New Industry Products

Wireless Power Transmitter Chip Provides 4X the Power

October 31, 2017 by Paul Shepard

Si-Ware Systems (SWS) announced its next-generation transmitter chip for the Cota® wireless power developed by Ossia, Inc. The new transmitter chip, the SWS1411, is an application-specific chip (ASIC) that delivers roughly four times as much power safely as the previous version.

It is part of a chipset that remotely charges all enabled mobile devices within charger over the air range -- without the need for charging pads or cables.

Ossia's Cota power transmitters, which include SWS1411 chips, can be built into any indoor features, from ceiling tiles to tables, desks, glass, televisions, and automobile dashboards, for optimized power delivery.

Cota receiver chip

Enabled mobile devices, including iPhones, Androids, tablets, wearables, and Internet of Things (IoT) edge nodes, require a Cota receiver chip, also designed by SWS. Ossia licenses the Cota techology to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and provides a reference design.

The SWS1411 provides four times the power output per antenna at twice the efficiency, enabling Cota licensees to use fewer chips for the same amount of charging -- thereby reducing the bill of materials for the overall charger. The system's multipath radio frequency technology is safe and effective, using a beacon from the receiver chip to guide multiple RF power signals to the enabled mobile device while avoiding humans and pets.

Additionally, the new transmitter ASIC offers higher signal reliability through greater antenna isolation, reducing overall complexity of the charger. The chip also incorporates built in design for test (DFT) to facilitate volume production and commercialization.

"Ossia is very pleased with the progress made by Si-Ware to develop this next generation chip. The increased power and efficiency addresses the growing demand in the market and showcases Cota's potential across multiple verticals," said Hatem Zeine, Founder and CTO at Ossia. "Real Wireless Power is here and ready for deployment."

Over-the-air charging is highly suited to lower power, fixed-location IoT devices that require consistent charging for continuous data transmission. The Boston Consulting Group estimates that by 2020 the IoT market will grow to $267 billion with the majority of growth in the services and applications arena.

Regularly swapping batteries in thousands of wireless IoT devices is not a cost effective option. The ability for always-on indoor charging makes the Ossia solution the most convenient solution for IoT-enabled organizations in retail, healthcare and manufacturing.

"As Ossia is actively licensing Cota, Si-Ware wants to ensure that Ossia customers can continue to save on cost and shrink the overall form factor while maintaining the same high level of power delivery," said Amr Hafez, ASIC Solutions business unit manager at SWS. "The new SWS1411 serves to reduce the complexity and cost of the charging unit by decreasing the number of ASIC chips needed and by boosting efficiency."

The new SWS1411 is available immediately and is part of Ossia's COTA reference design for licensees.