Wireless power technology, which can use radio waves to charge devices remotely, has entered the practical phase. Overseas, U.S. start-ups have pioneered the application of wireless power supply technology to game consoles and smartphones. In Japan, SoftBank Group has begun to develop technologies that use mobile phone base stations to provide wireless power in consideration of the relaxation of restrictions. Thanks to the ability to charge remotely and conveniently, you will never have to worry about the device running out of power in the future. The convenience of digital devices will increase by leaps and bounds, and progress will be made in the development of new devices and services.
"Everything from cars to small appliances, headsets, phones, and wearables will be wirelessly plugged into the power supply to seamlessly select the best charging method." Charles Goetz, CEO of U.S. wireless power-powered startup Powercast, said so.
The Apple iPhone in the United States has the function of charging it by placing it on a wireless charging base called "Qi". Goetz said, "After Apple had Qi, our phones rang non-stop."
Wireless power supply is like a microwave oven, which amplifies the power of the radio wave and transmits it to a distance of 1 to 10 meters. You don't need to plug in the charging cable to charge your device. Taking smartphones as an example, contactless charging technology such as Qi has emerged, and it is expected to realize remote and convenient charging using radio waves in the future. Although wireless power supply has been pointed out to have problems such as radio interference, overseas countries are still relaxing restrictions.
In fact, Powercast's technology has been approved in the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries. The company will sell "wireless charging grips" on Amazon's website that emit airwaves from specialized devices to charge the controller of Nintendo's home game console, the Nintendo Switch.
"It has been approved by the regulatory authorities of various countries. has been approved in more than 45 countries". Doug Stovall, CEO of Ossia, an American startup that develops wireless power technology, has ambitiously said he will do business around the world.
Ossia has also developed the technology to charge devices with radio waves, which has been approved in the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and other places. The company's technology has been applied by Walmart in the United States in areas such as truck handling management in warehouses. It is also envisaged to be used in stores in the future, where electronic shopping carts and electronic price tags are charged by a ceiling-mounted signal transmitter.
On the other hand, in Japan, which has a small land area, the equipment that emits radio waves is strictly regulated, and it is necessary to obtain a certificate of conformity for technical standards, and the regulatory authorities have always been cautious about wireless power supply. For example, a Powercast product that charges the controller of the Nintendo Switch cannot be used in Japan.
Nonetheless, Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications plans to first allow the use of wireless power supply technology indoors as early as 2022, and will use radio waves in the 920 megahertz band and adopt a license application system. It is planned to relax restrictions in phases, allowing outdoor use around 2024 and high-power power supply around 2030.
In terms of industrial use of indoor wireless power supply, which was first allowed, Panasonic has developed a card-type signal receiving device. Japanese startup Space Power Technologies has also developed components that can be used for labeling, etc., aiming to manage products and parts in factories and warehouses without batteries. Ossia also plans to do so in Japan in partnership with semiconductor trader Maruben.
Ossia uses a power transmission device (bottom right) to wirelessly charge smartphones
SoftBank, for its part, is targeting the second batch of outdoor uses to ease restrictions, and has begun to develop technology with Kyoto University and Kanazawa Institute of Technology with the support of Japan's Intelligence and Communications Research Agency (NICT) to develop technology for emitting radio waves from mobile phone base stations.
SoftBank's first experiment was to emit radio waves below 1 milliwatt from base station equipment within a radius of about 10 meters. As long as it is within the range of the base station's radio waves, small electronic devices such as headphones, anti-theft tags, and smart watches are expected to no longer need to replace batteries.
SoftBank has about 200,000 base stations in Japan, and the wireless power supply business is expected to become a new business that uses communications infrastructure to transmit electricity. Naoki Hasegawa of SoftBank's Basic Technology Research Office said, "Now that communication operators charge based on traffic, it may become a business model that charges electricity for each terminal in the future."
NTT docomo and others have also released wireless power supply technology, which has attracted much attention as a new generation of technology after 5G.
For wireless power supply technology, the development of components related to sending and receiving signals is also critical. In order to power drones and others, Nobel Laureate in physics and professor Hiroshi Amano of Nagoya University and Kenji Ito, a professor at Kanazawa Institute of Technology, are advancing research into the use of gallium nitride materials to increase the power of wireless power supply to three times.
Overseas R&D activities are also very active. Masato Shinohara, a professor at Kyoto University who has long studied wireless power supply technology, sounded the alarm that "China's development trends are a major threat." In China, Xiaomi has released technology to charge smartphones from meters away.
Indian research firm Markets and Markets predicts that the size of the global wireless power supply market will reach $13.4 billion by 2026, expanding three times to 2021 ($4.5 billion). Previously, Japanese companies have been cautious about entering the market, and in this case, overseas companies continue to obtain relevant patents.
Concerns have an impact on the human body
With the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) society, wireless power without worrying about running out of power is highly anticipated.
Wireless power technology has a long history. American physicist Nikola Tesla is famous for the transmission experiments conducted at the end of the 19th century.
At present, the iPhone has the function of charging it simply by placing it on the wireless charging base. Pure electric vehicles (EVs) have also established technologies that can be charged after parking, and the development of practical developments has been making progress, but these technologies require close contact between the power supply and charging ends.
Wireless power can transmit radio waves up to 10 meters away. As the development of signaling components and equipment continues to advance, the level of control is getting higher and higher, and commercialization has become easier. In the future, it is expected to develop new equipment and services based on wireless power supply.
Wireless power supply has the problem of affecting the human body and generating radio interference. If it is to charge the coin cell battery, the impact on the human body is similar to that of the mobile phone radio wave, but if the power is very large, it may cause concern. Goetz, CEO of Powercast, said that "consumers are a little nervous about this right now, and if they know more about wireless power, it may be generally acceptable".
Ossia developed the technology to avoid people or obstacles through beam reflection and equipped it on the device. Wireless power supply is believed to be commercialized first from small terminals such as headphones. However, in the future, when launching radio waves that can be fully charged for drones or robots outdoors, such auxiliary technologies will be needed, and such technologies may become the key to improving competitiveness.
Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Chinese edition: Nikkei Chinese.com) Naoki Watanabe
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