Electromagnetic Radiated Emissions from a
Repeating-Coil Wireless Power Transfer System
using a Resonant Magnetic Field Coupling
Sunkyu Kong, Bumhee Bae, Jonghoon J. Kim, Sukjin Kim, Daniel H. Jung, and Joungho Kim
Terahertz Interconnection and Package Laboratory, Dept. of EE
KAIST
Daejeon, Republic of Korea
sunkyu84@kaist.ac.kr, teralab@kaist.ac.kr
Abstract Wireless power transfer technologies have been
studied steadily and reached the stage of practical use in recent
years. As the commercialized research on the wireless power
transfer have been performed, the wireless power transfer system
utilizing the repeating-coil have been attempted. Then, the
electromagnetic radiated emissions have become an important
issue. In this paper, we report the measurement and analysis of
the electromagnetic radiated emissions from the repeating-coil
wireless power transfer system using a resonant magnetic field. A
relationship between the resonance and the transferred power
are analyzed with respect to the impedance profile obtained from
analytical expressions, simulations and measurements. The
results show that the electromagnetic radiated emissions are
enhanced at the series resonance peaks of the impedance profile
in the repeating-coil wireless power transfer system using a
resonant magnetic field coupling in the case of a constant-voltage
AC source.
Keywords-electromagnetic radiated emission; resonance;
transferred power; repeating-coil; wireless power transfer
I. INTRODUCTION
Lately, as the researches on wireless power transfer have
been performed actively, the interests in the wireless power
transfer have increased significantly [1]. This revival has led to
the efforts for the commercialization of many wireless power
products, including electronic charger for mobile phone.
However, as people started to test the feasibility of the wireless
power transfer technology, the electromagnetic radiated
emission, that many studies have not been performed yet, has
become more important issue [2]. This could be the biggest
obstacle in practical use as the wireless power transfer
technologies.
In the previous studies, the resonance in the power transfer
system is extensively used to maximize the power transfer
efficiency [3]. However, when the magnetic field is tightly
coupled, the resonant peaks are divided into several other
peaks. As a result, the transferred power is changing, these
changes affect the electromagnetic radiated emissions.
Especially, when the harmonics of the voltage and current of
the power electronics the system match with a coil resonance, a
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea
(NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIP) (No. 2010-
0029179/No.2012-0000990).
,(((
sizable electromagnetic radiated emissions can be generated. If
the frequency of the sizable electromagnetic radiated emissions
match with the chip operating frequency of internal and other
electronic equipment in the system, it can be serious
electromagnetic interference problems [4]. Despite these
problems, most researches on the wireless power transfer
technology have been still concentrated on maximizing the
power charging range and also improving the power transfer
efficiency largely. As a part of that, without considering the
electromagnetic radiated emissions that affect the internal chips
and other electronic equipment, the wireless power transfer
systems utilizing the repeating-coil have been attempted [5].
In this paper, we report the measurement and analysis of
the electromagnetic radiated emissions from a repeating-coil
wireless power transfer system using a resonant magnetic field
coupling. A relationship between the resonances and the
electromagnetic radiated emission of the repeating-coil
wireless power transfer system using a resonant magnetic field
coupling is investigated. In this research, the resonance peaks
and the transferred power of the system are analyzed with
respect to the impedance profile for analytical expression
derivations, simulations and measurements. We measure the
electromagnetic radiated emissions using a loop antenna in
combination with a vector network analyzer. We have found
the relationship between the resonances and the
electromagnetic radiated emission of the repeating-coil
wireless power transfer system using a resonant magnetic
coupling.
II. RESONANCE AND TRANSFERRED POWER OF THE
REPEATING-COIL WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER SYSTEM
The use of a tightly coupled magnetic field in the wireless
power transfer system has a merit of the high power transfer
efficiency. The magnetic field resonance with the tuning
capacitor is applied for maximizing the transferred power and
minimizing the magnitude of the reactance, and the repeating-
coil is utilized for maximizing the power charging range and
also improving the power transfer efficiency in the repeating-
coil wireless power transfer system using a resonant magnetic
coupling.
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 The resonance peaks have high relationships not only with and high frequencies of the series resonances fSL,resoance,
the transferred power, but with the electromagnetic radiated fSM,resonance, and fSH,resosnace at the input impedance can be
emissions in the repeating-coil wireless power transfer system expressed as follows:
using a resonant magnetic field coupling. Thus, we need to
investigate the relationship between the resonances, the
transferred power and the electromagnetic radiated emission. 1 1 (2)
f SL,resonance ( when Z11 = 0) = f1 =
We analyze the resonance peaks of the input impedance of the 2 LC 1+ k 2
coupled coil applied the repeating-coil and the transferred
power in the repeating-coil wireless power transfer system
using analytical expressions, simulations and measurements. 1
f SM ,resonance ( when Z11 = 0) = f 2 = (3)
2 LC
A. Analytical Expressions
To derive analytical expressions for the input impedance
and the transferred power, a simplified equivalent circuit model 1 1
f SH ,resonance ( when Z11 = 0) = f 3 = (4)
of the repeating-coil wireless power transfer system is
2 LC 1 k 2
presented, as shown in Fig. 1. The system consists of the
transmitting, receiving and repeating coils, which are coupled
through mutually coupled magnetic field. As the repeating coil The load current IL, which determines the transferred power
LR is inserted in the center of the gap between the transmitting (PL=IL2VS), is derived based on a simplified equivalent circuit
coil LS and the receiving coil LL, the mutual inductance MS model with a constant-voltage AC source. The load current IL
(between the transmitting and repeating coils) and ML (between is described as
the repeating and receiving coils) have the same magnetic
coupling coefficient (kS=kL=k). The mutual coupling between
the transmitting and receiving coil is ignored. The tuning j5k 2 (LC)CS CL LS LL
IL = VS (5)
capacitors CS, CL and CR are connected in series to the coils LS, (1 2 LC)((1 2 LC)2 24k 2 L2C2 )
LL and LR, respectively, to produce the magnetic field
resonance at the same frequency (LSCS=LRCR=LLCL=LC). RS The transferred power is becoming maximum when the
includes the internal resistance of the source and coil, and RL load current IR is maximized. RS, RR and RL are neglected to
includes the coil and load resistance. RR includes only the coil simplify the calculations of the frequencies that maximize the
resistance. load current. The parameters of fML,power, fMM,power, and fMH,power
mean the low, middle and high frequencies of the maximized
transferred power for a constant-voltage AC source in the
system. These frequencies can be calculated from (5), and they
are expressed as follows:

