News

Energous Partners with Dialog for Wireless Power Over Distance

August 27, 2014 by Jeff Shepard

Energous Corporation, the developer of WattUp™, a potentially disruptive wire-free charging technology for electronic devices that provides power at a distance with complete mobility under full software control, has agreed to a joint collaboration with Dialog Semiconductor plc. Energous and Dialog will develop reference designs to engage customers and further evaluate the market for wire-free power.

WattUp uses RF charging to deliver up to 10W of power to multiple devices wirelessly. Using a combination of Bluetooth Low Energy and WiFi, a base station uses both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands to focus RF energy onto the receiving device. BLE is used to locate the device in relation to the base unit. WattUp technology uses multiple smaller antennas rather than one high-power antenna. The working reference design can charge four devices within a 15-foot range, supplying an average of 2 watts. WattUp 2.0, planned for release in 2015, is expected to power 24 devices.

“Dialog has quickly established itself as a key semiconductor supplier in the IoT and wearables market.” said Sean McGrath, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Connectivity, Automotive & Industrial Business Group at Dialog Semiconductor. “By bringing together our existing lowest power, smallest footprint Bluetooth Smart IC with its energy harvesting support and Energous’ over the air wireless charging technology in a proof-of-concept reference design, both companies plan to demonstrate the ability to charge wearable CE devices without the need for power connectors or charging mats.”

“Our collaboration with Dialog Semiconductor will provide consumer electronics manufacturers with a superior technology that will differentiate their products with the freedom of charging without wires,” said Stephen R. Rizzone, CEO of Energous Corporation. “By optimizing WattUp with Dialog’s SmartBond connectivity and power management technology, OEMs will be able to seamlessly and rapidly integrate wire-free charging and remote management right into their devices.”

Energous recently announced a new joint development agreement (JDA) with Dong-Hwa to embed WattUp receivers in Dong-Hwa smartphone cases. Energous previously signed a JDA with Hanbit Electronics to embed WattUp in wire-free energy routers for home, office and automotive applications. Energous also announced that it had signed four memoranda of understanding with strategic partners who have each agreed to conduct in-depth technical evaluations of WattUp.

“Energous is aggressively moving forward with its vision of commercializing the WattUp wire-free charging technology that can be deployed across multiple products and end markets,” said Stephen R. Rizzone, President and CEO of Energous Corporation. “Responses from potential strategic partners in our initial target markets of mobile phones, accessories, and wearables have been extremely positive. Our JDAs with Dong-Hwa and Hanbit are a critical first step in bringing WattUp technology to market.” On April 2nd Energous completed an initial public offering in which it raised $27.6 million in gross proceeds from the sale of 4.6 million common shares.