Antenna aperture sharing architectures for simultaneous transmission and reception of wireless power and broadband data

A transmitter, comprising:

• a mapper configured to map data bits and power information to N subcarriers to obtain mapped information, wherein N is an integer of at least 1;
• two or more units of a data stream/power channel digital path wherein a data stream/power channel digital path includes:
• a frequency selector configured to pass on a first part of the mapped information or of subcarrier specifications, related to a first part of the N subcarriers, and to ignore a second part of the mapped information or of the subcarrier specifications;
• a first-level modulator configured to receive the mapped information or the first part of the mapped information and to modulate the mapped information or the first part of the mapped information according to a modulation standard to provide the subcarrier specifications or to provide the first part of the subcarrier specifications;
• an orthogonal subcarrier generator configured to:
• receive the first part of the subcarrier specifications;
• translate the first part of the subcarrier specifications from a first domain to a second domain;
• and
• generate a baseband real signal (a BB Re signal) and a baseband imaginary signal (a BB Im signal) that include the first part of the N subcarriers;
• a second-level modulator coupled with an output of the orthogonal subcarrier generator and configured to receive the BB Re signal and the BB Im signal and to multiply the BB Re signal with an in-phase intermediate-frequency sine wave (an IF sine wave) and to multiply the BB Im signal with a quadrature intermediate-frequency cosine wave (an IF cosine wave) to obtain an IF I signal and an IF Q signal;
• and
• a beamformer coupled with an output of the second-level modulator and configured to receive the IF I signal and the IF Q signal and to, for Ma antenna channels, modify a phase and/or an amplitude of the IF I signal and/or the IF Q signal to obtain a directed IF I signal and/or a directed IF Q signal, wherein Ma is an integer of at least 1;
• and
• a combiner configured to receive Ma output signals from each of the two or more units of data stream/power channel digital path and to add each of the Ma output signals to obtain Ma added output signals, and to pass each of the Ma added output signals to one of Ma antenna channel modules configured to drive an antenna or a sub-antenna in an antenna arrangement and to transmit wireless power based on the power information and broadband data including data bits.

A method for simultaneously transmitting broadband data and wireless power in multiple directions, the method comprising:

• associating at least a first part of a first data stream with a first subcarrier to obtain a first mapped data and at least a part of a power information with a second subcarrier to obtain a second mapped data;
• in a first-level modulator, using the first mapped data to generate a first subcarrier specification and the second mapped data to generate a second subcarrier specification, wherein the first subcarrier specification and the second subcarrier specification each include a real part and an imaginary part, and wherein the first-level modulator uses a first modulation type for the first subcarrier specification;
• in a first data stream/power channel digital path:
• selecting the first subcarrier specification, generating the first subcarrier based on the first subcarrier specification, modulating the first subcarrier onto an intermediate frequency (IF), and beamforming the modulated first subcarrier for transmission in a first direction via a first antenna and a second antenna;
• and
• in a second data stream/power channel digital path:
• beamforming a modulated second subcarrier for transmission in a second direction via the first antenna and the second antenna, wherein the modulated second subcarrier is based on the second mapped data.

A method for simultaneously transmitting broadband data and wireless power in multiple directions and with multiple modulation types, the method comprising:

• associating at least a first part of a first data stream with a first subcarrier to obtain a first mapped data, at least a second part of a second data stream with a second subcarrier to obtain a second mapped data, and at least a third part of a power information with a third subcarrier to obtain a third mapped data;
• in a first data stream/power channel digital path:
• selecting the first mapped data, using the first mapped data to generate a first subcarrier specification based on a first modulation type, generating the first subcarrier based on the first subcarrier specification, modulating the first subcarrier onto an intermediate frequency (IF), and beamforming the modulated first subcarrier for transmission in a first direction via a first antenna and a second antenna;
• in a second data stream/power channel digital path:
• selecting the second mapped data, using the second mapped data to generate a second subcarrier specification based on a second modulation type, generating the second subcarrier based on the second subcarrier specification, modulating the second subcarrier onto the IF, and beamforming the modulated second subcarrier for transmission in a second direction via the first antenna and the second antenna;
• and
• in a third data stream/power channel digital path:
• beamforming a modulated third subcarrier for transmission in a third direction via the first antenna and the second antenna, wherein the modulated third subcarrier is based on the third mapped data.