Patent Description:
With the rapid popularization and development of mobile terminals, the problem of energy supply of the mobile terminals has become increasingly prominent. Under such circumstances, wireless energy supply technology provides a new solution for supplying energy to the mobile terminals. For example, a wireless energy emission device is used to emit energy signals in the form of microwaves, and energy is supplied to the mobile terminals through microwave energy transmission.

However, the energy supply efficiency of the wireless energy emission device provided in the related art is relatively low, and it is difficult to meet the user's requirements. Related technologies are known from patent publication documents <CIT> and <CIT>.

The present disclosure provides a wireless energy emission device and an electronic equipment, which have solved the defects in the related art as set out in claim <NUM>.

Further aspects of the invention are set out in the dependent claims.

The implementations set forth in the following description of exemplary embodiments do not represent all implementations consistent with the disclosure. Instead, they are merely examples of apparatuses and methods consistent with the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Terms used in the present disclosure are for the purpose of describing exemplary embodiments only and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. For example, the term "connect" is not limited to physical or mechanical connections, and may include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect. The term "and/or" as used herein refers to and includes any or all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

In some embodiments, a wireless energy emission device includes a time reversal (TR) antenna array and a processing module. The TR antenna array is configured to receive a positioning signal emitted by a target device to be powered, and the processing module is configured to process the positioning signal received by each TR antenna according to a time reversal algorithm to locate the target device to be powered. In addition, the processing module controls the TR antenna to emit an energy supply signal, so that the energy supply signal is sent to the located position in the form of point focus, so as to realize energy supply for the target device to be powered.

In the embodiments, because the time reversal algorithm may be complicated, a calculation amount may be large, and a calculation time may be long, the positioning timeliness of the target device to be powered may be affected. For example, when the target device to be powered has a high degree of freedom of activity, the target device to be powered may not effectively receive the energy supply signal, thereby reducing the overall energy supply efficiency.

Taking the mobile phone as the target device to be powered as an example, when the user charges the mobile phone with the wireless power emission device during movement, it may take a long time for the wireless power emission device to locate the mobile phone. Therefore, when the wireless power emission device emits the power supply signal, if the position of the user has changed, the power supply signal may not be focused on the mobile phone to be charged, thereby reducing the overall power supply efficiency. To improve the power supply efficiency, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a wireless energy emission device and electronic equipment.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of a wireless energy emission device <NUM> according to an exemplary embodiment. Referring to <FIG>, the wireless energy emission device <NUM> includes a receiving antenna array <NUM>, a signal processing module <NUM>, and an emitting antenna array <NUM>.

The receiving antenna array <NUM> is configured to receive a positioning signal emitted by a target device to be powered. The receiving antenna array <NUM> includes at least two receiving antennas <NUM>. Since different receiving antennas <NUM> have different positions, there is a phase difference between the positioning signals received by the different receiving antennas <NUM>.

The signal processing module <NUM> may be a processor and is configured to determine an emission parameter according to the phase difference of the positioning signals received by any two receiving antennas <NUM> in the receiving antenna array <NUM> and position information of the emitting antenna array <NUM>.

In an embodiment, the receiving antenna array <NUM> includes more than two receiving antennas <NUM> so that the receiving antenna array <NUM> and the signal processing module <NUM> form a dual-channel phase interferometer. For example, the receiving antenna array <NUM> includes five receiving antennas <NUM>. Any two of the five receiving antennas <NUM> are combined to obtain <NUM> groups of antenna pairs, and each antenna pair determines one phase difference. Therefore, for a positioning signal from one direction, <NUM> phase differences can be acquired through the receiving antenna array <NUM>.

The signal processing module <NUM> is configured to compare the phase difference of the positioning signals received by any two receiving antennas <NUM> in the receiving antenna array <NUM> with a sample phase difference in a sample library to obtain an incoming wave direction of the positioning signal relative to a center of the receiving antenna array <NUM>. The sample library is obtained by pre-sampling through the receiving antenna array <NUM>. The sample library stores a corresponding relationship between the sample phase differences and different incoming wave directions. Among them, one incoming wave direction corresponds to a group of sample phase differences.

When locating the target device to be powered, the signal processing module <NUM> uses a preset method, such as a maximum likelihood estimation method, to compare the currently acquired group of phase differences with the plurality of groups of sample phase differences stored in the sample library, and determine the incoming wave direction corresponding to the current positioning signal according to the comparison result. The incoming wave direction includes an azimuth angle and an angle of pitch of the target device to be powered with respect to the center of the receiving antenna array <NUM>, for example, an azimuth angle of <NUM>° and an angle of pitch of ± <NUM>° with respect to the center of the receiving antenna array <NUM>. Since the positioning signal is transmitted by the target device to be powered, the target device to be powered can be located by determining the incoming wave direction.

