[2009.03.05]Wireless charging

 

Adaptor die
充电器已死

Mar 5th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Consumer electronics: A new push is under way to let mobile devices off the leash by doing away with their dependence on power cables
消费电子：通过将其从对电线的依赖中解放出来，移动设备新一步的解放运动正在进行之中。

Palm.com


IF THE father of electromagnetism, Michael Faraday, could be transported into the 21st century, he would no doubt be awestruck by the iPhone. After five hours of tapping its touch-screen to browse the internet, make calls, play games and determine his location via satellite-positioning, he might also find himself a little puzzled. Why, with all the advances in technology and communications, would such a sophisticated device still need to be plugged in to be recharged? If phone calls and web pages can be beamed through the air to portable devices, then why not electrical power, too? It is a question many consumers and device manufacturers have been asking themselves for some time—and one that both new and established technology companies are now hoping to answer.

如果电磁学之父Michael Faraday能够来到21世纪，无疑他也会对iPhone表示出惊叹。如果能把玩iPhone五个小时，通过点击触摸屏浏览网络、打电话、玩游戏并通过定位卫星定位自己的位置，可能他也会产生一点疑惑。既然技术和通信业已经有如此多的进步，为什么如此精巧的设备充电的时候仍然需要插上插头？如果电话和网页都能通过空气发送到移动设备上，为什么电能不行呢？有时，许多消费者和设备生产商也会向自己提出这个问题。现今，无论是行业巨头还是新兴公司，都希望能找到这个问题的答案。

To seasoned observers of the electronics industry, the promise of wireless recharging sounds depressingly familiar. In 2004 Splashpower, a British technology firm, was citing “very strong” interest from consumer-electronics firms for its wireless charging pad. Based on the principle of electromagnetic induction that Faraday had discovered in the 19th century, the company’s “Splashpad” contained a coil that generated a magnetic field when a current flowed through it. When a mobile device containing a corresponding coil was brought near the pad, the process was reversed as the magnetic field generated a current in the second coil, charging the device’s battery without the use of wires. Unfortunately, although Faraday’s principles of electromagnetic induction have stood the test of time, Splashpower has not—it was declared bankrupt last year without having launched a single product.

对电子工业的老牌观察家们来说，无线充电的承诺听上去显得非常熟悉。2004年，英国技术公司Splashpower由于其开发的无限充电板，曾吸引到消费电子公司“非常巨大”的兴趣。公司名为“Splashpad”的产品，基于法拉第于19世纪发现的电磁感应原理，内含一个在电流通过时能产生磁场的线圈。当内含相应线圈的移动设备被放置在板子附近的时候，与产生磁场的过程正好相反，磁场会则令移动设备的线圈中产生电流。从而不使用电线也能对设备的电池进行充电。不幸的是，尽管法拉第关于电磁感应的理论经历了时间的检验，Splashpower却没有。去年，在没有发布任何一款产品的情况下，公司宣布了破产的消息。

Thanks to its simplicity and scalability, electromagnetic induction is still the technology of choice among many of the remaining companies in the wireless-charging arena. But, as Splashpower found, turning the theory into profitable practice is not straightforward. One of the main difficulties for companies has been persuading manufacturers to incorporate charging modules into their devices. But lately there have been some promising developments.

多亏了电磁感应理论的简单和易测量，其仍然是无线充电舞台上，现存的许多公司的技术选择。但从Splashpower的经历能看到，将这一理论转变为可盈利实际产品的道路不会一帆风顺。最主要的障碍之一是，一直以来游说制造商在设备中集成充电模块都没有获得成功。但最近，在一些方面产生了积极的变化。
        

The first is the formation in December 2008 of the Wireless Power Consortium, a body dedicated to establishing a common standard for inductive wireless charging, and thus promoting its adoption. (It is modelled on a similar body that did the same for Bluetooth, a short-range wireless technology that is now found in most mobile phones.) The new consortium’s members include big consumer-electronics firms, such as Philips and Sanyo, as well as Texas Instruments (TI), a chipmaker.

