TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to an automotive glazing or pillar unit of a vehicle. It particularly relates to an automotive glazing of a vehicle integrated with electronic circuit capable of wireless power transmission and radio frequency communication.

BACKGROUND

Background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present disclosure. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.

It is known to one skilled in the art that glazing refers to any and all the glass or similar material within a structure or the installation of any piece of glass or the similar material within a sash or frame. The glass windows of an automobile are referred to as glazing. For laminated glazing or safety glass, two or more layers of glass or a similar material, are fused together with an interlayer in the middle. The fusion is completed with pressure and heat, and it prevents the sheets of glass or the similar material from breaking. While some pieces of glass or the similar material might end up breaking into larger pieces, those pieces will stay together with the help of the interlayer, making it shatterproof. Windshield or windscreen, backlite, sidelite, quaterlite, sunroof etc., are regarded as some instances of glazing in a vehicle.

It is known to one skilled in the art that pillars are vertical or substantially vertical support of a vehicle’s greenhouse (also known as glasshouse or the window area). Generally, a car has A-pillar, B-pillar and C-pillar. The pillars are respectively termed as A, B and C moving from front to rear, in profile view of a vehicle. For larger cars like for example station wagon there is a D-pillar as well. Pillars are often made of polymer for example plastic-based material (automotive plastic).

The different electronic devices in numerous solutions, offered by an automobile, require power for functioning. For instance, a sensor embedded in the glazing or any other part of a car may need power. Besides, there exists variety of stretchable or flexible electronics that find application in various solutions for a user in the automobile which often may need power to charge. Further, radio frequency (RF) communication in automobile solutions and related applications are known to find various applications. There are few loT systems and wearable technological solutions thereof that require frequent charging and at the same time, it is essential to reduce the number of wired connections essentially to harness the limited space of an automotive cabin. It is thus noted that both wireless powering and RF communication find a wide variety of applications in automobile.

Reference is made to KR20130026253A that discloses a wireless power transmission apparatus using a transparent means and a wireless power transmission system for a vehicle are provided. Besides, it further includes a separate module that is configured to cater to communication. The disadvantages of such solutions include the need to accommodate different units for each function.

Another reference is made to CN107706989A that discloses a kind of onboard wireless charging method and device, in which, one end of the wireless charging transmitter is connected with the vehicle power, and the other end is connected with the wireless charging transmitting coil, for exporting electric energy to charging equipment by wireless charging transmitting coil. However, such solutions do not effectively utilize the vehicular space available. A further reference is made to JP6563167B2 discloses a power supply device for a vehicle, in which on the outer surface and inner surface of the window glass are provided coils that face each other. The solution includes power being supplied wirelessly. In the disclosed solution, the coils extend to form a long shape in the direction. Again, such solutions not only fail to effectively use the vehicular space but also use a major area for its deployment.

In view of the solutions discussed hitherto, it is seen that most solutions either provide means for RF communication or can provide wireless charging separately. Therefore, there exists need for an improved and effective solution that provides both wireless charging and radio frequency communication which will result in selectively efficient powering of one or more devices and enable RF communication. Additionally, it is desirous of the system to efficiently use the available space in a vehicular cabin.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

An object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a same circuit for wireless charging solution and radio frequency communication for an automobile.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a wireless charging solution for an automobile that effectively utilises the space in a vehicular cabin.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a wireless charging solution for an automobile that does not adversely affect the aesthetics of the automobile.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved by the following aspects of the invention. The following disclosure presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This presents some concept of the invention in a simplified form to a more detailed description of the invention presented later. It is a comprehensive summary of the disclosure, and it is not an extensive overview of the present invention. The intend of this summary is to provide a fundamental understanding of some of the aspects of the present invention.