1 1 (6)
f ML , power ( when I R = ) = f 4 =
2 LC 1+ k 2

1 (7)
f MM , power ( when I R = ) = f 5 =
2 LC
Fig. 1. Simplified equivalent circuit model of the repeating-coil wireless
power transfer system.
1 1 (8)
The equation of the input impedance is derived based on f MH , power ( when I R = ) = f 6 =
the simplified equivalent circuit model. The analytical 2 LC 1 k 2
expression for the input impedance Z11 can be described by
These expressions show that the frequencies of the
maximum transferred power given in (6), (7) and (8) coincide
(1 2 LC )((1 2 LC )2 24 k 2 L2C 2 ) (1) with the series resonance frequencies of the input impedance
Z11 =
jCS ((1 2 LC ) 4 k 2 L2C 2 ) equation in (2), (3) and (4). It means that the transferred power
2

is maximized at the series resonance peaks of the input

Then, the resonance frequencies of the input impedance in
the system can be derived from (1). RS, RR and RL are neglected
to simplify the calculations of the resonance frequencies. The
input impedance should be assumed to be infinity for a parallel
resonance, and the input impedance should be considered
negligible for the series resonances. Therefore, the low, middle
impedance for a constant-voltage AC source in the repeating-
coil wireless power transfer system.
B. Experimental Verification
To verify the relationship between the resonances and the
transferred power, we have investigated the analytical

