Title of Invention	A SYSTEM FOR SUPPLYING POWER FROM A PRIMARY COIL SIDE TO A PLURALITY OF REMOTE DEVICES
Abstract	A system for supplying power from a primary coil side to a plurality of remote devices is disclosed. The system comprises an inductive power supply (32); a data network and a controller (60). The controller is configured to determine whether power can be supplied to remote devices as a function of power usage information obtained from the remote devices. The controller is also configured to adjust power consumption characteristics of the system in response to a determination that power cannot be supplied to the remote devices.

Title of Invention

A SYSTEM FOR SUPPLYING POWER FROM A PRIMARY COIL SIDE TO A PLURALITY OF REMOTE DEVICES

Abstract

A system for supplying power from a primary coil side to a plurality of remote devices is disclosed. The system comprises an inductive power supply (32); a data network and a controller (60). The controller is configured to determine whether power can be supplied to remote devices as a function of power usage information obtained from the remote devices. The controller is also configured to adjust power consumption characteristics of the system in response to a determination that power cannot be supplied to the remote devices.

Full Text	RELATED APPLICATIONS T-his application. is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Application Serial No. 10/357,932 entitled! 'Inductively- Powered Apparatus,' which was filed on February 4,2003, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S Pateht No., 6,436,299,entitled "Water Treatment System.with an Inductively,Couplea.Ballast,"whichwas filed on June 12, 2000. .U.S Application. Serial .No,10/357,932 is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. Application SerialNo, 10/133,860 entitled "Inductively Poweed Lamp Assembly" which was filed on. April 26, 2002. The present-application is-also a continuation-in-part-of U,S,. Application Serial No, .10/246, 15.5 entitled "Jnductiyely.Coupled Ballast Circuit,' which was fiied on September 18,-2002 and is a continuation-in-part'of U.S. Application Serial No. 10/175,095entitled 'Radio Frequency Identification-System for a Fluid Treatment; System,'now 6,673,250 which.was filed on June .18,;2002, which is a;Co,iitinuatiorFin-part.of U.S. Patent 6/436,299,.which was filed-on-June 12r2000; U.S. Patent 6,436,299-claims benefit under 35 U.S:C.§\|119(e).of U.S.Provisional Patent.Application Serial No. ;60/l40;:1 59 entitled 'Water Treatment -System with aalnductiyely Coupled Ballast^ which was filed on June .21, 19.99, a.n,a U:S." Provisipnai: Patent Applicatibn Serial No.40,090,entitled "Point-of-Use Water. Treatment; System,'which-was"filed on June-21,. 1999. This application incorporates by reference;the,following .applications: 'Adaptive Inductiveppwer; Supply* Serial No, 10/689,499."Indwctive. Coil Assembly,' Serial No. 10/689,224;"E;lecrf6statio Gharge Storage Assembly," Serial-No. 10/689,154, and 'Adapter,' Serial No. 10/689,375, BACKGROUND. OF THE INVENTION This inyetition relates to inductive charging and communication systems and more specifically to inductive charging arid .communication systems within.a. vehicle. People'rhay carry a variety ;of personal portable electronic equipment such as PDAs (Personal Data Assistants), portable .entertainment devices, such as portable music players or .portable pyD.players,.;laptop cpmputersj and cellularielephones. The portable electronic devices-providevarious flittctiohality such as communication, information storage and retrieval and entertainment. Since the devices are portable, they are often carried and used in vehicles;. The devices are usually battery powered and.thus tend to run out of power at inconvenient times. Power„adapters for use in a vehicle are available for such devices. However, each device often has a unique power adapter and chord, requiring that a power adapter for each device either-be carried. The power adapter aind the attendant chords for attachment to the portable devices are unsightly arid clutter the vehicle. Since 'the power adapter is commonly plugged into the 12 volt DG (direct current) power by way of a cigarette lighter, it also difficult to. charge more than pne device at a time. 'Chprds and adadapters are thereby impractical when seveM portable devices are used within the'vehicle. Recently, there have been proposals to interface theportabledevices to the data network within the vehicle. The SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) has generally recognized the heed for such an interface with an ITS (Intelligent TransportationSystem) standard. -Furtherj Tekas Instruments has proposed an ADB-1394 telematics standard Wsed on the1394'firewire' with the electrical systems within the vehicle. There.afe problems, however. First, :due to .the numerousrypes.gf portable\ devices, there are many different types of data'interfaces required for each portable device^ For example,.spme devipes may have a 1394 interface while others have a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface. Thus, for a vehicle to interface With a plethora of devices, it may be required, to supply a plug for each possible device. Second, due to the number of devices, the number of plugs for each device could be prohibitive as well as trie volume of cables required to attach each portable device to the vehicle. AMENDED 1 The SAE ITS- group has suggested.-that a wireless network such as the IEEE (Institute, of Electrical and.Electronic Enginfiers);802illb be provided for each vehicle. The problem-with such a ivirel'ess network is thafihe. power consumed' by the -wireless portable'. device would increase, tiierebyfarther increasing the tfkeifho.od that thebattery powering tlie ppiiable device would .be discharged... Thus, a. system"which would Proyide-a data- interface 'for the portable device as well as. providing power to -the devicesls :highly desirable. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS FIGT1 is a diagram of data 'networks in a vehicle.' FIG: 2 shows an-inductive vehicle adapter within the oon'sole of a. vehicle. FIG.3 shows a side view of the inductive vehicle adapter. FIG. 4 shows the inductive vehicle adapter fitted within a windshield visor. FIG/5 shows,an overhead view of the::inductive vehicle adapter. TIG. 6 shows a. general block diagram;.o:f '-the inductive vehicle-adapter, BIG. 7 shows-amors-detailed block diagram of the.inductive. vehicle adapter, •FIG. '8 shows a block diagram. 