New Industry Products

Renesas Unveils 60W Wireless Power Receiver IC

January 31, 2021 by Gary Elinoff

The new device enables the fastest wireless charging for smartphones, notebooks and laptops.

The enhanced power capabilities of the new IC brings the convenience of fast, wireless charging beyond smartphones into the greater universe of larger, more power-hungry mobile devices.

 

The P9418
The P9418. Image courtesy of Renesas

 

The P9418 is described by Renesas as the industry’s first 60 watt wireless power receiver IC. Based on Renesas’ WattShare technology, the single-chip IC enables the transmission as well as the reception of an AC power signal by means of magnetic induction.

The P9418 builds on the well-vetted P9415 and provides a simple upgrade pathway for existing customers. The new P9418 also delivers the advanced telemetry and the proprietary charging protocols required for high-power applications. 

 

What is Renesas’ WattShare Technology?

In a manner analogous to turning your smartphone into a mobile hotspot, Renesas’ WattShare allows you to turn any mobile device into a de facto wireless charging device. Wattshare technology is described in detail by Gopi Akkinepally, Renesas’ Wireless Power Marketing Manager.

As implemented by the P9418, WattShare will allow mobile users to transmit up to 10 watts of wireless charging power to other mobile devices in its WattShare TRx mode. While you can’t charge a laptop in this manner, you can re-animate smartwatches and Bluetooth earbuds. You can also supply enough of an emergency boost for a colleague’s discharged smartphone to allow them to complete one or two emergency transactions or calls.

As per Dr. Amit Bavisi, Vice President of Wireless Power Group, Mobility Infrastructure and IoT Power Business Division at Renesas. “The P9418 is the latest first-to-market example of our fast wireless charging technology, and we are proud to continue leading the way to convenient and cost-effective wireless charging for a range of mobile devices with our robust, safe and field programmable wireless power solutions.” He goes on to say that “With our broad portfolio of scalable wireless power solutions, we are excited to be part of transforming the charging experience for a wide variety of battery-powered applications.”

 

Basic description of the P9418

Receiver section serves to receive AC power in the form of magnetic pulses from a wireless transmitter. It is rectified and used to power the device it is built into, or as described, re-transmit that power to another, usually smaller mobile device.

Transmitter section features a  modulator/demodulator to communicate with the mobile device being charged. It includes a full/half-bridge inverter, and a PWM generator. The microcontroller serves to produce the AC power signal that will ultimately drive an external L-C tank. 

 

General application diagram for the P9418
General application diagram for the P9418. Image courtesy of Renesas’ datasheet

 

Important Features and Characteristics

  • The IC can not only serve to receive 60 watts of power, but it can also be used to transmit up to 10 watts via WattShare

  • It features an internal 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0 processor 

  • For expanded feature support there is 24 kB of multiple-time programmable (MTP) non-volatile memory

  • The IC communicates with the device its built into via an I2C 400 kHz standard interface 

  • To support proprietary authentication with encryption the IC features comprehensive bi-directional communications 

  • The P9418 is wireless power consortium (WPC) 1.2.4 compliant and supports multiple proprietary charging modes

  • For improved detection of foreign objects in the transmission pathway, the IC supports superior IOUT current sensing accuracy

 

Physical Characteristics

The P9418 is available in a  70-WLCSP,  7 × 10-ball array package. Dimensions are  2.82 × 4.22 × 0.50 mm

 

Getting to Market Faster

Renesas suggests that OEMs can hasten product development through the use of its USB Type-C power delivery and battery charging solutions, and other elements of the company’s power management portfolio.