Charging method, charging device, electronic device and charging system

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a charging method, a charging device, an electronic device and a charging system, which are applied to the technical field of wireless charging. The charging method can be applied to a first charging device in a charging system provided with a plurality of charging devices. When the method is executed, the first charging device can acquire battery level information of an electronic device; and then, in response to the battery level information, a first charging signal is outputted to the electronic device, wherein the phase of the first charging signal transmitted to the electronic device is the same as the phase of at least one second charging signal transmitted to the electronic device, and the at least one second charging signal is outputted by at least one second charging device. The phases of a first charging signal and at least one second charging signal transmitted to an electronic device are the same, and thus the first charging signal and the at least one second charging signal can achieve an optimal coherent superposition effect, thereby improving the charging efficiency.

Description

Charging method, charging device, electronic device and charging system

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office on November 14, 2023, with application number 202311520742.2 and application name “Charging method, charging device, electronic device and charging system”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of wireless charging technology, and in particular to a charging method, a charging device, an electronic device, and a charging system. Background Art

[0003] With the rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoT), wireless sensor technology has been widely applied in various fields. For example, wireless sensor technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID), IoT, and environmental sensing have been widely applied in logistics and warehouse management, industrial control, environmental and building monitoring, medical monitoring, and smart homes. Wireless terminal devices used in wireless sensor technology are typically battery-powered. However, due to size constraints, the battery capacity of wireless terminal devices is very limited, which cannot continuously support stable device operation. Frequent manual battery replacement or intermittent charging from a power source are required to maintain normal operation. This method increases operating costs and affects service stability. To address this problem, many wireless terminal devices currently use wireless RF charging technology for charging. However, due to the rapid energy decay rate of RF signals, the performance improvement of using a single charging device to charge a wireless terminal device is very limited. Therefore, multiple charging devices are often used to collaboratively charge wireless terminal devices. However, the current problem of low efficiency is that multiple charging devices are used to collaboratively charge wireless terminal devices.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] The embodiments of the present application provide a charging method, a charging device, an electronic device, and a charging system to solve the current problem of low efficiency when multiple charging devices collaboratively charge a wireless terminal device.

[0006] In order to achieve the above objectives, the solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are as follows:

[0007] In a first aspect, a charging method is provided, which can be performed by a first charging device. The method is performed as follows: First, the first charging device obtains power information of an electronic device. Then, in response to the power information, the first charging device outputs a first charging signal to the electronic device. The phase of the first charging signal transmitted to the electronic device is the same as the phase of at least one second charging signal transmitted to the electronic device. The at least one second charging signal is output by at least one second charging device. In this way, when multiple charging devices are present in a scenario, the phases of the signals output by the first charging device and at least one second charging device can be adjusted so that the first charging signal output by the first charging device and the at least one second charging signal output by the at least one second charging device are transmitted to the electronic device at the same phase, thereby enabling coherent superposition charging of the electronic device. Furthermore, because the first charging signal and the at least one second charging signal are transmitted to the electronic device at the same phase, the first charging signal and the at least one second charging signal can achieve optimal coherent superposition, thereby improving charging efficiency.

[0008] In one possible implementation, the method further includes obtaining channel state information between the electronic device and the first charging device. The channel state information includes a transmission phase difference between the transmission channels of the electronic device and the first charging device. Then, in response to the channel state information, a third charging signal is output to the electronic device based on the transmission phase difference. The phase of the third charging signal transmitted to the electronic device is the same as the phase of at least one fourth charging signal transmitted to the electronic device. The at least one fourth charging signal is output by at least one second charging device. In this manner, while ensuring charging efficiency, the first charging device can more quickly adjust the charging signal to an optimal phase based on the transmission phase difference between the transmission channels of the electronic device and the first charging device, further improving the charging efficiency of the electronic device. The above process can be performed in another charging time slot before the charging time slot in which the first charging signal is located. Alternatively, the process can be performed in another charging time slot after the charging time slot in which the first charging signal is located. Alternatively, the output method of the first charging signal and the output method of the third charging signal can be selected based on actual scenario requirements.

[0009] In one possible embodiment, the first charging device includes a phase shifter and an antenna coupled to the phase shifter. The step of outputting a first charging signal to the electronic device in response to the power information includes: sending a first indication signal to the phase shifter based on the phase shift amount of the phase shifter. The phase shift amount is determined based on the power information. The first indication signal is used to instruct the phase shifter to perform phase shift processing on the input RF signal and output the first charging signal. By controlling the phase shifter to perform phase shift processing on the input RF signal based on the phase shift amount determined by the relationship between the power information of the electronic device and the phase of the charging signal, the charging signal output by the first charging device can be more conveniently controlled.

[0010] In one possible implementation, the first charging device and the electronic device can transmit signals via time division duplex (TDD). When the first charging device outputs the first charging signal to the electronic device, it can output the first charging signal after the downlink communication time slot between the first charging device and the electronic device, and stop outputting the first charging signal when the first charging device switches to the uplink communication time slot. In this way, the time period between the downlink communication time slot and the first charging device switching to the uplink communication time slot can be fully utilized to charge the electronic device, thereby improving charging efficiency.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the first charging device and the electronic device can transmit signals via time division duplex (TDD). When the first charging device outputs the first charging signal to the electronic device, it can also output the first charging signal synchronously with the start of the downlink communication time slot between the first charging device and the electronic device, and stop outputting the first charging signal when the first charging device switches to the uplink communication time slot. In this way, the first charging device can charge the electronic device even during the downlink communication time slot, further improving charging efficiency.