6f arerriete device^apable "of iriterfacih'g with the inductive vehicle-adapter; .FIG-9 shows flow chart of the operation ofihe inductive, vehicle adapter; FIG.10. 10 Shows a devic list.. DETATLEDrDESCRIPTIQN.OF THEDRAWINGS .FIG.. 1 shows the/two. parallel data networks.Within a--vehicle. The first network, is vehicle (lata bus 10. Vehicle data/bus 10 could bea CAN (Controller Automobile Network) bran OEM (Original Equiprnent Manufacftrrers) vehicle-bus. ' Vehicle daia bus is generally a low speed.data-.bus' for enabling-communication between the Various, controllers: within' a vehicle. The second network is ADB (automobile .data bus) 12. ADB 12 allows corhmunfcatiori between .the one or more portable data devices and the vehicle. For example, ADB 12-couid.be. C0flflectedwitirPDA 14, cellular phone to" or portable entertainment device 18. Gateway controller 20 manages any communication between vehiple data bus 10 and ADB 12. This data can be specifically for the bus and/or contain the encoded signals of voice and audio information. FIG. 2 shows an inductive vehicle adapter 20 mounted within console 22 of a vehicle. Cellular telephone 24 and PDA 26 may be placed within the jnductive vehicle adapter 20 in order tb recharge -and to he interfaced -with ADB 12. FIG. 3 shows a side view of inductive vehicle adapter 20. Inductive vehicle interface 20' has holder28, -which could be a bowl. Items placed' within holder 28 tend to remain within the bowl due to their weight, bolder 28 has perimeter 30. Within perimeter 30 is a primary. Theprimary contained-within;perimeter 30 fecoupled to inductive system 32, which is, in.turn. coupled to DC power source 34. Inductive system 32 is also cdupied to ADB 12. Thus, electronic devices placed within holder 28 can be charged by adaptive inductive power supply 32. A cofnrnunication Jittkcould be provided by circuitry working in concert with adaptive inductive power supply 32, FIG. 4 is. an overhead view of inductive vehicle interface 20. A remote device which could be any ppirtable electronicdevieey is placed within holder 28. When placed within holder 28, the remote devices could be both charged by vehicle interface 20 and they could alisp.be in comrnunication'wlth ADB 36. FIG. 5 shows a vehicle vjsof "3.5 which is a holder' of'the remote devices. Primary 38 is contained within vfeor 35. The remote devices could be placed within bag37. Tlie.remote devices placed within mesh bag.37 could,be charged by the inductive vehicle interface and be in communication with ADB %. Any mechanism could be used to hold the remote devices Within proximity, of primary 38, sudli as Velcro or clips. ■Tiiei location of ririmary 38 could be in any convenient'location. For example, primary 38 could be included within a bowl located in the trunk of a vehicle, an overhead console, a seat back, a:glbve conipartrnent or a side door stowage area, FIG. 6 shows a basic block diagram of inductive vehicle, adapter 20. Remote device 40 lias been placed within holder 28 and thus is inductively coupled by way of the primary within the lip of holder 28 to adaptive inductive power supply 39. Remote, device 40 could thus be charged by adaptive inductive power supply 39. At the same time, remote device 40 is coupled/tp^ransceiver 68. Transceiver 68 communicates directly with remote device 40. Cbmriiuriication interface 70 manages communications betvveen remote device 40 and ADB 36. For example, communication interface 70 may assign an IP (Internet Protocol) address to remote device 40 or may assign some otber address to remote device 40 as required by the protocol of ADB 68: Communication, interface 70 could control, establish or tiiOnitbr theiate of communication between ADB 68 and remote' device 40 as well as" the various protocols and communication layers. Controller 60 is optional. If present, it could manage the communication between remote device:4Q and ADB 36. Alternatively, controller 60 could managethe supply Of power to-remote deyice!4Q by. adaptive.inductive power supply 3.9., Power regulator 50 regulates the power received from DC power source 34. DC power source 34 is supplied by the electrical power system of the vehicle. Adaptive inductive power supply 39 could be either digital or analog. One type of adaptive inductive, powersupply is described in H.S. Patent No. 6,436,299, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Alterhalively, the adaptive inductive power supply 39 could be of the type described hereinafter. FIG. 7 shows a block diagram for inductive vehicle interface 20, Indiictive vehicle interface 20 is shown coupled to three remote devices 40,42, 44. Power regulator 46 is coupled to external DC (direct current) power source 48. DC power source48 providesppwertbinductive vehicle interface 20. DC power source 48 is supplied by the vehicle, and would usually be around 12 VDC. Power regulator 50.controls the voltage and current provided by DC power source;48 to inverter 52, Inverter .52.cpnverts the DC power to. AC (alternating current) power. Inverter 52 acts as an AG power source supplying the AC power to tankoirouit 54. Tank circuit 54 is a resonant circuit. Tank circuit 54 is inductively coupled by way of primary winding 56 to the secondary-windings within remote devices 40,42,44, Primary winding 56. and the secondary windings of remote devices 40,42,44 are coreless windings, Dashed line 58 indicates an air gap-between remotedevlce;40,-42,and primary winding56. Prihiary Winding 56 is contained wftlim perimeter, 30. Circuit sensor 58 is coupled to the output of tank circuit 54. Circuit sensor 58 is also coupled to controller 60. Circuit sensor 58 provides information regarding the operation parameters of inverter 52 and tank circuit 5/4. Eor example; circultsensor 58 could be.a current sensorsmd provide information: regardingthe phase, frequency and .amplitude of the current in, tank circuit 54. ControIIer60 could be any one of a multitude of commonly available microcontrollers programmed to perform'the functibus hereinafter described, such as the Intel 8Q5t qrtl/e Motorola 6811, or any of the many variants of those microcontrollers. Controller 60 could have a ROM (read only memory);and RAM; (random access-memory) oh the chip. Controller 60 could have a series of analog and digital outputs for controlling tfie various functions within the adaptive inductive power .supply. The functionality of controller 60 could also" be .accomplished with a microprocessor and memory chip Controller 60 is connected to memory:'62. Controller 60 is also cdupled; to dpive circuit64. Drive circuit 64 regulates the operation of