In an aspect of the present invention is disclosed an automotive glazing unit or pillar unit capable of wirelessly transmitting power and radio frequency communication. The automotive glazing unit or pillar unit comprises at least one pane of glass or polymer, one or more electronic circuits, including plurality of transmitter coils and receiver coils that are configured to transmit power. The electronic circuits are disposed on the at least one pane of glass or polymer. Said circuits are operably coupled to selectively transmit power wirelessly from a power generation unit to multiple devices and said plurality of transmitter and/or receiver coils of the one or more wireless power transfer circuit are configured to selectively function as radio frequency communication antenna. The glazing unit is configured to a controller to make a selection of the coils to operate for power transmission or radio frequency communication. The controller selects coils by way of an input voltage to a respective circuit. The coils will operate for radio frequency communication if the input voltage is direct current (DC) voltage. The controller is configured to select a transmitter coil based on feedback from receiver of the device. The transmitter and receiver coils are of a defined number of turns and/or are configured to connect in series or in parallel to each other, based on a desired inductance for power transfer and a desired frequency of communication. The automotive glazing unit or pillar may include a conductive layer having the one or more electronic circuits configured to operate through inductive coupling for short range powering, resonant coupling for mid-range powering and electromagnetic wave power transfer for high-range powering. The plurality of transmitter coils and receiver coils are configured to increase the efficiency, to enable usage of multiple devices, and to facilitate desired directionality of power transmission. The electronic circuit is configured for inductance coupling with the transmitter and receiver coils being designed into loop structures and may be disposed on different faces of different panes.

In another aspect of the present invention is disclosed a system for wireless transmission of power and radio frequency communication in an automobile comprising plurality of glazing unit or pillar unit having electronic circuits including coils. Each of said electronic circuits comprises a port for power or radio frequency communication. The system further includes a control unit operably coupled with an interface configured to select a respective unit and a mode of function for that unit, said mode is either power transmission or radio frequency communication. The interface is operably configured to the plurality of glazing unit or pillar unit.

The various aspects of the present invention provide a wireless powering system comprising both transmitter and receiver coil of wireless charging circuit as part of automotive glazing system. The multiple transmitter coil may be printed on multiple faces of the different panes of the glazing or polymer substrates to increase efficiency. Wireless powering solution include multiple transmitter coils around the glazing and optionally selects the coils to transfer power. This will increase the efficiency by transferring power from the nearest transmission coil to a device. Further, the transmitter or receiver coil can be optionally configured as antenna depending on the input voltage. The solution offers a minimum power transfer efficiency of 2% to above 10%. This is advantageous to cater to the power requirements of a variety of devices from near field communication devices to even mobile phones or smart wearable devices. The plurality of transmitter coils and receiver coils are configured to increase the efficiency, to enable usage of multiple devices, and to facilitate desired directionality of power transmission.

The significant features of the present invention and the advantages of the same will be apparent to a person skilled in the art from the detailed description that follows in conjunction with the annexed drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The following briefly describes the accompanying drawings, illustrating the technical solution of the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, for assisting the understanding of a person skilled in the art to comprehend the invention. It would be apparent that the accompanying drawings in the following description merely show some embodiments of the present invention, and persons skilled in the art can derive other drawings from the accompanying drawings without deviating from the scope of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the automotive glazing unit or pillar unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates the different designs of the coils of the electronic circuit according to the present invention.

FIGs. 3(a)-(c) illustrates the different ways of connection of the coils according to the present invention.

FIGs. 4(a)-(b) illustrates the different embodiments of arrangement of the conductive layer with coils in the glazing according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the wireless power transmission configuration according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary embodiment showing the usage of the multitransmitter coil according to the present invention. FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the RF communication according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary embodiment showing the different glazing units connected via an interface according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary embodiment showing receiver feedback according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the system architecture according to the present invention.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is now discussed in more detail referring to the drawings that accompany the present application. In the accompanying drawings, like and/or corresponding elements are referred to by like reference numbers. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or the like parts.

Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be used in the same way or in a similar way in one or more other embodiments and/or in combination with or instead of the features of the other embodiments. The terms and words used in the following description are not limited to the bibliographical meanings and the same are used to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly, the terms/phrases are to be read in the context of the disclosure and not in isolation. Additionally, descriptions of well- known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.

