Design of Contactless Connectors for Simultaneous Power and Data Transfer
General Material Designation
[Thesis]
First Statement of Responsibility
Zannat, Nazia
Subsequent Statement of Responsibility
Evans, Robert
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
North Carolina State University
Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.
2019
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item
114
DISSERTATION (THESIS) NOTE
Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree
Ph.D.
Body granting the degree
North Carolina State University
Text preceding or following the note
2019
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
Recently, in the field of mobile devices and robotic arms, wireless power, and data transfer have become very attractive as these make the devices seamless, waterproof and slimmer. Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) can be achieved through inductive or capacitive coupling. In this research, for the contactless connection, we will be focusing at Inductive Power Transfer (IPT). Inductive coupling occurs when two inductors are mated via magnetic field coupling, which creates a transformer. The successful power transfer through a contactless connector requires some feedback information (data) from the receiver side including the receiver's status and mutual coupling. The exchange of this information is generally very low in speed and usually implemented using an additional transformer. An alternative way of information transfer is to use a communication system that implements simultaneous power and data transfer through a single connector which reduces complexity, costs, and installation effort. This dissertation presents a novel approach to generate multiple passbands from an asymmetric two coil structure only. The asymmetry of primary and secondary coil controls the passbands' location and bandwidth (BW) in the system transfer function. A cylindrical connector was designed, and a prototype was made by hand in the lab. The s-parameters are measured with Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) measurement which showed a very good match with theoretical model till second passband frequency (~1GHz). The first passband is used for power transfer since the lower frequency is better for power transmission. The higher frequency of the second passband is capable of transmitting higher carrier frequency and thereby facilitates higher data rate through the channel. A carrier signal centered at second passband frequency was used to modulate digital data at the transmitter and demodulated in the receiver side. This connector can be used for transmitting only power, or only data or for both power and data simultaneously. We were able to transfer 25mW power due to the lab equipment constraints (Vector Signal Generator could provide up to +17dbm without distortion). The connector can transfer up to 1W if a 2W power source could drive it. We were able to recover 100Mbps data simultaneously. To the best of our knowledge, it is the highest data rate through WPT link.