inverter 52- Drive circuit 64regulates Hie frequency and timirtg of inverter 52. Cbhjrollef 60 isalsb coupled to power regulator 50. Controller 60 can manipulate the"Output vbltage-ofpowerregulator 50. As is well known,by altering the rail voltage of power regulator 50, the amplitude of the output of inyerter;52. is also tered. Finally, controller 60 is coupled to variable inductor 66 and variable capacitor 6.8. of tank circuit 54. Controller 60 can modify the inductance of variable inductor 66 or the capacitance of variable capacitor 68. By modifying the inductance of variable inductor 66 and the capacitance of variable capacitor 68, the resonant frequency of tank circuit 54 can be changed; Tank circuit 54 could have a first resonant;fre.quency and a second resonant frequency. Tank circuit 54 could also have several resonant frequencies. As used herein, the Je:nn "resonant frequency" refers to a. band of frequencies wltftri which lank circuit 54 will resonate. As is weli:kiiovvh? a tank circuit will have a resonant frequency, but will continue to resonate within a range of frequencies near the. resonant frequency. Tank circuit 54 has at least one variable impedanceelement/hayinga vanaBle impedance. By varyihgrthe variable iritfpedance, the resonant frequency of the tank circuit will be varied; The variable impedance element could be variable ihductoF:66, variable capacitor 68, orbpth. Variable inductor 66 could he a thyristdr "controlled variable Inductor, a. compressible variable inductor, parallel laminated core variable inductor, a series of inductors and switches capableof placing select fixed inductors into, tank circuit 54, or any other controllable variable inductor. Variable capacitorD'8 could be a switched capacitor array, a series of fixed capacitors arid switches capable of placing select fixed, capacitors into tank circuit.'54} dr. any other-controllable Variable capacitor. Tank circuit 54 includes, primary winding 56. Primary winding 56 and variable inductQr 66 are shown separate. Alternatively;, primary wihdihg 56 and variable inductor 66 could he combined intoa single element. Tankcircuit 54 is shown as a series ;re$onant tank circuit.. A parallel resonant tank circuit:could also be used. Power supply transceiver 68 is also coupled, to controller. Power supply transceiver 68 could be simply, a receiver for receiving, information rather than' a device enabling two-way communication; Power supply transceiver 6,8 communicates with various remote devices 40,42,44. Obviously, more or less devices than three cpuld'be used with the system. Inductive vehicle interface 20 also has corjimunicatipninterface,70 for connection to ADB36. Communication interface 70 manages the communications between . remote devices 40, 42, 44 and ADB,36. Communication interface 70 may need to perform functions such as translating the communications from one protocol to the next and assigning network addresses to remote devices 40j 42;, 4'4. Inductive Vehicle interface 20 could also have communication controller 72. Communication.controller 72 manages data mpuiiand.outputrtlirpHgh communicafjon interface 70 and interface transceiver 74, .Communication controller 72 performs necessary control functions such as code conversion} protocol conversion, buffering, data compression, error checking, synchronization and route selection as well as collects management.infbtmation. Communication controller 72 establishes communication sessions between remote devices 40, 42,44 and ABB 36 drariy pflierdevicescouplecLtoJ ADB36; Communication controller 72 could be a front.end communication processor. Depending upon, the capabilities; of controller 60, communication controller 72 could he a software module running within controller 60. FIG. 8 shpws a hlock diagrarh of remote device 100. Remote device 100 is exemplary of rem ate devices 40,42, 44. Remote device 100 includes rechargeable battery 102. Rechargeable battery 102 receives power from variable secondary 104. Depending upon the type of rechargeable batten further circuiting to support recharging rechargeable battery 102 could be included. For example, if a Li-ion (Lithium Ion) LiPoly (iitliium-polymgr) battery were'used ,an integrated circuit 'coiittollmgitheeharging,of the battery such as, the Texas Instrument bq24oO01 or the Texas Instrument UCC389O could be inporporated into remote device 100. If.a NiMh (Nickel Metal Hyrdride) battery were.used, a Microchip Technology PS402 battery •martagementintegtated circuit could beused. Variable secondary 104 is coreless, allowing variable secondary 104 to operate over a.wider range of frequencies. Variable secondary 104 is shown as a variable iridueto'f; although other types "of devices could be. used, ihplace of die variable inductor. Variable secondary 104 could include a multidimensional secondary.such as the one shown in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. T0/6S9,224,: entitled "Coil Assembly?' and assigned to the assignee of this application If Variable secPndary included such-a multidimensional winding, remote device 40 wpuld beable to receive ppwer from primary winding 56 withqutxegard to the physical orientation of remote device 40. relative to primary whidiiig 56 as long as remote device 40 were proximal toprimary winding 56. Thus, a user would be spared the. inconvenience of positioning remote device 40 in a specific orientation in order to charge remote device 40. Tlempte devicecoritf oiler 106 controls the inductance of variable secondary 104 and the operation of load 108. Remote device controller 106 can alter the inductance of variable, secondary 104 or turn on or off load TQ8. Similar tp controller. 60, remote device controller 106 could'be any one of a multitudeof commonlyavailable microcontrollers programmed^ perform the functions-hereinafter described, such as the Intel 8.051 or the Motorola6811, or any of the many variants of those mtcrocontrpllers. Controller 106 could have a ROM (read only memory) and RAM (random access memory) on the chip. Controller 106?coiildalso have a series of ahalog&hd digital outputs for controlling the various functions within the adaptive inductive power supply. Memory 1.10 cqntains^among. other things, a device ID (identification) number and power iiifontiatibn. about Teniote device 100. Power information would include the Voltage, current and power consumption information for remote device 100. Memory 110 might include discharge rates and charging rates for battery 102. Rerrxote device 100 also includes remote transceiver. 