one or more charging cells 100 to charge a powered device. Unused charging cells 100 can be disconnected from current. The honeycomb packaging configuration illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 allows for a relatively large number of charging cells 100 requiring a corresponding number of switches. According to certain aspects disclosed herein, the charging cells 100 can be logically arranged in a matrix 608 having a number of cells connected to two or more switches that allow a particular cell to be powered. In the illustrated topology 600, a two-dimensional matrix 608 is provided, where the dimensions can be represented by X and Y coordinates. Each of the first set of switches 606 is configured to selectively couple a first terminal of each cell in the string of cells to a first terminal of a voltage or current source 602 that provides a current to excite the coil during wireless charging. Each of the second set of switches 604 is configured to selectively couple a second terminal of each cell in the string of cells to a second terminal of the voltage or current source 602. When both terminals of a cell are coupled to the voltage or current source 602, the charging cell is active.

[0027] The use of the matrix 608 can significantly reduce the number of switching components required to operate a network of tuned LC circuits. For example, N individually connected cells require at least N switches, whereas a two-dimensional matrix 608 having N cells can be operated with √N switches. The use of the matrix 608 can provide significant cost savings and reduced circuit and / or layout complexity. In one example, a nine-cell implementation can be implemented in a 3x3 matrix 608 using six switches, saving three switches. In another example, a sixteen-cell implementation can be implemented in a 4x4 matrix 608 using eight switches, saving eight switches.

[0028] During operation, at least two switches are closed to actively couple one coil or charging cell to the voltage or current source 602. Multiple switches may be closed at once to facilitate connection of multiple coils or charging cells to the voltage or current source 602. For example, multiple switches may be closed to enable an operating mode in which multiple transmit coils are driven when transferring power to a powered device.

[0029] FIG. 7 illustrates a second topology 700 in which each individual coil or charge cell is driven directly by a driver circuit 702 according to certain aspects disclosed herein. The driver circuit 702 may be configured to select one or more coils or charge cells 100 from a coil group 704 to charge a powered device. It should be understood that the concepts disclosed herein with respect to the charge cells 100 may be applied to selective excitation of individual coils or coil stacks. Charge cells 100 that are not in use do not draw current. A relatively large number of charge cells 100 may be used, and a switching matrix may be employed to drive the individual coils or coil groups. In one example, a first switching matrix may configure connections that define the charge cells or coil groups to be used during a charging event, and a second switching matrix may be used to excite the charge cells and / or selected coil groups.

[0030] Control messages during the charging procedure Certain aspects of the disclosure relate to wireless communication of configuration, control, status, and other information between a power transmitter and a power receiver being wirelessly charged by the power transmitter. The configuration, control, status, and other information is communicated before and during power transmission and is carried in messages encoded according to a standard defined protocol. As an example, the Qi protocol provides the power receiver with some control over the power transmitter wirelessly by allowing the power receiver to send messages to the power transmitter over a power transmission link. The messages can carry requests, commands, status, and other information. The Qi protocol is implemented in many wireless charging devices and manages the wireless interconnection between the power transmitter and the power receiver. Some Qi protocols use Amplitude Shift Key (ASK) modulation to exchange messages from the power receiver to the power transmitter. As an example, the power receiver can vary the load of the receiving circuit to generate the ASK signal. The load variation is reflected in the load of the resonant circuit 506 during the charging transaction due to magnetic coupling between the transmit and receive coils of the power transmitter and the power receiver, respectively. Load changes can be detected by the voltage or current measured in the tank circuit.

[0031] 8 illustrates an example of a processing circuit 800 that may be configured to receive and decode an ASK modulated signal. The processing circuit 800 includes a processor 802 that may be coupled to a memory device 804 and / or a register or other type of storage that may store messages to be transmitted using the ASK modulated signal 812 and / or messages decoded from the received ASK modulated signal 812. The processing circuit 800 includes an ASK decoder 806 that may be implemented using hardware, software, or some combination of hardware and software. The ASK decoder 806 may use a clock signal received from a clock generation or recovery circuit 808 to control the timing of the transmitted ASK modulated signal 812 and to control the sampling and decoding of the received ASK modulated signal 812.

[0032] In some examples, a digital signal processor (DSP) may be used to decode the ASK modulated signal 812 that modulates the voltage or current in the tank circuit of the inductive power transfer device. In the wireless transmitter 500 of FIG. 5, the ASK modulated signal 812 may represent or be derived from a measurement of the charging current 518 or voltage 516 measured at the LC node 510 of the resonant circuit 506. In many examples, interrupts may be used to identify or measure the timing between level changes of the ASK modulated signal 812. In one example, the demodulation circuit may use a timer provided by a microcontroller (MCU) to measure or calculate the time between edges of the ASK modulated signal 812 or between interrupts triggered by the edges. Continuous time measurements may be used to decode the ASK modulated signal 812. In another example, a DSP or digital signal controller may be used to demodulate the ASK modulated signal using digital signal processing methods.

