Power source, charging system, and inductive receiver for mobile devices

A system for inductive powering or charging of portable devices, the system comprising:

• one or more primary coils that are substantially planar and parallel to a surface of the system for powering or charging portable devices, including batteries and receiver units, each including a receiver coil and a receiver circuit including a receiver rectifier circuit;
• one or more drive circuits including field effect transistor (FET) drivers and FET switches coupled to the one or more primary coils that when operated apply an alternating electrical current to the one or more primary coils to generate a magnetic field in a direction substantially perpendicular to a plane of the one or more primary coils and the surface of the system to provide power to one or more of the portable devices capable of being powered or charged by the system when present and near the one or more primary coils;
• one or more sense circuits to monitor the current through the one or more primary coils to sense communications from the one or more receiver coils;
• and
• one or more communication and control circuits including one or more microcontrollers coupled to the one or more drive circuits and the one or more sense circuits that detect communication through the one or more sense circuits via the one or more primary coils and control the one or more drive circuits to control the powering or charging of the portable devices;
• wherein the one or more communication and control circuits are configured to:
• sequentially switch the one or more drive circuits coupled to the one or more primary coils at a frequency and power level sufficient to transfer power to one or more of the receiver units when near the one or more primary coils for a sufficiently long period of time to activate the one or more receiver circuits and to receive a response from the one or more receiver circuits via the one or more receiver coils which the one or more primary coils sense via the one or more sense circuits as a modulation of one or more primary coil currents,
• detect, through the one or more sense circuits, communications from the one or more receiver units through the one or more receiver coils including information corresponding to one or more voltages at one or more outputs of the one or more receiver rectifier circuits induced by the one or more primary coils and the one or more receiver coils and identifying information of the portable devices or receiver units sufficient for the one or more communication and control circuits to uniquely identify the portable devices or receiver units and to determine charge or powering algorithm profiles and the power requirements of the one or more portable devices or receiver units,
• determine the one or more primary coils electromagnetically most aligned with the one or more receiver coils by comparing values of the induced voltages at the receiver rectifier circuit outputs communicated to the system by the one or more receiver units,
• drive FET switches associated with those most aligned one or more primary coils, periodically receive information corresponding to the one or more output voltages or currents of the one or more receiver rectifier circuits via the one or more primary coils and the one or more sense circuits,
• regulate in a closed loop feedback manner the one or more output voltages or currents of the one or more receiver rectifier circuits by adjusting the frequency or duty cycle of the one or more drive circuits during the charging or powering of the one or more portable devices or batteries, and
• terminate power transfer from the one or more primary coils upon receiving end of charge messages from the one or more receiver coils and receiver circuits through the one or more primary coils and sense circuits.