Late Apple CEO Steve Jobs is said to have been unhappy with the high cost and slow speed of mobile data networks, and hoped to solve the problem by convincing consumers and businesses to share their high-speed Internet connections via free and open "guest" Wi-Fi networks.
Getting round the interference issue allows full bandwidth sharing and far more receivers. It can exist as a shared infrastructure so customers would still subscribe to individual service providers but share the same physical network. Service providers would have to find a way to differentiate themselves but this may be done with content deals rather than bandwidth. The people developing that tech have met with telecoms providers and Google and Apple. Perlman used to work at Apple.
They need to figure out how the backhaul system will work but if it's shared too, it's not such a big deal.
Wi-fi unfortunately would never have worked due to the limited range. It needs full coverage everywhere you are. But fast cellular using the above tech is essentially the same thing and won't have the same data caps we see in current cellular tech.
Mmm ...
I was wondering how long it would take for someone, here, to mention pCell.
From everything I've read, seen and heard, the system works as claimed and Perlman has a 2-year lead on everyone else.
Several times, Perlman has alluded to "a deal to be announced in late 2014".
Contains lots of good info -- including the ability to use a [much less expensive] pCell radio as an alternative to an LTE radio -- in areas with pCell coverage an iPad or iPod could be used instead of an iPhone.
Another interesting claim is that a pCell receiving the voice/data is about 1 centimeter in diameter ...
The small size target, and aggregation of signals, could be used to safely transmit power to the remote device ...
Perlman is quite a performer -- several times he has hinted at something bigger than voice/data transmission -- if you scroll down to the bottom of their site you will see a banner that saysL
Finally, another AI thread, today, discusses an Apple patent to charge computer peripherals (keyboard, mouse, etc.) by wirelessly transmitting power within an area of about a meter.
Apple on Tuesday was officially awarded a patent related to wireless, magnetic power systems that could one day in the future allow low-power devices like keyboards and mice to be powered over the air, without any physical contact or even battery necessary.
This is just RFID/NFC, except the receiver is attached to a keyboard or mouse instead of a payment terminal or RFID tag.
Inductive power transfer has been known about for nearly a century. Not sure how this is new or how it can be patented, especially since there are inductively powered mice and keyboards already...
That is completely different. The keyboard and mouse have to be TOUCHING the base to charge. That's inductive, this is resonant, which means Apple's keyboards/mouses don't have to touch anything at all. So Apple deserves the patent, because while NFC has been around awhile, no wireless and resonant (NOT INDUCTIVE) charging systems for bluetooth keyboards or mouses has been invented yet.
That is completely different. The keyboard and mouse have to be TOUCHING the base to charge. That's inductive, this is resonant, which means Apple's keyboards/mouses don't have to touch anything at all. So Apple deserves the patent, because while NFC has been around awhile, no wireless and resonant (NOT INDUCTIVE) charging systems for bluetooth keyboards or mouses has been invented yet.
I'm not sure whether I should make the effort to reply since you have one post and obviously didn't visit the links I posted, but I'll take the bait.
NFC/RFID and "resonant charging" use exactly the same principles. You obviously have no idea how resonant charging nor RFID work, perhaps you should research before making yourself look a tad foolish. Inductive and resonant charging are identical. By definition, a resonant circuit induces current in nearby coils.
One of the links I posted shows Intel had a "resonant charging" keyboard in 2012. The keyboards or "mouses" don't have to be touching the transmission pad with RFID if enough power is pumped into the transmitter, in fact there are RFID systems that work across several meters. So no, this is one patent Apple doesn't deserve.
I'm not sure whether I should make the effort to reply since you have one post and obviously didn't visit the links I posted, but I'll take the bait.
NFC/RFID and "resonant charging" use exactly the same principles. You obviously have no idea how resonant charging nor RFID work, perhaps you should research before making yourself look a tad foolish. Inductive and resonant charging are identical. By definition, a resonant circuit induces current in nearby coils.
One of the links I posted shows Intel had a "resonant charging" keyboard in 2012. The keyboards or "mouses" don't have to be touching the transmission pad with RFID if enough power is pumped into the transmitter, in fact there are RFID systems that work across several meters. So no, this is one patent Apple doesn't deserve.
I did, in fact, visit those links. Allow me to copy+paste. "company demoed an interesting use of inductive(crossed out) resonant charging using a concept all-in-one PC and wireless keyboard. As you'll see in our walk-through video, the 'board starts charging as soon as you press it against the base of the PC. " or "even making contact from the side was enough. ." Obviously, it has to be touching. However, this ISN'T what Apple is patenting. Apple is patenting technology that allows for them not to be touching. I'm wasting time even arguing with you, since you don't even know what you're talking about... especially with those immature assumptions that I was replying without having visited those links.
