Abstract:
An environmental energy absorption system for providing power to an electronic device comprising a remote station that includes an energy receiver: an energy converter for converting the received energy into electrical power and an energy storage element for storing the electrical power. The device uses environmental energy absorption to power the electronic device in the absence of a power supply source.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefits of U.S. provisional patent application No. 62/133,104 filed on Mar. 13, 2015, which is herein incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present disclosure relates to an environmental energy absorption system and method. In one particular embodiment, the present disclosure relates to a sensor system powered wirelessly. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Electronic devices, such as sensor systems, require power to maintain their operation. Sensor systems are key for information collection and with the development of networking technology they have been widely used to monitor hard to access spaces, for example small, hidden, moving and/or permanently closed spaces. There is increasing need to monitor such spaces. Because of the inaccessible nature of those spaces, monitoring systems require a wireless connection as well as a long-term wireless power supply to maintain an effective radio transmission of collected sensor information. However, current sensor systems are powered using batteries, which have a short-term life span, or a wired power connection. Long-term power supply issues hinder the widespread use of sensor systems in remote or hard to access spaces. Other electronic devices, such as mobile phones, encounter the same power supply issues. 
         [0004]    Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for proving power using environmental energy absorption and in particular providing power to a sensor system wirelessly. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    It is an object of the present disclosure to solve the deficiencies of the prior art electronic device power supplies, there is disclosed a wireless electronic device power supply using environmental energy absorption technology to power the electronic device in order to provide long-term power to the electronic device in the absence of power supply line. 
         [0006]    Accordingly, in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided an environmental energy absorption system for providing power to an electronic device, comprising: 
         [0007]    a remote station including:
       an energy receiver;   an energy converter for converting the received energy into electrical power; and   an energy storage element for storing the electrical power.       
 
         [0011]    There is also provided an environmental energy absorption system as above, wherein the energy receiver is a microwave receiving antenna for receiving microwave pulses and the energy converter is a microwave energy converter for converting the received microwave energy into electrical power. 
         [0012]    There is further provided an environmental energy absorption system as above, wherein the energy converter includes: 
         [0013]    a field sensor for detecting electromagnetic fields present in the environment; 
         [0014]    a voltage doubler for increasing the voltage from the field sensor to a predetermined range; 
         [0015]    a field regulator for preventing excessive voltage fluctuations from the voltage doubler; and 
         [0016]    an accumulator for accumulating the regulated voltage, the accumulator having a diode with a high resistance reverse characteristic for ensuring one-way flow of electrical energy to the energy storage element. 
         [0017]    There is further still provided an environmental energy absorption system as above, further comprising: 
         [0018]    a base station including:
       a power supply;   a microwave energy modulation transmitter for modulating the electrical energy from the power supply into individual microwave pulses; and   a microwave transmitting antenna for transmitting the individual microwave pulses.       
 
         [0022]    In accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided an environmental energy absorption method for providing power to an electronic device, comprising the steps of: 
         [0023]    receiving energy from energy from an environment; 
         [0024]    converting the received energy into electrical power; and 
         [0025]    storing the electrical power. 
         [0026]    There is also provided an environmental energy absorption method as above, wherein the energy received is in the form of microwave pulses. 
         [0027]    There is further provided an environmental energy absorption method as above, wherein the step of converting the received energy into electrical power includes the sub-steps of: 
         [0028]    detecting electromagnetic fields present in the environment; 
         [0029]    increasing the voltage of the received energy to a predetermined range; 
         [0030]    regulating the voltage of the received energy in order to prevent excessive voltage fluctuations; and 
         [0031]    accumulating the regulated voltage. 