首先是2008年12月，无线能源协会的成立，这一团体致力于确立无线感应充电的通用标准，并以此推动这一技术的应用。(他们通过仿效一个为蓝牙制定标准的类似团体来进行运作。蓝牙技术是一种先今大部分移动电话都具备的短距离无线技术。这一新团体的成员中包括几家电子消费巨头，比如飞利浦和三洋，同样也包括芯片制造商德州仪器。

Menno Treffers, chairman of the consortium and director of standardisation at Philips, says universal standards are the single most important requirement for the adoption of wireless charging. Philips is one of the few companies to have commercialised wirelessly charged devices—notably, electric toothbrushes and something it calls an “intimate dual massager”. But Mr Treffers acknowledges that a more collaborative approach is needed to ensure that different devices, such as mobile phones, laptops and digital cameras, can share the same charging equipment.

协会主席同时也作为飞利浦标准化业务主管的Menno Treffers表示，对无线充电技术来说，全球化的标准是唯一且最重要的必需条件。飞利浦是已经商业化无线充电技术        的少数几个公司之一。代表的就是电动牙刷和名叫“情侣亲密按摩师”的产品。但Treffers先生承认，一种更加兼容的方式有着更大的市场需求，其能保证像移动电话，笔记本电脑和数码相机这样的不同设备能够共享同样的充电设备。

Charging ahead
充电在未来

Fierce competition between manufacturers of mobile devices is also accelerating the introduction of wireless charging. The star of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, an annual jamboree held in Las Vegas, was the Pre, a snazzy smart-phone from Palm (pictured left). As well as the standard arsenal of technical features—touch-screen, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and built-in camera—the Pre also has an optional charging pad, called the Touchstone, which uses electromagnetic induction to charge the device wirelessly. When the device is placed on the pad, the two recognise each other through built-in sensors. Magnets embedded in the pad align the handset and hold it in place during charging.

移动设备制造商之间激烈的竞争也加速了无线充电技术的引入。一年一度的消费电子盛典已经在拉斯维加斯举行，其上的明星就是来自Palm的时尚智能手机Pre。除了具备诸如触摸屏、Wi-Fi、GPS、蓝牙和内置相机这些标准的标准的技术特色之外，Pre同时也提供了一款名为Touchstone的充电板作为可选配件，其就是利用电磁感应为设备无线充电。当手机放置板上时，双方之间同过内置的传感器进行识别。充电板中嵌入的磁铁会校正手机至正确的方向并在充电过程中维持手机的稳定。

Palm was not the only exhibitor in Las Vegas promoting wireless charging. Fulton Innovation, another member of the Wireless Power Consortium and the eventual owner of Splashpower’s assets, used the show to unveil a number of products including an in-car console equipped with inductive coils that can wirelessly charge mobile devices while on the road. (BMW says it will offer its 7 Series cars in South Korea with a wireless-recharging dock for one of Samsung’s handsets.) A modified toolbox from Bosch demonstrated the potential for wirelessly charging power tools.

Palm不是唯一一家在拉斯维加斯推出无线充电展品的参展商。无线能源协会的另一加会员同时也是Splashpower 资产的最终收购方，Fulton Innovation就通过这一展览揭开了一系列产品的面纱，其中包括一款内含感应线圈的车载控制台，可以帮助你在汽车行驶过程中对移动设备进行无线充电。（宝马宣布将为其在韩国销售的7系轿车中为一款三星的手机提供无线充电的接口。）博世的一款改进工具箱则证明了为电动工具提供无线充电的可能性。

Other domestic applications in the works include embedding charging pads into kitchen counters to enable the wireless use of blenders and other appliances. Bret Lewis of Fulton Innovation says his firm’s technology could also be used for industrial applications, or to charge electric cars. For the time being, however, the focus is on mobile phones, laptops and other consumer devices, and he sees 2009 as “the year for wireless”. That is probably too ambitious, but a third recent development suggests that the commercialisation of inductive charging may not be far off.