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expressions in (2), (3), (4), (6), (7) and (8). Test vehicles of
coupled rectangular coils were fabricated on multi-layer printed
circuit boards, which have advantages of high reproducibility
and reliability for the manufactured products. The test vehicles
designed, which consist of transmitting, receiving and
repeating coils, as shown in Fig. 2. It has an outer size of 3 cm
by 3 cm, a line width of 0.5 mm, a line space of 0.2 mm and a
line thickness of 0.018 mm. The coil has a total of 40 turn,
which consist of 10 turn at each layer. All of the coils were
designed to pursue target applications in mobile devices.
The measurement setup for the repeating-coil wireless
power transfer system is shown in Fig. 3. The 2-port Z-
parameters are obtained by conversions of the measured S-
parameters from 30 kHz to 2 MHz using a vector network
analyzer (VNA), Agilent 8753ES. The magnitude of the input
impedance is measured when the transmitting and receiving
coils with a ferrite plate are connected to port 1 and port 2 of
the VNA, respectively. Repeating coil is inserted between the
transmitting and receiving coils with a distance of 0.5 cm
aligned along the z-axis. The transferred power is obtained
when the power source is the constant-voltage AC source that
has a peak-to-peak 10 V sine wave and a load resistance RL is 5
. Then, we can verify and analyze the relationship between
the resonances and the transferred power in the system with the
analytical expressions, simulations and measurements.

TABLE I. FREQUENCY PARAMETER VALUES OF THE REPEATING-COIL

WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER SYSTEM WITH A FERRITE PLATE
Value
Para-
Quantity Analytical Model Measure-
meter
Expression Simulation ment
fSL
Low frequency of
= f1 313 kHz 273 kHz 258 kHz
series resonance
= (2)
fSM
Middle frequency
= f2 357 kHz 357 kHz 431 kHz
of series resonance
Fig. 2. Specification of the test vehicles designed for the transmitting and = (3)
receiving coils. fSH
High frequency of
= f3 480 kHz 649 kHz 537 kHz
series resonance
The self-inductance and the mutual inductance can be = (4)
fML Low frequency of
extracted with the Z-parameter obtained from the measurement. = f4 maximum 313 kHz 275 kHz 261 kHz
The designed coil without a ferrite plate has an inductance of = (6) transferred power
LR = 56.0 H, and a series tuning capacitance of CR = 3.55 nF fMM Middle frequency
is calculated for a resonance at the frequency of 357 kHz, = f5 of maximum 357 kHz 357 kHz 434 kHz
where the frequency is also selected for a mobile application. = (7) transferred power
When a ferrite plate is attached at the back side of the coil, the fMH High frequency of
= f6 maximum 480 kHz 643 kHz 516 kHz
inductance of the coil is changed to LS = LL = 98.2 H, and the = (8) transferred power
series tuning capacitance is changed to CS = CL = 2.02 nF for a
resonance at the same frequency. The mutual inductance of MS The frequency parameter values of the repeating-coil
= ML = 36.3 H (k = 0.49) can be extracted from the Z21 slope wireless power transfer system obtained from the analytical
when the distance between the coils is set to be 0.5 cm and expressions, circuit model simulations and measurements are
aligned along the z-axis with a ferrite plate at the backside of presented in Table I. The series resonance peaks of the input
the transmitting and receiving coil. Both the self and mutual impedance predicted from the analytical expressions have a
inductances are increased with a ferrite plate. good correspondence with the circuit model simulation and the
measurement results. The differences among the analytical
expressions, the simulation and the measurement results caused
by the ignored mutual coupling between the transmitting and
receiving coils, and the difference in the series parasitic
resistance of the coils.
Table I shows that the frequency of the maximized
transferred power predicted from the analytical expressions in
(6), (7) and (8) also has a good correspondence with them. And
it shows the relationship between the resonances and the
transferred power in the repeating-coil wireless power transfer
system. The SPICE simulation results based on the simulated
and measured Z-parameters verify that the series resonance
frequencies f1, f2, f3 of the input impedance coincide with the
frequencies f4, f5, f6 at which the transferred power is
Fig. 3. Measurement setup for the repeating-coil wireless power transfer maximized in the constant-voltage AC source in the repeating-
system. The distance between the coils is set to be 0.5 cm along the z-axis. coil wireless power transfer system.