         [0032]    There is further still provided an environmental energy absorption method as above, further comprising, previous to the step of receiving energy from energy from an environment, the steps of: 
         [0033]    modulating electrical energy from a power supply into individual microwave pulses; and 
         [0034]    transmitting the individual microwave pulses. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         [0035]    Embodiments of the disclosure will be described by way of examples only with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: 
           [0036]      FIG. 1  is a schematic representation of a sensor system having a wireless power supply in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure; 
           [0037]      FIG. 2  is a schematic representation of the microwave energy converter receiver of the sensor system of  FIG. 1  in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure; 
           [0038]      FIG. 3  is a flow diagram of the wireless power generation process in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure; and 
           [0039]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram of the microwave pulses conversion sub-process in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure; and 
       
    
    
       [0040]    Similar references used in different Figures denote similar components. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0041]    Generally stated, the non-limitative illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure provide an environmental energy absorption system using, for example, microwave energy, which allows for the providing of long-term/on-demand power to remote electronic devices, such as sensor systems, without the use of power cables or batteries. 
         [0042]    The present system and method use either environmental energy or transmitted wave energy to provide power to a remote electronic device, for example electromagnetic waves in a frequency range from low to high frequency until light wave. Depending on the specific implementation, the wireless energy provided can be modulated to suitable form and frequency by transmitter modulation and then transmitted directly. The remote electronic device is provided with an energy receiver/converter that converts the received waves into the corresponding power supply voltage required by the remote electronic device. 
         [0043]    The energy receiver/converter can be configured to receive a specific energy transmitted by energy modulator/transmitter or energy already existing in the surrounding space. The various forms of multi-band energy receivers/converters combine to form a broad-spectrum energy acceptance receiver/converter. Electronic devices, such as sensor systems, provided with the disclosed system and method do not depend anymore on external energy supplies and thus full connection with the outside world can be achieved without the use of wires. There are no more worries concerning battery life or how to replace the battery in sensor systems that are disposed in some isolated inaccessible spaces. The wireless power system and method relieves the battery dependency of sensor systems, which commonly need to carry their own battery, such as wireless capsule endoscopy, tire pressure monitors, etc. In an alternative embodiment, the wireless power system and method may be used to extend the charge cycle of battery-powered devices. For example, if a smart phone is provided with the wireless power system and method, it can take full advantage of the space to absorb electromagnetic radiation, light, sound, vibration energy, to extend its standby time. 
         [0044]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a sensor system having a wireless power supply  1  in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure, The sensor system  1  comprises a remote station  10 , to be located in a remote or hard to access space, and a base station  20 . 
         [0045]    The remote station  10  includes a sensor  11 , a microwave energy receiver/converter  12 , a microwave receiving antenna  13  and a wireless signal transceiver  14 , while the base station  20  includes an electrical energy from universal power supply  21 , a microwave energy modulator/transmitter  22 , a microwave transmitting antenna  23  and a wireless signal transceiver  24 . It is to be understood that in an alternative embodiment the wireless signal transceiver  24  may be provided separately from the base station  20 , provided with a processor for processing information provided by the sensor  11  and/or that multiple wireless signal transceivers  24  may be used. 
         [0046]    In use, the microwave energy modulator/transmitter  22  modulates the electrical energy from the universal power supply  21  into individual microwave pulses that are transmitted by the microwave transmitting antenna  23 . The transmitted microwave pulses are received by the microwave receiving antenna  13  and then provided to the microwave energy receiver/converter  12 , which converts the transmitted microwave energy into electrical power to power the sensor  11  and the wireless signal transceiver  14 . It is to be understood that in an alternative embodiment the electrical power provided by the receiver/converter  12  may be used to power other devices. 
         [0047]    The sensor  11  can be, for example, an image sensor (e.g. a CCD, CMOS other image sensor), audio sensor, liquid sensor, gas sensor, temperature sensor, movement detector or other type of sensor, advantageously a low power sensor. Information collected by the sensor  11  is transmitted through the wireless signal transceiver  14  to the wireless signal transceiver  24 , which in turn may provide the sensor  11  information to a further system or device. 
         [0048]    The remote station  10  is powered solely by the microwave energy transmitted from the microwave transmitting antenna  23  to the microwave receiving antenna  13 , it does not require any battery nor any wired connection to the outside world. Accordingly, the remote station  10  can operate in spaces completely isolated from the outside world, while still allowing the monitoring of those spaces. 