其他一些正在研究中的验证性应用包括，在厨房计算器中嵌入充电板，以方便搅拌机和其他厨具的无线使用。Fulton创新的Bret Lewis表示其公司的技术同样 能在工业应用或为电动汽车充电方面大展拳脚。这份野性可能有些过大，但最近出现的第三个技术进步意味着感应充电的商业化之日可能不会太遥远。

In November 2008 TI announced that it had joined forces with Fulton Innovations “to accelerate development of efficient wireless power solutions”. TI, which provides components to many of the world’s leading mobile-phone makers said it was exploring the production of integrated circuits that supported the technology developed by Fulton Innovations, with the aim of reducing the cost and size of the components needed for wireless charging and making it easier for device-makers to incorporate them into their products quickly.

2008年11月，德州仪器宣布与Fulton创新合作，“加速开发高效无线充电的解决方案”。为多家世界先进移动电话制造商提供组件的德州仪器声称，其正在研发支持Fulton创新所开发技术的集成电路产品，最终目标是降低无线充电所需组件的成本和体积，同时也让设备制造商更易将组件集成在它们的产品中。

“From a semiconductor and power-management point of view, wireless charging is a natural extension of what we have been doing,” says Masoud Beheshti, director of battery-charge management at TI. He predicts that, like Bluetooth, wireless charging will initially be offered on high-end devices, before gradually becoming more widely available.

德州仪器充电电池部门的主管Masoud Behesht 评论道，“从半导体和电源管理的角度来说，无线充电只是我们正使用技术的自然衍生而已。”他预测正如蓝牙技术一样，无线充电最初会配备在高端设备中，之后则逐渐得到广泛的使用。

As wireless-charging equipment based on electromagnetic induction heads towards the market, a number of alternative technologies are also being developed to transmit power over both short and long distances. WildCharge, a start-up based in Colorado, has already started selling a number of wireless-charging devices that take a cheaper but simpler approach in which mobile devices make electrical contact with a special charging pad via four small conductive metal studs (pictured).

基于电磁感应原理的无线充电设备正将进入市场，一系列在或短或长距离内传输能量的替代技术也已经研发成功。成立于科罗拉多州的WildCharge公司已经开始销售无线充电设备，其采用的是一种更加便宜且简单的方法，移动设备通过四个导电金属触点与一个特制的充电板连接，进行充电（如下图）。

Look, no wires

WildCharge and the licensees of its technology have developed replacement back covers for a number of popular devices, including Motorola’s RAZR phones and video-game controllers for the Nintendo Wii and the Sony PlayStation 3. No matter how the device is plonked down, two of the bumps establish direct electrical contact with the pad. The firm has also developed special “skins” for Blackberry smart-phones, so that they too can be charged without the need for an adaptor. Although it may not have the “wow” factor of inductive coupling, this approach does away with the necessity for a “handshake” between the device and the pad, and with the need to align the device and the pad in a particular way before charging can begin.

WildCharge和获得其技术许可的厂商已经为许多流行产品开发出可替换的背面外壳，例如摩托罗拉的RAZR，以及任天堂Wii和PS3的手柄。无论设备被怎样随便的扔到充电板上，背板上的两个突起都能保证与充电板直接通电。公司同样为黑莓智能手机开发了特制的“皮肤”，可以使其不需要充电器进行充电。相较于感应充电，这种方法可能没那么让人惊叹，但设备与充电板必须直接连接的发式却不再必要了，同时在充电开始前，也不再需要让设备与充电板保持在特定的方向。

At the other end of the spectrum is the idea of long-range transmission of wireless power, which could in principle do away with the need for a charging pad altogether. This technique uses the energy in radio waves, broadcast from a transmitter and harnessed by an antenna, to generate electricity. Using the passive-power principle found in crystal radios, the method has proved successful over short distances in places where it is difficult to replace batteries or carry out maintenance. The problem is that the intensity of the radio waves needed to charge mobile phones and laptop computers over long distances might be hazardous to human health, and regulators would be unlikely to approve.

蓝图的另一个方向是长距离无线传输能量的设想，如果能够实现，理论上可以连充电板也不再需要了。这种技术通过无线电波传输能量，通过发送器发送并使用天线接收，以此产生电能。通过从晶体收音机发现的无源性原理，这种方式已经在难以替换电池或完成维护且距离较短的条件下得到验证。现在的困难主要是，在长距离上对手机和笔记本电脑进行充电所需要的无线电波强度可能会对人体健康带来危害，同时调节强度也不太可能很好的实现。

Nevertheless a firm called Powercast, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has developed wireless-charging products that can do useful things while still operating at safe power levels. Over distances of less than 1.5 metres, its technology can be used to run low-power lighting systems; at a range of up to three metres, the radio waves can provide useful power for trickle-charging rechargeable batteries; and up to about 7.5 metres, they can be used to power wireless sensor networks. The firm talks of providing “milliwatts over metres” and “watts over centimetres”.

