Power supply determination method using data arrival time

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a wireless power supply controller that has an information acquisition function for acquiring a transmission duration for data from a power receiver that operates using wireless power supply and power supplied from a supply source other than the wireless power supply, a power supply determination function for determining the need for power supply to the power receiver on the basis of the acquired transmission duration, and a wireless power supply command function for giving a command for wireless power supply to the power receiver on the basis of the determination.

Description

Power supply decision method using data arrival time

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a technology for supplying power to a large number of sensors using natural energy or the like in combination with wireless power supply without replacing batteries or connecting power cables.

[0002] In recent years, Society 5.0 has been proposed, aiming to realize a smart society by installing a huge number of IoT devices in various places in everyday spaces and using a wide variety of sensing data. Realizing Society 5.0 requires a huge number of IoT devices, and one of the problems is power supply to IoT devices. When using chemical batteries as a power source, it is difficult to utilize a large number of them due to various reasons, such as the cost of battery inspection and replacement, the environmental impact of battery production and disposal, and the shortage of rare resources such as rare metals used in batteries. Energy harvesting technology (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as "EH"), which harvests energy from the surrounding environment and uses it as power, has attracted attention as a technology to solve this problem. Using EH technology eliminates the need for chemical batteries and enables semi-permanent use of IoT devices over their lifetime. Among EH technologies, wireless power transfer, which can provide stable power supply in various locations, and a hybrid system using EH as a power source for IoT devices are being investigated [see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1].

[0003] In order to effectively utilize the minute amount of power generated by energy harvesting, a terminal may be used that repeats intermittent operation, such as turning the power off to store power, rather than constantly turning the power on for sensing, and once the reference power for one sensing and data transmission has been stored, turning the power on to perform sensing and data transmission only once, and then turning the power off again to store power.

[0004] It is desirable that the cycle of intermittent operation can be set for each terminal depending on the purpose of use, etc. For example, intermittent operation at least once every 30 minutes or at least once every three hours. For this reason, it is required to continue collecting sensing data while always satisfying the intermittent operation cycle determined by the user.

[0005] However, wireless power supply requires wireless resources, which means there is a limit to the amount of power that can be supplied. Therefore, a method is needed to efficiently supply wireless power to terminals that require power supply using limited wireless resources.

[0006] C. Fu et al. , “Throughput Maximization in Wireless Communication Systems Powered by Hybrid Energy Harvesting,” IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN OF INTEGRATED CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS, VOL. 41, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2022.

[0007] The method proposed in the existing research in Non-Patent Document 1 has achieved maximization of the throughput of a hybrid-type terminal. However, Non-Patent Document 1 treats the power generated by wireless power transfer (WPT) and energy harvesting (EH) as known or presumable to some extent, and therefore cannot be applied to systems in which the power generated by the terminal cannot be determined.

[0008] By using a device that has a mechanism for simultaneously collecting the power generated within the device and sensing data, it becomes possible to grasp the power generated by the device, and therefore it is possible to efficiently supply wireless power to devices that require power.However, since general IoT devices do not have the function to transmit the power generated by the device, there is a problem in that it is not possible to efficiently supply wireless power to devices that require power.

[0009] Therefore, this disclosure proposes a new method for estimating the power generated within a terminal in order to efficiently wirelessly supply power to a terminal that requires power even when a general IoT terminal that does not have the function of transmitting the power generated by the terminal is used.The proposed method estimates the power generated within the terminal and wirelessly supplies power to the terminal that requires power, thereby enabling efficient wireless power supply.

[0010] Specifically, the system of the present disclosure includes a plurality of power receivers that operate using power supplied wirelessly and power supplied from a source other than the wireless power supply, and a wireless power supply controller that controls the wireless power supply to the plurality of power receivers.

[0011] The wireless power supply controller has an information acquisition function that acquires the transmission time of data from a power receiver that operates using wireless power supply and power supplied from a supply source other than the wireless power supply, a power supply determination function that determines whether or not power supply to the power receiver is necessary based on the acquired transmission time, and a wireless power supply instruction function that instructs wireless power supply to the power receiver based on the determination.