[0012] In one possible implementation, the first charging device and the electronic device may transmit signals via frequency division duplex (FDD). When the first charging device outputs the first charging signal to the electronic device, it may continuously output the first charging signal between two communication time slots between the first charging device and the electronic device. In this way, when the first charging device and the electronic device transmit signals via FDD, the first charging device can fully utilize the time period between the two communication time slots to continuously charge the electronic device, thereby improving charging efficiency.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the first charging device and the electronic device can transmit signals via frequency division duplex (FDD). When the first charging device outputs the first charging signal to the electronic device, it can also continuously output the first charging signal throughout the entire transmission cycle between the first charging device and the electronic device. In this way, while the first charging device is communicating with the electronic device, the electronic device can also be charged via the first charging device, further improving charging efficiency.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the first charging device and the electronic device can transmit signals via time division duplexing. Based on this, after the uplink communication time slot between the first charging device and the electronic device, a fifth charging signal can also be output to the electronic device. The phase of the fifth charging signal transmitted to the electronic device is the same as the phase of the at least one sixth charging signal transmitted to the electronic device. The at least one sixth charging signal is output by at least one second charging device. In this way, the first charging device can also charge the electronic device after the uplink communication time slot, thereby better ensuring the power demand of the electronic device.

[0015] In one possible implementation, before the first charging device obtains the power information of the electronic device, the method further includes: receiving a charging instruction from the electronic device. In this manner, the first charging device can output a charging signal to the electronic device after receiving the charging instruction from the electronic device, thereby reducing the power consumption of the first charging device.

[0016] In one possible implementation, when the first charging device outputs a first charging signal to the electronic device, it may first determine the charging priority of the electronic device based on the power information. Then, it may output the first charging signal to the electronic device based on the charging priority. In this way, when there are multiple electronic devices to be charged within the charging range of the first charging device, each electronic device can be charged sequentially based on the charging priority of the electronic device, ensuring the normal operation of the electronic devices while more timely charging the electronic devices that are most in need of charging.

[0017] In a second aspect, a charging method is provided, which can be applied to an electronic device to be charged. The execution process of the method includes: first, the electronic device receives a first charging signal output by a first charging device and at least one second charging signal output by at least one second charging device. The phase of the first charging signal transmitted to the electronic device is the same as the phase of the at least one second charging signal transmitted to the electronic device. Then, the energy storage unit in the electronic device is charged using the first charging signal and the at least one second charging signal.

[0018] In one possible implementation, the first charging device and the electronic device may transmit signals via time division duplexing. When receiving the first charging signal output by the first charging device, the electronic device may receive the first charging signal after the downlink communication time slot between the first charging device and the electronic device, and may stop receiving the first charging signal when the first charging device switches to the uplink communication time slot.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the first charging device and the electronic device may transmit signals via time division duplexing. When receiving the first charging signal output by the first charging device, the electronic device may also synchronously receive the first charging signal at the start of a downlink communication time slot between the first charging device and the electronic device, and stop receiving the first charging signal when the first charging device switches to an uplink communication time slot.

[0020] In one possible implementation, the first charging device and the electronic device may transmit signals via time division duplexing. The electronic device may also receive a fifth charging signal output by the first charging device after the uplink communication time slot between the first charging device and the electronic device. The phase of the fifth charging signal transmitted to the electronic device is the same as the phase of the at least one sixth charging signal transmitted to the electronic device. The at least one sixth charging signal is output by the at least one second charging device.

[0021] In one possible implementation, the first charging device and the electronic device may transmit signals via frequency division duplexing. When the electronic device receives the first charging signal output by the first charging device, it may continuously receive the first charging signal between two communication time slots between the first charging device and the electronic device.

[0022] In one possible implementation, the first charging device and the electronic device may transmit signals via frequency division duplexing. When the electronic device receives the first charging signal output by the first charging device, it may also continue to receive the first charging signal throughout the entire transmission cycle between the first charging device and the electronic device.

[0023] In a third aspect, a charging device is provided, comprising a processor and an antenna. The processor can obtain power information of the electronic device. Then, in response to the power information, it outputs a first charging signal to the antenna. The antenna is configured to output the first charging signal to the electronic device. The phase of the first charging signal transmitted to the electronic device is the same as the phase of at least one second charging signal transmitted to the electronic device. The at least one second charging signal is output by at least one second charging device.

[0024] In a fourth aspect, an electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes an antenna, a charging circuit, and an energy storage unit. The charging circuit is coupled to the antenna, and the energy storage unit is coupled to the charging circuit. The antenna can receive a first charging signal output by a first charging device and at least one second charging signal output by at least one second charging device. The phase of the first charging signal transmitted to the electronic device is the same as the phase of the at least one second charging signal transmitted to the electronic device. The charging circuit can charge the energy storage unit using the first charging signal and the at least one second charging signal.