Using such a positioning method may reduce the influence caused by factors such as mutual coupling and inconsistent received signal amplitudes between different receiving antennas <NUM> in the receiving antenna array <NUM>, and has a high positioning accuracy. In addition, the overall positioning process takes less time, and the positioning result can be quickly obtained based on the positioning signal.

In an embodiment, the signal processing module <NUM> is further configured to determine an emission parameter according to the incoming wave direction and the position information of the emitting antenna array <NUM>. The emitting antenna array <NUM> includes at least two emitting antennas <NUM>. In this case, position information of the emitting antenna array <NUM> includes azimuth information and pitch angle information of the emitting antenna <NUM>. For example, the position information of the emitting antenna array <NUM> includes azimuth information and pitch angle information of the emitting antenna <NUM> relative to the center of the receiving antenna array <NUM>.

The signal processing module <NUM> determines the positional relationship between the emitting antenna array <NUM> and the target device to be powered. Further, the signal processing module <NUM> uses a preset method, such as a directional retrospective method, to determine an emission parameter according to the direction of the incoming wave and the position information of the emitting antenna array <NUM>. The emission parameter includes an emission sequence and a beam pointing relationship of the emitting antenna <NUM>, so as to ensure that the energy supply signal emitted by the emitting antenna array <NUM> is sent to the target device to be powered in the form of point focus.

The emitting antenna array <NUM> is configured to emit an energy supply signal to the target device to be powered according to the emission parameter determined by the signal processing module <NUM>. The emitting antenna array <NUM> includes a plurality of emitting antennas <NUM> to form a phased antenna array. The emission parameter determined by the signal processing module <NUM> satisfies that the energy supply signal emitted by the emitting antenna array <NUM> forms a focal point at the target device to be powered, so as to achieve efficient and rapid energy supply to the target device to be powered. In addition, an energy supply signal is emitted through the emitting antenna array <NUM>, and the target device to be powered is aligned without mechanically adjusting the emitting antenna <NUM>.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of a wireless energy emission device <NUM> according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in <FIG>, the wireless energy transmission device <NUM> further includes an emission control module <NUM>. The emission control module <NUM> is connected to the signal processing module <NUM> to receive the emission parameter. The emission control module <NUM> is also connected to the emitting antenna array <NUM> and is configured to feed the emitting antenna array <NUM> according to the emission parameter.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of the emission control module <NUM> according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in <FIG>, the emission control module <NUM> includes a frequency source <NUM> and a signal conditioning component <NUM>.

The frequency source <NUM> is a phase-locked point frequency source, and outputs an initial signal of the point frequency phase-lock to facilitate subsequent phase control of the feeding signal of the emitting antenna array <NUM>. In addition, the frequency source <NUM> is configured to output an initial signal with a frequency of at least <NUM>, for example, the frequency source <NUM> outputs an initial signal in a millimeter wave frequency band. Therefore, the frequency of the energy supply signal emitted by the emitting antenna array <NUM> is at least <NUM>. In this way, the directivity of the energy supply signal is improved, and the energy transmission efficiency between the wireless energy emission device <NUM> and the target device to be powered is optimized. In addition, because the energy supply signal above the frequency of <NUM> has a relatively good directivity, the impact of the space radiation around the target device to be powered on human safety is reduced.

The signal conditioning component <NUM> is configured to amplify the initial signal at full power, and convert the amplified initial signal into a multi-channel feeding signal according to the emission parameter. Further, the signal conditioning component <NUM> sends the feeding signal to the emitting antenna array <NUM>, so that the emitting antenna array <NUM> emits the power supply signal. The signal conditioning component <NUM> amplifies the initial signal at full power to obtain the feeding signal, thereby improving the energy emitting efficiency of the emitting antenna array <NUM> and optimizing the overall device performance.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of the signal conditioning component <NUM> according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in <FIG>, the signal conditioning component <NUM> includes: an amplifying unit <NUM>, a power division network unit <NUM>, and a plurality of emitting units <NUM>.

The amplifying unit <NUM> is configured to amplify the initial signal at full power, and convert the amplified initial signal into at least two first intermediate signals of equal amplitude and phase. In an embodiment, the amplifying unit <NUM> includes an amplifier. In addition, the amplifying unit <NUM> may further include a digital attenuator, which performs a digital attenuation processing on the amplified initial signal to optimize the performance of the first intermediate signal.