[0012] The wireless power supply controller executes a power supply determination method according to the present disclosure, in which a processor acquires transmission times of data from a power receiver that operates using power supplied wirelessly and power supplied from a power supply source other than the wireless power supply, determines whether power supply to the power receiver is necessary based on the acquired transmission times, and instructs the power receiver to wirelessly supply power based on the determination.

[0013] The wireless power supply controller may be realized by a computer and a program. For example, the program of the present disclosure causes a computer to execute the steps of acquiring a transmission time of data from a power receiver that operates using wireless power supply and power supplied from a power supply source other than the wireless power supply, determining whether power supply to the power receiver is necessary based on the acquired transmission time, and instructing the power receiver to start wireless power supply based on the determination.

[0014] The power supply determination function may calculate an estimate of the power generated in the power receiver using information on the transmission interval of data sent from the power receiver and the reference power required for intermittent operation in the power receiver, and determine whether power supply to the power receiver is necessary based on the estimate of the generated power.

[0015] The above disclosures can be combined as much as possible.

[0016] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to efficiently wirelessly supply power to a general IoT terminal that does not have a function for transmitting power generated by the terminal.

[0017] 1 shows an example of the configuration of an EH hybrid wireless terminal. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of intermittent operation. FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram illustrating an overview of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is an example of an embodiment of a system of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 is an example of an embodiment of a power receiver. FIG. 6 is an example of an embodiment of a control server. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of an operation performed by the system of the present embodiment. FIG. 8 is an example of an information accumulation and update method performed by an information acquisition function. FIG. 9 is an example of a power supply determination method performed by a power supply determination function. FIG. 10 is an example of an embodiment of a system of the present disclosure. FIG. 11 is an example of an embodiment of a system of the present disclosure. FIG. 12 is an example of a generated power estimation method performed by a power supply determination function.

[0018] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments shown below. These implementation examples are merely illustrative, and the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms with various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. Note that components with the same reference numerals in this specification and drawings indicate the same components.

[0019] (EH Hybrid Wireless Terminal) Fig. 1 shows an example of the configuration of an EH hybrid wireless terminal. A power receiver 81 is an EH hybrid wireless terminal that operates using power supplied by wireless power feeding and power supplied from a power supply source other than wireless power feeding.

[0020] The EH resource 101 is a resource source before power conversion by the EH. For example, if the EH is a solar power generation system, this corresponds to sunlight or lighting. If it is a wind power generation system, this corresponds to natural wind blowing around the power receiver 81. The EH function 11 outputs power using the EH resource 101. The power transmitter 82 is a device that emits radio waves for power supply used to convert radio waves into power. The wireless power supply function 12 outputs power using the radio waves from the power transmitter 82. The capacitor 103 has a storage function that stores the power generated by the wireless power supply function 12 and the EH function 11 within the power receiver 81 and a discharge function that uses the power for data transmission. The communication function 43 refers to a function that transmits data to the outside.

[0021] In Non-Patent Document 1, it is assumed that when power is being supplied from the power transmitter 82 to the power receiver 81, data transmission from the power receiver 81 to an external access point (AP) 85 is not possible, and therefore there is a trade-off between the power generated by WPT power supply and data transmission (throughput). Therefore, in the case of a hybrid power supply, a method for optimizing wireless power supply scheduling to maximize the throughput at the power receiver 81 end was obtained through simulation. In a configuration with a single power receiver 81, this can also be rephrased as "maximizing throughput = satisfying the intermittent operation cycle."

[0022] However, when there are many power receivers 81, maximizing throughput and maximizing the number of power receivers that satisfy the intermittent operation requirements are completely different indicators, so the optimization method of Non-Patent Document 1 cannot maximize the number of terminals that satisfy the intermittent operation requirements. Furthermore, in Non-Patent Document 1, the amount of power input from the EH function 11 to the capacitor 103 is assumed to be known or is estimated based on past input power amounts, and to prevent overly optimistic estimation, the estimated value is multiplied by γ (0 < γ < 1) to create a gradient for use. No system has been realized for using the power generated by the power receiver 81 as known or estimated, so some mechanism for acquiring information on the power generated by the power receiver 81 is required.