[0025] In a fifth aspect, a charging system is provided. The charging system includes a first charging device and an electronic device. The first charging device can perform the charging method described in any possible implementation of the first aspect. When the electronic device is connected to the first charging device, it can perform the charging method described in any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0026] The technical effects brought about by the second to fifth aspects mentioned above can be referred to the relevant description of the first aspect mentioned above, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] FIG1 is a schematic structural diagram of a wireless radio frequency communication system;

[0028] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another wireless radio frequency communication system;

[0029] FIG3 is a schematic structural diagram of a charging system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] FIG4 is a schematic structural diagram of another charging system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a collaborative charging according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] FIG6 is a flow chart of a charging method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] FIG7 is a flow chart of another charging method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] FIG8 is a flow chart of another charging method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a charging timing provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] FIG10 is another charging timing diagram provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of another charging timing provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of another charging timing provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] FIG13 is a charging efficiency comparison result diagram provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0041] In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, " / " indicates that the objects associated with each other are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B can mean A or B. "And / or" in this application is merely a description of the association relationship between associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exists simultaneously, and B exists alone. A and B can be singular or plural. Furthermore, in the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" means two or more than two. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or plural. In addition, to facilitate the clear description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, in the embodiments of this application, words such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish between identical or similar items with substantially the same functions and effects. Those skilled in the art will understand that words such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and words such as "first" and "second" do not necessarily limit differences. At the same time, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or explanations. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or design. Specifically, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a concrete way for easy understanding.

[0042] The present application is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments:

[0043] Currently, sensors in the field of IoT technology are generally categorized as passive sensors and active sensors. As shown in Figure 1 , in a wireless RF communication system 100 employing passive sensors 110, many passive sensors 110 utilize RFID technology for communication. When a host 120 needs to communicate with the passive sensor 110, it must activate the passive sensor 110 via an RFID reader / writer 121. However, the activation level of the passive sensor 110 is high, resulting in a short communication range and poor reliability. To improve communication range and reliability, many applications utilize a wireless RF communication system 200 employing active sensors 210, as shown in Figure 2 . When using active sensors 210, the host 220 can communicate directly with the active sensors 210 via a wireless communication module 221. However, many existing active sensors 210 are battery-powered. In practice, this requires frequent manual battery replacement or intermittent charging to maintain normal operation. This approach increases operating costs and compromises service stability.

[0044] To solve this problem, as shown in Figure 3, some solutions propose a charging system 300 that uses wireless radio frequency charging technology to charge electronic devices. The charging system 300 includes a charging device 310 and a wirelessly chargeable electronic device 320. The charging device 310 includes a processor 311 and an antenna 312. When the electronic device 320 needs to be charged, the processor 311 can output a charging signal to the antenna 312, and the charging signal can be output to the electronic device 320 via the antenna 312. The electronic device 320 includes a terminal antenna 321, a charging circuit 322, and an energy storage unit 323. The energy storage unit 323 is coupled to the terminal antenna 321 via the charging circuit 322. When the terminal antenna 321 receives the charging signal, the charging circuit 322 can convert the charging signal into a DC power signal to charge the energy storage unit 323. In the above implementation process, the energy storage unit 323 can be a capacitor, a battery, etc. The processor 311 may be a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a system on chip (SoC), a central processor unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a programmable logic device (PLD), or other integrated chips.

[0045] In some examples, as shown in FIG4 , the charging device 310 may further include a radio frequency (RF) power transmission circuit 313. The RF power transmission circuit 313 is coupled to the processor 311 and the antenna 312, respectively. The RF power transmission circuit 313 may include a digital intermediate frequency (IF) processing unit, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a frequency converter, a power amplifier, and a filter, all connected in sequence. The charging signal output by the processor 311 is converted into a digital signal by the digital IF processing unit. This digital signal is converted into an RF signal by the DAC. The RF signal is then processed sequentially by the DAC, the power amplifier, and the filter to produce the desired output charging signal. This charging signal may be transmitted to the antenna for output. In this manner, the frequency and power of the charging signal can be adjusted according to actual needs. Of course, the RF power transmission circuit described above is merely an example provided in the present embodiment. In actual manufacturing or use, the RF power transmission circuit 313 may also include other components, and the present embodiment does not impose specific limitations on this.

[0046] In some examples, as shown in FIG4 , the charging device 310 may further include a first wireless communication module 314. The first wireless communication module 314 is coupled to the processor 311 and the antenna 312. When the charging device 310 needs to communicate with the electronic device 320, the processor 311 may transmit and receive wireless communication signals to and from the electronic device 320 via the first wireless communication module 314 and the antenna 312.

[0047] In some examples, as still shown in FIG4 , a phase shifter 315 may be further provided between the RF power transmission circuit 313, the first wireless communication module 314, and the antenna 312. The phase shifter 315 may also be coupled to the processor 311. When a charging signal needs to be output, the processor 311 may control the phase shifter 315 by transmitting an instruction signal to perform phase shifting on the input RF signal, thereby outputting a charging signal with a specific phase from the antenna 312.