The power division network unit <NUM> is configured to convert each first intermediate signal into at least two second intermediate signals of equal amplitude and phase. The power division network unit <NUM> corresponds to the second intermediate signal one by one. In other words, if the amplification unit <NUM> outputs two first intermediate signals, the signal conditioning component <NUM> includes two power division network units <NUM>.

The emitting unit <NUM> is configured to amplify the second intermediate signal at full power, and perform beam control on each amplified second intermediate signal according to the emission parameter to obtain a feeding signal, and then send the feeding signal to the emitting antenna array <NUM>. In an embodiment, the emitting unit <NUM> includes a phase shifter, and the phase shifter performs a precise phase adjustment on each amplified second intermediate signal according to the emission parameter to obtain the feeding signal.

Taking the emitting antenna array <NUM> as a <NUM>-channel emitting antenna array as an example, the emitting antenna array <NUM> needs <NUM> feeding signals. With reference to <FIG>, the signal conditioning process of the signal conditioning component <NUM> is as follows.

In step <NUM>, the amplifying unit <NUM> amplifies the initial signal at full power to obtain two first intermediate signals.

In step <NUM>, two power division network units <NUM> respectively receive the first intermediate signals, and each of the power division network units <NUM> converts one channel of the first intermediate signals into <NUM> channels of the second intermediate signal. At this time, <NUM> channels of the second intermediate signals are obtained through the power division network units <NUM>.

In step <NUM>, the <NUM> emitting units <NUM> receive the <NUM> channels of the second intermediate signals in a one-to-one correspondence manner, and obtain <NUM> channels of feeding signals after amplification and phase adjustment.

In addition, the power division network unit <NUM> and the emitting unit <NUM> in the emission control module <NUM> are connected to a low-frequency power circuit to maintain normal use.

The wireless energy emission device <NUM> provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure has the characteristics of rapid positioning and good timeliness, can quickly and accurately locate the target device to be powered, and ensure that the energy supply signal is effectively received by the target device to be powered. In addition, when emitting the energy supply signal, there is no need to mechanically steer the emission device <NUM>, which is convenient to use.

In an embodiment, the emission control module <NUM> forms an integrated package structure through a casing. In this case, the emission control module <NUM> further includes a temperature monitor, such as a temperature control circuit, and the temperature monitor is configured to monitor the temperature of the casing of the emission control module <NUM>.

When the casing temperature exceeds a specified temperature threshold, for example, <NUM>, <NUM>, or <NUM>, the frequency source <NUM> and/or the signal conditioning component <NUM> are disabled. When disabling the signal conditioning component <NUM> may be implemented by disabling the amplifying unit <NUM>. In this way, when the temperature of the casing is too high, the wireless energy emission device <NUM> no longer emits the energy supply signal, so as to prevent the high temperature of the device from affecting the user experience and even causing security risks.

In an embodiment, the temperature monitor is further configured to re-enable the frequency source <NUM> and/or the signal conditioning component <NUM> when the temperature of the casing is lowered to a specified temperature threshold or below the specified temperature threshold, so that the emission control module <NUM> feeds power to the emitting antenna array <NUM> again.

In an embodiment, the wireless energy emission device <NUM> further includes a biological monitoring and control module. The biological monitoring and control module is configured to obtain distance information between the target device to be powered and a living being, and control the emission power of the emitting antenna array <NUM> according to the obtained distance information.

As an example, when obtaining the distance information, the biological monitoring and control module is configured to receive the distance information between the target device to be powered and the living being sent by the target device to be powered.

For example, the mobile phone is taken as the target device to be powered. The mobile phone determines the distance information between the living being and the mobile phone through monitoring means such as infrared and image recognition, and sends the distance information to the biological monitoring and control module of the wireless energy emission device <NUM>. In an embodiment, the distance information is an actual distance value between the living being and the target device to be powered, or the distance information is a preset signal capable of characterizing the distance relationship between the living being and the target device to be powered.

As another example, when obtaining the distance information, the biological monitoring and control module is configured to: obtain the position information of the living being relative to the wireless energy emission device <NUM>, and the positioning information of the target device to be powered to the wireless energy emission device <NUM>; and then obtain the distance information according to the position information of the living being and the positioning information of the target device to be powered.

The position information of the living being includes a distance and a direction of the living being relative to the wireless energy emission device <NUM>. In an embodiment, the position information of the living being is acquired by the biological monitoring and control module through infrared, ultrasonic and other methods. The positioning information of the target device to be powered includes the distance and direction of the target device to be powered relative to the wireless energy emission device <NUM>. In an embodiment, the positioning information is acquired by the signal processing module <NUM> according to the positioning signal and sent to the biological monitoring and control module.

