Multimode wireless power receivers and related methods

A wireless power apparatus, comprising:

• a resonant tank configured to generate an AC power signal responsive to an electromagnetic field transmitted by a wireless power transmitter;
• a rectifier configured to receive the AC power signal and generate a DC output power signal;
• and
• control logic configured to:
• send one or more messages to the wireless power transmitter, each message of the one or more messages being encoded using a different encoding scheme;
• receive a response to a first one of the one or more messages from the wireless power transmitter;
• determine a type of the wireless power transmitter based on the respective encoding scheme used by the first one of the one or more messages for which the response was received and using a wireless power transmitter type detector that is configured to determine the type of the wireless power transmitter responsive to an input of the rectifier and the DC output power signal;
• operate the wireless power apparatus as a multimode receiver having a first mode for a first transmitter wireless power type and a second mode for a second wireless power transmitter type;
• select a mode associated with the determined type of the wireless power transmitter;
• adjust one or more control signals of the rectifier based on the selected mode;
• and
• cause the resonant tank to reconfigure and adjust a resonant frequency of the resonant tank to match an operating frequency of the wireless power transmitter based on the selected mode;
• wherein the resonant tank is configured to exhibit a different resonant frequency for each of the first mode and the second mode.

A method for operating a multimode wireless power receiver, the method comprising:

• detecting, by a wireless power receiver, a ping signal from a wireless power transmitter at a first frequency;
• determining, by control logic of the wireless power receiver, a wireless power transmitter type for a wireless power transmitter based on the first frequency of the detected ping signal and using a wireless power transmitter type detector that is configured to determine the wireless power transmitter type responsive to an input of a rectifier of the wireless power receiver and a DC output power signal of the wireless power receiver;
• adjusting one or more control signals of the rectifier of the wireless power receiver based on the determined type of the wireless power transmitter;
• and
• adjusting a resonant frequency of a resonant tank of the wireless power receiver to match an operating frequency of the wireless power transmitter based on the type of the wireless power transmitter.