[0048] In some examples, as shown in FIG4 , the electronic device 320 may further include a second wireless communication module 324 and a DC voltage conversion chip 325. The energy storage unit 323 is coupled to the second wireless communication module 324 via the DC voltage conversion chip 325. The electrical energy stored in the energy storage unit 323 may be converted to a suitable voltage by the DC voltage conversion chip 325 to power the second wireless communication module 324.

[0049] Optionally, as still shown in FIG4 , the electronic device 320 may further include other loads 326. The energy storage unit 323 is further coupled to the other loads 326 via a DC voltage conversion chip 325. The electrical energy stored in the energy storage unit 323 may be converted to a suitable voltage by the DC voltage conversion chip 325 to power the other loads 326. The other loads 326 may include sensors and various components provided in the electronic device.

[0050] Although the aforementioned charging device 310 can charge the electronic device 320, the received power of the RF charging signal sent by a single charging device 310 at an electronic device 10 meters away is only tens of microwatts. This power may not meet the energy consumption requirements of future high-performance wireless sensors. Although some solutions have proposed some physical layer technologies to improve transmission efficiency, such as using multi-antenna systems and more efficient charging circuits, due to the rapid energy decay rate of RF signals, the overall improvement in the transmission performance of a single charging device 310 is very limited. When facing power supply issues in large-scale wireless networks, it is particularly necessary to use multiple charging devices for coordinated charging. To achieve coordinated powering of electronic devices 320, as shown in Figure 5, an embodiment of the present application provides a charging system 500. The charging system 500 includes multiple charging devices 310 as shown in Figure 3 or Figure 4, and at least one electronic device 320 as shown in Figure 3 or Figure 4. In the charging system 500, each charging device 310 can output a charging signal to the electronic device 320 to be charged. However, when multiple charging devices are used for joint transmission, the above-mentioned charging system 500 usually uses a point-to-point transmission method to charge the electronic device 320, which does not fully exploit the broadcast characteristics of the radio frequency signal and ignores the superposition effect of the charging signals of multiple charging devices on a single electronic device. As a result, a lot of transmission energy is wasted. Although some wireless radio frequency charging solutions have proposed real-time resource allocation solutions based on channel state information, such as using energy beamforming and frequency domain power allocation methods to improve energy efficiency, these solutions still have the problem of low charging efficiency.

[0051] In order to solve the above problems, as shown in Figure 6, an embodiment of the present application provides a charging method. The charging method can be applied to the charging system 500 shown in Figure 5. In order to facilitate distinction, the embodiment of the present application divides the multiple charging devices 310 in the charging system 500 into a first charging device 611 and at least one second charging device 612. In particular, the above-mentioned first charging device 611 can be any charging device in the charging system 500, and the embodiment of the present application does not impose specific restrictions on this. The following embodiment of the present application uses the perspective of the first charging device 611 as an example to illustrate the charging method. The execution process of the charging method includes:

[0052] S601: A first charging device receives a charging instruction from an electronic device.

[0053] Among them, the step of obtaining the power information of the electronic device 320 is performed after the first charging device 611 receives the charging instruction from the electronic device 320, which can reduce the standby time of the first charging device 611 and thus reduce the power consumption of the first charging device 611.

[0054] S602: The first charging device obtains power information of the electronic device.

[0055] In one example, after the first charging device 611 establishes a communication connection with the electronic device 320, the first charging device 611 may first send a first communication signal to the electronic device 320. After receiving the first communication signal, the electronic device 320 may send its own power level information to the first charging device 611 via a feedback second communication signal.

[0056] In another example, after the first charging device 611 establishes a communication connection with the electronic device 320, the electronic device 320 may actively send a communication signal to the first charging device 611. The communication signal may carry the power level information of the electronic device 320.

[0057] S603: The first charging device outputs a first charging signal to the electronic device in response to the power information.

[0058] The phase of the first charging signal transmitted to the electronic device 320 is the same as the phase of the at least one second charging signal transmitted to the electronic device 320. The at least one second charging signal is output by the at least one second charging device 612. In this way, the first charging signal output by the first charging device 611 and the at least one second charging signal output by the at least one second charging device 612 are transmitted to the electronic device 320 at the same phase. Therefore, the electronic device 320 can be coherently superimposed and charged by the first charging signal and the at least one second charging signal. At the same time, because the first charging signal and the at least one second charging signal are transmitted to the electronic device 320 at the same phase, the first charging signal and the at least one second charging signal can achieve an optimal coherent superposition effect, thereby improving charging efficiency.

[0059] In the above implementation, the first charging device 611 may be the first charging device in the charging system to establish a communication connection with the electronic device 320. The at least one second charging device 612 may be another charging device other than the first charging device 611 in the charging system.

[0060] In some embodiments, when the first charging device 611 outputs the first charging signal to the electronic device 320 in response to the power information, it may send a first instruction signal to the phase shifter based on the phase shift amount of the phase shifter. The first instruction signal is used to instruct the phase shifter to perform phase shifting on the input RF signal, thereby adjusting the phase of the input RF signal to output the first charging signal from the antenna. The phase shift amount can be determined based on the power information.