[0023] 2 shows an example of intermittent operation. When power equivalent to reference power P is stored in capacitor 103, IoT terminal 104 starts up, performs sensing, and transmits data. In this way, IoT terminal 104 performs intermittent operation that repeats a period of storing power in capacitor 103 and a period of power consumption by IoT terminal 104. In IoT terminal 104, the storage period and the power consumption period are repeated at an intermittent operation cycle T.

[0024] The power receiver 81 must complete charging up to the reference power P within the intermittent operation cycle T. This is one of the requirements for intermittent operation. However, the power obtained by the EH function 11 is unstable. For this reason, it is possible that the power obtained by the EH function 11 alone is not enough to charge up to the reference power P within the intermittent operation cycle T, and in this case, the intermittent operation cycle T may not be as desired by the user. In such a case, by using the wireless power supply function 12, it is possible to charge up to the reference power P within the intermittent operation cycle T.

[0025] It is also conceivable that the wireless power feeding control unit can estimate the generated power of the power receiver 81 by collecting information on the generated power inside the power receiver 81 simultaneously with sensing, and determine whether each power receiver 81 satisfies the requirements for intermittent operation. However, when using a power receiver 81 that does not have a function for acquiring the generated power inside the power receiver 81, there is no method for estimating the generated power, and there is a problem in that it is not possible to determine whether each power receiver 81 can perform intermittent operation.

[0026] (Outline of the Present Disclosure) Fig. 3 shows an outline of the present disclosure. The system of the present disclosure includes a power transmitter 82, N power receivers 81, an external AP 85, a data storage 84, and a wireless power supply controller 83. The power receiver 81 of the present disclosure includes an IoT terminal 104 that periodically transmits data. The data transmitted by the IoT terminal 104 is arbitrary, but the present disclosure illustrates an example in which the IoT terminal 104 periodically transmits sensing data.

[0027] The wireless power supply controller 83 of the present disclosure has a function of calculating the power generated by the power receiver 81 based on arrival time information of the sensing data and the reference power required for intermittent operation, and estimating IoT terminals 104 that do not satisfy the intermittent operation cycle. The estimation in the wireless power supply controller 83 estimates the current power generated by the power receiver 81 at a coarse granularity based on the interval between update times of the sensing data and the reference power information required for intermittent operation. The wireless power supply controller 83 wirelessly supplies power to the power receiver 81 that is estimated not to satisfy the intermittent operation cycle. In this way, the system of the present disclosure achieves highly efficient wireless power supply.

[0028] (Power transmitter 82) is a wireless communication device that wirelessly supplies power to the power receiver 81. Non-Patent Document 1 discusses wireless power supply using a communication device, but in the present disclosure, a device that simply transmits wireless signals may be used. There are no restrictions on the wireless communication standard used, and various communication standards, such as 4G / 5G base stations and Wi-Fi wireless APs, can be applied.

[0029] (Power receiver 81) The power receiver 81 is an IoT terminal 104 that operates intermittently using wireless power feeding and energy harvesting (EH) other than wireless power feeding as a power source. The IoT terminal 104 has an intermittent operation function that periodically transmits data to an external AP 85. When a new power receiver 81 is installed and used, the user registers the reference power required for intermittent operation and the intermittent operation cycle information that must be met in the data storage 84, linking them to the power receiver 81.