[0033] 9 shows examples of encoding schemes 900, 920 that may be adapted to digitally encode messages exchanged between a power receiver and a power transmitter. In a first example, a differential bi-phase encoding scheme 900 encodes binary bits in the phase of a data signal 904. In the illustrated example, each bit of a data byte 906 is encoded in a corresponding cycle 908 of an encoder clock signal 902. The value of each bit is encoded in the presence or absence (phase change) of a transition 910 in the data signal 904 during the corresponding cycle 908.

[0034] In a second example, amplitude modulation can be used. In one embodiment, the tank voltage or charging current 924 is modulated using a data encoding scheme 920 that defines or causes different power signal amplitudes observed at the tank circuit. In the illustrated example, the binary bits of a data byte 926 are encoded with the level of the charging current 924. Each bit of the data byte 926 is encoded with a corresponding cycle 928 of the encoder clock signal 922. The value of each bit is encoded with the voltage level of the charging current 924 relative to a nominal 100% voltage level 930 of the charging current 924 during the corresponding cycle 908.

[0035] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a system that may be configured to support ASK modulation according to certain aspects of the disclosure. In the illustrated example, a wireless power transmitter 1000 is configured to transmit power to a wireless power receiver 1020. The charging operation is controlled by a processing circuit 1002 that controls a driver circuit 1004 according to a defined charging setting to charge the wireless power receiver 1020. The driver circuit 1004 provides a charging current to a resonant circuit 1006 that includes at least one transmitting inductor 1016, which may represent the inductance of one or more wireless power transmission coils. A tank voltage 1012 measured across the transmitting inductor 1016 is a product of the current through the transmitting inductor 1016 and other impedances of the resonant circuit 1006. The impedance of the resonant circuit 1006 may include several components associated with the wireless power receiver 1020. For example, the impedance of the power conversion circuit 1022 and the load 1026 of the wireless power receiver 1020 contribute to the impedance of the resonant circuit 1006 during the charging operation.

[0036] In some examples, the wireless power receiver 1020 includes a modulation circuit 1024 that can be used to modulate the tank voltage 1012 by changing the impedance contributed by the wireless power receiver 1020 to the impedance of the resonant circuit 1006. The contributed impedance includes contributions from the power conversion circuit 1022, the load 1026, and the modulation circuit 1024. In the illustrated example, the wireless power receiver 1020 is configured to modulate the tank voltage 1012 by changing the impedance of the modulation circuit 1024. A modulation resistor 1034 coupled to the load 1026 can be switched in and out according to a modulation signal provided to a gate 1030 of a switching transistor 1032. In the illustrated example, the switching transistor 1032 is configured to operate as a switch that is on when the modulation signal is in a first signal state and is off when the modulation signal is in a second signal state. Here, the switching transistor 1032 couples the modulation resistor 1034 in parallel with the load 1026 when the modulation signal is in a first signal state, thereby reducing the impedance presented to the resonant circuit 1006 relative to the impedance of the resonant circuit 1006 when the modulation signal is in a second signal state.

[0037] In the illustrated example, the modulation circuit 1024 is coupled in parallel with the load 1026. In another example, the modulation circuit 1024 may be coupled in parallel with a receiving inductor 1028 in the power conversion circuit 1022.

[0038] In the illustrated example, the switching transistor 1032 is normally off and modulation is achieved by turning on the switching transistor 1032 to lower the impedance of the resonant circuit 1006. In another example, the switching transistor 1032 is normally on and modulation is achieved by turning on the switching transistor 1032 to increase the impedance of the resonant circuit 1006.

[0039] The wireless power transmitter 1000 may be configured to detect a modulated signal transmitted by the wireless power receiver 1020. The modulated signal may be detected in the tank voltage 1012 or in the current through the transmitting inductor 1016. In some examples, the modulated signal is encoded using ASK modulation. In some examples, the modulated signal used to modulate the tank voltage 1012 may be encoded using pulse width modulation.

[0040] In a particular example, the measurement circuit 1008 may be configured to obtain a measurement signal 1014 indicative of a tank voltage 1012 at an LC node 1018 of the resonant circuit 1006 or to obtain a measurement signal 1014 indicative of a current flow through the LC node 1018. The measurement circuit 1008 may be provided or configured to support various calculations, including a calculation or estimation of a Q-factor of the resonant circuit 1006. The measurement circuit 1008 may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a filter, an amplifier, an attenuator, a comparator, a counter, etc. The measurement circuit 1008 may provide a received data signal 1014 to the demodulation circuit 1010. The received data signal 1014 may be representative of a modulated signal that is a component of the tank voltage 1012. The demodulation circuit decodes information from the received data signal 1014 and provides data, control, or status information to the processing circuit 1002.