[0061] For example, after a first charging device 611 and at least one second charging device 612 are deployed in a certain application scenario, the electronic device 320 can be paired with the first charging device 611 and each second charging device 612 respectively. The pairing can refer to the pairing methods of various wireless communication technologies such as Bluetooth, Zigbee, WiFi, and Near Link, which are not described in detail in this embodiment of the present application. Then, the corresponding relationship between the power level of the electronic device 320 to be charged and the phase of the charging signal output by the first charging device 611 is tested. Finally, based on this corresponding relationship, a lookup table is constructed between the phase shift amount of the phase shifter in the first charging device 611 and the power information of the electronic device 320; alternatively, a calculation method between the phase shift amount of the phase shifter in the first charging device 611 and the power information of the electronic device 320 is determined based on this corresponding relationship. When the first charging device 611 is officially put into use, if the electronic device 320 enters the coverage range of the first charging device 611, the electronic device 320 can establish a communication connection with the first charging device 611. The first charging device 611 can then periodically or periodically obtain the power information of the electronic device 320. Then, based on the power information, the phase shift amount of the phase shifter is determined from a lookup table. Alternatively, the phase shift amount of the phase shifter is calculated according to a confirmed calculation method. Finally, a first indication signal is sent to the phase shifter based on the phase shift amount. To ensure that the charging signals output by the first charging device 611 and at least one second charging device 612 are in phase when transmitted to the electronic device 320, a lookup table linking the phase shift amount of the phase shifter to the power information of the electronic device 320 can be constructed for each second charging device 612 based on the positional relationship between each second charging device 612 and the first charging device 611. Alternatively, a calculation method linking the phase shift amount of the phase shifter in each second charging device 612 to the power information of the electronic device 320 can be determined based on the positional relationship. Then, when each second charging device 612 is officially put into use, if the electronic device 320 enters the coverage range of a second charging device 612, the electronic device 320 can establish a communication connection with the second charging device 612. Then, the second charging device 612 can regularly or periodically obtain the power information of the electronic device 320. Then, the phase shift amount of the phase shifter is determined from a lookup table based on the power information, or the phase shift amount of the phase shifter is calculated according to the confirmed calculation method.

[0062] In some application scenarios (e.g., smart home scenarios, industrial scenarios, etc.), considering that the electronic device 320 to be charged may be in a mobile state, and the first charging device 611 is the first charging device in the charging system to establish a communication connection with the electronic device 320, each charging device in the charging system can store multiple lookup tables or store multiple calculation methods for the phase shift amount of its own phase shifter and the power information of the electronic device 320. At the same time, the first charging device 611 and each second charging device 612 in the charging system can also be connected to each other. Before the first charging device 611 and the electronic device 320 output the first charging signal to the electronic device 320 in response to the acquired power information, each second charging device 612 can be notified. If the electronic device 320 is also within the coverage area of ​​a second charging device 612, after the second charging device 612 obtains the power information of the electronic device 320, it can determine the phase shift amount of the phase shifter from the corresponding lookup table based on its positional relationship with the first charging device 611. Alternatively, the phase shift amount of the phase shifter can be determined according to the corresponding calculation method.

[0063] Of course, the above embodiment is only an exemplary implementation provided by the embodiment of the present application, and the phase shift amount of the phase shifter can also be determined by other methods.

[0064] In one embodiment, considering that the transmission distance between the charging device and the electronic device 320 to be charged can reduce the amplitude of the charging signal, thereby affecting the charging effect, the first charging device 611 and each second charging device 612 can obtain the power level information of the electronic device 320 multiple times. Then, the amplitude and phase of the output charging signal are adjusted based on the two sets of power level information until the optimal charging effect for the electronic device 320 is achieved. If the power level of the subsequent charge is lower than the previous charge, the amplitude of the charging signal output by the first charging device 611 and the second charging device 612 can be increased. If the power level of the subsequent charge is higher than the previous charge multiple times, and each increase in power is greater than the previous charge, but the maximum charging rate has not been reached, the amplitude of the charging signal output by the first charging device 611 and the second charging device 612 can be further increased. If the power level of the subsequent charge is higher than the previous charge, but the charging rate is reduced, the phase of the charging signal output by the first charging device 611 and each second charging device 612 can be adjusted.

[0065] S604: The electronic device receives a first charging signal output by a first charging device and at least one second charging signal output by at least one second charging device.

[0066] The electronic device 320 may receive a first charging signal output by the first charging device 611 and at least one second charging signal output by at least one second charging device 612 via an antenna.

[0067] S605: The electronic device charges the energy storage unit in the electronic device through the first charging signal and at least one second charging signal.

[0068] Among them, after the first charging signal received by the antenna and the at least one second charging signal output by the at least one second charging device 612 are coherently superimposed, the energy storage unit can be charged through the charging circuit in the electronic device 320.

[0069] In one example, the charging circuit may include a rectifier circuit, which can convert the charging signal into a DC signal to charge the energy storage unit.

[0070] In another example, the charging circuit may further include a filter circuit, wherein the filter circuit may be selectively provided at both the input and output ends of the rectifier circuit, thereby enabling more stable charging of the energy storage unit.

