ME 587

WIRELESS MOUSE/CELL PHONE CHARGING PAD

Final Project Report
Şamil ŞİRİN
The aim of this project is to build a wireless charging system consisting of a transmitter
and a receiver to be used for mouse or cell phone charging.
1. INTRODUCTION
Wireless charging has been a property in request in the recently released electronic
devices. Its standardization under the name of “Qi” provides interoperability between wireless
power transferring devices built according to Qi standard. Therefore, incompatibility risen
from the variety of charging cable tips and adapters has been eliminated. Qi specifications
regulate many key concepts about the design of transmitter and receiver devices such as
power consumption, over-voltage protection, receiver localization, mechanical design
parameters, communication protocol between the transmitter and receiver, etc. Qi-based
wireless charger design documentation is partially available to the public. The transmitter and
receiver circuit topology in this project was deduced from the accessible documents provided
by Qi Wireless Power Consortium.
The physical principle behind the wireless power transfer is magnetic induction. The
electric current flowing through a coil (“primary coil”, with 𝑁1 identical windings) generates
a magnetic field around it according to Ampere’s law, such that [1]:
𝐵 = 𝑁1 𝜇0 𝐼 (1)
Magnetic field lines passing through a surface area 𝐴 creates a magnetic flux: Φ = 𝐵 ⋅ 𝐴.
Since the magnetic field lines return to their opposite pole, if the surface is far from the
magnetic field source, less field lines will be passing through the surface which reduces the
flux. If there is another coil (“secondary one”, with 𝑁2 identical windings) that is positioned
close enough to the primary coil so that it can experience magnetic flux, an electric motive
force 𝜀 can be generated under one condition: The flux needs to be time varying (e.g.,
sinusoidal) as described by Faraday’s law [2]:
𝑑Φ
𝜀(𝑡) = −𝑁2 (2)
𝑑𝑡

Time-varying electric motive force eventually causes a time-varying current to flow in

the secondary coil. Our circuit exploits this phenomenon to charge the battery of the mouse by
wireless power transfer from the mousepad. Thus, mousepad contains the transmitter circuit
that generates a varying current in the primary coil. Thus, the secondary coil in the mouse can
be stimulated due to the magnetic flux propagating out of the mousepad, which consequently
charges the battery in the mouse. A simplified illustration of this process is given in Figure 1.
 Figure 1: Simplified illustration of wireless power transfer

2. DESIGN
2.1. Transmitter
More than fifty power transmitter design types addressing the different applications with
different requirements exist in Qi specifications [3]. Primarily, there are two kinds of designs
referred as type-A or type-B. Their main difference is that the type-A can activate a single
primary coil at a time for charging. On the other hand, type-B can activate one or more coils
from the array to realize a “Primary Cell” at different positions across the interface surface as
shown in Figure 2. It provides more intelligent management of the energy and enhances
coupling efficiency [4].

Figure 2: An example of type-B transmitter coil [4]

Although mouse can be considered as a moving object on the layer, its power
consumption is not much to necessitate a continuous charging. Therefore, such a complex
transmitter design does not seem necessary at this point. Besides, commercially available
mouse-charging pads do not employ such multicoil designs. The most preferred type is A11
that describes a transmitter circuit as in Figure 3 where a DC source is converted to AC via
full-bridge rectifier. Capacitance in series creates a resonance circuit.

Figure 3: Transmitter circuit described for A11

Coil design is also indicated in Qi specifications. For A11, the transmission coil
parameters in Table 1 are determined accordingly.
Table 1: Transmission Coil Parameters

Parameter Symbol Value

Outer diameter d0 44 mm
Inner diameter di 20.5 mm
Thickness dc 2.1 mm
Number of turns (per layer) N 10
Number of layers - 1 or 2

The coil wire is also described as “no. 17 AWG (1.15 mm diameter) type 2 litz wire
having 105 strands of no. 40 AWG (0.08 mm), or equivalent”. Since it is not available in
Turkey, 1 mm2 NYAF-1S cable with multistrands was used which is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: NYAF cable used in coil winding.

