Ask Direct to Engineers
Engineering Trends in Power Supplies to Reduce Environmental LoadTechnology for Industrial Waste Reduction: Wireless Supply of Power
2018.09.20
-What kinds of power supply technology will make reduction of industrial waste possible?
Wireless power supply is one. Wireless technology has become the norm for data transmission by mobile equipment such as tablets and smartphones. But nearly all such equipment uses wires, typically from chargers based on AC-DC adapters, for power transmission, as typified by USB charging. Wireless power supply technology eliminates the need for power supply cables when charging mobile equipment, and is attracting attention as a promising means of improving the connector safety, waterproof properties, and dust resistance of equipment. Because a single power supply apparatus can be used with a lot of equipment, there is no longer a need to provide a charger for each equipment, and the ability to reduce chargers can be said to have environmental advantages.
-I think that Apple announced support for this. And it seems that there is an increasing number of optional equipment for use in wireless charging.
International standards have been now formulated by industry organizations promoting the spread of wireless power supply. Infrastructure is being introduced in hotels, airport lounges, fast food outlets, in automobiles, and elsewhere primarily in Europe and North America, for use with smartphones.
-I expect that standardization will be necessary insofar as a single power supply apparatus is shared by a lot of equipment, but what kinds of standards will these be?
There are currently three main standards, the result of work by two organizations. The “Qi” international standard appeared earliest; it was formulated and is being promoted by WPC, the Wireless Power Consortium. Qi is pronounced “chee”. The other two standards are those of an organization called the AirFuel Alliance. AirFuel is in fact the result of a merger between two former groups, the Power Matters Alliance (PMA) and the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP). At present, AirFuel is promoting two different standards: the AirFuel Inductive electromagnetic induction system that is the old PMA standard, and AirFuel Resonant, a magnetic field resonance system based on the old Rezence standard. The old standard names are often used even today, making for some awkwardness.
It should be mentioned that, although much information relating to Apple, mentioned above, has not been finalized, it appears that the iPhone8 will support Qi. As in this case, the situation surrounding which standards are being supported by which device and equipment manufacturers and service companies is in a state of flux, and some of the standards themselves are being formulated so as to support increased power levels. Where ROHM is concerned, ROHM is a full member of the WPC, has been participating in WPC deliberations from the stage of Qi standard formulation, and is taking the initiative in developing products that address market demands.
-What kinds of products does ROHM offer?
Currently, there are wireless power supply control ICs, including the BD57011AGWL and BD57015GWL for the reception/terminal side and the BD57020MWV and BD57021MWV for the transmission/charging side. All conform to the WPC Qi Ver.1.2 standard. Reference boards using these ICs are also being sold.
The transmission-side BD57020MWV-EVK-001 and the reception-side BD57015GWL-EVK-001 are reference boards that, in March 2016, obtained Qi certification for WPC Qi standard medium-power power supply, the first in the industry.
-Could you explain the wireless power supply control ICs in somewhat more detail.
To begin with, please look at the following table, which lists our current lineup and the standards supported. This will make the following explanation easier to understand.
The supported standards are the latest versions. BPP stands for Baseline Power Profile, and is also called a low-power standard, for power levels of 5 W or below. EPP stands for Extended Power Profile, and is a medium-power standard for up to 15 W. The BD57015GWL and BD57020MWV support both the low-power and the medium-power standards.
-So you have a full lineup of products for reception and transmission supporting power levels of 5 W or below and 15 W or below.
That’s right. And among these products, today I’d like to talk about the chipset consisting of the BD57015GWL and BD57020MWV, which conform to the WPC Qi standard for medium power (EPP).
-The block diagram indicates that in the BD57015GWL on the reception side, the packet generation circuit supports the PMA standard as well as Qi. This is indicated by the table above as well.
The BD57015GWL supports both the PMA standard and the current AirFuel Inductive standard. It is provided with dual modes, with automatic switching between the WPC Qi medium-power operation and 5 W PMA operation. Consequently it can be used to configure a terminal that can be charged from a charger conforming to either of these standards.
-?And on the transmission side, in addition to the BD57020MWV, a microcontroller and driving circuit are required?