[0071] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG7 , when there are multiple electronic devices 320 within the coverage range of the first charging device 611 , S603 may be performed as follows:

[0072] S6031: Determine the charging priority of the electronic device according to the power information.

[0073] In one example, when determining the charging priority of electronic devices 320 based on the power information, the priority can be sorted from highest to lowest based on the remaining power of the electronic devices 320. The electronic devices 320 with the lowest remaining power have a higher charging priority. During charging, the electronic devices 320 with the highest charging priority are charged first.

[0074] The above method for determining charging priority is only an example provided in the embodiments of this application. In actual implementation, other factors that may affect charging priority can be added in combination with actual usage scenarios. For example, ambient temperature, transmission distance, etc., which are not specifically limited in the embodiments of this application.

[0075] S6032: Output a first charging signal according to the charging priority.

[0076] The first charging device 611 can charge the electronic device 320 with the highest priority according to the determined charging priority. To ensure the normal operation of other electronic devices 320, the second charging devices 612 can also be allocated according to the charging priority of each electronic device 320. The specific allocation method can be adjusted based on actual needs and is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0077] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG8 , the charging method may also be performed as follows:

[0078] S801: The first charging device obtains channel status information between the electronic device and the first charging device.

[0079] The channel state information includes a transmission phase difference between the transmission channels of the electronic device 320 and the first charging device 611 .

[0080] In one example, after the first charging device 611 establishes a communication connection with the electronic device 320, the first charging device 611 may first send a test signal to the electronic device 320. Then, after receiving the test signal, the electronic device 320 sends a feedback signal to the first charging device 611. Finally, the first charging device 611 compares the feedback signal with a preset reference signal to determine the channel state information between the electronic device 320 and the first charging device 611. The reference signal is the original signal output by the antenna of the electronic device 320. Because the transmission channel between the first charging device 611 and the electronic device 320 is affected by the transmission distance, there may be a phase difference between the feedback signal actually received by the first charging device 611 and the original signal output by the antenna of the electronic device 320. Therefore, by comparing the two signals, the phase difference between the two signals can be determined, thereby determining the channel state information between the electronic device 320 and the first charging device 611.

[0081] In another example, after the first charging device 611 establishes a communication connection with the electronic device 320, it may also proactively send a test signal to the first charging device 611. The first charging device 611 may compare the received test signal with a preset reference signal to determine the phase difference between the two signals, thereby determining the channel state information between the electronic device 320 and the first charging device 611.

[0082] S802: In response to the channel state information, output a third charging signal to the electronic device according to the transmission phase difference.

[0083] The phase of the third charging signal transmitted to the electronic device 320 is the same as the phase of the at least one fourth charging signal transmitted to the electronic device 320. The at least one fourth charging signal is output by the at least one second charging device 612.

[0084] In some embodiments, the transmission distance between the first charging device 611 and the electronic device 320 may reduce the amplitude of the charging signal. Therefore, the channel state information may also include signal amplitude loss in the transmission channel between the first charging device 611 and the electronic device 320. When outputting the third charging signal, the amplitude of the third charging signal may be increased based on this signal amplitude loss.

[0085] In the above implementation, S801-S802 in Figure 8 and S602-S603 in Figures 5 or 6 are parallel solutions. In actual use, you can choose to execute either one. However, in some scenarios, S801-S802 can also be executed before S602 or after S603. In this way, the charging signal can be more accurately adjusted to the optimal phase.

[0086] Furthermore, in order to further improve the charging efficiency of the electronic device 320, the embodiments of the present application further provide a targeted design for the output timing of the charging signal based on any of the charging methods in FIG. 6 to FIG. 8 . The specific contents include the following examples:

[0087] Example 1

[0088] In one embodiment, the first charging device 611 and the electronic device 320 can transmit signals via time division duplexing. Specifically, when the first charging device 611 outputs the first charging signal to the electronic device 320, it can output the first charging signal after the downlink communication time slot between the first charging device 611 and the electronic device 320, and cease outputting the first charging signal when the first charging device 611 switches to the uplink communication time slot. Furthermore, the first charging device 611 can output a fifth charging signal to the electronic device 320 after the uplink communication time slot between the first charging device 611 and the electronic device 320. The phase of the fifth charging signal transmitted to the electronic device 320 is the same as the phase of the at least one sixth charging signal transmitted to the electronic device 320. The at least one sixth charging signal is output by the at least one second charging device 612.

[0089] For example, as shown in FIG9 , when the first charging device 611 and the electronic device 320 transmit signals via time division duplex (TDD), the first charging device 611 may transmit a TD communication signal to the electronic device 320 during the TD communication time slot (time t1 to time t2). This TD communication signal may be a broadcast signal or a control signal, such as the first communication signal described above. Subsequently, the first charging device 611 outputs a first charging signal during the period (i.e., time t2 to time t3) after the TD communication time slot (i.e., after time t2) until the first charging device 611 switches to the TD communication time slot (i.e., time t3). Subsequently, the first charging device 611 switches from the TD communication time slot to the TD communication time slot between time t3 and time t4. Subsequently, the first charging device 611 receives the TD communication signal sent by the electronic device 320 during the TD communication time slot (i.e., time t4 to time t5). This communication signal includes the identity information of the electronic device 320, information detected by the sensor, and the power level of the electronic device 320. Subsequently, the first charging device 611 outputs a fifth charging signal between time t5 and time t6. Next, the first charging device 611 and the electronic device 320 switch time slots from time t6 to time t7. Finally, another uplink communication signal is sent from the electronic device 320 to the first charging device 611 from time t7 to time t8.

