Frequency-Modulation-Based IPT With Magnetic Communication for EV Wireless Charging

In this article, a switching frequency-modulation-based inductive power transfer system that provides wireless charging of the scooters by magnetic in-band communication is newly proposed. Although the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) coils are misaligned, the scooters can be freely charged in the charging station by the proposed frequency modulation method without additional power converters in the Tx and Rx sides. In order to implement frequency modulation control, the Rx side can transmit the required information to the Tx side through the magnetic coupling between Tx and Rx coils, i.e., magnetic in-band communication, in the suggested approach. By virtue of the proposed magnetic in-band communication method, the switching frequency can be modulated so that the load power for charging the battery in the Rx side is appropriately controlled, considering the battery charging profile. Contrary to the Qi standard technology using both amplitude shift keying (ASK) and frequency shift keying, the proposed magnetic communication protocol is optimally and simply designed for targeting scooter wireless charging applications. Because the proposed communication method is based on only ASK technique for unidirectional information delivery, the coil misalignment sensitivity and the complexity of the communication process can be reduced, which guarantees the robust frequency modulation control for load power regulation. A 100 W power level prototype for the charging station and the scooters was fabricated and verified by simulations and experiments. The 97.3% of the coil-to-coil efficiency and 90.6% of the dc-to-dc efficiency were obtained at a nominal operating point of k = k(nom) and P-L = 100.8 W. As a result, the battery having 44.0-53.0 V and 13 Ah in the Rx side was charged under a wide range of battery charging conditions and coil misalignments.

Automated summary

This article proposes a switching frequency-modulation-based inductive power transfer system that provides wireless charging for scooters through magnetic in-band communication. The proposed system allows for charging even when the transmitter and receiver coils are misaligned, without the need for additional power converters. The use of magnetic in-band communication enables the modulation of the switching frequency to control the load power for charging the battery in the receiver side. This magnetic communication protocol is optimally designed for scooter wireless charging applications, reducing coil misalignment sensitivity and communication complexity.