In an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed an automotive glazing unit or pillar unit (100) enabled for wireless transmission of power. The wireless power transmission is facilitated by means of electronic circuits having coils, preferably, both transmitter and receiver coils configured as wireless powering or charging circuit. The multiple transmitter coil may be provided on multiple faces of the glazing unit, or the pillar unit to increase efficiency of the wireless transmission of power. The coils may be provided depending upon the application. It can be provided anywhere in the glazing unit on any zone as well. The transmitter and/or receiver coil is configured optionally to function as an antenna depending on the input voltage. The electronic circuit on said automotive parts are capable of bringing about at least 2% to above 10% power transfer efficiency, thereby catering to wireless power transmission requirements of multiple devices inclusive of passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) unit or Near Field Communication (NFC) unit. The coils in the circuit are configured to selectively function as antenna for radio frequency communication. The selection of the coil to function as an antenna or as wireless communication device would be made by a controller. The controller may be a separate unit or integrated in the electronic control unit (ECU) of the vehicle. The controller bases the selection on parameters not limited to feedback from the device and accordingly select the coil by means of voltage. Therefore, in an embodiment, an electronic circuit having different coils as per the present invention is configured for at least three functionalities: receiving of RF communication, transmission of RF communication and wireless powering. The controller is configured to select the coils (enable the coils to perform one of these functions) in the circuit.

Reference is made to FIG. 1 disclosing a schematic diagram of the present invention according to an embodiment. The glazing unit may include at least one pane of glass or polymer (101). In the pane of glass or polymer is disposed one or more electronic circuits (102) configured to wirelessly transmit power. These wireless power transfer circuit include plurality of transmitter coils and receiver coils (102a, 102b,..) that are operably coupled to selectively transmit power wirelessly from a power generation unit (103) to multiple devices. A controller (104) is operably coupled to said glazing unit or pillar unit. The controller (104) is configured to select the coils to operate for power transmission or radio frequency communication. The controller (104) is capable of making selection among coils (102a, 102b,....) by way of an input voltage to a respective circuit, whereby the coils (102a, 102b,. . . .) will operate for radio frequency communication if the input voltage is direct current (DC) voltage. In an implementation of the present invention, the coils may be disposed on the glazing or pillar part. The coils of different shapes may either be directly printed on the pane of glass or polymer substrate or may be printed on a patch which may then be provided on said pane of glass or polymer. It may be provided in an online manufacturing line or coils of thin wires may be shaped by turning in an offline assembly to embed them in between glass. The coils (102a, 102b, 102c, 102d,...) may be arranged in a single layer or may be arranged across different layers of the glazing or pillar part. The arrangement would be specific to the application of the electronic unit and not limited to one specific arrangement.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the electronic circuit disposed on the pane of the glazing or pillar unit may be composed of printed conductive element configured as coil structures for wireless power transmission. The electronic circuit (102) is configured for inductance coupling with the transmitter and receiver coils (102a, 102b,. . . .) being designed into loop structures. The conductive element may be induced as an antenna supporting wide band. In an instance of the present invention, the electronic circuit (102) may be configured for inductance coupling with the transmitter and receiver coils (102a, 102b,....) being designed into loop structures as shown in FIG. 2. The inductive coil could be of multiple forms and structure including and not limited to loop structure, rectangular loop, S-loop and the like. Further, the inductive coil may be made with a defined number of turns. FIG. 3(a) depicts an implementation of the present invention with electronic circuits in form of various patches on a windshield. The patches may be arranged along the black ceramic region of the windshield. A patch may consist of multiple wired coils connected to a busway or bus bar. The inductive coils are configured to be connected in series and/or in parallel to each other. FIGs. 3(b) and 3(c) provides instances of both parallel and series connections. The series or parallel connection is based on a desired inductance for power transfer and a desired frequency of communication. The one or more electronic circuits (102) is configured to operate through inductive coupling for short range powering, resonant coupling for midrange powering and electromagnetic wave power transfer for high-range powering. For instance, the coils of the electronic circuit may be configured for microwave power transfer for long range power transfer. In an implementation of the present invention, the transmitter and receiver coils (102a, 102b,....) are configured to communicate in a frequency band 1-300 kHz when operating through inductive coupling, in a frequency band 1-10 MHz when operating through resonant coupling, and in a frequency band 300 MHz- 300 GHz when operating through electromagnetic wave power transfer.