[0030] The power receiver 81 includes an energy harvesting (EH) function 11, a wireless power supply function 12, a power storage / discharge function 13, and an IoT terminal 104. The EH function 11 has a power supply function using energy harvesting (EH) technology other than wireless power supply. For example, a solar cell is used. The wireless power supply function 12 has a function of receiving radio waves transmitted from the power transmitter 82 and storing the power in the power storage / discharge function 13. The power storage / discharge function 13 stores the power supplied from the EH function 11 and the wireless power supply function 12. In this embodiment, the power storage / discharge function 13 can use a physical battery such as a capacitor instead of a chemical battery. The power storage / discharge function 13 has a storage function for storing the power generated by the wireless power supply function 12 and the EH function 11 within the power receiver 81 and a discharge function for using the power as a power source for the IoT terminal 104.

[0031] The IoT terminal 104 is any device that performs intermittent operation. Data transmitted from the IoT terminal 104 can be broadly divided into a sensing function, a data processing function, and a data transmission function. In this disclosure, an example is shown in which the IoT terminal 104 periodically acquires sensing data using the sensing function. The sensing function corresponds to, for example, a temperature sensor, a microcomputer, a BLE communication module, etc.

[0032] The IoT terminal 104 completes sensing and data transmission in an extremely short time when the reference power is stored in the power storage / discharge function 13. The main power source is the EH function 11, and the wireless power supply function 12 provides support when the generated power decreases.

[0033] (External AP 85) The external AP 85 has the function of receiving sensing data from each of the N power receivers 81 and transmitting the data to an appropriate destination (data / information storage unit). In the present disclosure, an example is shown in which the external AP 85 transfers sensing data from the IoT terminal 104. The external AP 85 can be any wireless communication base station capable of transferring sensing data from the IoT terminal 104. Although there are no fundamental limitations on the external AP 85, when utilizing EH, an AP that uses a low-power wireless communication standard and actually exchanges data with the power receiver 81 can be considered. For example, this is an AP such as BLE or LPWA / SigFox.

[0034] (Data storage 84) This has the function of storing sensing data, reference power of the power receiver, requirements for the intermittent operation cycle, installation location information, and the like.

[0035] (Wireless power supply controller 83) This controller is responsible for estimating, among the N power receivers 81, which power receivers 81 cannot satisfy the intermittent operation cycle with the currently generated power and therefore require wireless power supply. The physical device corresponds to a general-purpose server. The wireless power supply controller 83 may be realized by a processor executing a software program running inside the control server 88. Specifically, the processor executes a generated power estimation method using data arrival time. In this method, the processor derives the generated power per unit time between times by dividing the reference power required for the intermittent operation of a certain power receiver 81 by the time difference between the latest sensing data and the data immediately before it.

[0036] When wireless power feeding is performed without any consideration, a method of supplying power evenly to all power receivers 81#1 to 81#N can be considered. This method is inefficient because wireless power is fed even to power receivers 81 that satisfy the intermittent operation cycle. By using the present disclosure, it is possible to estimate IoT terminals 104 that require wireless power feeding and efficiently feed wireless power without making any special modifications to the power receivers 81 (without acquiring the power generated by each EH). Therefore, even when using a general intermittent operation terminal, it is possible to maximize the number of IoT terminals 104 that satisfy the required intermittent operation cycle.

[0037] 4 shows an example of a system configuration according to the present disclosure. The system according to the present disclosure includes a power transmitter 82, a power receiver 81, a wireless access point (AP) 85, a control server 88, and an IoT data infrastructure 87. The control server 88 includes a wireless power supply controller 83 and a data storage 84.

[0038] The user places the power receiver 81 in the location where it will actually be used and performs initial settings. The system disclosed herein may have a management terminal 89 that can be managed by the user. The management terminal 89 has a function of registering, in the control server 88, the reference power required for the intermittent operation of the power receiver 81 and information about the intermittent operation cycle that must be satisfied. For example, when a new power receiver 81 is placed and initial settings are performed, the reference power and intermittent operation cycle are linked to the power receiver 81 and registered in the control server 88.

[0039] The IoT data infrastructure 87 has a function of storing sensing data transmitted from the power receiver 81. This generally corresponds to a data center. The IoT data infrastructure 87 refers to a data storage device for storing, updating, and utilizing sensing data transmitted from the power receiver 81. For example, this corresponds to a data center or a group of private general-purpose server devices. In addition to sensing data, internal information of the power receiver may also be stored, or the information may be stored in data storage within the control server rather than in the cloud infrastructure. In this case, data is transmitted directly from the external AP 85 to the control server 88.