[0041] FIG. 11 is a graph 1100 illustrating a particular aspect of demodulation in the wireless power transmitter 1000 shown in FIG. 10. A first curve 1102 represents the tank voltage 1012 during a charging operation. When power delivery begins, the tank voltage 1012 rises to a peak voltage level. The peak voltage level may represent or be referred to as an envelope voltage level 1104, a direct current (DC) voltage level, and / or a peak DC level. At a certain point 1110, the wireless power receiver 1020 begins modulating the tank voltage 1012. The effect of the modulation may be to increase or decrease the tank voltage 1012 in response to the modulating signal. The modulating signal is transmitted within an ASK envelope 1106 in the illustrated example, where the ASK envelope 1106 is superimposed on the envelope voltage level 1104 and exhibits an amplitude of excursions due to the modulating signal from the envelope voltage level 1104.

[0042] In some wireless charging systems, the measurement circuit 1008 is configured to measure the envelope voltage level 1104 in addition to the voltage level within the ASK envelope 1106. The measurement circuit 1008 can take samples of the tank voltage 1012 using an ADC circuit and measure the voltage levels of the samples to provide a digital representation of the voltage level. A processor can separate ASK variations from the envelope voltage level 1104 by digital processing of the ADC output.

[0043] In a particular implementation, the input of the ADC circuit has a limited voltage range, for example, capable of handling an input signal with a maximum amplitude of 1-2 volts. The envelope voltage level 1104 may be significantly higher than 1-2 volts, possibly up to 100 volts. Thus, the measurement circuit 1008 may scale the envelope voltage level 1104 to a lower voltage level 1114 that can be sensed by the ADC. A second curve 1112 represents the attenuated tank voltage 1012 with a corresponding attenuated ASK envelope 1116 superimposed. The ASK modulation may result in an ASK envelope 1106 having an amplitude or swing of 0.5%-2% of the envelope voltage level 1104. In the example of an envelope voltage level 1104 of 100 volts and an ASK modulation of 500 mV to 2 V, the downscale factor of 50 required to attenuate the envelope voltage level 1104 results in an attenuated ASK envelope 1116 having an amplitude or swing of 10 mV to 40 mV. The 10 mV to 40 mV range of the attenuated ASK envelope 1116 may degrade the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the input of the ADC, and the ADC may not be sensitive enough to provide more than a few bits or increments of ADC deflection to cover the amplitude of the attenuated modulated signal. In some cases, the measurement circuit 1008 may not be able to detect small variations in the amplitude of the attenuated modulated signal, and quantization errors in the output of the ADC may cause the demodulator to generate erroneous information from the modulated signal.

[0044] Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide measurement and demodulation circuits that can maximize the amplitude of an ASK modulated signal derived from a measurement signal representative of the tank voltage 1012, including when the measurement signal is attenuated to fall within a voltage range supported by the measurement circuit. In one example, a low frequency signal representative of the envelope voltage level 1104 is separated from a high frequency ASK modulated signal extracted from the ASK envelope 1106. The low frequency and high frequency signals are individually attenuated or amplified using mixed signal techniques to generate inputs to the measurement circuit such that the voltage states of the ASK modulated signal are distinguishable at the ADC output by an optimized number or number of bits. In one aspect, a high SNR of the ASK modulated signal is maintained while the low frequency signal is attenuated, allowing accurate demodulation of the ASK modulated signal.

[0045] 12 illustrates a wireless power transmitter 1200 configured according to certain aspects of the disclosure. The wireless power transmitter 1200 includes a processing circuit 1202 that controls a driver circuit 1204 and receives the output of an ASK demodulator 1212. The driver circuit 1204 provides a charging current 1218 to a resonant circuit 1206 that includes at least one transmitting inductor 1214. The tank voltage signal 1216 represents the voltage measured across the transmitting inductor 1214 and may represent the product of the current flowing through the transmitting inductor 1214 and the impedance of the resonant circuit 1206 or the transmitting inductor 1214. In some embodiments, the tank voltage signal 1216 represents the voltage measured across a small resistor included in the resonant circuit 1206 or between the driver circuit 1204 and the resonant circuit 1206 for measurement purposes.