Reference is made to FIG.3 (a) disclosing the electronic coil comprising different transmitter and receiver coil. The power supply to the circuit can be by means of the bus bar or bus way (1020). As shown in the figure, the circuit includes multiple wired coils with multiple connector points on the bus way. In an implementation of the present invention, the electronic circuits can include a combination of multiple looped patches as shown in the figure and they may be connected in series or parallel. The inductance L of two or more loops connected in series is additive. In other words, when the two or more loop structured coils (102a, 102b 102c,. . .) are connected series, the effective inductance L between two coils is provided by,

L = LI + L2 ±2M, where LI and L2 is the inductance of each of the individual connected loop structured coils and M is the mutual inductance between the two loop structured coils (102a, 102b,. . . .). The mutual inductance is negligible when the loops are separated by a large distance. In this case, L = LI + L2. This implies that the loops thus connected in series are producing maximum loop inductance. Again, if the loops are connected in parallel, then the combined inductance is given by,

1/L = 1/L1+1/L2.

This means that the inductance reduces with parallel connection. In an implementation of the present invention, the electronic circuit is further configured to communicate in the frequency bands, 1-300 kHz, 1-10 MHz and 300 MHz-300 GHz. The circuits are configured to exhibit antenna operation mechanism such as SISO (Single Input Single Output), SIMO (Single Input Multiple Output), MISO (Multiple Input Single Output), or MIMO (Multiple Input multiple Output). In the table below is provided the different implementational parameters associated with the circuit according to the present invention.

Table: 1 In an embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of transmitter coils and receiver coils are configured to increase the efficiency, to enable usage of multiple devices, and to facilitate desired directionality of power transmission. The connection can be fully series or parallel or combination of both, to achieve the desired result. Busbar in the rear glazing or bus bar usually designed for camera heating may also be designed to act as a wireless charging transmitter coil as an alternative embodiment of the present invention. The disclosed wireless power transmission coils may be used to power any device present in or used in the vehicle, for instance, radar on chip (RoC), sensors, mobile phone, headset, reading light wearables etc. For powering devices like mobile phone or so, a connector may be mounted to operably function with the electronic device of the glazing. The implementation aspect would be case dependent and would be clear to one skilled in the art, without diverging from the scope of the invention.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the glazing comprises two panes of glass (201, 204) and includes one or more interlayers between them to form laminated unit. The interlayers mentioned here can be polymer interlayers like PVB (Polyvinyl butyral) or flexible Polymer substrates like PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate)/ PEN (Polyethylene naphthal ate)/PI (Polyimide). Further included in the glazing is a conductive layer or conductive element capable of functioning as the electronic circuit. In an implementation, a first transmitter element (102a) may be provided in interlayer (202) and a second transmitter element (102b) may be provided in interlayer (203). If the glazing includes only a single pane of glass the transmitter coils may be provided on both or either face of the glass pane as shown in FIG. 4(a). Alternatively, on one of the interlayer multiple coils may be arranged or may be arranged in different faces of the same interlayer. It would be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the arrangement of coil is use case dependent and would have different combination without divulging from the scope of the present invention. Similarly, the one or more transmitter and receiver coils (102a, 102b, . . . .) are disposed on different faces of different panes with the pane arrangement of the glazing. In an implementation of the present invention, the glazing unit is windshield, sidelite, quaterlite, backlite, or sunroof comprising laminated or tempered glass. In another implementation, a multi-transmitter coil may be obtained by printing the electronic circuit on face 1 and 2 of the tempered glazing. Again, a multi-transmitter coil may be obtained by having conductive layers with the transmitter coil on different layers of a laminated glazing. The coils of the electronic circuit may be hidden behind the black ceramic region in glazing, following the track of the ceramic region or as an extension of the same as shown in FIG. 3(a). The electronic circuit may be printed directly on the glass or polymer pane. Optionally, the glazing unit may include an additional functional layer (105) such as PDLC as show in FIG. 4(b). The electronic circuit may include multiple antenna connection elements in contact with conductive layer in which the connector element adapted to connect to the transmitter circuit device.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the wireless powering unit may be included in the plastic part or pillar unit of the automotive. Said pillar may also be an arrangement of panes of polymer such as PC (polycarbonates), PMMA (Polymethyl methacrylate), ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) or any combination thereof with or without hard coating made of single or multi component injection molding. The electronic circuit may be printed on a suitable face of the glass pane or the polymer pane or on the interlayer. It may, alternatively, be embedded in the glazing unit as a flexible patch.