11,2. Remote transceiver 112 jeceives and transmits information to and from power supply transceiver 68. Remote transceiver 112 •and' powersupply transceiver 68 could be linked- in a myriad of different ways, such asWTFI, infrared, blue tooth, radio frequency (RF) or cellular. Additionally, the transceivers could communicate by way'.bf additional coils on the primary or secondary. Or, since power in. being- delivered by power supply 20 to remote' devices; 100, any one of many different power line communication systems could be used. Alternatively, remote transceiver 112 could be simply a wireless transmitter.for sending information to power transceiver 68. For example, remotetransceiver 112 could be an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag. Load 108 represents the fiincf idnal component of remote device338; For example, 'if remote device 100 were a diglM camera, ioad 108 could Tje'amicroprbcesSor within the digital camera. If remote device 100 were an:MF3 player, load 108 could be a digital signal processor or a microprocessor and related circuitry for converting MP3 files into sounds. If remote device 100 wfere.a PDAj, then load. 108 would be-a microprocessolr and related circuitry providing, the functionality of a PDA. Load 108 could access memory 11.0, Load 108;is also, coupled to secondary device transceiver 112. Thus,, load 108 cpuld. communicate through secphdarj'device tra 20, and thereby could communicate with any other devices connected to ADB 36. FfG-. 9 showstthe operattonvof one embodiment of the adaptive eontactless energy transmission system with communications capability;. After inductive vehicle interface 20 starts ({Step 400), itpolls;all remote devices byway Of transceiver 68. Step 402. Step 402 could ;be continuous, where advancement to Step 404 occurs only if a remote device ispresent. Alternatively, the following: steps could be performed before polling is'Tepeated,althdugh i,eferenc0to..a;nulls,et, ifany remote devicelspresent, it receives power usage information from the remote.device. Step 404. The potyer usage information could include actual information regarding voltage, current; and pbwertequifements.for remote device 40- Alternatively., power usage information could be simply an ID number for remote .device 40. Jfso, controller:60 would receive the ID number, and loplcup the power requirement "for remote device 40 from a table contained in memory 62. After all devicesJiaVe-been polled and the power information for each device has been received, inductive vehicle interface,20 then determines whether any device is no Ionger,present. If so, then a.remote device Jist is updated. Step; 408. One embddiniehtoffthe remote device list maintained by controller'60 is shown in FIG. £0. The remote device'list could contaittfora;:deviceID, avoltage, a current and a statusfor eaclr remoterdcvice 40,42, 44 . The deviee;numiber can be assigned by controller 60, The device ID is received from remote devices 40,:42,44. If two remote devices are the same type, men thedevice ID cduld bethesame. The Voltage, and currentare the. amountpf voltage of currentrequired to power thedevice; The voltage and current could be. transmitted discretely by remote-devices 40,42 44, or'tiiey could be obtairied by using thedevice ID as a key to a database of remotedevices maintained in memory 62. The status is the current status of the device. For example, the device status could be 'on', 'off, 'charging', etc. Next indiictiye vehicle interface 20 determines whether the status of any device hasehanged. Step 410. For example remote device 40 could havea rechargeable battery or other-charge storage device. Whenthe rechargeable battery is fully charged, remote device 40 would no longer needpower. Thus,- its status would change from "Charging" to "Off." If the status of the device changes, then the remote device list is updated. Step 412. Inductive; vehicle, interface".20 then determines if any .devices are present. Step 414, If so, then the remote device list is updated Step4l6... Thcremote device list -is .then checked. Step 418. If the list was not updated, the system then polls the devices again, and the process restarts. Step 402; If the List was updated then the power usage by,the remote devices has changed, and thus the power supplied by inductive-vehicle interface 20 must also change. Controller 60 uses the remote device listtodetenriine the power requirernehts of all the remote devices. It then determines if the system can be reconfigured to adequately power all the devices. Step. 420; If inductive vehicle interfaced can supply power to all of the remote deviees, then controller 60 calculates the settings for inverter frequency,,duty cycle, resonant frequency, arid rail voltage. Furmer,,controlier 60 determines .the best setting for the variable impedance of secondary Winding 104 of remote device 40. Step 422. It then sets the inverter frequency, djuty cycle, resonant.frequencyi.and rail voltage. Step 424 It also instructs remote.device 40 to setthe variable impedance of secondary winding; 104 to the desired leveil. Step 424. -- On the other hand, if inductive vehicle interface 20 cannot supply povyer to all of the remote. devices. controller 60 determines: the'best possftle-ppwer settings for the entire system. Step 426.. It may then instruct one ormore of remote devices 40, 42, 44 to turn off or change its power consumption: Controller 60 determinesthe best setting for the variable impedance of secondary winding 104 of remote devices 40, 42,44, Step 428. Itthen sets the inverter frequency; duty cycle, resonant frequency, and rail voltage for the system; Step 430. 'Controller instructs remote devices:40j 42,44 to set 1he variable impedance of secohdary winding 104 at; the desired' level. The system then returns to polling the devices,,and the process-repeats. Step 402. The above description is of the preferred embodiment. Various alterations and changes can be made without departing from the spirit and broader aspects of the invention as defined in the appended claims, which are to. be interpreted in accord ance.with.theprih6iples of patent law including the doctrine of equivalents.: Any references to claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles "a," l-an,' "the," or "said," is not to be construed as 1 imfting the elfement.to the singular. WE CLAIM: 1. A system for supplying power from a primary coil side to a plurality of remote devices, the system comprising: an inductive power supply (32) having a primary coil for supplying power to at least one of the plurality of remote devices (40), the inductive power supply having a communication system (68) for communicating with the at least one of the plurality of remote devices; a data network having a controller (60) and the inductive power supply; and wherein the controller is located on the primary coil side and is configured to 1) obtain power usage information for the at least one of the plurality of remote devices; 2) determine whether power can be supplied to the at least one of the plurality of remote devices as a function of the obtained power usage information; 3) adjust power consumption characteristics of the system in response to a determination that power cannot be supplied to the at least one of the plurality of remote devices. 2. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the power consumption characteristics include an amount of power consumption of one or more of the plurality of remote devices. 3. A vehicle interface for providing power from a primary coil side to at least one of a plurality of remote devices and communicating with the at least one of the plurality of remote devices, the vehicle interface comprising: a holder (20) for containing the at least one of the plurality of remote devices; an inductive power supply (32), the inductive power supply having a primary coil, the primary coil placed proximal to the holder; a communication system (68) located on the primary coil side for enabling communication with the at least one of the plurality of remote devices, the communication system receives power usage information from the at least one of the plurality of remote devices; and a controller (60) located on the primary coil side configured to use the power usage information to 1) determine the power requirements of the at least one of the plurality of remote devices; and 2) reconfigure the vehicle interface to power the at least one of the plurality of remote devices as a function of the determined power requirements. 4. The vehicle interface as claimed in claim 3 where the holder is configured to fit within a console of a vehicle. 5. The vehicle interface as claimed in claim 3 where each of the plurality of remote devices are selected from the group comprising a device located in a trunk of the vehicle, a device located in an overhead console of the vehicle, a device located in a seat back of the vehicle, a device located in a glove compartment of the vehicle and a device located in a side door storage area of the vehicle. 6. The vehicle interface as claimed in claim 3 where the vehicle has a vehicle data bus, and the vehicle interface is connectable to the vehicle data bus via a gateway controller coupled to the vehicle interface, the gateway controller manages communication between the vehicle interface and the vehicle data bus. 7. The vehicle interface as claimed in claim 3 wherein the communication system comprises a transceiver for communicating with the plurality of remote devices. 8. The vehicle interface as claimed in claim 3 wherein the power usage information is selected from the group comprising: actual voltage, actual current, power requirements, a device ID or any combination thereof. 9. A power supply and communication system for a vehicle for providing power from a primary coil side to at least one of a plurality of remote devices, the power supply and communication system comprising: an inductive power supply (32) located on the primary coil side for inductively supplying power to the at least one of the plurality of remote devices; and a communication system (68) located on the primary coil side enabling communications between the at least one of the plurality of remote devices (40) and the vehicle, wherein the communication system is configured to 1) periodically receive power usage information from the at least one of the plurality of remote devices; 2) determine whether the power usage information has changed; and 3) reconfigure the inductive power supply in response to a determination that the power usage information has changed. 10. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 9 where the communication system comprises a transceiver for communicating with the plurality_of remote devices. 11. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 10 comprising a vehicle data bus and a communication controller for controlling communication between the plurality of remote devices and the vehicle data bus. 12. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 9 where the communication system comprises a power line communication protocol using the inductive power supply. 13. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 10 where the transceiver comprises an antenna for wireless communication with the remote device. 14. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 13 where the transceiver communicates with the power supply and communication system by way of a wireless protocol. 15. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 14 where the inductive power supply comprises an inverter and a primary. 16. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 15 where inductive power supply comprises a drive circuit for driving the inverter. 17. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 16 where a power regulator is coupled to the vehicle power supply and to the inverter. 18. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 17 comprising a holder for receiving one of the plurality of remote devices. 19. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 18 where the holder has a perimeter, and the primary is contained within the perimeter. 20. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 19 where the primary is adaptable to supply power to the remote device regardless of the orientation of the remote device. 21. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 20 where the transceiver can communicate with the plurality of remote devices regardless of the orientation of the plurality of remote devices. ABSTRACT A System for Supplying Power from a Primary Coil Side to a Plurality of Remote Devices A system for supplying power from a primary coil side to a plurality of remote devices is disclosed. The system comprises an inductive power supply (32); a data network and a controller (60). The controller is configured to determine whether power can be supplied to remote devices as a function of power usage information obtained from the remote devices. The controller is also configured to adjust power consumption characteristics of the system in response to a determination that power cannot be supplied to the remote devices.