[0046] The wireless power transmitter 1200 may be configured to detect a modulated signal in the tank voltage signal 1216. As an example, the modulated signal is encoded using ASK modulation or pulse width modulation. According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, a variable attenuation circuit 1208 is used to apply different levels of attenuation to the modulated signal representing the peak envelope voltage level 1104 and the voltage fluctuations associated with the ASK envelope 1106.

[0047] In one aspect of the disclosure, different attenuation may be applied to signals of different frequencies or different frequency bands. In the example 1300 shown in FIG. 13, an unattenuated modulated signal including high frequency components may be extracted from the tank voltage signal 1216 using a high pass or band pass filter. The modulated signal is transmitted within the ASK envelope 1308. The low frequency components of the tank voltage signal 1216 may be attenuated without affecting the modulated signal. In some cases, the tank voltage signal 1216 may be rectified or averaged after extraction of the modulated signal. In some examples, a low pass filter may be used to rectify, average, or otherwise generate a DC signal representing a DC voltage level equivalent to the tank voltage signal 1216. The DC signal may be attenuated before, during, or after low pass filtering. The attenuated tank signal 1220 may be obtained by combining the high frequency components corresponding to the ASK envelope 1308 with the attenuated DC signal. The attenuated tank signal 1220 may be represented by a curve 1302 depicting an attenuated and filtered version of the tank voltage signal 1216 with a superimposed unattenuated ASK envelope component 1304, corresponding to a high frequency modulated signal generated by the powered device. The level of attenuation applied to obtain a DC signal may be selected to obtain an average voltage level 1306 that is defined or configured based on the input specifications of the ADC used to measure the tank voltage or the ADC included in the demodulator.

[0048] In the illustrated example 1300, the ASK envelope 1308 modulated signal may be combined with a DC signal and the combined signal may be provided to an ADC circuit. The output of the ADC circuit may be processed by a processing circuit, a digital signal processor, or other suitable processing device. In some implementations, the ASK envelope 1308 is provided directly to a demodulation circuit without recombining with the DC signal. In some implementations, the ASK envelope 1308 is offset to a DC voltage level optimized for capture by the ADC used in the demodulation circuit.

[0049] In a particular example, the variable attenuation circuit 1208 may separate the ASK encoded signal from the signal representing the peak envelope voltage level 1104 (the peak envelope signal) and apply different attenuation factors to the separated signals. In another example, the variable attenuation circuit 1208 may allow the ASK encoded signal to bypass the attenuation circuit used to scale the peak envelope signal. In some examples, different automatic variable attenuation or amplification may be applied to the ASK encoded signal and the peak envelope signal based on their respective expected, observed, or measured voltage levels.

[0050] The wireless power transmitter 1200 may include a measurement circuit 1210 that generates a received data signal 1222 indicative of a voltage level of a sample taken from the damped tank signal 1220. The received data signal 1222 represents a modulated signal and may be provided to an ASK demodulator 1212, which may be configured to decode information from the received data signal 1222 and provide data, control, or status information to the processing circuit 1202.

[0051] FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a variable attenuation circuit 1400 configured according to certain aspects of the disclosure. A circuit diagram 1420 of one implementation of the variable attenuation circuit 1400 is also provided. In the illustrated example, a modulated signal 1402 representing a tank voltage is provided to a peak detector 1404 that may identify and hold a peak envelope voltage. The output of the peak detector 1404 is provided to an attenuator 1406 and a high pass filter 1408. The attenuator 1406 may be configured to reduce the peak envelope voltage level to within a desired level range. In one example, the desired level range is selected with consideration for compatibility with voltage limits associated with the input of the ADC circuit. In some examples, the attenuator 1406 may be adjustable and may be set based on the measured peak voltage level. The high pass filter 1408 may be configured to block low frequency signals, including DC levels and frequencies used for power transmission. The high pass filter 1408 may be configured to pass signals in a frequency range that includes frequencies characteristic of the modulated signal.

[0052] The outputs of the attenuator 1406 and the high pass filter 1408 may be additively combined using a mixer 1410. In one example, the output 1414 of the mixer 1410 may be represented by the curve 1302 shown in Figure 13. In some implementations, a scaled output 1416 is provided using a low pass filter 1412 to remove frequencies from the output 1414 of the mixer 1410 that are higher than expected modulation related frequencies.

[0053] FIG. 15 is a flowchart 1500 illustrating an example of a method for communicating with a device being charged. The method may be performed by a controller of a multi-charging cell, multi-device wireless charger. In block 1502, the controller may extract a high frequency component from a measurement signal representative of a voltage at a transmit coil of a wireless charging device during a charging operation. In block 1504, the controller may attenuate the measurement signal to obtain an attenuated measurement signal. In block 1506, the controller may mix a signal representative of the high frequency component with the attenuated measurement signal to obtain a scaled measurement signal. In block 1508, the controller may demodulate the scaled measurement signal to obtain one or more messages related to the charging operation.