The electronic circuit may be transparent or non-transparent with transparency arranging with a wide range of 1-99% after it is embedded in the glass pane glazing. The transmitter coil and receiver coil can be of material copper, silver, silver nanowire, carbon nanotube (CNT), graphene. However, the coils may be made of other suitable material not limited to these. The electronic circuit may be embedded in A , B or C zones of a windshield, when embedded in C Zone, the electronic circuit to be non-transparent. The electronic circuit embedded in B Zone may have transparency ranging above 50%. The electronic circuit embedded in A Zone of the vehicle may have transparency ranging above 70%. The PVB flows and deforms while autoclaving and the surface energy of PVB is such that the printing is not possible in PVB substrate. Hence, the PVB when used as interlayer may be subjected to ozone treating to improve ink adhesion in PVB polymer substrate making it printable and it further improves ink adhesion in the substrate.

In an embodiment of the present invention is provided the power transmission through the power generation unit (103) to use only the transmitter coil. The power generation unit may include a solar cell, the battery of the automobile or standalone battery. Reference is made to FIG. 5 that shows power transmission through an input voltage source (401) such as solar energy, which may be by means of solar cells on roof of vehicle. In this implementation, only the transmitter coil is used for power transmission. The transmitter coil in the glazing unit is used to wirelessly transmit power to other devices (having at least respective receiver coil and load) in the vehicle. The voltage source (401) to the transmitter coil (404) is provided with solar cells or panel. There is provided a charge controller (402) which is used to indicate and regulate the flow of charge or current from solar panel. It also regulates the charge flow, preventing the device to be overcharged. The controller (104) may be configured to function as charge controller (402) or it may be a separate module coupled with said main controller (104). The charge controller may also have a voltage regulator in order to stabilize or control the charge going from the solar panel to the receiver device. The stabilization is required for giving a controlled output to the load. The charge controller prevents the over-charging of the device and power supply management to control the power that goes to the coil and safeguard the device from overcharging.

In an implementation of the present invention, optionally the charge controller can be coupled with an inverter (AC -DC inverter, 403) to provide alternating current to the transmitter coil and a charge can optionally be stored in a battery (406). The battery herein functions as a means for storage cell or input power. It can function as back up as well. The transmitter coil is so designed that it can accommodate the parameters like power transfer efficiency, range to be covered, the method of power transfer being used and the like as per the specific requirement. The transmitter coil (404) is configured to receive alternating current of specific input frequency to generate a magnetic field around the coil. The receiving coil (405) of the device (to be powered) is configured to get the transmitted energy either by way of induced through magnetic flux or microwave radiation or light radiation. The electromotive force (EMF) voltage must be inducted into the receiver coil which is experiencing the magnetic flux generated by the transmitter. This generated voltage may be rectified, filtered, and regulated to get a desired AC or DC voltage. The receiver coil of the device may be configured to a rectifier and then to a load. In this implementation, the transmitter coil may be composed of multiple transmitter coil modules either in the same pane of the same glazing or different faces of different panes of the same glazing or through multiple glazing in the vehicle or through pillar part.

The location of electronic circuit containing the transmitter coils are specifically selected to provide higher power transfer efficiency and to alternatively function as antenna without being affected by a metal body of the vehicle. For improving efficiency and directionality of the functions of the circuit multiple transmitter coils are used to optionally select the charging station. The selection of using the transmitter coil optionally as antenna is dependent on the input voltage. If it is DC voltage, the electronic circuit function as an antenna for RF communication.

In an implementation of the present invention is disclosed multiple transmitter coils being used to increase the efficiency or multiple device usage and directionality as shown in FIG. 6. Each coil of the multiple transmitters can perform with similar or combination of operating methods such as inductive coupling, resonant coupling, or EM radiation wave power transfer. The multiple transmitters may be assembled with an AC control unit (609) or secondary control unit to select the transmitter coil frequency or detect which coil need to be selected for power transmission depending on the location of the receiving coil. The AC control unit (609) is configured to select only specific transmitter(s) and simply omit the other transmitters. By way of the disclosed system, multi-port charging coil may be used based on coil specifications (such as the number of turns, input voltage, composition, methodology and design of coil, and other parameters), a required power transfer efficiency for multiple ports may be obtained. In the following table is provided an example to demonstrate the same.

