Xiaomi, a smartphone and smart device company, has announced Mi Air Charge Technology, a contact-free remote charging technology.
“Wireless” charging, such as Qi, which has come to be used in many smartphones, requires it to be placed on or in close contact with the charging pad without cables or terminals, whereas the Mi air charge range is fed. A few meters from the electric machine.
If you have one in the room, you can always charge your smartphone no matter where you are in use, and it is said that you can charge multiple smartphones at the same time or charge through a shield.
Each company has proposed standards for remote charging and remote power transmission that do not require contact, and technology demonstrations are often published.
For example, WattUp by remote charging startup Energous has developed a transmitter that sends radio waves wirelessly for smartphones as well as wearables and IoT sensors that consume relatively little power, and has been approved by the authorities in the United States.
WattUp for remote charging is one step towardss practical use, and will be demonstrated at CES in January.
Mi Air Charge released by Xiaomi, this time is a technology that sends electric power using millimeter waves. The antennas mounted on both the power transmission and power reception accurately grasp the position of the power transmission destination, and the beamforming by the 144 antenna arrays built into the power transmission pinpoints the power reception side.
On the power receiving side such as a smartphone, there is a beacon antenna to accurately convey the position and a small power receiving antenna array consisting of 14 antennas, which is a mechanism to convert radio waves into electric power.
According to Xiaomi, the capacity of Mi Air Charge is currently capable of transmitting 5W per unit in the “several meters range”. It’s about the same as the slowest of the smallest chargers that came with older iPhones and the wireless charging that you put on the pad.
It also supports simultaneous power transmission to multiple terminals, in which case 5W can be sent to each terminal.
Even if the power receiving side moves around, it is possible to continue supplying power even if there is a shield between it and the transmitter (although it cannot be charged in principle if it is covered with a material that does not transmit radio waves).
By incorporating the transmitter into devices such as smart speakers and TVs that are stationary in the room and connected to the power supply, it is said that in the future, not only smartphones but the entire house will be able to support wireless and remote power supply.
Xiaomi is currently in the tech demonstration stage of Mi AIr Charge, and has not announced that it will be commercially available or will be installed in its own products.
However, Xiaomi is a company that is actively adopting quick charging technology such as ultra-high speed Mi wireless charging of up to 80W and 120W wired charging in its products. Not only is it the world’s fourth largest smartphone brand, but it is also a comprehensive manufacturer of home appliances such as IoT devices and TVs. Remote charging, which you can leave somewhere in your room so you don’t have to worry about forgetting to charge it, may eventually be sold as a major differentiator for Xiaomi products.
Forget About Cables and Charging Stands With Revolutionary Mi Air Charge Technology.