Texas Instruments Joins the Alliance for Wireless Power

[Cristian_25H]

Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) today announced it has joined the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP). TI will continue to develop new bqTESLA wireless power receiver and transmitter integrated circuits that comply with existing and future versions of the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) Qi standard, and also create products that support the A4WP magnetic resonance specification.

"TI is actively bringing advanced wireless power capabilities to the market," said Sami Kiriaki, senior vice president of TI Power Management. "The WPC Qi specification is clearly the standard for wireless power today, and there is an emerging trend toward loosely coupled technologies - something both WPC and A4WP are exploring. We believe that working closely with both initiatives will help us continue to lead in wireless power."



Organized in April, A4WP is a group of electronics companies, including Samsung, Qualcomm and others, focused on advancing the field of wireless power by delivering a specification that permits spatial freedom. The group officially released its A4WP specification, which is based on loosely coupled magnetic resonance technology, to simultaneously charge smartphones and other portable electronics with different power requirements.

TI is making wireless power a reality
Wireless power is an emerging technology that creates a better charging experience for consumers, just as Wi-Fi replaced the need to use an Ethernet cable for Internet connectivity. TI's advanced receiver and transmitter integrated circuits, such as the recently announced bq51050B single-chip wireless power receiver with integrated charger and bq500410A 3-coil transmitter, are making wireless power a reality. As the leading provider of power management ICs, including battery management and power supply technology, TI relies on its power design expertise to drive innovations in wireless charging. For samples and bqTESLA development kits, visit: www.ti.com/wirelesspower-pr

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[lemonadesoda]

Exciting stuff. Absolutely agree there needs to be a universal standard to make sure we don't have the same fiasco like we did 10 years ago with mobile phone chargers. (PS. They still need to do this with "ultrabook" and laptop chargers!)

 

[Morgoth]

 

[Frick]

Exciting stuff. Absolutely agree there needs to be a universal standard to make sure we don't have the same fiasco like we did 10 years ago with mobile phone chargers. (PS. They still need to do this with "ultrabook" and laptop chargers!)

Imo they have the right to make the contacts as they please, plus you get a charger with whatever it is you're buying. When its wireless its a different thing imo.

 

[lemonadesoda]

^I'm glad to say that there weren't too many people thinking like that in the past, or there'd be different power sockets in different houses. Different shapes, sizes, and voltages!

 

[Frick]

^I'm glad to say that there weren't too many people thinking like that in the past, or there'd be different power sockets in different houses. Different shapes, sizes, and voltages!

There's a difference between supplier and consumption. Which is why the power supply has to follow standards but how it's done after that they can do anything they want. Most (if not all) cellphones have the same power so with a bit of hacking you can charge pretty much any phone with any charger.

And BTW you still come across tiny pockets of madness when it comes to power distribution, even in Sweden. There's a guy around home who for some reason is connected by himself on an water plant running 110V. I'm not sure he lives still but he had a bitch of a time finding appliaences. Would be cool living there.

 

[Ferrum Master]

And BTW you still come across tiny pockets of madness when it comes to power distribution, even in Sweden. There's a guy around home who for some reason is connected by himself on an water plant running 110V. I'm not sure he lives still but he had a bitch of a time finding appliaences. Would be cool living there.

Nice story... kind of viking like... or a cheapskate, but you know with ebay around there is no problem, the seconds he can always use a step up transformer... and many consumer things have in build switches for 110/220. Like PSU's for example

But with the topic, universal power plug? Impossible. The power demand is rising, microUSB has it's current limits, otherwise it will melt. TAB's already need over 1.5A to make the charging reasonably fast. So the unified charger standard is quite debatable again now. It simply needs more copper and that means space, and the devices getting thinner... uff we'll see... How far I see now USB3 won't gain popularity yet, as it is code wise very unstable... especially legacy mode UART tasks... that phones often need. Flashing phones with USB3 in almost 95% cases kills them , the legacy USB mode is broken at least for now. Next year new Exynos comes out with first native USB3 support bus wise, we'll see how it goes.

And this wireless charging gizmo... it is a mere joke in my opinion... it is just a thing not to let the device charge out and supply with stand by current. But... Li ion batteries for phones have an average 300-500 charge count... this thing is a battery killer in my opinion.

 

[Mussels]

its not possible to make a universal plug, but theres near enough.


micro USB
not sure the real name, but the kettle plugs PC's use worldwide (the prongs change, but the other end doesnt)


wireless charging may not be as fast as wired, but the point is that when your device is idling and doing nothing, it can at least trickle charge. for low consumption users, that means you'd never need to plug the device in.