The biological monitoring and control module is configured to determine whether the distance from the living being to the target device to be powered is within a specified threshold according to the received distance information; and if so, reduce the emission power of the emitting antenna array <NUM> to a biosafety power. In an embodiment, the biological monitoring and control module controls the emission control module <NUM> to regulate the emission power of the emitting antenna array <NUM>. The biosafety power may be based on the human body, and the specific value can be determined by referring to industry or national standards.

In this way, the use safety of the wireless energy transmission device <NUM> is guaranteed. Taking the use scenario of using the mobile phone by the user as an example, when the wireless energy emission device <NUM> determines that the distance between the current user and the mobile phone is within a specified threshold range, for example, the user holds the mobile phone, according to the received distance information, the emission control module <NUM> is controlled to adjust the emission power such that the emitting antenna array <NUM> emits the energy supply signal at a safe power.

In the wireless energy emission device <NUM>, the receiving antenna array <NUM>, the signal processing module <NUM>, the emission control module <NUM>, and the emitting antenna array <NUM> may be integrated on the same circuit board. In addition, the receiving antennas <NUM> in the receiving antenna array <NUM> may be distributed around the emitting antenna array <NUM>. For example, as shown in <FIG>, a plurality of receiving antennas <NUM> are distributed around the emitting antenna array <NUM> in a rectangular manner. In this way, the structure integration of the overall device <NUM> is improved and installation is facilitated.

In the embodiments, the plurality of receiving antennas <NUM> in the receiving antenna array <NUM> respectively receive a positioning signal sent by the target device to be powered. The signal processing module <NUM> obtains the phase difference between the positioning signals received any two receiving antennas <NUM> according to the positioning signals received by the plurality of receiving antennas <NUM>. In addition, the signal processing module <NUM> compares the currently obtained group of phase differences with the sample phase differences stored in the sample library to determine the incoming wave direction of the positioning signal. Further, the signal processing module <NUM> determines the emission parameter according to the incoming wave direction and the position information of the emitting antenna array <NUM>. The emission control module <NUM> feeds power to the emitting antenna array <NUM> according to the emission parameter, so that the emitting antenna array <NUM> emits the energy supply signal to the target device to be powered.

With the wireless energy emission device <NUM> provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, it is possible to emit the energy supply signal with an efficiency of <NUM>% and a power of 80W, thereby achieving high-efficiency wireless energy emission.

Furthermore, the target device to be powered sends a positioning signal in real time, and the wireless energy emission device <NUM> receives the positioning signal in real time. When the position of the target device to be powered changes, the wireless energy emission device <NUM> adjusts the power supply signal in real time according to the currently received positioning signal, so that the power supply signal is always focused on the target device to be powered.

In addition, during the use of the wireless energy emission device <NUM>, a temperature monitor in the emission control module <NUM> monitors the temperature of the casing of the emission control module <NUM> in real time. When the temperature of the casing exceeds a specified temperature threshold, the emission control module <NUM> is regulated to stop emitting the energy supply signal.

The biological monitoring and control module acquires the distance information between the target device to be powered and the living being in real time. When it is determined according to the distance information that the distance from the living being to the target device to be powered is within a specified threshold range, the emission control module <NUM> is controlled to reduce the emission power of the power supply signal to the biosafety power.

The wireless energy emission device <NUM> provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure has the characteristics of accurate positioning and fast positioning timeliness, and can cooperate with a target device to be powered with a high degree of freedom of movement. In addition, the overall energy emission process has high energy supply efficiency, safety and reliability, supports fast charging for the target device to be powered, and optimizes the user experience.

Embodiments of the present disclosure further provide electronic equipment including the wireless energy emission device described above. In an embodiment, the electronic equipment is a smart household product, such as a lighting device, a voice playback device, a display device, and the like.

Claim 1:
A wireless energy emission device (<NUM>), comprising:
a receiving antenna array (<NUM>), a signal processing module (<NUM>), and an emitting antenna array (<NUM>); wherein:
the receiving antenna array (<NUM>) comprises at least two receiving antennas (<NUM>) for receiving a positioning signal emitted by a target device to be powered;
the signal processing module (<NUM>) is configured to determine an emission parameter according to a phase difference between positioning signals received by any two of the receiving antennas (<NUM>) and position information of the emitting antenna array (<NUM>); and
the emitting antenna array (<NUM>) is configured to emit an energy supply signal to the target device to be powered according to the emission parameter
and characterised in that
the signal processing module (<NUM>) is configured to compare the phase difference with a sample phase difference in a sample library.