Wireless charging for mobile Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as smartphones is extremely difficult. To reduce energy dissipation during wireless transmission in mobile scenarios, laser or narrow radio beams with sophisticated tracking control are typically required. However, reaching the necessary tracking accuracy and reliability is really difficult. In this article, inspired by the features of optical resonators and retroreflectors, we develop an experiment on a self-aligned resonant beam charging system for long-distance mobile power transfer. It exploits light resonances inside a double-retroreflector-based spatially separated laser resonator (SSLR), which eliminates the requirement for any kind of tracking control. Focal telecentric cat’s eye retroreflectors are employed here. The SSLR was investigated by both theoretical calculation and experiment. We also well assembled the transmitter and the receiver and demonstrated its application in mobile smartphone charging. The results show that above 5-W optical power (also obtained more than 0.6-W electrical power) transferring with negligible diffraction loss to a few-centimeter-size receiver is realized while the receiver moves arbitrarily within 2-m vertical distance and 6° field of view from the transmitter. The maximum horizontal moving range is up to ±18 cm. This wireless charging system empowers a smartphone in mobile operation with unlimited battery life without the need for a cable.

Resonant Beam Charging (RBC) is a promising Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) technology to realize long-range and high-power charging for electronic devices. However, the safety mechanism of the RBC system has not been investigated so far. In this paper, we propose an analytical model based on electromagnetic field analysis for evaluating the performance of the RBC system with external object invasion, such as the benchmark for the WPT safety, irradiance on the invading object. For the RBC system with 5 m transmission distance and 1 W output electric power, the safety numerical analysis of radiation illustrates that the maximum irradiance on the invading object is 0.81 W/cm ² , which is approximately $1/10$ compared with 8.22 W/cm ² for the comparable laser charging system. Particularly, the peak irradiance on the invading object of the RBC system satisfies the Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE) requirement for human skin, which is 1 W/cm ² in the standard “Safety of Laser Products IEC $60825-1$”. Hence, the RBC system can realize skin-safe WPT with Watt-level power over meter-level distance.

As a long-range high-power wireless power transfer (WPT) technology, resonant beam charging (RBC) can transmit Watt-level power over long distance for the devices in the internet of things (IoT). Due to its open-loop architecture, RBC faces the challenge of providing dynamic current and voltage to optimize battery charging performance. In RBC, battery overcharge may cause energy waste, thermal effects, and even safety issues. On the other hand, battery undercharge may lead to charging time extension and significant battery capacity reduction. In this paper, we present an adaptive resonant beam charging (ARBC) system for battery charging optimization. Based on RBC, ARBC uses a feedback system to control the supplied power dynamically according to the battery preferred charging values. Moreover, in order to transform the received current and voltage to match the battery preferred charging values, ARBC adopts a direct current to direct current (DC-DC) conversion circuit. Relying on the analytical models for RBC power transmission, we obtain the end-to-end power transfer relationship in the approximate linear closed-form of ARBC. Thus, the battery preferred charging power at the receiver can be mapped to the supplied power at the transmitter for feedback control. Numerical evaluation demonstrates that ARBC can save 61% battery charging energy and 53%-60% supplied energy compared with RBC. Furthermore, ARBC has high energy-saving gain over RBC when the WPT is unefficient. ARBC in WPT is similar to link adaption in wireless communications. Both of them play the important roles in their respective areas.

Both high-accuracy localization and power supply for mobile and Internet of Things (IoT) devices are demanding in the next-generation wireless networks. Recently, research on complete localization has been proposed, i.e., capturing the target’s location and identification (ID). However, the existing schemes face challenges, including: 1) improving positioning accuracy without the active emission of signals from the targets and 2) providing sufficient power for the targets to enable features such as ID. In this article, we present a simultaneous localization and power transfer (SLAPT) system relying on the resonant beam system (RBS), which can realize complete, passive, and high-accuracy positioning along with the capability of sufficient power supply. We first establish analytical models to illustrate the principles of power transfer to the target with an open-cavity laser, positioning the target, including Time-of-Flight (ToF) ranging and Angle-of-Arrival (AoA) estimation with the self-reproducing mode theory, wireless charging power conversion, and identifying the target using shutter modulation. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed SLAPT system can achieve less than 1-cm positioning accuracy over 2-m distance in 16° Fields of View (FoVs) with 3-W wireless power supply. The proposed system allows passive and complete localization for the target without battery or power line in various IoT applications.

Resonant Beam Charging (RBC) is a promising Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) technology to provide long-range, high-power, mobile and safe wireless power for the Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The Point-to-Multipoint (PtMP) RBC system can charge multiple receivers simultaneously similar to WiFi communications. To guarantee the Quality of Charging Service (QoCS) for each receiver and maximize the overall earning in the PtMP RBC service, we specify the Charging Pricing Strategy (CPS) and develop the High Priority Charge (HPC) scheduling algorithm to control the charging order and power allocation. Each receiver is assigned a priority, which is updated dynamically based on its State of Charging (SOC) and specified charging power. The receivers with high priorities are scheduled to be charged in each time slot. We present the pseudo code of the HPC algorithm based on quantifying the receiver’s SOC, discharging energy and various relevant parameters. Relying on simulation analysis, we demonstrate that the HPC algorithm can achieve better QoCS and earning than the Round-Robin Charge (RRC) scheduling algorithm. Based on the performance evaluation, we illustrate that the methods to improve the PtMP RBC service are: 1) limiting the receiver number within a reasonable range and 2) prolonging the charging duration as long as possible. In summary, the HPC scheduling algorithm provides a practical strategy to maximize the earning of the PtMP RBC service with each receiver’s QoCS guarantee.

Integrating the wireless power transfer (WPT) technology into the wireless communication system has been important for operational cost saving and power-hungry problem solving of electronic devices. In this paper, we propose a resonant beam simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (RB-SWIPT) system, which utilizes a gain medium and two retro-reflecting surfaces to enhance and retro-reflect energy, and allows devices to recharge their batteries and exchange information from the resonant beam wirelessly. To reveal the SWIPT mechanism and evaluate the SWIPT performance, we establish an analytical end-to-end (E\mathscr2E) transmission model based on a modular approach and the electromagnetic field propagation. Then, the intra-cavity power intensity distribution, transmission loss, output power, and E\mathscr2E efficiency can be obtained. The numerical evaluation illustrates that the exemplary RB-SWIPT system can provide about 4.20 W electric power and 12.41 bps/Hz spectral efficiency, and shorter transmission distance or larger retro-reflecting surface size can lead to higher E\mathscr2E efficiency. The RB-SWIPT presents a new way for high-power, long-range WPT, and high-rate communication.