Having It Both Ways: Near-Field And Far-Field Wireless Power
At the recent Wireless Power Summit in Seattle, there was a lot of buzz about whether it was possible to combine near-field and far-field technologies into a single solution to deliver wireless power to battery-operated electronic devices.As it turns out, the answer is absolutely yes – and most of the industry didn’t see it coming.We know it can be done because that’s the news we broke today and at the Summit. We’ve overcome the technical hurdles to do what many never thought possible. We’re able to deliver a rapid charge with near-field and a slower, trickle charge via far-field – all in the same unit and without a cord or cable.The impact of this technical breakthrough has the potential to change the wireless power industry as we know it today.
How It Works
The problem we solved, after inordinate amount of trial-and-error and testing, was making sure both methods wirelessly streamed power seamlessly.How did we achieve that?Our first breakthrough was packaging our IP together and making sure they could co-exist without impeding each other. Our second brainchild was building a new antennae system – the first of its kind in the industry – that can handle both near field and far field simultaneously.The question may seem obvious, but why didn’t others think about blending the two before? We’ll leave that for others to debate, but we’re happy to say PowerSphyr has pioneered a game-changing new concept.As noteworthy is the fact that PowerSphyr’s technology completely leapfrogs the existing legacy solution, which allows for only one way to charge a device. Likewise, it has left behind those solutions that offer either near-field or far-field, but not both.Additionally, the intelligence built into our solutions knows when near field should be activated and when far field should be activated. The technology also knows when to cut off the power stream when a device is fully charged. All of this magic is designed for consumer usage and perfectly safe.Again, all of this represents the next generation in wireless power delivery.
What It Means
The industry has quickly taken notice.We’ve recently met with some of the world’s leading manufacturers of electronic and other OEMs, as well as companies in industry verticals that see plenty of functional, ground-breaking uses for the technology.OEMs and manufacturers see our integrated solution as a way to reimagine their products. Makers of mobile phones that integrate our chip into their devices can wirelessly provide wireless power, thus giving spatial freedom and convenience to consumers. Makers of medical devices, such as implantable pacemakers and defibrillators, also see a use case for keeping those devices fully charged.We’re also very excited about the potential we see in manufacturing and selling our products directly to the market. We’re planning to build a product that can be sold to, among others, retailers and hospitality providers (think fast food restaurants and hotels), as well as airports, malls and other public common spaces.By our last count, the total market for wireless power devices is expected to grow to $22.5 billion by 2022, but that doesn’t include many new uses that are on the horizon. For example, the technology could be used with smart homes/buildings to power thermostats, lighting, some alarms and a variety of sensors.It’s exciting to be reinventing a product that can have so many beneficial uses.