Full Text

RELATED APPLICATIONS T-his application. is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Application Serial No. 10/357,932 entitled! 'Inductively- Powered Apparatus,' which was filed on February 4,2003, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S Pateht No., 6,436,299,entitled "Water Treatment System.with an Inductively,Couplea.Ballast,"whichwas filed on June 12, 2000. .U.S Application. Serial .No,10/357,932 is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. Application SerialNo, 10/133,860 entitled "Inductively Poweed Lamp Assembly" which was filed on. April 26, 2002.
The present-application is-also a continuation-in-part-of U,S,. Application Serial No, .10/246, 15.5 entitled "Jnductiyely.Coupled Ballast Circuit,' which was fiied on September 18,-2002 and is a continuation-in-part'of U.S. Application Serial No. 10/175,095entitled 'Radio Frequency Identification-System for a Fluid Treatment; System,'now 6,673,250 which.was filed on June .18,;2002, which is a;Co,iitinuatiorFin-part.of U.S. Patent 6/436,299,.which was filed-on-June 12r2000; U.S. Patent 6,436,299-claims benefit under 35 U.S:C.§|119(e).of U.S.Provisional Patent.Application Serial No. ;60/l40;:1 59 entitled 'Water Treatment -System with aalnductiyely Coupled Ballast^ which was filed on June .21, 19.99, a.n,a U:S." Provisipnai: Patent Applicatibn Serial No.40,090,entitled "Point-of-Use Water.
Treatment; System,'which-was"filed on June-21,. 1999.
This application incorporates by reference;the,following .applications: 'Adaptive Inductiveppwer; Supply* Serial No, 10/689,499."Indwctive. Coil Assembly,' Serial No. 10/689,224;"E;lecrf6statio Gharge Storage Assembly," Serial-No. 10/689,154, and 'Adapter,' Serial No. 10/689,375,
BACKGROUND. OF THE INVENTION This inyetition relates to inductive charging and communication systems and more specifically to inductive charging arid .communication systems within.a. vehicle.

People'rhay carry a variety ;of personal portable electronic equipment such as PDAs (Personal Data Assistants), portable .entertainment devices, such as portable music players or .portable pyD.players,.;laptop cpmputersj and cellularielephones. The portable electronic devices-providevarious flittctiohality such as communication, information storage and retrieval and entertainment. Since the devices are portable, they are often carried and used in vehicles;. The devices are usually battery powered and.thus tend to run out of power at inconvenient times.
Power„adapters for use in a vehicle are available for such devices. However, each device often has a unique power adapter and chord, requiring that a power adapter for each device either-be carried. The power adapter aind the attendant chords for attachment to the portable devices are unsightly arid clutter the vehicle. Since 'the power adapter is commonly plugged into the 12 volt DG (direct current) power by way of a cigarette lighter, it also difficult to. charge more than pne device at a time. 'Chprds and adadapters are thereby impractical when seveM portable devices are used within the'vehicle.
Recently, there have been proposals to interface theportabledevices to the data network within the vehicle. The SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) has generally recognized the heed for such an interface with an ITS (Intelligent TransportationSystem) standard. -Furtherj Tekas Instruments has proposed an ADB-1394 telematics standard Wsed on the1394'firewire' with the electrical systems within the vehicle.
There.afe problems, however. First, :due to .the numerousrypes.gf portable\ devices, there are many different types of data'interfaces required for each portable device^ For example,.spme devipes may have a 1394 interface while others have a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface. Thus, for a vehicle to interface With a plethora of devices, it may be required, to supply a plug for each possible device. Second, due to the number of devices, the number of plugs for each device could be prohibitive as well as trie volume of cables required to attach each portable device to the vehicle.

AMENDED 1
The SAE ITS- group has suggested.-that a wireless network such as the IEEE
(Institute, of Electrical and.Electronic Enginfiers);802illb be provided for each vehicle. The
problem-with such a ivirel'ess network is thafihe. power consumed' by the -wireless portable'.
device would increase, tiierebyfarther increasing the tfkeifho.od that thebattery powering tlie
ppiiable device would .be discharged...
Thus, a. system"which would Proyide-a data- interface 'for the portable device as
well as. providing power to -the devicesls :highly desirable.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS FIGT1 is a diagram of data 'networks in a vehicle.'
FIG: 2 shows an-inductive vehicle adapter within the oon'sole of a. vehicle.
FIG.3 shows a side view of the inductive vehicle adapter.
FIG. 4 shows the inductive vehicle adapter fitted within a windshield visor.
