This paper proposes a method for converting a large existing surface into a programmable wireless charger, capable of distributing energy efficiently at multiple locations on demand and charge different types of devices. The key innovation here is to combine magnetic resonance-based energy transfer with the so called concept of ‘energy hopping’ across wireless inter-connected coils, where the magnetic fields are carefully shaped on the fly. The overall framework, called SoftCharge, has three components: (i) energy tiles (ETs), which are individual programmable coil units that can be attached underneath an existing table with AC mains supply only to the master tile, (ii) energy shaping algorithm executed by the master tile, that shapes the flow of energy over tiles through real-time impedance adjustment combined with selective power blocking, creating optimal energy paths to specific tiles where a device needs to be charged, and (iii) a resonance sensing architecture design and method executed in each given tile that detects the type of device to be charged and its location without any direct feedback. We build a prototype of energy tiles and provide experimental results on SoftCharge charging multiple COTS devices like mobile phones, laptops, tablets, and drones, resulting in a maximum charging rate of 23 W up-to 20 cm over a larger surface.

中文翻译：

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SoftCharge：软件定义的多设备大面积无线充电

本文提出了一种将现有的大型表面转换为可编程无线充电器的方法，能够按需在多个位置高效分配能量并为不同类型的设备充电。这里的关键创新是将基于磁共振的能量传输与所谓的“能量跳跃”概念相结合，跨越无线互连线圈，其中磁场在飞行中被仔细地塑造。整个框架称为 SoftCharge，包含三个组件：(i) 能量块 (ET)，它们是单独的可编程线圈单元，可以连接到现有桌子下方，交流电源仅提供给主块，(ii) 能量整形算法由主瓷砖执行，通过实时阻抗调整结合选择性功率阻塞来塑造瓷砖上的能量流，为设备需要充电的特定瓦片创建最佳能量路径，以及 (iii) 在每个给定瓦片中执行的共振传感架构设计和方法，用于检测要充电的设备类型及其位置，而无需任何直接反馈。我们构建了能量砖的原型，并提供了 SoftCharge 为手机、笔记本电脑、平板电脑和无人机等多种 COTS 设备充电的实验结果，从而在更大的表面上产生 23 W 的最大充电率，最多 20 厘米。