[0040] The power transmitter 82 has a communication function (not shown) for communicating with the control server 88 and wirelessly feeding power to each power receiver 81. The power transmitter 82 receives instructions from the wireless power feeding controller 83 and feeds power to the power receiver 81 wirelessly.

[0041] The power transmitter 82 is a device that transmits wireless signals. The power transmitter 82 can be any device that can transmit wireless signals, and can be, for example, a base station, an external AP, or a wireless power supply. Wireless communication base stations and APs correspond to various licensed and unlicensed communication standards, such as 4G / 5G, local 5G / LPWA / Wi-Fi, and are existing wireless communication devices. The wireless power supply is a device that simply transmits radio waves, and corresponds to a wireless power supply in a wireless power transmission system specified by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

[0042] The control server 88 has a function of estimating the IoT terminals 104 that require wireless power feeding by using the sensing time information and reference power information of intermittent operation of each power receiver 81. It also has a function of sending a wireless power feeding instruction to the power transmitter 82. These functions are executed by a wireless power feeding controller 83, which is software. The control server 88 may have a data storage function for holding information on the power receiver 81, or may acquire the information each time from another data storage such as an IoT data platform 87 (a server on the cloud). There are no particular restrictions on the format of information acquisition and storage.

[0043] 5 shows an example configuration of a power receiver 81 according to the present disclosure. The power receiver 81 includes a power utilization unit 14 that functions as an IoT terminal 104. The power utilization unit 14 operates intermittently using wireless power feeding and energy harvesting (EH) other than wireless power feeding as a power source. The power utilization unit 14 includes a sensing function 41, a data transmission function 42, and a communication function 43.

[0044] The EH function 11 has the function of generating power by energy harvesting (EH) other than wireless power supply. This applies to various EH technologies, such as solar cells, small wind power generation, vibration power generation, and temperature difference power generation. While the figure shows one, having multiple EH functions is not essential, so there is no problem even if multiple EH functions are included. It is necessary to have at least one EH. When multiple EHs are used, the present invention estimates the combined generated power.

[0045] The wireless power supply function 12 has a function of converting radio waves from a power transmitter 82 into electric power. This is a technology in which the radio waves are received by an antenna, rectified by an electric / electronic circuit, and then used as DC power, and is generally called a rectenna.

[0046] The power storage / discharge function 13 stores the power generated by the wireless power supply function 12 and the EH function 11 and uses it as power for sensing and data transmission. The power storage / discharge function 13 can use a physical battery called a capacitor instead of a chemical battery. Only when a reference power P, which differs for each power receiver 81, is stored, can the entire power utilization unit 14 of the power receiver be activated using that power. After sensing and data transmission are completed, the power receiver 81 is powered off and remains powered off until the reference power P is stored again.

[0047] The power utilization unit 14 has a sensing function 41 for performing sensing. The power utilization unit 14 generally includes various sensing devices such as a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor. The sensing data is immediately passed to a data transmission function 42. The data transmission function 42 has a function for transmitting the sensing data. The sensing data and the terminal internal information may be sent together as a single data from the communication function 43, or may be sent at separate times.

[0048] The external AP 85 has a communication function for transmitting the sensing data sent from the power receiver 81 to the IoT data infrastructure 87 or the control server 88. When the IoT data infrastructure 87 is not used, the external AP 85 sends the sensing data to the control server.

[0049] 6 shows an example configuration of a control server 88 according to the present disclosure. The control server 88 includes a wireless power supply controller 83, a data storage 84, and a communication function 86. The communication function 86 has a communication function for communicating with external communication devices. The wireless power supply controller 83 includes a power supply determination function 31, a wireless power supply instruction function 32, and an information acquisition function 33.