FIG/5 shows,an overhead view of the::inductive vehicle adapter.
TIG. 6 shows a. general block diagram;.o:f '-the inductive vehicle-adapter,
BIG. 7 shows-amors-detailed block diagram of the.inductive. vehicle adapter,
•FIG. '8 shows a block diagram. 6f arerriete device^apable "of iriterfacih'g with the inductive vehicle-adapter;
.FIG-9 shows flow chart of the operation ofihe inductive, vehicle adapter;
FIG.10. 10 Shows a devic list..
DETATLEDrDESCRIPTIQN.OF THEDRAWINGS
.FIG.. 1 shows the/two. parallel data networks.Within a--vehicle. The first network,
is vehicle (lata bus 10. Vehicle data/bus 10 could bea CAN (Controller Automobile Network)
bran OEM (Original Equiprnent Manufacftrrers) vehicle-bus. ' Vehicle daia bus is generally a
low speed.data-.bus' for enabling-communication between the Various, controllers: within' a
vehicle. The second network is ADB (automobile .data bus) 12. ADB 12 allows corhmunfcatiori between .the one or more portable data devices and the vehicle. For example, ADB 12-couid.be. C0flflectedwitirPDA 14, cellular phone to" or portable entertainment device

18. Gateway controller 20 manages any communication between vehiple data bus 10 and ADB 12. This data can be specifically for the bus and/or contain the encoded signals of voice and audio information.
FIG. 2 shows an inductive vehicle adapter 20 mounted within console 22 of a vehicle. Cellular telephone 24 and PDA 26 may be placed within the jnductive vehicle adapter 20 in order tb recharge -and to he interfaced -with ADB 12.
FIG. 3 shows a side view of inductive vehicle adapter 20. Inductive vehicle interface 20' has holder28, -which could be a bowl. Items placed' within holder 28 tend to remain within the bowl due to their weight, bolder 28 has perimeter 30. Within perimeter 30 is a primary. Theprimary contained-within;perimeter 30 fecoupled to inductive system 32, which is, in.turn. coupled to DC power source 34. Inductive system 32 is also cdupied to ADB 12. Thus, electronic devices placed within holder 28 can be charged by adaptive inductive power supply 32. A cofnrnunication Jittkcould be provided by circuitry working in concert with adaptive inductive power supply 32,
FIG. 4 is. an overhead view of inductive vehicle interface 20. A remote device which could be any ppirtable electronicdevieey is placed within holder 28. When placed within holder 28, the remote devices could be both charged by vehicle interface 20 and they could alisp.be in comrnunication'wlth ADB 36.
FIG. 5 shows a vehicle vjsof "3.5 which is a holder' of'the remote devices. Primary 38 is contained within vfeor 35. The remote devices could be placed within bag37. Tlie.remote devices placed within mesh bag.37 could,be charged by the inductive vehicle interface and be in communication with ADB %. Any mechanism could be used to hold the remote devices Within proximity, of primary 38, sudli as Velcro or clips.
■Tiiei location of ririmary 38 could be in any convenient'location. For example, primary 38 could be included within a bowl located in the trunk of a vehicle, an overhead console, a seat back, a:glbve conipartrnent or a side door stowage area,

FIG. 6 shows a basic block diagram of inductive vehicle, adapter 20. Remote device 40 lias been placed within holder 28 and thus is inductively coupled by way of the primary within the lip of holder 28 to adaptive inductive power supply 39. Remote, device 40 could thus be charged by adaptive inductive power supply 39. At the same time, remote device 40 is coupled/tp^ransceiver 68. Transceiver 68 communicates directly with remote device 40.
Cbmriiuriication interface 70 manages communications betvveen remote device 40 and ADB 36. For example, communication interface 70 may assign an IP (Internet Protocol) address to remote device 40 or may assign some otber address to remote device 40 as required by the protocol of ADB 68: Communication, interface 70 could control, establish or tiiOnitbr theiate of communication between ADB 68 and remote' device 40 as well as" the various protocols and communication layers.
Controller 60 is optional. If present, it could manage the communication between remote device:4Q and ADB 36. Alternatively, controller 60 could managethe supply Of power to-remote deyice!4Q by. adaptive.inductive power supply 3.9., Power regulator 50 regulates the power received from DC power source 34. DC power source 34 is supplied by the electrical power system of the vehicle.
Adaptive inductive power supply 39 could be either digital or analog. One type of adaptive inductive, powersupply is described in H.S. Patent No. 6,436,299, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Alterhalively, the adaptive inductive power supply 39 could be of the type described hereinafter.
FIG. 7 shows a block diagram for inductive vehicle interface 20, Indiictive vehicle interface 20 is shown coupled to three remote devices 40,42, 44.
Power regulator 46 is coupled to external DC (direct current) power source 48. DC power source48 providesppwertbinductive vehicle interface 20. DC power source 48 is supplied by the vehicle, and would usually be around 12 VDC.
Power regulator 50.controls the voltage and current provided by DC power source;48 to inverter 52, Inverter .52.cpnverts the DC power to. AC (alternating current) power.

Inverter 52 acts as an AG power source supplying the AC power to tankoirouit 54. Tank circuit 54 is a resonant circuit. Tank circuit 54 is inductively coupled by way of primary winding 56 to the secondary-windings within remote devices 40,42,44, Primary winding 56. and the secondary windings of remote devices 40,42,44 are coreless windings, Dashed line 58 indicates an air gap-between remotedevlce;40,-42,and primary winding56. Prihiary Winding 56 is contained wftlim perimeter, 30.