[0090] Example 2

[0091] In one embodiment, when the first charging device 611 and the electronic device 320 can transmit signals in a time division duplex manner, the first charging device 611 can also synchronously output the first charging signal at the beginning of the downlink communication time slot between the first charging device 611 and the electronic device 320, and stop outputting the first charging signal when the first charging device 611 switches the uplink communication time slot. For example, as shown in Figure 10, the first charging device 611 can transmit a downlink communication signal to the electronic device 320 in the downlink communication time slot (time t1 to time t2). At the same time, the first charging device 611 outputs the first charging signal from time t1 to time t3. The subsequent process is similar to Figure 9 and will not be described in detail here.

[0092] Example 3

[0093] In one embodiment, the first charging device 611 and the electronic device 320 may transmit signals via frequency division duplex (FDD), wherein the first charging device 611 may continuously output the first charging signal between two communication time slots between the first charging device 611 and the electronic device 320 .

[0094] For example, as shown in FIG11 , the first charging device 611 can transmit uplink and downlink communication signals with the electronic device 320 during the first uplink and downlink communication time slot (time t1 to time t2), that is, the first charging device 611 can send a downlink communication signal to the electronic device 320, and the electronic device 320 can also send an uplink communication signal to the first charging device 611. Next, the first charging device 611 can continuously output a first charging signal to the electronic device 320 during the time period between the first uplink and downlink communication time slot and the second uplink and downlink communication time slot (time t2 to time t3). Then, the first charging device 611 can transmit uplink and downlink communication signals with the electronic device 320 during the second uplink and downlink communication time slot (time t3 to time t4). Finally, the first charging device 611 can continuously output another charging signal (the nth charging signal) to the electronic device 320 during the time period (time t4 to time t5) between the second uplink and downlink communication time slot and the third uplink and downlink communication time slot (time t5 to time t6).

[0095] Example 4

[0096] In one embodiment, when the first charging device 611 and the electronic device 320 transmit signals via frequency division duplex (FDD), the first charging device 611 may also continuously output the first charging signal during the entire transmission cycle between the first charging device 611 and the electronic device 320. For example, as shown in FIG12 , the first charging device 611 may transmit uplink and downlink communication signals to the electronic device 320 in the first uplink and downlink communication time slot (from time t1 to time t2), the second uplink and downlink communication time slot (from time t3 to time t4), and the third uplink and downlink communication time slot (from time t5 to time t6). At the same time, the first charging device 611 may output the first charging signal during the entire transmission cycle (from time t1 to time t6).

[0097] In the above implementation process, the third uplink and downlink communication time slot (time t5 to time t6) can be selectively set according to actual needs.

[0098] Furthermore, in order to verify the reliability of the charging method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application also compared various charging methods through a charging system provided with four charging devices 310 and one electronic device 320. Among them, the charging methods adopted include: charging with a single charging device (a in Figure 13), incoherent charging of four charging devices (b in Figure 13), and coherent charging of four charging devices using the charging method provided in the embodiment of the present application (c in Figure 13). The final verification result is shown in Figure 13. It can be seen from Figure 13 that the charging efficiency and charging power of the incoherent charging of four charging devices are higher than those of charging of a single charging device. The charging efficiency and charging power of the charging method provided in the present application are higher than those of the incoherent charging of four charging devices. Therefore, the improvement of charging efficiency by the charging method provided in the embodiment of the present application is very obvious.

[0099] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0100] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the modules and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0101] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and modules described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0102] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of modules is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple modules or components can be combined or integrated into another device, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0103] Modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and components shown as modules may or may not be physical modules, that is, they may be located on a single device or distributed across multiple devices. Some or all of these modules may be selected to achieve the objectives of this embodiment based on actual needs.

[0104] In addition, the functional modules in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one device, or each module may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into one device.

