Techniques for determining distance between radiating objects in multipath wireless power delivery environments

A radiating object comprising:

• one or more antennas;
• and
• control circuitry operatively coupled to the one or more antennas, wherein the control circuitry is configured to:
• measure a received power level of a first signal received from a second radiating object by the one or more antennas;
• process environmental effects of a multipath wireless power delivery environment (MWPDE) to determine a particular effect of the MWPDE on the received power level of the first signal,
• wherein the environmental effects of the MWPDE on signals received by at least the second radiating object within the MWPDE are quantified using a calibration technique;
• calculate a first distance between the radiating object and the second radiating object based, at least in part, on the particular effect of the MWPDE on the received power level of the first signal;
• cause the one or more antennas to transmit a second signal to the second radiating object;
• identify, based on a measurement of a received power level of the second signal representative of a total quantity of radio frequency (RF) power received by the second radiating object, a subset of multiple paths in the MWPDE over which the second signal delivers the total quantity of RF power to the second radiating object;
• and
• cause, based on the identified subset of multiple paths, at least a third signal to be transmitted to the second radiating object to reduce the total quantity of RF power delivered to the second radiating object.

A method for calculating a distance from or to a radiating object in a multipath environment, the method comprising:

• receiving a first signal transmitted by the radiating object;
• measuring a received power level and phase of the first signal;
• processing environmental effects of the multipath environment to determine a particular effect of the multipath environment on the received power level of the first signal,
• wherein the environmental effects of the multipath environment on received signals are quantified using a calibration technique, and
• wherein the environmental effects increase or decrease power levels and vary phases of the received signals based on reflective or absorptive objects or surfaces in the multipath environment;
• calculating the distance from or to the radiating object based, at least in part, on the particular effect of the multipath environment on the received power level and phase of the first signal;
• transmitting a second signal to the radiating object;
• identifying, based on a measurement of a received power level of the second signal representative of a total quantity of radio frequency (RF) power received by the radiating object, a subset of multiple paths in the MWPDE over which the second signal delivers the total quantity of RF power to the radiating object;
• and
• transmitting, based on the identified subset of multiple paths, at least a third signal to the radiating object to reduce the total quantity of RF power delivered to the radiating object.