[0050] The information acquisition function 33 acquires the transmission time of the data from the power receiver 81. Specifically, the information acquisition function 33 periodically accesses the IoT data infrastructure 87 to acquire time information of the sensing data, and if there is an update, accumulates and updates the time information in the data storage 84. As a result, the data storage 84 stores the arrival time C of the sensing data. Ｍ "Data arrival time information" is stored.

[0051] If there is an update in the IoT data infrastructure 87, and if the infrastructure side is the origin and the time information is transmitted to the control server 88, the information acquisition function 33 has the function of storing and updating the transmitted time information in the data storage. This function also has the function of storing in the data storage the reference power required for the intermittent operation of a power receiver newly installed by the user and information on the intermittent operation cycle that the power receiver must satisfy.

[0052] The data storage 84 further stores internal information of the power receiver 81. The internal information of the power receiver 81 includes any information used to determine whether a specific power receiver 81 requires wireless power feeding, such as reference power and intermittent cycle information. The data storage 84 may or may not store information groups other than the reference power and intermittent cycle information.

[0053] The data storage 84 may be provided in the control server 88 in which the wireless power supply controller 83 is implemented, or may be located in a separate dedicated control server. Furthermore, information may be acquired directly from the IoT data infrastructure 87 without using the data storage 84. In this case, the information acquisition function 33 is not necessary.

[0054] The power supply determination function 31 determines whether or not power needs to be supplied to the power receiver 81 based on the transmission time acquired by the information acquisition function 33. For example, the power supply determination function 31 determines an estimated value G of power generated by the power receiver 81 using information on the transmission interval of data transmitted from the power receiver 81 and the reference power required for intermittent operation of the power receiver 81. Ｍ Then, the power supply determination function 31 calculates the estimated value G Ｍ Based on this, it is determined whether or not power needs to be supplied to the power receiver 81.

[0055] The wireless power feeding instruction function 32 instructs the power receiver 81 to feed power wirelessly based on the determination made by the power feeding determination function 31. Specifically, the wireless power feeding instruction function 32 transmits a power feeding instruction to the power transmitter 82 to perform wireless power feeding to the power receiver 81 that has been determined to require power feeding.

[0056] FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation performed by the system of this embodiment. Details of the estimation method will be described in a flowchart. Step S11: When a certain amount of power accumulates in the power storage / discharge function 13, the power receivers 81#1 to 81#N are turned on and transmit sensing data to the IoT data infrastructure 87 via the external AP 85. Step S12: The information acquisition function 33 in the control server 88 periodically or randomly acquires sensing data arrival time information for each power receiver 81 from the IoT data infrastructure 87. The acquired time information is compared with the information in the data storage 84 for each power receiver 81, and if there is an update, the information in the data storage 84 is updated. Step S13: The power supply determination function 31 in the control server periodically acquires sensing data arrival time information and reference power from each power receiver in the data storage 84. Based on this information, the current generated power of each power receiver is estimated, and the power receivers 81 that require wireless power supply are identified. A wireless power supply instruction is sent to the transmitter to wirelessly supply power to the power receivers that are estimated to require wireless power supply. Step S14: The power transmitter performs line power feeding using the power receiver that requires power feeding and the power receiver's location information received from the wireless power feeding controller.

[0057] 8 shows an example of an information accumulation and update method executed by the information acquisition function 33 in step S12. The information acquisition function 33 acquires the arrival time C of the sensing data from the IoT data infrastructure 87. Ｍ ｉ The information acquisition function 33 acquires the arrival time S of the sensing data from the data storage 84 (S111). Ｍ ｉ The arrival time C is acquired (S112). Ｍ ｉ and arrival time S Ｍ ｉ If they are the same (Yes in S113), the information acquisition function 33 executes step S11 for the next (i+1)th power receiver 81. Ｍ ｉ and arrival time S Ｍ ｉ are different (No in S113), the information acquisition function 33 Ｍ ｉ arrival time C Ｍ ｉ (S114).