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 In the case of the constant-voltage AC source, the
transmitting power is increased as the input impedance
decreases. Although the power transfer increases at the parallel
resonance frequency, the transferred power is not increased at
that frequency because the transmitting power is too small
compared with that at the series resonance frequencies. Thus,
the transferred power is increased at the series resonance
frequencies because the input impedance is minimized at those
frequencies in the constant-voltage AC source.
III. ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATED EMISSIONS FROM THE
REPEATING-COIL WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER SYSTEM
S21 is analyzed using a 2-port VNA to examine at which
frequency the most electromagnetic radiated emissions are
generated from the repeating-coil wireless power transfer
system. The network system for S-parameter analysis is
generally excited by voltage sources, and consequently S21 with
VNA can represent the electromagnetic radiated emissions in
the case of a voltage source. The measurement for the
electromagnetic radiated emission using a loop antenna is
shown in Fig. 3. Z11 should be re-measured because the input
impedance changes slightly due to the loop antenna that is used
for the measurement of the electromagnetic radiated emissions.
Then, we analyze the electromagnetic radiated emissions with
respect to the resonances in the system.
The configuration of the coupled coils and the loop antenna
is described as in Fig. 3 to measure the electromagnetic
radiated emissions in the frequency domain from the system. A
perpendicularly positioned loop antenna is placed at 0.3 cm
away from the transmitting coil. To study electromagnetic
radiated emissions, the S-parameters are measured from 30
kHz to 2 MHz using a 2-port VNA while the transmitting coil
and loop antenna are connected to port 1 and port 2 of the
VNA, respectively. The same coils as shown in Fig. 2 are used
for the transmitting and receiving coils with a ferrite plate, and
the receiving coil is a closed loop with a load resistance of RL =
5 .
Fig. 4. Relationship between the resonance of the input impedance (dashed
line) and the electromagnetic radiated emissions (solid line) from the system.
The relationship between the series resonance frequencies
f1, f2, f3 and the electromagnetic radiated emissions from the
repeating-coil wireless power transfer system is demonstrated

in Fig. 4. Below 100 kHz, the electromagnetic radiated
emissions are not reliable due to the lack of the low antenna
gain. Although the input impedance of the system changes
because of the presence of the loop antenna, this change is
negligible. It is proved that the series resonance frequencies of
the input impedance coincide with the frequencies at which the
electromagnetic radiated emissions from the system have
maximum peaks in the constant-voltage AC source.
This result has a mechanism similar to the result obtained
from the relationship between the resonances and the
transferred power in (2), (3), (4), (6), (7) and (8). Basically, in
the case of a constant-voltage or current AC source, the input
power of source is determined by the input impedance of the
coupled coils. The magnitude of the electromagnetic radiated
emissions also behaves as the transferred power when the
transmitting power is increased. The electromagnetic radiated
emissions from the receiving coil are increased by this
increased transferred power. It leads to the increased total
magnitude of the electromagnetic radiated emissions. That is to
say that the magnitude of the electromagnetic radiated
emissions is increased when the input impedance is decreased
in the case of a constant-voltage AC source at f1, f2 and f3.
IV. CONCLUSION
In this paper, we measured and analyzed the
electromagnetic radiated emissions from the repeating-coil
wireless power transfer system using a resonant magnetic field
coupling. As a result, we have demonstrated the relationship
between the resonance peaks at the input impedance curve
measured from the input port of the coupled coil with the
repeating coil and the electromagnetic radiated emission
measurement obtained from the repeating-coil wireless power
transfer system. This research experimentally verified that the
series resonance frequencies at the impedance profile coincide
with the frequencies at which the transferred power and the
electromagnetic radiated emissions are becoming maximized
when using constant-voltage AC source in the repeating-coil
wireless power transfer system. This result is possible to reduce
the problems of the electromagnetic radiated emissions when
designing the resonant wireless power transfer system applied
the repeating-coil.
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