         [0049]    Electromagnetic fields are present in the environment in all energy bands, the most direct one being generated by the sun. The environment is also permeated by all kinds of electromagnetic field noise artificially enhanced in particular by the development of wireless communication technologies. This energy can be harvested from the environment by an induction effect to convert electromagnetic fields to electrical energy. 
         [0050]    Referring now to  FIG. 2 , there is shown the microwave energy receiver/converter  12  in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure. The microwave energy receiver/converter  12  includes a field sensor  121 , a voltage doubler  122 , a field regulator  123 , an accumulator  124  and a battery/capacitor  125  or other energy storage element. 
         [0051]    The field sensor  121 , is used to detect various electromagnetic fields present in the environment, In the case where the detected electromagnetic field is week, the field sensor  121  activates the voltage doubler  122  in order to increases the voltage to the required system operating range. 
         [0052]    The field regulator  123  prevents excessive voltage fluctuations coming from the voltage doubler  122 , which could damage the microwave energy receiver/converter  12 , and keeps the voltage in a desired operational range. These fluctuations are caused by instability in the electromagnetic fields. 
         [0053]    The accumulator  124  accumulates the regulated voltage. It includes a diode with a high resistance reverse characteristic, which ensures one-way flow of electrical energy to the energy storage element  125 , for example a rechargeable battery, a capacitor, etc. When the energy storage element  125  power meets the needs of an operation cycle of the sensor  11 , the remote station  10  is awakened. 
         [0054]    In an alternative embodiment, the microwave energy converter receiver  12  can be imbedded in various electronic devices having a battery in order to extend its charge cycle using wireless power. For example, a smart phone may use ambient energy converted by an embedded microwave energy converter receiver  12 , taking full advantage of ambient electromagnetic radiation, light, sound, vibration energy, etc. to extend the standby time of the smart phone. 
         [0055]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , there is shown a flow diagram of an illustrative example of the wireless power generation process  100 . Steps of the process  100  are indicated by blocks  102  to  112 . 
         [0056]    The process  100  starts at block  102  where electrical energy is generated, which, at block  104 , is modulated and then, at block  106 , transmitted. 
         [0057]    At block  108  the transmitted microwave pulses are received and, at block  110 , converted into electrical power. 
         [0058]    Finally, at block  112 , the electrical power s provided to one or more device, for example a sensor or other device. 
         [0059]    It is to be understood that in an alternative embodiment, steps  102  to  106  may absent, in which case step  108  involves receiving energy already existing in the surrounding space. 
         [0060]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , there is shown a flow diagram of an illustrative example of the microwave pulses conversion sub-process  200  of step  110  of process  100  (see  FIG. 3 ). Steps of the sub-process  200  are indicated by blocks  202  to  212 . 
         [0061]    The sub-process  200  starts at block  202  where electromagnetic fields present in the environment are detected. 
         [0062]    At block  204 , the sub-process  200  verifies if a detected electromagnetic field is week, in which case, at block  206 , the voltage is increased to a required system operating range. 
         [0063]    At block  208 , the voltage is regulated in order to prevent excessive voltage fluctuations and stay in a desired operational range. 
         [0064]    Then, at block  210 , the regulated voltage is stored. 
         [0065]    Finally, at block  212 , the sub-process  200  verifies if the stored voltage meets the needs of an operation cycle of one or more connected device, in which case the sub-process  200  proceeds to block  112  of process  100  (see  FIG. 3 ) where electrical power is provided to the one or more device. 
         [0066]    It is to be understood that the use of the term “wireless energy” throughout the disclosure is meant to apply equally to transmitted energy as well as energy present in the environment. 
         [0067]    Although the present disclosure has been described with a certain degree of particularity and by way of illustrative embodiments and examples thereof, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the features of the embodiments described and illustrated herein, but includes all variations and modifications within the scope and spirit of the disclosure as hereinafter claimed.