Humavox无线充电器为便携设备而生

美国新创公司 Humavox 悄悄地为已经有多种技术类型的无线充电方案新增了一个选项，该公司开发了一种外观是密闭容器的无线充电器，锁定包括助听器、智能手表、智能眼镜等小型设备应用。 Humavox 的官网已于日前上线，但到目前为止对于该公司的Thunderbolt射频互连以及Nest无线充电容器的细节却着墨不多；而有趣的是，Humavox的两项产品名称刚好与市面上的两种非同类产品一模一样，Thunderbolt是Apple与Intel所支持的有线互连接口技术，Nest则是一种由Nest Labs这家公司生产的恒温器。 据了解，用户只要把可穿戴式设备放进名为Nest的充电容器，那些设备所发送出的射频讯号会被该充电设备内的电子组件所接收，然后将之转换成直流电能量。这意味着使用者不必担心可穿戴式设备在充电容器内的摆放位置──另一种与之竞争的电感耦合无线充电方案之缺点，就是必须让待充电设备与充电板紧密贴合。 “当Nest容器内有射频讯号传输，我们能控制那些无线电波并使其精准指向待充电的设备，达到非常高的无线充电效率；”Humavox共同创办人暨执行长Omri Lachman表示。

Humavox无线充电器
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Humavox 的无线充电方案不但为使用者带来方便，也提供了安全性──因为待测物体是在一个密闭容器内进行充电。该公司计划开放技术授权给各家系统厂商，让它们能利用现有的电源管理芯片或是自己的ASIC芯片，以各种方式为产品添加无线充电功能。不过到目前为止Humavox 并未公布任何客户名单。 目前市面上其实已经有太多的无线充电解决方案选项，而如Broadcom首席技术专家Henry Samueli最近在一场媒体活动中所言：”现在我们有三种无线充电标准，它们应该要整合；我认为今年那些技术标准阵营将会认清，只要它们不团结、无线充电市场就不会起飞。” Samueli并指出，无线充电市场的主要推手不会是智能型手机设备，而是各种各样所谓”物联网”应用的设备。 Humavox的技术据说是共同创办人Lachman与他的好朋友──公司首席技术专家、资深电子工程师Asaf Elssibony聊天时聊出来的。Lachman回忆，那是在2009年，Elssibony谈到他在以色列陆军服役时受伤，必须要用一种植入式的脊髓神经刺激器(spinal cord neurostimulator)来减轻疼痛。 “他跟我说那种设备必须要动手术才能取出，而且每三年半就要更换一次，因为电池寿命无法维持太长时间；”Lachman表示，他当时是数家新创公司的董事会成员，并在一个家族企业的汽车部门负责营销与业务开发，于是两个人很快激荡出一个无线充电技术新概念。 Lachman回忆：”我们申请了第一个专利、进行了一些创业前概念验证，然后在2010年完成了第一轮的募资，正式成立一家公司。” 编译：Judith Cheng 参考原文：Startup Puts Wireless Charging in a Box，by Rick Merritt

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{pagination} Humavox emerged from stealth mode adding another wireless charging technology to what some say is already too large a set of options. The startup uses RF technology in a closed container, aiming at generally small devices such as hearing aids, smart watches, and connected glasses. Humavox formally launched its website Tuesday, but it supplies little detail so far on the company's Thunderlink RF interconnect or Nest container, which is not related to separate products from Nest Labs. Users put their wearable devices in a Farady cage called the Nest Power Station where they are zapped with RF signals. The signals are received by electronics built into the charging device and then converted to DC energy. The approach means users don't need to worry about how they place devices in a charging box. That's a drawback with competing techniques that use inductive coupling that needs close connections between the electronics in the device and a charging mat. "By using RF transmission in Nest, Humavox gained control over these waves and managed to accurately point it towards the devices under charge, setting an extremely high level of wireless power transfer efficiency," said Omri Lachman, co-founder and chief executive of Humavox, in an email exchange. Humavox eases the job for users -- and keeps them safe -- by placing objects under charge with its RF technique in a Faraday cage. Humavox aims to license its technology to OEMs that can implement it in a variety of ways in their products using existing power management ICs and their own boards or ASICs. So far the company has not disclosed any OEM customers. The company debuts at a time when some say there are already too many wireless charging options. "Today, there are three standards and they have to converge," said Henry Samueli, chief technologist at Broadcom, speaking at a recent press event. "I think this year they will figure out this market is not taking off until they get together," he said. The main driver of the wireless charging market will not be smartphones so much as a wide array of devices that are part of the so-called Internet of Things, Samueli added. The Humavox technology emerged from discussions between Lachman and a close friend, Asaf Elssibony, his chief technologist and a veteran electronics engineer. In a discussion in 2009 Elssibony described to Lachman an implanted spinal cord neurostimulator he used for pain relief after getting injured during his service in the Israeli army. "He started telling me about how the device had to be surgically removed and replaced every three-and-a-half years because the battery life expectancy is so short," said Lachman, who has served on the boards of several startups and worked in marketing and business development roles for the automotive division of a family business. Soon the two were working on new concepts for wireless charging. "We filed our first patents, did some garage proof-of-concepts, and in 2010 finalized a first round of financing and incorporated as a company," Lachman said.

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