[0054] In some examples, mixing the signal representing the high frequency component with the attenuated signal includes attenuating the high frequency component to obtain the signal representing the attenuated high frequency component.

[0055] In various examples, the controller can provide the scaled measurement signal to an ADC and decode one or more messages from the series of digital values ​​provided by the ADC, which can represent voltage samples of the scaled measurement signal over a period of time.

[0056] In some examples, the controller may provide the scaled measurement signal to the ADC by low-pass filtering the scaled measurement signal.

[0057] In a particular example, the controller may use a high pass filter to extract high frequency components from the measurement signal.

[0058] In some examples, the high frequency component corresponds to an ASK modulated signal that may be received from a wireless power receiving device participating in a charging operation.

[0059] Processing circuit example FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a hardware implementation of an apparatus 1600 that can be incorporated into a wireless charging apparatus or a power receiving device that enables wireless charging of a battery. In some examples, the apparatus 1600 can perform one or more functions disclosed herein. According to various aspects of the present disclosure, the elements, any portion of the elements, or any combination of the elements disclosed herein can be implemented using a processing circuit 1602. The processing circuit 1602 can include one or more processors 1604 controlled by some combination of hardware and software modules. Examples of the processor 1604 include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), SoCs, ASICs, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, sequencers, gate logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform various functions described throughout the present disclosure. The one or more processors 1604 can include processors dedicated to performing specific functions and can be configured, augmented, or controlled by one of the software modules 1616. The one or more processors 1604 may be configured through a combination of software modules 1616 loaded during initialization, and may be further configured by loading or unloading one or more software modules 1616 during operation.

[0060] In the depicted example, the processing circuit 1602 may be implemented in a bus architecture, generally indicated by a bus 1610. The bus 1610 may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, depending on the particular application of the processing circuit 1602 and overall design constraints. The bus 1610 links various circuits, including one or more processors 1604 and storage 1606. The storage 1606 may include memory devices and mass storage devices, and are also referred to herein as computer-readable media and / or processor-readable media. The storage 1606 may include transitory and / or non-transitory storage media.

[0061] The bus 1610 may link various other circuits such as timing sources, timers, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits. The bus interface 1608 may provide an interface between the bus 1610 and one or more transceivers 1612. In one example, the transceiver 1612 may be provided to allow the device 1600 to communicate with a charging device or a powered device according to a standard defined protocol. Depending on the nature of the device 1600, a user interface 1618 (e.g., keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick) may also be provided and may be communicatively coupled to the bus 1610 directly or via the bus interface 1608.

[0062] The processor 1604 may be responsible for managing the bus 1610 and for overall processing, including the execution of software stored on a computer-readable medium, including the storage 1606. In this regard, the processing circuitry 1602, including the processor 1604, may be used to implement any of the methods, functions, and techniques disclosed herein. The storage 1606 may be used to store data that is manipulated by the processor 1604 when executing software, which may be configured to perform any one of the methods disclosed herein.

[0063] The one or more processors 1604 of the processing circuitry 1602 can execute software. Software shall be interpreted broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, functions, algorithms, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. The software may reside in the storage 1606 in computer readable form or on an external computer readable medium. The external computer readable medium and / or the storage 1606 may include a non-transitory computer readable medium. The non-transitory computer readable medium may include, for example, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic strips), optical disks (e.g., compact disks (CDs), digital versatile disks (DVDs)), smart cards, flash memory devices (e.g., “flash drives”, cards, sticks, key drives), RAM, ROM, programmable read only memory (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM) including EEPROM, registers, removable disks, and any other suitable medium for storing software and / or instructions that can be accessed and read by a computer. The computer readable medium and / or storage 1606 may also include, for example, carrier waves, transmission lines, and any other suitable medium for transmitting software and / or instructions that can be accessed and read by a computer. The computer readable medium and / or storage 1606 may be resident in the processing circuit 1602, in the processor 1604, external to the processing circuit 1602, or distributed across multiple entities including the processing circuit 1602. The computer readable medium and / or storage 1606 may be embodied in a computer program product.As an example, a computer program product may include a computer readable medium in packaging materials.Those skilled in the art will recognize the best way to implement the described functionality presented throughout this disclosure depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0064] The storage 1606 may maintain and / or organize software, such as loadable code segments, modules, applications, programs, etc., also referred to herein as software modules 1616. Each of the software modules 1616 may include instructions and data that, when installed or loaded into the processing circuitry 1602 and executed by one or more processors 1604, contribute to a runtime image 1614 that controls the operation of the one or more processors 1604. Particular instructions, when executed, may cause the processing circuitry 1602 to perform functions in accordance with particular methods, algorithms, and processes described herein.