This is just RFID/NFC, except the receiver is attached to a keyboard or mouse instead of a payment terminal or RFID tag.
Inductive power transfer has been known about for nearly a century. Not sure how this is new or how it can be patented, especially since there are inductively powered mice and keyboards already...
I'm not sure whether I should make the effort to reply since you have one post and obviously didn't visit the links I posted, but I'll take the bait.
NFC/RFID and "resonant charging" use exactly the same principles. You obviously have no idea how resonant charging nor RFID work, perhaps you should research before making yourself look a tad foolish. Inductive and resonant charging are identical. By definition, a resonant circuit induces current in nearby coils.
One of the links I posted shows Intel had a "resonant charging" keyboard in 2012. The keyboards or "mouses" don't have to be touching the transmission pad with RFID if enough power is pumped into the transmitter, in fact there are RFID systems that work across several meters. So no, this is one patent Apple doesn't deserve.
I haven't read the patent (and not sure I'd understand it if I did) - but just because the core technology had been around for decades doesn't mean that another company couldn't get a patent for it IF they've added to it or improved on it significantly, right? So is it possible that Apple has come up with a way to improve efficiency or range or something else and therefore might well be deserving of a patent?
This is just RFID/NFC, except the receiver is attached to a keyboard or mouse instead of a payment terminal or RFID tag.
Inductive power transfer has been known about for nearly a century. Not sure how this is new or how it can be patented, especially since there are inductively powered mice and keyboards already...
Cool. But I'm waiting for the day when we can ditch power cables and wires altogether. I hate the jungle of cords, but I guess this would be a nice start. I could see a power hub -- one cord connected to a small device -- that powers everything nearby: computer, phone, speakers, wi-fi, tv....everything!
Then, the day will come when they tell us brain tumors are sharply on the rise because of power hubs. Crap!
I wish someone (Apple ideally, but anyone really) would make a keyboard and mouse/trackpad combo that worked like the play-and-charge Xbox and PS3 controllers, wireless with bluetooth, but as soon as you plug it in it goes into wired mode, even while it charges the built-in battery.
I'd quite like a keyboard and mouse I could go wireless with sometimes, but messing around with batteries is annoying, so stuck with wired the past few years.
I wish someone (Apple ideally, but anyone really) would make a keyboard and mouse/trackpad combo that worked like the play-and-charge Xbox and PS3 controllers, wireless with bluetooth, but as soon as you plug it in it goes into wired mode, even while it charges the built-in battery.
Heavens yes, a MagSafe keyboard, mouse, and trackpad! They absolutely need to do this.
I did, in fact, visit those links. Allow me to copy+paste. "company demoed an interesting use of inductive(crossed out) resonant charging using a concept all-in-one PC and wireless keyboard. As you'll see in our walk-through video, the 'board starts charging as soon as you press it against the base of the PC. " or "even making contact from the side was enough. ." Obviously, it has to be touching. However, this ISN'T what Apple is patenting. Apple is patenting technology that allows for them not to be touching. I'm wasting time even arguing with you, since you don't even know what you're talking about... especially with those immature assumptions that I was replying without having visited those links.
Hold on, you quoted that "inductive resonant charging ... starts as soon as you press it against the base of the PC", meaning the resonant devices need to be touching. Then you say inductively powered devices need to be touching, resonant don't (in your first post), then you say Apple's invention allows resonantly powered devices to work at a distance. What is it?
This patent is actually about combining multiple weak sources of power from inductive/resonant sources into one more powerful, which would increase range by a small amount. Nothing to do with Apple inventing a new inductive/resonant charging method. In practise it probably won't work that well, since the more coils there are in the transmission field, the more de-tuned the transmission coil becomes.
All forms radio communication provide power over a distance, just generally not enough useful power without supplementing it with a battery/mains. Radio waves, RFID, induction, resonance, light are all a form of electromagnetic radiation. If a device was efficient enough (and there alreadyareconcepts of this) there would be no need for batteries at all. I obviously like Apple or I wouldn't be here, but I don't have my head so far up my own ass that I can't see when something has already been done. I have utmost respect for people and companies who come up with genuinely new ideas, and they deserve patents. But just vaguely trying to patent resonant
I'm an electronics engineer, I have designed electronics which are powered using RFID, magnetic resonance, NFC, induction; whatever you like to call it, it's the same thing. Induction doesn't have to be touching, the RFID chip in animals is read from a distance. The coil in an induction hob isn't around the frying pan, it's a fair distance below it. All induction/resonance powered devices use a coil with an alternating magnetic field, coupled with another coil that receives power. Calling it resonant instead of induction is just marketing, and since few people understand how it works, confusion is rife. A bit like how people differentiate a Mac and Windows computer by saying PC or Mac, even though a Mac is a PC. Apple's not bent the rules of physics here, they've just collected a few specific - not necessarily unique - ideas into one big patent.