That is correct. The microcontroller is necessary for use as a controller. The microcontroller is the ML610Q772 manufactured by Lapis Semiconductor of the ROHM group, provided with firmware installed to ensure operation that conforms to the Qi standard. The block identified as the drive circuit in the diagram is a circuit to drive a coil using a half-bridge or full-bridge power stage based on MOSFETs. The BD57020MWV performs gate drive of the MOSFETs.
-And are there any other features?
FOD(Foreign Object Detection), a function for detection of foreign objects, is provided as a standard feature. If for example a paper clip or some other metal objects is present between the transmitter and the receiver, the metal may be heated and cause deformation of an equipment case, and possibly even result in burn injury. In order to improve safety, the Qi standard requires provision of an FOD function. In addition, protective circuits are incorporated that provide overvoltage protection, overcurrent protection, protection from overheating, and low-voltage malfunction prevention.
-I see. Could you please tell me about the reference boards as well.
-Could you please provide a summary.
This graphic illustrates the expansion of WPC Qi standards and ROHM’s development roadmap. ROHM has taken the initiative by joining standards associations and other means in order to develop products which address customer demands by anticipating market trends, while also advancing toward solutions to shared global issues such as energy efficiency and the environment.
List of articles related to the「Technology for Industrial Waste Reduction: Wireless Supply of Power」
Download Technical Documents
Downloadable materials, including lecture materials from ROHM-sponsored seminars and a selection guide for DC-DC converters, are now available.
Ask Direct to Engineers
-
600 V IGBT IPM Achieves Industry Top-Class Low Noise and Low Losses: Advantages and Challenges of Using IGBT IPMs
- Optimization of Frequency Characteristics of a DC-DC Converter in the Design Stage : Evaluating Frequency Characteristics to Check Output Stability and Response
- Another Important Issue after Miniaturization, Efficiency Enhancement, EMC:Thermal Design : Thermal Design Encounters Strong Headwinds due to Engineering Trend Changes
- Industry Top-Class DC-DC Converter Enabling 80V and High Efficiency : High-Voltage DC-DC Converter to Enter the Market
- Photocoupler-Free Isolated Flyback DC-DC Converter : Liberation from Photocoupler Maintenance in a Compact, Simple Design
- DC-DC Converter IC Capable of Direct Step-Down from 48 V to 3.3 V : Is Direct Step-Down from 48 V to 3.3 V Possible?
- What capacitor and inductor are the best for a switching power supply? – Inductor- : Reading and Understanding Inductor Specifications and Equivalent Circuits
- 3rd Generation SiC Schottky Barrier Diode:SCS3 Series : Continuing Evolution of SiC Schottky Barrier Diodes
- Engineering Trends in Power Supplies to Reduce Environmental Load : Efficiency Improvements in AC-DC Converters Now an Absolute Imperative
- AC-DC Converter Control that Achieves Both Power Factor Correction and High Efficiency : Is Power Supply Efficiency Always Reduced When a PFC Circuit is Added?
- SiC MOSFETs Adopting 4-pin Packages:SCT3xxx xR Series : Reasons for Adopting 4-pin Package
-
What capacitor and inductor are the best for a switching power supply? – Capacitor – : Increasing Capacitance of Multilayer Ceramic Chip Capacitors
- In the evaluation of output ripples, ESL for output capacitor requires particular attention
- ESR of the Output Capacitor Exerts a Significant Impact on Output Fluctuation at Decreased Load
- Issues Relating to Mounting: Cracking
- Issues With Mounting -Audible Ringing-
- Summary
- Need to Know not Only Electrical Specs, But Also Their Characteristics Including Materials and Packaging Cases
- In Selecting an Input Capacitor, Focus on the Ripple Current, ESR, and ESL
- Industrial-grade step-down DC-DC converters providing long-term supply guarantee and available in small-reel sales : Routine Requirements in Industrial Applications: Long-Term Supply Guarantee and Small-Lot Sales
- Automotive general-purpose LDO regulator series offering a total of 43 models : There is a Reason for Extensive Variety as Many as 43 Models
- Step-Down DC-DC Converter Series Compatible with Stringent FPGA Power Supply Requirements : Power Requirements of the FPGA
- The BM2Pxxx Series High Efficiency AC-DC Converter IC with Internal MOSFET : Issues Confronting Existing AC-DC Converters: Efficiency and Size
- Synchronous rectification step-down DC-DC converters developed as automotive secondary power supplies : Greatly Improved Efficiency and Supplied Power, with Number of Components and footprint comparable to LDO regulators