Wireless power-at-a-distance system receives U.S. approval

Market news | December 27, 2017

By Rich Pell

This is the first FCC certification for power-at-a-distance, free space wireless charging under the higher power Part 18 of the FCC’s rules and follows verification testing over the last six months.

“Older wireless charging technologies have received limited adoption over the past 15 years, and are confined to contact-based charging only. The FCC certification of Energous’ power-at-a-distance wireless charging transmitter is a major market milestone. It opens up options, outside of just contact-based charging, to Wireless Charging 2.0: an ecosystem where devices can be charged both, via pad and at a distance,” said Stephen R. Rizzone, president and CEO of Energous.

“Untethered, wire-free charging — such as charging a fitness band even while wearing it — is exactly what consumers have been waiting for. We are now in a position to move our consumer electronics, IoT and smart home customers forward at an accelerated pace.”

Energous has a strategic deal and investment with Dialog Semiconductor. “Providing meaningful power-at-a-distance is a real game changer for wireless charging,” said Mark Tyndall, senior vice president corporate development and strategy, Dialog Semiconductor. “As the strategic partner and exclusive world-wide supplier of Energous’ WattUp technology, Dialog provides early adopters with the assurance of chip supply and support that comes from a top tier semiconductor company that ships millions of chips each month into some of the world’s most demanding customers.”

The WattUp Mid Field transmitter can deliver power via radio frequency (RF) energy to WattUp-enabled electronic devices at a distance of up to three feet and supports both ontact-based and non-contact-based wireless charging, as well as charging multiple devices at once. The WattUp ecosystem ensures interoperability between receivers and transmitters, regardless of the manufacturer, making the entire ecosystem flexible and accessible for consumers and manufacturing partners.

“WattUp from Energous represents an incredibly positive lifestyle change,” said Martin Cooper, Energous Board of Directors member. “This ground-breaking technology allows users to automatically charge their WattUp-enabled devices without having to remove them from their wrist or pocket, plug them in or place them on a mat to charge, freeing them from ever having to think about charging their devices again.”

This represents the first time FCC equipment certification has been awarded to any device that charges wirelessly at a distance, and operates under Part 18 of the FCC’s rules. The FCC’s Part 18 rules permit higher-power operations than are permitted under the Part 15 rules that have been used to approve other at a distance charging devices.

Energous will be demonstrating its latest WattUp technology at CES 2018, with the FCC approval opening up retail sales during 2018.

www.energous.com