Charging cords are the last wires left in our lives. The fundamental science behind wireless power has been known for more than a century, and products featuring wireless power have been available for a couple of decades (think about things like your electric toothbrush). Recently, the same technology has made it to consumer electronics.
The first generation wireless power technology that powers these devices, commonly referred to as “inductive,” charges a single device from each transmitter when it is placed in a pre-specified spot.
Consumers value freedom, and want to untether themselves from bundles of wires. The first generation wireless technology has not been successful in making this happen – given the limitations of one-to-one charging and minimal spatial freedom.
This has created a demand for an improved wireless charging experience and freedom from the limitations of the first generation technology. Consumers expect and demand the wireless power technology to undergo rapid capability evolution just like wireless communication, which is already in its fifth generation.
With that framework in mind, we wanted to talk about the upcoming wireless power technology innovations and the new experiences these changes will enable for consumers, industry and enterprise customers, and device makers, and the standards that are essential to driving mass market adoption.
The most important technological evolutions include:
Leveraging the well-understood phenomenon of resonance to magnetic induction (the first generation wireless power technology)
Choosing an operation frequency that is at least an order of magnitude higher than used currently and happens to be in the ISM band
Leveraging the latest advances in power semiconductors (for example Gallium Nitride, GaN) for increased efficiency and miniaturization
The above technical principles and innovations have been consolidated into a single technical specification, referred to as the AirFuel Resonant standard. The AirFuel Resonant standard offers substantial improvements over the first generation technology and we will discuss in detail in the series of blog posts.
Click https://airfuel.org/blog/next-generation-wireless-power-is-set-to-delight-consumers/ for details.