2.1.1. Coil Production and Inductance Measurement

The inner diameter of the coil was marked on a sheet of paper. Then, winding was
performed from inner to the outer circles while cyanoacrylate was being applied to hold the
turned wires stuck to each other. The number of turns of the transmitter coil was taken as
twenty-five to better observe the transmission performance at the edges of the coil and
increase the generated flux. The coil inductance was measured using a signal generator, a
hundred ohms of resistor, and an oscilloscope. First, the inner resistance of the signal
generator was measured via the resistor as follows: Measure the generator’s open circuit
voltage. Measure the voltage again when the generator is connected to a 100-ohm resistor.
From the voltage drop, calculate its inner resistance 𝑅. Secondly, the inductance was
measured as follows: Adjust the signal generator so that the open circuit voltage becomes 3V
peak-to-peak sinusoidal signal. After it is connected to the coil, detect the frequency 𝑓 where
the peak-to-peak voltage amplitude across the coil becomes the half of the open circuit
𝑅
voltage amplitude, 1.5 V. Then, the inductance is found from 𝐿 = 2𝜋𝑓√3 which yielded 33.8
𝜇𝐻.
2.1.2. 200-kHz Sinusoidal Voltage Generation from STM32F407
Operation frequency has a direct effect on the generated electromotive force which can
be deduced from Equation 2. In the specifications of A11, operation frequency is between 100
kHz and 200 kHz. In order to increase the transferred power level, working in 200 kHz has
been aimed. Therefore, a microcontroller (MCU) was employed to generate a 200 kHz
voltage signal. Using a pulse signal was avoided at first to prevent any instability occurring
due to the immediate current or voltage change, so sinusoidal voltage was the first preference.
Digital to Analog Conversion (DAC) unit available in some MCUs allows generating a
sinusoidal signal. However, STMF1 series do not have it, so SMT32F407 was used to
generate 200 kHz sinusoidal voltage.
According to the ideal calculations where DAC output was assumed to be updated by
each clock pulse, 5 MHz clock frequency was enough to obtain a sinewave with 25 samples
per period. However, the resulting signal frequency was around 200 Hz, a thousand times less
than expected. It is because DAC output cannot be updated with the MCU clock speed due to
several factors limiting the DAC speed.
DAC equivalent circuit can be modelled by an inverter circuit that gives output from an
operational amplifier (op-amp) as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5: DAC equivalent circuit [5]. The switches S1 and S2 are open when the DAC buffer is disabled.

Therefore, normally the maximum DAC speed is limited to this buffer performance,
which is indicated by the settling time parameter in datasheets. For STM32F407 it is typically
3, maximum 6 𝜇𝑠 which gives a maximum 333.333 kHz [6]. Note that according to Nyquist’s
theorem, the minimum sampling rate must be double the frequency of the sampled signal,
which is 200 kHz in our case, but for an average sampling performance, it is better to have a
10-times-greater sampling frequency. Thus, normal operation speed is insufficient for our
purpose.
The solution to this problem starts with disabling the output buffer. However, this time
the RC constant was determined by the impedance and the capacitive load on DAC output.
This solution yields a 555 kHz frequency for STM32F407 which satisfies Nyquist criteria, but
the loading effect can deteriorate the output signal. Thus, an external Op-Amp with high slew
rate and gain bandwidth can be used following the DAC output. Minimum slew rate can be
calculated as the product of the sampling frequency, 5MHz and the reference voltage 3.3V,
that is 16.5 V/μs. Minimum gain bandwidth needs to be doubled the sampling frequency, 10
MHz. An op-amp satisfying these conditions is CA3130 with 30 V/us slew rate. Employing it
yielded a sinusoidal form in 200 kHz but reduced the output current which did not get better
even if the opamp was supplied with ±15V. Thus, an isolating stage between the coil and the
op-amp should have been constructed from MOSFET or BJT amplifier but the attempts of the
author did not yield any enhancement. This unsuccessful transmitter circuit is shown in Figure
6. Note that the capacitance equalizes the resonance frequency 𝑓𝑠 to the operation frequency,
−2
200 kHz. Its value can be determined according to 𝐶 = [2𝜋(200)(103 )√(33.8)(10−6 )] .
Besides, when the operation frequency is equal to the resonance frequency, a pulse signal can
trigger a sine-like response in the L-C part, so a pulse signal was used.

