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The high-efficiency current-mode (CM) and voltage-mode (VM) Class-E power amplifiers (PAs) for MHz wireless power transfer (WPT) systems are first proposed in this paper and the design methodology for them is presented. The CM/VM Class-E PA is able to deliver the increasing/decreasing power with the increasing load and the efficiency maintains high even when the load varies in a wide range. The high efficiency and certain operation mode are realized by introducing an impedance transformation network with fixed components. The efficiency, output power, circuit tolerance, and robustness are all taken into consideration in the design procedure, which makes the CM and the VM Class-E PAs especially practical and efficient to real WPT systems. 6.78-MHz WPT systems with the CM and the VM Class-E PAs are fabricated and compared to that with the classical Class-E PA. The measurement results show that the output power is proportional to the load for the CM Class-E PA and is inversely proportional to the load for the VM Class-E PA. The efficiency for them maintains high, over 83%, when the load of PA varies from 10 to 100  $\Omega$, while the efficiency of the classical Class-E is about 60% in the worst case. The experiment results validate the feasibility of the proposed design methodology and show that the CM and the VM Class-E PAs present superior performance in WPT systems compared to the traditional Class-E PA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wireless power transfer (WPT) working at megahertz (MHz) is widely considered a promising technology for midrange and low-power applications. A Class $ E^2$ dc–dc converter is composed of a Class E power amplifier (PA) and a Class E rectifier. It is attractive for applications in MHz WPT due to the soft-switching properties of both the PA and the rectifier. Using the existing design, the Class $E^2$ dc–dc converter can only achieve optimal performance such as a high efficiency under a fixed operating condition. Meanwhile, in real applications variations in the coil relative position and the final load are common. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and develop a general design methodology for a robust Class $E^2$ dc–dc converter in MHz WPT applications. Component and system efficiencies are analytically derived, which serve as the basis for the determination of the design parameters. The classical matching network of the Class E PA is also improved that provides the required impedance compression capability. Then, a robust parameter design procedure is developed. Both the experimental and calculated results show that proposed design approach can significantly improve the robustness of the efficiency of the Class $E^2$ dc–dc converter against variations in coil relative position and final load. Finally, the experiments show that the range of variation of the system efficiency is narrowed from 47.5%–85.0% to 73.3%–83.7% using the proposed robust design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic resonance coupling working at megahertz (MHz) is widely considered as a promising technology for the mid-range transfer of a medium amount of power. It is known that the soft-switching-based Class E rectifiers are suitable for high-frequency rectification, and thus potentially improve the overall efficiency of MHz wireless power transfer (WPT) systems. This paper reports new results on optimized parameter design of a MHz WPT system based on the analytical derivation of a Class E current-driven rectifier. The input impedance of the Class E rectifier is accurately derived, for the first time, considering the on-resistance of the diode and the equivalent series resistance of the filter inductor. This derived input impedance is then used to develop and guide design procedures that determine the optimal parameters of the rectifier, coupling coils, and a Class E PA in an example 6.78-MHz WPT system. Furthermore, the efficiencies of these three components and the overall WPT system are also analytically derived for design and evaluation purposes. In the final experiments, the analytical results are found to well match the experimental results. With loosely coupled coils (mutual inductance coefficient $k$ =0.1327), the experimental 6.78-MHz WPT system can achieve 84% efficiency at a power level of 20 Watts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wireless power transfer has shown revolutionary potential in challenging the conventional charging method for consumer electronic devices. Through magnetic resonance coupling, it is possible to supply power from one transmitter to multiple receivers simultaneously. In a multiple-receiver system, the overall system efficiency highly depends on the loads’ and receivers' positions. This paper extends the conventional circuit-model-based analysis for the one-receiver system to investigate a general one-transmitter multiple-receiver system. It discusses the influence of the loads and mutual inductance on the system efficiency. The optimal loads, the input impedance, and power distribution are analyzed and used to discuss the proper system design and control methods. Finally, systems with a different number of receivers are designed, fabricated, and measured to validate the proposed method. Under the optimal loading conditions, an efficiency above 80% can be achieved for a system with three different receivers working at 13.56 MHz. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]