[0065] Some of the software modules 1616 may be loaded during initialization of the processing circuit 1602, and these software modules 1616 may configure the processing circuit 1602 to enable the execution of various functions disclosed herein. For example, some of the software modules 1616 may configure the internal devices and / or logic circuits 1622 of the processor 1604 and may manage access to external devices such as the transceiver 1612, the bus interface 1608, the user interface 1618, timers, math co-processors, etc. The software modules 1616 may include a control program and / or operating system that interacts with interrupt handlers and device drivers and controls access to various resources provided by the processing circuit 1602. The resources may include memory, processing time, access to the transceiver 1612, the user interface 1618, etc.

[0066] The one or more processors 1604 of the processing circuitry 1602 are multifunctional, whereby some of the software modules 1616 are loaded and configured to execute different functions or different instances of the same function. Additionally, the one or more processors 1604 may be adapted to manage background tasks initiated in response to inputs from, for example, the user interface 1618, the transceiver 1612, and device drivers. To support the execution of multiple functions, the one or more processors 1604 may be configured to provide a multitasking environment, whereby each of the multiple functions is implemented as a set of tasks provided by the one or more processors 1604 as needed. In one example, the multitasking environment may be implemented using a time-sharing program 1620 that hands off control of the processor 1604 between different tasks, whereby each task returns control of the one or more processors 1604 to the time-sharing program 1620 upon completion of outstanding operations and / or in response to inputs such as interrupts. When a task has control of the one or more processors 1604, the processing circuitry is effectively specialized for the purpose addressed by the function associated with the controlling task. The time-sharing program 1620 may include an operating system, a main loop that transfers control in a round-robin manner, a function that allocates control of one or more processors 1604 according to function priority, and / or an interrupt-operated main loop that responds to external events by providing control of one or more processors 1604 to processing functions.

[0067] In one embodiment, the device 1600 operates as or includes a wireless charging device having a battery charging power source coupled to a charging circuit, a number of charging cells disposed on a surface of the wireless charging device, and a controller or processing circuit, which may include one or more processors 1604. The number of charging cells may be configured or disposed adjacent to a surface that functions as a charging surface. At least one coil may be configured to direct an electromagnetic field through a charge carrying area of ​​each charging cell.

[0068] According to certain aspects of the disclosure, the apparatus 1600 may be a power transmitter adapted to improve decoding of information transmitted by a power receiving device by modulating a tank voltage. The apparatus 1600 may include a high-pass filter configured to extract high-frequency components from a measurement signal representative of a voltage at a transmission coil of one of a plurality of charging cells during a charging operation, a first attenuator configured to attenuate the measurement signal to provide an attenuated measurement signal, a mixer configured to add a signal representative of the high-frequency components to the attenuated measurement signal to obtain a scaled measurement signal, and a demodulator configured to decode one or more messages related to the charging operation from the scaled measurement signal.

[0069] In some examples, the apparatus 1600 includes a second attenuator configured to attenuate the high frequency component and provide a signal representative of the high frequency component.

[0070] In various embodiments, the apparatus 1600 includes an ADC circuit configured to receive the scaled measurement signal and provide a series of digital values ​​representative of voltage samples of the scaled measurement signal over a period of time. The demodulator may be configured to decode one or more messages from the series of digital values. The apparatus 1600 may include a low pass filter configured to filter the output of the mixer and provide the scaled measurement signal.

[0071] In a particular example, the high frequency components correspond to an amplitude shift key modulated signal, the high frequency components including individual frequencies, harmonics, or frequency bands, the amplitude shift key modulated signal being received from a wireless power receiving device participating in a charging operation.

[0072] In another example, storage 1606 retains instructions and information configured to cause the one or more processors 1604 to extract a high frequency component from a measurement signal representative of a voltage at a transmit coil of a wireless charging device during a charging operation, attenuate the measurement signal to obtain an attenuated measurement signal, mix the signal representative of the high frequency component with the attenuated measurement signal to obtain a scaled measurement signal, and demodulate the scaled measurement signal to obtain one or more messages related to the charging operation.

[0073] In various embodiments, the storage medium includes code for attenuating high frequency components to obtain a signal representative of the attenuated high frequency components.

[0074] In some embodiments, the storage medium includes code for providing the scaled measurement signal to an ADC circuit and decoding one or more messages from a series of digital values ​​provided by the ADC circuit, where the series of digital values ​​may represent voltage samples of the scaled measurement signal over a period of time.