Figure 6: Unsuccessful transmitter circuit

2.1.3. Alternative Transmitter Circuit

The problem with the circuit in Figure 6 was the insufficient current drawn to the coil.
In a case where the pulse generator is connected directly to L-C circuit and the inner
resistance (80 ohms) is ignored, the simulation results in a very satisfying level of inductor
current. However, when the inner resistance is taken into account, the performance dies. In
other words, the equivalent resistance of the circuit at the left of the capacitor is too much
which limits the drawn current by the L-C circuit. Generally, time-varying voltage sources
have higher inner resistance compared to DC supplies. Therefore, supplying the top node of
the L-C circuit with a DC source is more advantageous since the inner resistance falls down
significantly. Nevertheless, a time-variation in the current is needed. It was obtained via a BJT
connected at the bottom node, between the L-C circuit and ground as shown in Figure 7.
 The best news is that such a configuration can be supplied by the 5V output of the
MCU without needing any power from mains adaptor. The measured voltage level was 3.96 V
at the 5V-pin of STM32F407, and its inner resistance was measured as 6.7 ohms.

Figure 7: Alternative transmitter circuit

2.2. Receiver
In the receiver side, secondary coil and a capacitor again forms a resonance tank and
the time-varying received current is converted to DC voltage through a rectifier circuit.
Voltage drops in the rectifier due to diodes are reduced by employing Schottky diodes with a
forward voltage of approximately 0.2 V. The output of the rectifier is connected to the battery
to be charged represented by 100 ohms in the receiver circuit shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8: Receiver circuit

Secondary coil parameters are similar to the primary one, but wire is thin since the
delivered power is lower and the receiver circuit needs to be compact to fit in a mouse. In the
built circuit, also an LED in series with a 100 ohms is connected parallel to the rectifier output
to get a signal if the power transfer happens at a significant level. The image of the built
receiver circuit is in Figure 8.

Figure 9:Receiver circuit

3. CONCLUSION
The target output voltage was 1.5 V and in the simulation 1.88 V was obtained where the
coupling efficiency was assumed to be 100%. In reality, coupling efficiency varies due to the
position of the coils with respect to each other, so the measured voltage level is varying
between 1-2 Volts if correctly positioned.
As a future work, more tests must be carried out with this circuit to investigate the
performance parameters such as the short circuit current at the receiver side or the effect of
alignment of the transmitter and receiver coils.
REFERENCES:
[1] Ramsden, E. (2006a). Chapter 1 - hall-effect physics. In Hall-Effect Sensors: Theory
54 and Application (Second Ed ed.)., pp. 1–10. Burlington: Newnes
[2] Ramsden, E. (2006b). Chapter 7 - current-sensing techniques. In Hall-Effect Sensors:
Theory and Application (Second Ed ed.)., pp. 131–150. Burlington: Newnes.
[3] Wireless Power Consortium “Qi Specification, Power Transmitter Reference
Designs” version 1.3, January 2021.
[4] Xun Liu, W. M. Ng, C. K. Lee and S. Y. Hui, "Optimal operation of contactless
transformers with resonance in secondary circuits," 2008 Twenty-Third Annual IEEE Applied
Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, Austin, TX, USA, 2008, pp. 645-650, doi:
10.1109/APEC.2008.4522790.
[5] ST Microelectronics, “Extending the DAC performance of STM32 microcontrollers”
AN4566 Application Note, October. 2022 [Rev. 4]
[6] ST Microelectronics, “Arm® Cortex®-M4 32b MCU+FPU, 210DMIPS, up to 1MB
Flash/192+4KB RAM, USB OTG HS/FS, Ethernet, 17 TIMs, 3 ADCs, 15 comm. interfaces &
camera” 74HC4051 datasheet, August. 2020 [Rev. 9]