Table 2

In an implementation as shown in FIG. 6, an input voltage source (601) is configured with a charge controller (602) which in turn is coupled with the controller (603). The controller and charge controller expresses similar function as that in the previous embodiment. It may be a single module, or two different modules as shown in the figure. The charge controller (602) and controller (603) may be configured with a voltage regulator and a battery. The controller (603) is operably coupled to an AC control unit (609) that has multiple AC supplies. Depending on the received input to a specific controller to select transmitter coil (608), a respective coil or coils are chosen from the multi -transmitter system (610). From the thus chosen coil transmits power to the receiver coil (611) which may be coupled to rectifier and respective load. In an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed that the coils of the electronic circuit are configured to be used as an antenna with DC input voltage. This is made possible by means of an inverter. The impedance matching of a connector or coil for DC input voltage may be designed in such a way for the electronic circuit to act as an antenna. The controller may be connected to the electronic circuits to select the input voltage to be AC/ DC depending on the application. DC Source is selected for the respective coils of the electronic circuits to act as an antenna. The application specific transmitter design is chosen depending on the number of turns in the coil, the sheet resistance of the ink used for printing (if the electronic circuit is printed), line width of the coil, size of the coil, assembly structure, input voltage, composition, methodology and design of the coil. In an implementation of the invention is provided the system wherein the transmitter coils are configured to function as antenna as depicted in FIG. 7. The input voltage source (701) is configured with a charge controller (702) which is coupled with the controller (703). The controller and charge controller expresses similar function as that in the previous embodiment. The charge controller (702) may be configured with a voltage regulator and a battery. The controller (703) is connected to the DC supply unit via an AC -DC inverter. The controller (703) coupled to the DC/DC inverter which is coupled to an AC control unit (705) that in turn is connect to transmitter coil via AC supply line (say supply 1). The controller (703) is operably coupled to DC supply unit (704). The DC supply (704) is connected to the transmitter coil (707) via antenna connector voltage (706). Through the transmitter coil (707) the RF communication is done to a receiver (708).

In an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed a system (800) for wireless transmission of power and radio frequency communication in an automobile comprising plurality of glazing unit or pillar unit (801, 802, 803) as depicted in FIG. 8. Each of said glazing unit or pillar unit comprises a port for power or radio frequency communication. The system further includes a control unit (804) operably coupled with an interface (805) configured to select a respective unit and a mode of function for that unit, said mode is either power transmission or radio frequency communication. The interface is operably configured to the plurality of glazing unit or pillar unit.

In an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed that the selection of coils for charging is based on the feedback from a receiver, which is also depictured in FIG. 9. In an implementation of the present invention, the electronic circuits may be connected with the controller capable of operating with multiple coils in a fullbridge or half-bridge inverter configuration. As shown in the figure, the transmitter controller (902) is configured to detect object by way of communication pack decoder, coil selection and power regulation thereof. The receiver coil (904) and receiver controller (905) are both in the device, as per an implementation of the invention. The power generation unit (901) may include solar cells or any other source of power. The transmitter generates power through the power coil, detects the presence of a wireless power receiver, decodes the communication packets from the receiver, and adjusts the transmitted power by controlling the voltage based on feedback from the receiver. To safeguard the device and the wireless powering system under fault conditions, the controller could include power management and regulation components such as and not limited to input under-voltage, input overvoltage, output short-circuit, and over-temperature protection. The transmitter system could work supporting multiple communication protocols including and not limited to I2C, SPI, LIN, CAN and Ethernet. For example, a radar and a cell phone are considered as receiving device asking for fast charging and normal charging respectively. Based in the feedback received from the receiver through the communication packets, the transmitter coils are selected, and power is regulated. Different devices would have different communication packets. Here, about 10 watt of output is needed for the cell phone charging while only up to 2 watts for radar.

