Wireless charging in mobile phones isn't a new phenomenon. In 2012, Nokia Lumia phones shipped with Qi wireless charging and manufacturers such as Samsung, Google, and LG have incorporated the concept since. Read more: Harvard has created a 'liquid' battery that could last for more than a decade
In a new patent filed in the US, Sony has shown how it plans to take this technology a step further.
The patent appears to describe an antenna system that would allow a device, such as a mobile phone, to transfer power from a wireless charging base station. It also suggests antennas could transmit power from one consumer electronic (CE) device to another. For example, one phone could provide power to another.
"At least the first antenna system is cooperated with a first CE device and the second antenna system is cooperated with a separate second CE device," the patent says. "The system provides a graphical user interface to illustrate each of the identified antenna systems, and receives user instructions corresponding to at least two of the identified antenna systems, to generate configuration instructions in accordance with the user instructions, and to configure selected CE devices in accordance with the configuration instructions".
[Images](http://pdfaiw.uspto.gov/.aiw?Docid=20170063431&homeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fappft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.html%2526r%3D18%2526p%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPG01%2526S1%3D%25252820170302.PD.%252BAND%252B%252528Sony.AS.%252BOR%252BSony.AANM.%252529%252529%2526OS%3DPD%2F3%2F2%2F2017%252Band%252B(AN%2FSony%252Bor%252BAANM%2FSony)%2526RS%3D(PD%2F20170302%252BAND%252B(AN%2FSony%252BOR%252BAANM%2FSony))&PageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=D2A2DCF57C39) contained within patent documents show two phones next to each other with a visualisation of power moving between the two. There are also images that conceptualise power being wirelessly transferred from a computer monitor to other devices.
Within the patented idea, which was first filed in 2016 and published at the start of March, the method of how devices could find nearby antennas is heavily discussed. This includes how data could be encrypted and how antennas would be shown on a user interfaces – possibly in a similar way to how Wi-Fi access points are displayed on phones and laptops.
Unfortunately, the three Sony researchers, James Richard Milne, True Xiong, and Charles McCoy, don't appear to detail the technical details of how such a wireless charging system would work. Although, the company has previously developed its own wireless charging devices so it may be working on the technology within its research centers.
As with all patents, the creation of the document and filing of the idea doesn't mean that it will ever come to fruition. Most patents are created to protect future ideas or for technologies that aren't capable at present and will only ever remain on paper.
However, researchers at Disney have been working on developing the theories for wireless power that can be used across a room. Dubbed Quasistatic Cavity Resonance for Ubiquitous Wireless Power Transfer (QSCR) the system can convert cabinets, rooms, and warehouses to generate magnetic fields that deliver power to mobile receivers.
"An experimental demonstration shows that a 54 m3 QSCR room can deliver power to small coil receivers in nearly any position with 40% to 95% efficiency," Disney researchers wrote in February 2017.
"Finally, a detailed safety analysis shows that up to 1900 watts can be transmitted to a coil receiver enabling safe and ubiquitous wireless power."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