I haven't read the patent (and not sure I'd understand it if I did) - but just because the core technology had been around for decades doesn't mean that another company couldn't get a patent for it IF they've added to it or improved on it significantly, right? So is it possible that Apple has come up with a way to improve efficiency or range or something else and therefore might well be deserving of a patent?
This is very true, but magnetic fields decrease rapidly with distance (due to the increasing volume of space the fields have to fill in a roughly spherical shape around the coils) and right now we don't have a way to target or aim magnetic fields particuarly well. Apple's patent might help a bit with distance, but not by much due to the rate at which magnetic fields drop off.
The only really "new" things in the patent are the dual coil method of receiving power (allowing power reception with a device at different angles), though I'm pretty sure that's been done before. The second thing is having multiple receiving circuits that resonate at different frequencies (since the frequency changes with distance from the transmitter). Though this has been done before too with variable capacitors.
The equation for distance/coil size/power, known as Faraday's law is on page 93 of Microchip's RFID design guide if you're interested. It's in the patent too, about halfway down the page.
Comments
This is just RFID/NFC, except the receiver is attached to a keyboard or mouse instead of a payment terminal or RFID tag.
Inductive power transfer has been known about for nearly a century. Not sure how this is new or how it can be patented, especially since there are inductively powered mice and keyboards already...
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/05/intel-inductive-charging-keyboard/
http://www.gizmag.com/mobee-magic-bar-induction-charger/18384/
That is completely different. The keyboard and mouse have to be TOUCHING the base to charge. That's inductive, this is resonant, which means Apple's keyboards/mouses don't have to touch anything at all. So Apple deserves the patent, because while NFC has been around awhile, no wireless and resonant (NOT INDUCTIVE) charging systems for bluetooth keyboards or mouses has been invented yet.
I'm not sure whether I should make the effort to reply since you have one post and obviously didn't visit the links I posted, but I'll take the bait.
NFC/RFID and "resonant charging" use exactly the same principles. You obviously have no idea how resonant charging nor RFID work, perhaps you should research before making yourself look a tad foolish. Inductive and resonant charging are identical. By definition, a resonant circuit induces current in nearby coils.
One of the links I posted shows Intel had a "resonant charging" keyboard in 2012. The keyboards or "mouses" don't have to be touching the transmission pad with RFID if enough power is pumped into the transmitter, in fact there are RFID systems that work across several meters. So no, this is one patent Apple doesn't deserve.
I'm not sure whether I should make the effort to reply since you have one post and obviously didn't visit the links I posted, but I'll take the bait.
NFC/RFID and "resonant charging" use exactly the same principles. You obviously have no idea how resonant charging nor RFID work, perhaps you should research before making yourself look a tad foolish. Inductive and resonant charging are identical. By definition, a resonant circuit induces current in nearby coils.
One of the links I posted shows Intel had a "resonant charging" keyboard in 2012. The keyboards or "mouses" don't have to be touching the transmission pad with RFID if enough power is pumped into the transmitter, in fact there are RFID systems that work across several meters. So no, this is one patent Apple doesn't deserve.
I did, in fact, visit those links. Allow me to copy+paste. "company demoed an interesting use of inductive(crossed out) resonant charging using a concept all-in-one PC and wireless keyboard. As you'll see in our walk-through video, the 'board starts charging as soon as you press it against the base of the PC. " or "even making contact from the side was enough. ." Obviously, it has to be touching. However, this ISN'T what Apple is patenting. Apple is patenting technology that allows for them not to be touching. I'm wasting time even arguing with you, since you don't even know what you're talking about... especially with those immature assumptions that I was replying without having visited those links.
This would get the old ticker humming...
Go away, would ya?
Care to provide a reason why? Or perhaps an answer as to why Apple should have this patent?
I haven't read the patent (and not sure I'd understand it if I did) - but just because the core technology had been around for decades doesn't mean that another company couldn't get a patent for it IF they've added to it or improved on it significantly, right? So is it possible that Apple has come up with a way to improve efficiency or range or something else and therefore might well be deserving of a patent?