Reference is made to FIG. 10, that disclose a block diagram of overall architecture of the system using the coil embedded in the glass of the automotive glazing as transmitter coil for wireless charging device [referred as first part] or alternatively use it as radio communication device [referred as second part]. For first part: The electrical signal from the power generation unit must be converted to an EM wave so the wave can be propagated to the receiver coil. This is done by making the coil structure to induce inductive coupling with the receiver coil.

For second part: The EM wave from the Transmitter antenna to be received by the Coil Structure to convert it to the electric signal. The functionality of the first part to be reversed. The coil is to be made such that the length of the coil is half the wavelength of frequency that is to be read.

The diagram depicts 3 connections viz, A, B and C. The connection A represents the coil structure functioning as a transmitter wireless charging coil. It begins from input voltage source (1011) to charger controller (1012). The charge controller (1012) is operably connected to a battery (1022). The charger controller (1012) in turn is further operably connected to the controller (1013). For the circuit to act as a wireless charging means, the controller (1013) establishes the connection with AC Control unit (1014) that is connected to AC Supply 1 and AC Supply 2 (1014, 1015). The AC Supply 2 (1015) in turn may be configured to Coil selector unit (1018). Both AC Supply 1 (1014) and AC Supply 2 (1015) are connected to Multi coil system of transmitter/receiver (1016) which in turn is configured to receiver coil (1017). Again, when the coil structure is functioning as a receiving antenna, the controller (1013) establishes the connection B. The controller (1013) is configured with coil selector unit (1017) which in turn is receiving feedback from multi coil system. Further, when the coil structure is functioning as a transmitting antenna, the controller (1013) establishes the connection C. The controller is operably configured with the DC/AC inverter which in turn is connected with the DC Supply and Antenna connector voltage (1021). In case of connection A, the multi coil system may be given an eletrical signal, which may be converted into an EM wave, which in turn produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field being in close proximity for the receiver coil (for powering up), it will be coupled for inductive coupling and wireless transmission of power.

For the coil to function as RF communication means, it is preferred to have the length of the coil to be X/2, where X is the wavelength of the signal. In an instance, say if Tl, T2, T3 and T4 are connected in series, effectively one unit can function as an antenna. Choice of the same may be made by the controller. The functionality of the coil in any of the said mode is dependent on the design of the coil. The present invention thus, effectively uses multiple glass as a part of wireless charging circuit around the glazing, i.e., multi stack transmitter coil arrangement. It is operably coupled to selectively transmit power and function as RF communication antenna, thereby yielding the technical effect of using wireless charging coil as an antenna depending on voltage input.

Example 7: In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, reference is made to a transmitter coil, Tl, T2, T3 and T4. The number of turns for transmitter coils Tl and T2 is 5, having radius of 17.4 mm and length of 10 mm. The inductance may then be 3 pH. Again, the number of turns for transmitter coils T3 and T4 is 5, having radius of 10.066 mm and length of 10 mm. The inductance may then be 1 pH.

Now, if Tl, T2, T3 are connected in series, the total self-inductance is 7uH. With the efficient coupling effect of the receiver coil, it is possible to give power of 2.4 watts. This could be application to power up a minimum of 3 Led units to 24 units, a minimum of 2 RFID Sensors, to power 2 Radar on chip. Depending on the configuration chosen for the wireless charging, the coils can be selectively chosen to enable the RF communication in a certain range. The selection of the coils is performed by the controller.

Example 2 A use case is considered with where communication may be enabled in an RFID communication range with or without sensors. In this scenario, the maximum power used by RFID as per regulations should not be more than 1 watt, the operable voltage for RFID with respect to automotive is 1.3 V and the induced coil current is around 800mA. To bring about this use according to an implementation of the present invention, the following specification may be required:

• Area of the Loop is 650 mm ²

• Number of turns is 10

• Magnetic field is 2T

• Time is 0.01 s

For the above specification, the induced voltage may be 1.3 V {the calculations of which are provided below}

V(ind) = -N d$/dt

= -10 [2*6.5*10-4)70.01

Example 3 A use case is considered with where RF communication is required for Radar Chip application. For this use case, the operable voltage for radar chip with respect to automotive is up to 3.3V and induced coil current is around 800mA. For this use case, the below specification is required for the structure of the loop according to an implementation of the present invention:

• Area of the Loop is 330 mm ²

• Number of Turns is 50

• Magnetic Field is 2T

• Time is 0.01 s

For the above specification, the induced voltage may be 3.3V {the calculations of which are provided below}

V(ind) = -N d$/dt

= -50 [2*3.5*10-4)/0.01

Some of advantages of the present invention are enlisted in the following: • The electronic circuit in glazing is configured to increase the efficiency, to enable usage of multiple devices, and to facilitate desired directionality of power transmission.