[0075] In certain embodiments, a storage medium includes code for low pass filtering the scaled measurement signal. In some examples, the storage medium includes code for using a high pass filter to extract high frequency components from the measurement signal.

[0076] In various embodiments, the high frequency component may correspond to an ASK modulated signal, which may be received from a wireless power receiving device participating in a charging operation.

[0077] Some implementation examples are described in the following numbered items. 1. A method for communicating with a device being charged, comprising: extracting a high frequency component from a measurement signal representative of a voltage at a transmitting coil of a wireless charging device during a charging operation; attenuating the measurement signal to obtain an attenuated measurement signal; mixing a signal representative of the high frequency component with the attenuated measurement signal to obtain a scaled measurement signal; and demodulating the scaled measurement signal to obtain one or more messages related to the charging operation.

[0078] 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising attenuating the high frequency components to obtain a signal representative of the high frequency components.

[0079] 3. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising the steps of: providing the scaled measurement signal to an analog-to-digital converter; and decoding one or more messages from a series of digital values ​​provided by the analog-to-digital converter, the series of digital values ​​representing voltage samples of the scaled measurement signal over a period of time.

[0080] 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of providing the scaled measurement signal to an analog-to-digital converter comprises the step of low-pass filtering the scaled measurement signal.

[0081] 5. The method according to any one of items 1 to 4, further comprising the step of using a high-pass filter to extract high-frequency components from the measurement signal.

[0082] 6. The method according to any one of items 1 to 5, wherein the high frequency component corresponds to an amplitude shift key modulated signal.

[0083] 7. The method of claim 6, wherein an amplitude-shift-key modulated signal is received from a wireless power receiving device participating in a charging operation.

[0084] 8. A wireless charging apparatus comprising: a plurality of charging cells disposed on a surface of a wireless charging device; a high-pass filter configured to extract a high-frequency component from a measurement signal representing a voltage at a transmission coil of one of the plurality of charging cells during a charging operation; a first attenuator configured to attenuate the measurement signal to provide an attenuated measurement signal; a mixer configured to add a signal representing the high-frequency component to the attenuated measurement signal to obtain a scaled measurement signal; and a demodulator configured to decode one or more messages related to the charging operation from the scaled measurement signal.

[0085] 9. The wireless charging device of item 8, further comprising a second attenuator configured to attenuate the high frequency component and provide a signal representative of the high frequency component.

[0086] 10. The wireless charging device of item 8 or item 9, further comprising an analog-to-digital converter configured to receive the scaled measurement signal and provide a series of digital values ​​representing voltage samples of the scaled measurement signal over a period of time, and the demodulator configured to decode one or more messages from the series of digital values.

[0087] 11. The wireless charging device of item 10, further comprising a low pass filter configured to filter an output of the mixer and provide the scaled measurement signal.

[0088] 12. The wireless charging device according to any one of items 8 to 11, wherein the high frequency component corresponds to an amplitude shift keyed modulation signal.

[0089] 13. The wireless charging apparatus of item 12, wherein the amplitude shift key modulated signal is received from a wireless power receiving device participating in a charging operation.

[0090] 14. A processor-readable storage medium comprising code for causing a processor to perform the steps of: extracting a high frequency component from a measurement signal representative of a voltage at a transmit coil of a wireless charging device during a charging operation; attenuating the measurement signal to obtain an attenuated measurement signal; mixing a signal representative of the high frequency component with the attenuated measurement signal to obtain a scaled measurement signal; and demodulating the scaled measurement signal to obtain one or more messages related to the charging operation.

[0091] 15. The storage medium of item 14, further comprising code for attenuating the high frequency components to obtain a signal representative of the high frequency components.

[0092] 16. The storage medium of item 14 or 15, further comprising code for causing the device to perform the steps of: providing the scaled measurement signal to an analog-to-digital converter; and decoding fourteen or more messages from a series of digital values ​​provided by the analog-to-digital converter, the series of digital values ​​representing voltage samples of the scaled measurement signal over a period of time.

[0093] 17. The storage medium according to any one of items 14 to 16, further comprising code for low-pass filtering the scaled measurement signal.

[0094] 18. A storage medium according to any one of items 14 to 17, further comprising code for using a high-pass filter to extract high-frequency components from the measurement signal.

[0095] 19. The storage medium according to any one of items 14 to 18, wherein the high frequency component corresponds to an amplitude shift key modulated signal.

[0096] 20. The storage medium of item 19, wherein the amplitude shift key modulated signal is received from a wireless power receiving device participating in a charging operation.

