A wireless charging system may comprise a center console affixed in a vehicle. A layer assembly is attached to the center console. The layer assembly comprises a printed circuit board (PCB) that contains at least one amplifier, at least one filter, and at least one transmitting antenna. A power source is connected to the PCB and is activated at vehicle start or with the activation of a switch. The at least one transmitting antenna is oriented within 0 mm to 25.4 mm from an outer surface of the center console. The transmitting antenna produces a charging zone that emits power within an area that has a shape approximately equaling a cone and provides up to 25 watts of power to a mobile device that comprises a receiving antenna. The mobile device may be a cell phone, a wearable, a dongle, a wireless earbud, or a tablet.

An electromagnetic phased array (100) is disclosed comprising a plurality of antenna elements (102), each antenna element (102) comprising at least three constituent antennae (104). A drive circuit (106) generates about an axis of each element (102) a radiation pattern that has a defined minima at or close to a null in at least one direction. The drive circuit (106) effects electronic steering of this minima through a range of angles around the axis of each antenna element (102) of the array (100) by appropriate setting of the vector currents associated with its constituent antennae (104). The axes of each of the antenna elements (102) are aligned in parallel with a central axis of the array (100) and at least a sub-set of the elements (102) lie substantially on a common helical surface. The elements (102) are spaced on this surface such that the array (100) has a substantially constant aperture.

Systems and methods for providing over-the-air power to charging pads. A system may include means for transducing over-the-air energy into electric power, at least one rechargeable battery coupled to the means for transducing, and at least one charging pad coupled to the at least one battery. The system may be positioned at least in part in at least one cavity positioned underneath a user-accessible surface of an apparatus. A method may include the steps of transducing over-the-air energy into electric power, inducing a first direct current from the electric power, transmitting the first direct current to at least one rechargeable battery, and transmitting a second direct current from the at least one rechargeable battery to at least one charging pad. Improvement of spaces used by people in need of charging various electronic devices may be achieved without such facility spaces having to undergo costly structural modifications.

Systems and methods for providing over-the-air power to charging pads. A system may include means for transducing over-the-air energy into electric power, at least one rechargeable battery coupled to the means for transducing, and at least one charging pad coupled to the at least one battery. The system may be positioned at least in part in at least one cavity positioned underneath a user-accessible surface of an apparatus. A method may include the steps of transducing over-the-air energy into electric power, inducing a first direct current from the electric power, transmitting the first direct current to at least one rechargeable battery, and transmitting a second direct current from the at least one rechargeable battery to at least one charging pad. Improvement of spaces used by people in need of charging various electronic devices may be achieved without such facility spaces having to undergo costly structural modifications.

A device includes a signaling means and a motion sensor, and logic for activating or controlling the signaling means in response to a sensed motion according to an embedded logic. The device may be used as a toy, and may be shaped like a play ball or as a handheld unit. It may be powered from a battery, either chargeable from an AC power source directly or contactless by using induction or by converting electrical energy from harvested kinetic energy. The embedded logic may activate or control the signaling means, predictably or randomly, in response to sensed acceleration magnitude or direction, such as sensing the crossing of a preset threshold or sensing the peak value. The visual means may be a numeric display for displaying a value associated with the count of the number of times the threshold has been exceeded or the peak magnitude of the acceleration sensed.

A device includes a signaling means and a motion sensor, and logic for activating or controlling the signaling means in response to a sensed motion according to an embedded logic. The device may be used as a toy, and may be shaped like a play ball or as a handheld unit. It may be powered from a battery, either chargeable from an AC power source directly or contactless by using induction or by converting electrical energy from harvested kinetic energy. The embedded logic may activate or control the signaling means, predictably or randomly, in response to sensed acceleration magnitude or direction, such as sensing the crossing of a preset threshold or sensing the peak value. The visual means may be a numeric display for displaying a value associated with the count of the number of times the threshold has been exceeded or the peak magnitude of the acceleration sensed.

A controllable electrical outlet may comprise a resonant loop antenna. The resonant loop antenna may comprise a feed loop electrically coupled to a radio-frequency (RF) communication circuit and a main loop magnetically coupled to the feed loop. The controllable electrical outlet may comprise one or more electrical receptacles configured to receive a plug of a plug-in electrical load and may be configured to control power delivered to the plug-in electrical load in response to an RF signal received via the RF communication circuit. The RF performance of the controllable electrical outlet may be substantially immune to devices plugged into the receptacles (e.g., plugs, power supplies, etc.) due to the operation of the resonant loop antenna. For example, degradation of the RF performance of the controllable electrical outlet may be less when the controllable electrical outlet includes the resonant loop antenna rather than other types of antennas.

A controllable electrical outlet may comprise a resonant loop antenna. The resonant loop antenna may comprise a feed loop electrically coupled to a radio-frequency (RF) communication circuit and a main loop magnetically coupled to the feed loop. The controllable electrical outlet may comprise one or more electrical receptacles configured to receive a plug of a plug-in electrical load and may be configured to control power delivered to the plug-in electrical load in response to an RF signal received via the RF communication circuit. The RF performance of the controllable electrical outlet may be substantially immune to devices plugged into the receptacles (e.g., plugs, power supplies, etc.) due to the operation of the resonant loop antenna. For example, degradation of the RF performance of the controllable electrical outlet may be less when the controllable electrical outlet includes the resonant loop antenna rather than other types of antennas.

A wireless energy transmitting apparatus includes: a direction-finding and location device configured to determine a position of an energy receiving apparatus based on beacon information of the energy receiving apparatus; an energy generation device configured to generate energy, convert the energy into high-frequency electromagnetic waves having a frequency higher than a predetermined frequency threshold, and transmit the high-frequency electromagnetic waves to the energy receiving apparatus; and a processor configured to control the energy generation device to transmit the high-frequency electromagnetic waves to the energy receiving apparatus based on the position of the energy receiving apparatus. The position of the energy receiving end is determined based on the direction-finding and location device, and the energy generation device is controlled to convert the energy into high-frequency electromagnetic waves having a frequency higher than a predetermined frequency and transmit the same to the energy receiving end.

A WIRT system uses synchronizable PPM waveforms to convey information and power from an ET to a remote, far-field EH. In so doing, the solution presented herein reduces receiver complexity, optimizes power transfer, and meets information transfer requirements. The synchronizable PPM waveform comprises a plurality of pulsed-modulation symbols, each of which comprises one or more pulses position-modulated responsive to the information to be conveyed to the EH. The ET configures at least one pulse in each symbol of said synchronizable PPM waveform according to one or more synchronization constraints to enable symbol synchronization at the EH. The EH converts the RF power of the received synchronizable PPM waveform to a DC voltage, and synchronizes the received PPM waveform to extract the information in the PPM waveform.