[0105] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. The above description is only a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art who can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application shall be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A charging method, characterized in that: Applied to a first charging device, the method includes: Get the power information of electronic devices; In response to the power information, a first charging signal is output to the electronic device; wherein a phase of the first charging signal transmitted to the electronic device is the same as a phase of at least one second charging signal transmitted to the electronic device; and the at least one second charging signal is output by at least one second charging device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Acquire channel status information between the electronic device and the first charging device; the channel status information includes a transmission phase difference between the transmission channels of the electronic device and the first charging device; In response to the channel state information, a third charging signal is output to the electronic device according to the transmission phase difference; wherein the phase of the third charging signal transmitted to the electronic device is the same as the phase of at least one fourth charging signal transmitted to the electronic device; and the at least one fourth charging signal is output by the at least one second charging device.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The first charging device includes a phase shifter and an antenna coupled to the phase shifter; In response to the power information, the step of outputting a first charging signal to the electronic device includes: A first indication signal is sent to the phase shifter according to the phase shift amount of the phase shifter; wherein the phase shift amount is determined according to the power information; and the first indication signal is used to instruct the phase shifter to perform phase shift processing on the input RF signal and output the first charging signal.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The first charging device transmits signals to the electronic device in a time division duplex manner; and in response to the power information, the step of outputting a first charging signal to the electronic device comprises: The first charging signal is output after the downlink communication time slot between the first charging device and the electronic device, and the output of the first charging signal is stopped when the first charging device switches to the uplink communication time slot.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The first charging device communicates with the electronic device via time division duplex; and in response to the power information, the step of outputting a first charging signal to the electronic device comprises: The first charging signal is synchronously output when the downlink communication time slot between the first charging device and the electronic device starts, and the output of the first charging signal is stopped when the first charging device switches to the uplink communication time slot.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The first charging device transmits signals to the electronic device in a frequency division duplex manner; and in response to the power information, the step of outputting a first charging signal to the electronic device comprises: The first charging signal is continuously outputted between two communication time slots between the first charging device and the electronic device.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The first charging device transmits signals to the electronic device in a frequency division duplex manner; and in response to the power information, the step of outputting a first charging signal to the electronic device comprises: The first charging signal is continuously outputted during the entire transmission cycle between the first charging device and the electronic device.

8. The method according to claims 1-5, characterized in that: The first charging device and the electronic device transmit signals in a time division duplex manner; the method further includes: After the uplink communication time slot between the first charging device and the electronic device, a fifth charging signal is output to the electronic device; wherein the phase of the fifth charging signal transmitted to the electronic device is the same as the phase of at least one sixth charging signal transmitted to the electronic device; and the at least one sixth charging signal is output by the at least one second charging device.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: Before acquiring the power information of the electronic device, the method further includes: receiving a charging instruction from the electronic device.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: In response to the power information, the step of outputting a first charging signal to the electronic device further includes: Determining a charging priority of the electronic device according to the power information; The first charging signal is output according to the charging priority.

11. A charging method, characterized in that: Applied to electronic equipment, the method comprises: Receiving a first charging signal output by a first charging device and at least one second charging signal output by at least one second charging device; wherein a phase of the first charging signal transmitted to the electronic device is the same as a phase of the at least one second charging signal transmitted to the electronic device; The energy storage unit in the electronic device is charged by the first charging signal and the at least one second charging signal.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The first charging device and the electronic device transmit signals in a time division duplex manner; the step of receiving a first charging signal output by the first charging device and at least one second charging signal output by at least one second charging device comprises: The first charging signal is received after the downlink communication time slot between the first charging device and the electronic device, and the reception of the first charging signal is stopped when the first charging device switches to the uplink communication time slot.

13. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The first charging device and the electronic device transmit signals in a time division duplex manner; the step of receiving a first charging signal output by the first charging device and at least one second charging signal output by at least one second charging device comprises: The first charging signal is synchronously received when the downlink communication time slot between the first charging device and the electronic device starts, and the reception of the first charging signal is stopped when the first charging device switches to the uplink communication time slot.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that: The first charging device and the electronic device transmit signals in a time division duplex manner; the method further includes: After the uplink communication time slot between the first charging device and the electronic device, a fifth charging signal output by the first charging device is received; wherein the phase of the fifth charging signal transmitted to the electronic device is the same as the phase of at least one sixth charging signal transmitted to the electronic device; and the at least one sixth charging signal is output by the at least one second charging device.

15. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The first charging device and the electronic device transmit signals in a frequency division duplex manner; the step of receiving a first charging signal output by the first charging device and at least one second charging signal output by at least one second charging device comprises: The first charging signal is continuously received between two communication time slots between the first charging device and the electronic device.

16. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The first charging device and the electronic device transmit signals in a frequency division duplex manner; the step of receiving a first charging signal output by the first charging device and at least one second charging signal output by at least one second charging device comprises: The first charging signal is continuously received during the entire transmission cycle between the first charging device and the electronic device.

17. A charging device, characterized in that: include: processor and antenna; The processor is configured to obtain power information of the electronic device and output a first charging signal to the antenna in response to the power information; The antenna is used to output the first charging signal to the electronic device; wherein the phase of the first charging signal transmitted to the electronic device is the same as the phase of at least one second charging signal transmitted to the electronic device; and the at least one second charging signal is output by at least one second charging device.

18. An electronic device, characterized in that: It includes an antenna; a charging circuit coupled to the antenna; and an energy storage unit coupled to the charging circuit; The antenna is used to receive a first charging signal output by a first charging device and at least one second charging signal output by at least one second charging device; wherein a phase of the first charging signal transmitted to the electronic device is the same as a phase of the at least one second charging signal transmitted to the electronic device; The charging circuit is used to charge the energy storage unit through the first charging signal and the at least one second charging signal.

19. A charging system, characterized in that: including a first charging device and an electronic device; The first charging device is used to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10; The electronic device is connected to the first charging device and is used to execute the method described in any one of claims 11-16.

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