This is just RFID/NFC, except the receiver is attached to a keyboard or mouse instead of a payment terminal or RFID tag.
Inductive power transfer has been known about for nearly a century. Not sure how this is new or how it can be patented, especially since there are inductively powered mice and keyboards already...
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/05/intel-inductive-charging-keyboard/
http://www.gizmag.com/mobee-magic-bar-induction-charger/18384/
Presumably the patent is for something specific about the implementation, not the general jist of the idea.
Patents are not issued to protect ideas, so what you've stated is true but also obvious.
Patents are not issued to protect ideas, so what you've stated is true but also obvious.
I know, I was being sarcastic. Do you really think I'd be suggesting that patents should be grantable for "the general jist of an idea" ?
Difficult to guess your intent.
Okay I want this now, I am so tired of replacing or charging my batteries in my keyboard and mouse.
Just get a wired keyboard. Problem solved.
Cool. But I'm waiting for the day when we can ditch power cables and wires altogether. I hate the jungle of cords, but I guess this would be a nice start. I could see a power hub -- one cord connected to a small device -- that powers everything nearby: computer, phone, speakers, wi-fi, tv....everything!
Then, the day will come when they tell us brain tumors are sharply on the rise because of power hubs. Crap!
I trust you have the patience of an ox.
I wish someone (Apple ideally, but anyone really) would make a keyboard and mouse/trackpad combo that worked like the play-and-charge Xbox and PS3 controllers, wireless with bluetooth, but as soon as you plug it in it goes into wired mode, even while it charges the built-in battery.
I'd quite like a keyboard and mouse I could go wireless with sometimes, but messing around with batteries is annoying, so stuck with wired the past few years.
Heavens yes, a MagSafe keyboard, mouse, and trackpad! They absolutely need to do this.
Heavens yes, a MagSafe keyboard, mouse, and trackpad! They absolutely need to do this.
Hold on. Keep the best ideas to yourself... Samsung may be combing these threads for ideas.
They’d just adapt a co-ax plug to carry power and use that.
Hold on, you quoted that "
inductiveresonant charging ... starts as soon as you press it against the base of the PC", meaning the resonant devices need to be touching. Then you say inductively powered devices need to be touching, resonant don't (in your first post), then you say Apple's invention allows resonantly powered devices to work at a distance. What is it?This patent is actually about combining multiple weak sources of power from inductive/resonant sources into one more powerful, which would increase range by a small amount. Nothing to do with Apple inventing a new inductive/resonant charging method. In practise it probably won't work that well, since the more coils there are in the transmission field, the more de-tuned the transmission coil becomes.
All forms radio communication provide power over a distance, just generally not enough useful power without supplementing it with a battery/mains. Radio waves, RFID, induction, resonance, light are all a form of electromagnetic radiation. If a device was efficient enough (and there alreadyare concepts of this) there would be no need for batteries at all. I obviously like Apple or I wouldn't be here, but I don't have my head so far up my own ass that I can't see when something has already been done. I have utmost respect for people and companies who come up with genuinely new ideas, and they deserve patents. But just vaguely trying to patent resonant
I'm an electronics engineer, I have designed electronics which are powered using RFID, magnetic resonance, NFC, induction; whatever you like to call it, it's the same thing. Induction doesn't have to be touching, the RFID chip in animals is read from a distance. The coil in an induction hob isn't around the frying pan, it's a fair distance below it. All induction/resonance powered devices use a coil with an alternating magnetic field, coupled with another coil that receives power. Calling it resonant instead of induction is just marketing, and since few people understand how it works, confusion is rife. A bit like how people differentiate a Mac and Windows computer by saying PC or Mac, even though a Mac is a PC. Apple's not bent the rules of physics here, they've just collected a few specific - not necessarily unique - ideas into one big patent.
Read for yourself here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resonant_inductive_coupling and here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_induction
This is very true, but magnetic fields decrease rapidly with distance (due to the increasing volume of space the fields have to fill in a roughly spherical shape around the coils) and right now we don't have a way to target or aim magnetic fields particuarly well. Apple's patent might help a bit with distance, but not by much due to the rate at which magnetic fields drop off.
The only really "new" things in the patent are the dual coil method of receiving power (allowing power reception with a device at different angles), though I'm pretty sure that's been done before. The second thing is having multiple receiving circuits that resonate at different frequencies (since the frequency changes with distance from the transmitter). Though this has been done before too with variable capacitors.
The equation for distance/coil size/power, known as Faraday's law is on page 93 of Microchip's RFID design guide if you're interested. It's in the patent too, about halfway down the page.