不过，一家位于匹兹堡名为Powercast的公司已经研发出可以在安全能量等级下仍能使用的无线充电产品。在低于1.5米的范围内，这一技术可以用来驱动低能耗照明装置；在三米以上的范围，无线电波可以为涓流充电状态下的充电电池提供电力；甚至在7.5米的距离上，它门也能为无线传感器网络提供电力。公司承诺在“数米距离上提供毫瓦级电力”和“数厘米距离上提供瓦特级电力”。

Yet another approach is that taken by PowerBeam, a start-up based in Silicon Valley. It uses lasers to beam power from one place to another, but it too faces regulatory difficulties. The firm says the low power-density of its lasers and a series of safeguards ensures that human exposure remains within regulatory limits.

同时，硅谷一家新兴公司PowerBeam正在尝试另一种方法。其使用激光将能量在两地间定向传输，但其同样面临调整强度的困难。公司表示，低能量强度的激光和一系列的安全措施保证了人体照射的激光保持在可控限度内。

With so many companies working towards wireless power, how long will it be before the cord is finally cut? According to Charles Golvin of Forrester, a consultancy, one of the key considerations is getting manufacturers to abandon a lucrative line of business. He says that many mobile-phone manufacturers use the proprietary connectors on their chargers to retain customers, as people are more likely to buy products for which they already have charging adaptors at home, in the office, or in the car. This may make them reluctant to switch to a common wireless-charging standard. But Mr Colvin thinks strong demand will ensure that wireless technology prevails in the long run.

如此多的公司致力于追求无线充电技术，还要多久这一技术才能真正美梦成真？咨询公司Forrester的Charles Golvin，最为关键的因素之一是，制造商抛弃现存的商业盈利模式。他认为，由于消费者更倾向于购买已经在家，办公室或车中拥有充电器的品牌，许多手机制造商使用特制的充电器来维持消费者群体。这可能使消费者不乐意接受通用的无线充电标准。但Colvin仍然认为，长远看来，强大的市场需求将为无线充电技术的成功铺平道路。

Peaks and troughs
高潮和低谷

Stephan Ohr of Gartner, a market-research firm, says the prospects for wireless power are realistic, but the path to widespread adoption will not be as easy as many in the industry expect. New technologies tend to go through a period of “inflated expectations” in which they are hyped, but fail to gain traction. Only after passing through the “trough of disillusionment”, during which expectations return to a more sensible level, are they widely adopted. For wireless charging, Mr Ohr expects this to take three to five years.

市场调查公司Gartner的Stephan Ohr表示无线充电在未来一定是可以实现的，但其广泛应用的道路也不会像许多行业预测那样容易。新兴技术通常都要经过一段“期望夸大” 的过程，技术被疯狂宣传，但却无法获得推动。只有度过“泡沫破灭的低谷”后，随着期望回归到一个更加理性的层面，新技术才能真正得到广泛应用。对无线充电来说，Ohr 预期这一过程会花费3到5年。

But it now seems to be a matter of when, rather than if, wireless charging enters the mainstream. And if those in the field do find themselves languishing in the trough of disillusionment, they could take some encouragement from Faraday himself. He observed that “nothing is too wonderful to be true if it be consistent with the laws of nature.” Not even a wirelessly rechargeable iPhone.

现在看来，无线充电进入主流消费领域已不是可能与否，而是时间早晚的问题了。如果说致力研究的厂商近来一直在泡沫破灭的低谷挣扎，法拉第无疑可以给与他们一定的鼓励。他就曾发现“如果与自然规律相符，没有什么东西是神奇到无法实现的。”即是使无线充电的iPhone也不例外。

 

译者/1004： http://www.ecocn.org/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=17867&extra=page%3D1