[0058] The parameters used in FIG. 8 are as follows: i: the i-th power receiver (= the serial number of the power receiver); N: the total number of power receivers 81; j: the number of sensing data (= the serial number of the sensing data); M: the total number of sensing data of a certain power receiver 81 (= the latest data). C ｊ ｉ : the arrival time of the j-th piece of sensing data transmitted from the i-th power receiver 81 and stored on the IoT data infrastructure 87. S ｊ ｉ : The arrival time of the j-th sensing data of the i-th power receiver.

[0059] 9 shows an example of a power supply determination method executed by the power supply determination function 31 in steps S13 and S14. Ｍ ｉ , S Ｍ－１ ｉ , Pｉ , T ｉ , W Ｍ ｉ The power supply determination function 31 obtains the estimated value G of the generated power. Ｍ ｉ , and the estimated time until intermittent operation t Ｍ ｉ (S122). The estimated time t Ｍ ｉ is the intermittent operation cycle time T ｉ If the estimated time t is less than or equal to the estimated time t (Yes in S123), the power supply determination function 31 executes step S21 for the next (i+1)th power receiver 81. Ｍ ｉ is the intermittent operation cycle time T ｉ If it is greater than the predetermined value (No in S123), the power supply determination function 31 determines the amount of power W to be supplied to the power receiver i. Ｍ＋１ ｉ (S124) and stores it in the data storage 84 (S125). Ｍ＋１ ｉ Then, the controller 11 transmits an instruction to wirelessly supply power to the device (S126).

[0060] Estimated generated power G ｊ ｉ can be calculated using the following formula:

[0061] Time t ｊ ｉ can be calculated using the following formula:

[0062] Estimated value W ｊ ｉ can be calculated using the following formula:

[0063] Here, the parameters used in FIG. 9 are as follows: i: the i-th power receiver (= the serial number of the power receiver); N: the total number of power receivers; j: the number of sensing data (= the serial number of the sensing data); M: the total number of sensing data of a certain power receiver (= the latest data); S ｊ ｉ: the arrival time of the j-th sensing data of the i-th power receiver stored in the data storage. G ｊ ｉ : an estimated value of the generated power other than that generated by wireless power transfer at the timing when the j-th sensing data of the power receiver i is transmitted. W ｊ ｉ t: the power supplied by wireless power supply to the power receiver i from the j-1st to the jth sensing data transmission (all 0 initially) ｊ ｉ : In receiver i, G ｊ ｉ is the time required for the next data transmission assuming that the generated power continues. ｉ : Reference power required for intermittent operation of power receiver i. T ｉ : The intermittent operation cycle time required for the power receiver i defined by the user.

[0064] In this way, "T" in step S123 ｉ ≧t ｊ ｉ Regarding ", the intermittent operation period T that should be satisfied for each power receiver 81 defined by the user ｉ and the intermittent operation period t driven by the estimated generated power. ｊ ｉ Compare t ｊ ｉ is the user-defined intermittent operation period T ｉ If the time is shorter than t (Yes in S123), the power receiver 81 satisfies the user's requirements, and nothing is required. ｊ ｉ is the user-defined intermittent operation period T ｉ If the time is longer than the predetermined time (No in S123), the power receiver 81 is determined to not satisfy the requirements and is made a target for wireless power supply.

[0065] Here, the reason why the amount of power to be supplied to the power receiver 81 in step S124 is calculated using a formula and is expressed as "more than" rather than "equal" will be explained. When power is supplied wirelessly to the power receiver 81, the amount of power generated and the efficiency of conversion from wireless to power vary depending on the relative positions of the power transmitter 82 and the power receiver 81, the radio wave conditions, etc., so the requirements are stably met by supplying more power than the known necessary power (equal sign).

[0066] Second Embodiment Fig. 10 shows an example of a system configuration according to the present disclosure. In this embodiment, a function for storing sensing data is provided in a control server 88. In this case, a group of sensing data is stored in a data storage 84 in the control server 88. A necessary function is to enable the wireless power supply controller 83 to refer to information about the time when sensing data generated by a power receiver 81 arrives at a data storage location.

