Synchronous operation of high frequency inductive power transfer systems through injection locking
Author(s)
Pucci, Nunzio
Papavassiliou, Christos
Mitcheson, Paul D
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
High frequency inductive power transfer systems can be designed for operation with high tolerance to misalignment and large air-gaps, making it possible to operate in highly dynamic environments. Most examples in the literature use a single active transmitter and a single passive receiver (active-passive approach). Such systems are limited to unidirectional power flow and are susceptible to detuning of the transmitter due to changes of reflected reactance stemming from diode non-linearities. This also limits the range of coupling over which the system can be operated efficiently. Therefore there is significant potential for expanding the range of applications of inductive power transfer systems by moving to an active-active configuration. This will enable bidirectional power flow, power routing through several nodes and on-the-fly retuning to eliminate reflected reactances. One of the greatest challenges in achieving an active secondary in an IPT system is obtaining a stable frequency and phase reference for the synchronous rectifier/transceiver with respect to the transmitter coil current and hence magnetic field. Various methods for synchronisation have been proposed in the literature, but they either require a separate, out of band communication link, or are difficult to scale to MHz operation. This paper describes an alternative to the existing solutions, using an injection locked oscillator to provide optimal phase tracking. A series of candidate feedback configurations are also proposed to provide high system resilience. In this work the basic principles of injection locking are described as applied to synchronous IPT transceivers and experimental results are presented demonstrating its application to a bidirectional back-to-back Class-EF configuration operating at 13.56 MHz, with coupling factors ranging from 1.9 % to 8.4 % and power levels of up to 25 W.
Date Issued
2023-10
Date Acceptance
2023-08-01
Citation
IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, 2023, 38 (10), pp.11984-11994
ISSN
0885-8993
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Start Page
11984
End Page
11994
Journal / Book Title
IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics
Volume
38
Issue
10
Copyright Statement
© 2023 The Author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License URL
Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/tpel.2023.3300510
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2023-08-01