• The electronic circuit provided in the glazing unit and pillar part of a vehicle can be advantaegously used for both wireless powering and RF communication. Thus, effectivley using the available space.

• The electronic circuit in the glazing may include multiple transmitter coil, which may be disposed on multiple faces of the different layers in a glazing or pillar unit, to improve the power transmitter efficiency. Usage of multiple ports to interface-based selection makes the electronic circuit more efficient.

• The design of the transmitter coil is such that it provides improved directionality.

Note that not all of the activities described above in the general description or the examples are required, that a portion of a specific activity may not be required, and that one or more further activities may be performed in addition to those described. Still further, the order in which activities are listed is not necessarily the order in which they are performed. Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described above with regard to specific embodiments. However, the benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any feature(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential feature of any or all the claims.

The specification and illustrations of the embodiments described herein are intended to provide a general understanding of the structure of the various embodiments. The specification and illustrations are not intended to serve as an exhaustive and comprehensive description of all of the elements and features of apparatus and systems that use the structures or methods described herein. Certain features, that are for clarity, described herein in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in a sub combination. Further, reference to values stated in ranges includes each and every value within that range. Many other embodiments may be apparent to skilled artisans only after reading this specification. Other embodiments may be used and derived from the disclosure, such that a structural substitution, logical substitution, or another change may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, the disclosure is to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.

The description in combination with the figures is provided to assist in understanding the teachings disclosed herein, is provided to assist in describing the teachings, and should not be interpreted as a limitation on the scope or applicability of the teachings. However, other teachings can certainly be used in this application.

As used herein, the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes”, “including”, “has”, “having” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-ex elusive inclusion. For example, a method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of features is not necessarily limited only to those features but may include other features not expressly listed or inherent to such method, article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary, “or” refers to an inclusive-or and not to an exclusive-or. For example, a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true (or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or not present) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (or present).

Also, the use of “a” or “an” is employed to describe elements and components described herein. This is done merely for convenience and to give a general sense of the scope of the invention. This description should be read to include one or at least one and the singular also includes the plural, or vice versa, unless it is clear that it is meant otherwise. For example, when a single item is described herein, more than one item may be used in place of a single item. Similarly, where more than one item is described herein, a single item may be substituted for that more than one item. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The materials, methods, and examples are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting. To the extent that certain details regarding specific materials and processing acts are not described, such details may include conventional approaches, which may be found in reference books and other sources within the manufacturing arts.

While aspects of the present disclosure have been particularly shown and described with reference to the embodiments above, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various additional embodiments may be contemplated by the modification of the disclosed machines, systems and methods without departing from the spirit and scope of what is disclosed. Such embodiments should be understood to fall within the scope of the present disclosure as determined based upon the claims and any equivalents thereof.

The list of reference numerals and the corresponding features:

100: automotive glazing unit or pillar unit

101 : one pane of glass or polymer

102: electronic circuits

102a, 102b,. . . : transmitter coils and receiver coils

103, 501, 601, 701, 901, 1011 : power generation unit/input voltage source

104, 603, 703, 804, 902, 1013: controller

105: functional layer

201, 204: glass

202, 203 : interlayer

502, 602, 702, 1012: charge controller

506, 1022: battery

503: DC/ AC inverter

504, 707, 903: transmitter, 505, 611, 708, 904, 1017: receiver 06, 1021 : antenna connector voltage

800: system for wireless transmission of power and radio frequency communication

801, 802, 803: glazing and pillar unit

805: interface

905: receiver controller unit

1014: AC Supply 1

1015; AC Supply 2

1016: Multi coil system of transmitter/receiver