[0097] The above description is provided to enable one skilled in the art to practice the various embodiments described herein. Various modifications to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the embodiments set forth herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, and reference to an element in the singular shall mean "one or more," and not "only one," unless otherwise specified. The term "several" refers to one or more, unless otherwise specified. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various embodiments described throughout this disclosure that are known or that later become known to those of skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be included in the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is expressly set forth in the claims. An element of a claim is not to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112, Chapter 6, unless the element is expressly recited by the phrase "means for" or, in the case of a method claim, by the phrase "step for."

Claims

1. 1. A method for communicating with a device while it is being charged, comprising: Extracting high frequency components from a signal representative of a tank voltage measured at a transmission coil of the wireless charging device during a charging operation; attenuating the signal representative of the tank voltage to obtain an attenuated signal having a voltage level within a range of voltage levels consistent with a voltage limit associated with an input to the analog to digital conversion circuit; adding a signal representative of the high frequency components to the attenuated signal to obtain a scaled measurement signal; and demodulating the scaled measurement signal to obtain one or more messages related to a charging operation.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising attenuating the high frequency components to obtain a signal representative of the high frequency components.

3. providing the scaled measurement signal to the analog-to-digital converter; 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: decoding one or more messages from the series of digital values ​​provided by the analog-to-digital converter, the series of digital values ​​representing voltage samples of the scaled measurement signal over a period of time.

4. providing the scaled measurement signal to an analog-to-digital converter includes low pass filtering the scaled measurement signal; The method of claim 3 , wherein the analog-to-digital converter is configured to measure the tank voltage.

5. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising using a high pass filter to extract high frequency components from the signal representative of the tank voltage.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the high frequency components correspond to an amplitude shift key modulated signal.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the amplitude shift key modulated signal is received from a wireless powered device participating in a charging operation.

8. A wireless charging device, A plurality of charging cells disposed on a surface of the wireless charging device; An analog / digital conversion circuit; a high pass filter configured to extract high frequency components from a signal representative of a tank voltage measured at a transmission coil of one of the plurality of charging cells during a charging operation; a first attenuator coupled to a rectifier, the first attenuator and the rectifier configured to attenuate a signal representative of a tank voltage to obtain an attenuated signal having a voltage level within a range of voltage levels consistent with a voltage limit associated with an input to the analog to digital conversion circuit; a mixer configured to add a signal representative of the high frequency component to the attenuated signal to obtain a scaled measurement signal; and a demodulator configured to decode one or more messages related to a charging operation from the scaled measurement signal.

9. 9. The wireless charging device of claim 8, further comprising a second attenuator configured to attenuate the high frequency component and provide a signal representative of the high frequency component.

10. The analog-to-digital converter is configured to receive the scaled measurement signal and provide a series of digital values ​​representing voltage samples of the scaled measurement signal over a period of time; The wireless charging device of claim 8 , wherein the demodulator is configured to decode one or more messages from the series of digital values.

11. and a low pass filter configured to filter an output of the mixer and provide the scaled measurement signal. The wireless charging device of claim 10 , wherein the analog-to-digital converter is configured to measure the tank voltage.

12. The wireless charging device of claim 8 , wherein the high frequency component corresponds to an amplitude shift key modulated signal.

13. The wireless charging apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the amplitude shift key modulated signal is received from a wireless power receiving device participating in a charging operation.

14. 1. A processor-readable storage medium, comprising: Extracting high frequency components from a signal representative of a tank voltage measured at a transmission coil of the wireless charging device during a charging operation; attenuating the signal representative of the tank voltage to obtain an attenuated signal having a voltage level within a voltage level range consistent with a voltage limit associated with an input to the analog to digital conversion circuit; adding a signal representative of the high frequency components to the attenuated signal to obtain a scaled measurement signal; and demodulating the scaled measurement signal to obtain one or more messages related to a charging operation.

15. 15. The storage medium of claim 14, further comprising code for attenuating the high frequency components to obtain a signal representative of the high frequency components.

16. further comprising providing the scaled measurement signal to the analog-to-digital converter; decoding one or more messages from a series of digital values ​​provided by the analog to digital converter, the series of digital values ​​representing voltage samples of the scaled measurement signal over a period of time; 15. The storage medium of claim 14 comprising code for causing the execution of:

17. 15. The storage medium of claim 14, further comprising code for low pass filtering the scaled measurement signal, the analog to digital converter configured to measure the tank voltage.

18. 15. The storage medium of claim 14, further comprising code for causing a high pass filter to be used to extract high frequency components from the signal representative of the tank voltage.

19. 15. The storage medium of claim 14, wherein the high frequency component corresponds to an Amplitude Shift Key Modulated signal.

20. 20. The storage medium of claim 19, wherein the amplitude shift key modulated signal is received from a wireless powered device participating in a charging operation.

Images