[0067] 11 shows an example of a system configuration of the present disclosure. This embodiment shows an example of an embodiment in which sensing data is not stored in the control server 88. In addition to the sensing data, the IoT data infrastructure 87 stores time information data when the sensing data arrives and reference power information data required for the intermittent operation of each power receiver 81.

[0068] In this embodiment, when the user installs and initially configures the power receiver 81, the user registers the reference power and intermittent operation cycle information on the IoT data infrastructure 87. The wireless power supply controller 83 directly acquires, from the IoT data infrastructure 87, time information data when the sensing data arrives and reference power information data required for the intermittent operation of each power receiver 81.

[0069] Fourth Embodiment A specific example of the generated power estimation method executed by the power supply determination function 31 in step S14 will be described with reference to FIG. 12 . In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the EH function 11 is a solar cell. This diagram shows a collection of generated power estimates for a certain day. In solar power generation, sensing data can be transmitted using power supplied from the EH function 11 only between sunrise and sunset. During this time, sensing data is transmitted at intervals according to the intensity of sunlight.

[0070] The interval between the sensing data arrival times indicates the time during which it is possible to store electricity up to the reference power P using only the power supply from the EH function 11. Therefore, by collecting sensing data arrival time information, it is possible to determine at what time and how much power should be supplied in order to acquire and transmit sensing data at the desired time.

[0071] For example, the power supply determination function 31 can estimate the generated power other than that generated by wireless power supply of the power receiver 81 at that time by calculating the following equation using information on the difference between the arrival time of the most recent sensing data and the arrival time of the sensing data before that, the reference power P, and the power supply W supplied by wireless power supply just before.

[0072] Here, the parameters used in FIG. 12 are as follows: W: power supplied by wireless power supply S ｎ : Arrival time of nth sensing data P: Reference power required for intermittent operation of power receiver i G ｎ : Generated power

[0073] (Other Embodiments) The wireless power supply controller 83 of the present disclosure can also be realized by a computer and a program, and the program can be recorded on a recording medium or provided via a network. The program of the present disclosure is a program for causing a computer to realize each function of the wireless power supply controller 83 according to the present disclosure, and is a program for causing a computer to execute each procedure of the method executed by the wireless power supply controller 83 according to the present disclosure.

[0074] 11: EH function 12: Wireless power feeding function 31: Power feeding judgment function 32: Wireless power feeding instruction function 33: Information acquisition function 41: Sensing function 42: Data transmission function 43: Communication function 71: Weather data group 72: Event information group 81: Power receiver 82: Power transmitter 83: Wireless power feeding controller 84: Data storage 85: External AP 86: Communication function 87: IoT data platform 88: Control server 89: Management terminal 103: Capacitor 104: IoT terminal

Claims

1. A wireless power supply controller comprising: an information acquisition function that acquires data transmission times from a power receiver that operates using wireless power supply and power supplied from a supply source other than the wireless power supply; a power supply determination function that determines whether or not power supply to the power receiver is necessary based on the acquired transmission times; and a wireless power supply instruction function that instructs wireless power supply to the power receiver based on the determination.

2. The wireless power supply controller according to claim 1, wherein the power supply determination function calculates an estimate of the power generated in the power receiver using information on the transmission interval of data transmitted from the power receiver and a reference power required for intermittent operation in the power receiver, and determines whether power supply to the power receiver is necessary based on the estimate of the generated power.

3. A power supply determination method in which a processor acquires data transmission times from a power receiver that operates using wireless power supply and power supplied from a supply source other than the wireless power supply, determines whether or not power supply to the power receiver is necessary based on the acquired transmission times, and instructs the power receiver to be wirelessly powered based on the determination.

4. A program that causes a computer to execute the steps of: acquiring the transmission time of data from a power receiver that operates using power supplied wirelessly and from a power supply source other than the wireless power supply; determining whether or not power needs to be supplied to the power receiver based on the acquired transmission time; and instructing the power receiver to start wireless power supply based on the determination.

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