Circuit sensor 58 is coupled to the output of tank circuit 54. Circuit sensor 58 is also coupled to controller 60. Circuit sensor 58 provides information regarding the operation parameters of inverter 52 and tank circuit 5/4. Eor example; circultsensor 58 could be.a current sensorsmd provide information: regardingthe phase, frequency and .amplitude of the current in, tank circuit 54.
ControIIer60 could be any one of a multitude of commonly available microcontrollers programmed to perform'the functibus hereinafter described, such as the Intel 8Q5t qrtl/e Motorola 6811, or any of the many variants of those microcontrollers. Controller 60 could have a ROM (read only memory);and RAM; (random access-memory) oh the chip. Controller 60 could have a series of analog and digital outputs for controlling tfie various functions within the adaptive inductive power .supply. The functionality of controller 60 could also" be .accomplished with a microprocessor and memory chip
Controller 60 is connected to memory:'62. Controller 60 is also cdupled; to dpive circuit64. Drive circuit 64 regulates the operation of inverter 52- Drive circuit 64regulates Hie frequency and timirtg of inverter 52. Cbhjrollef 60 isalsb coupled to power regulator 50. Controller 60 can manipulate the"Output vbltage-ofpowerregulator 50. As is well known,by altering the rail voltage of power regulator 50, the amplitude of the output of inyerter;52. is also tered.
Finally, controller 60 is coupled to variable inductor 66 and variable capacitor 6.8. of tank circuit 54. Controller 60 can modify the inductance of variable inductor 66 or the capacitance of variable capacitor 68. By modifying the inductance of variable inductor 66 and

the capacitance of variable capacitor 68, the resonant frequency of tank circuit 54 can be changed;
Tank circuit 54 could have a first resonant;fre.quency and a second resonant frequency. Tank circuit 54 could also have several resonant frequencies. As used herein, the Je:nn "resonant frequency" refers to a. band of frequencies wltftri which lank circuit 54 will resonate. As is weli:kiiovvh? a tank circuit will have a resonant frequency, but will continue to resonate within a range of frequencies near the. resonant frequency. Tank circuit 54 has at least one variable impedanceelement/hayinga vanaBle impedance. By varyihgrthe variable iritfpedance, the resonant frequency of the tank circuit will be varied; The variable impedance element could be variable ihductoF:66, variable capacitor 68, orbpth.
Variable inductor 66 could he a thyristdr "controlled variable Inductor, a. compressible variable inductor, parallel laminated core variable inductor, a series of inductors and switches capableof placing select fixed inductors into, tank circuit 54, or any other controllable variable inductor. Variable capacitorD'8 could be a switched capacitor array, a series of fixed capacitors arid switches capable of placing select fixed, capacitors into tank circuit.'54} dr. any other-controllable Variable capacitor.
Tank circuit 54 includes, primary winding 56. Primary winding 56 and variable inductQr 66 are shown separate. Alternatively;, primary wihdihg 56 and variable inductor 66 could he combined intoa single element. Tankcircuit 54 is shown as a series ;re$onant tank circuit.. A parallel resonant tank circuit:could also be used.
Power supply transceiver 68 is also coupled, to controller. Power supply transceiver 68 could be simply, a receiver for receiving, information rather than' a device enabling two-way communication; Power supply transceiver 6,8 communicates with various remote devices 40,42,44. Obviously, more or less devices than three cpuld'be used with the system.
Inductive vehicle interface 20 also has corjimunicatipninterface,70 for connection to ADB36. Communication interface 70 manages the communications between

. remote devices 40, 42, 44 and ADB,36. Communication interface 70 may need to perform functions such as translating the communications from one protocol to the next and assigning network addresses to remote devices 40j 42;, 4'4.
Inductive Vehicle interface 20 could also have communication controller 72. Communication.controller 72 manages data mpuiiand.outputrtlirpHgh communicafjon interface 70 and interface transceiver 74, .Communication controller 72 performs necessary control functions such as code conversion} protocol conversion, buffering, data compression, error checking, synchronization and route selection as well as collects management.infbtmation. Communication controller 72 establishes communication sessions between remote devices 40, 42,44 and ABB 36 drariy pflierdevicescouplecLtoJ ADB36; Communication controller 72 could be a front.end communication processor. Depending upon, the capabilities; of controller 60, communication controller 72 could he a software module running within controller 60.
FIG. 8 shpws a hlock diagrarh of remote device 100. Remote device 100 is exemplary of rem ate devices 40,42, 44. Remote device 100 includes rechargeable battery 102. Rechargeable battery 102 receives power from variable secondary 104. Depending upon the type of rechargeable batten further circuiting to support recharging rechargeable battery 102 could be included. For example, if a Li-ion (Lithium Ion) LiPoly (iitliium-polymgr) battery were'used ,an integrated circuit 'coiittollmgitheeharging,of the battery such as, the Texas Instrument bq24oO01 or the Texas Instrument UCC389O could be inporporated into remote device 100. If.a NiMh (Nickel Metal Hyrdride) battery were.used, a Microchip Technology PS402 battery •martagementintegtated circuit could beused.
Variable secondary 104 is coreless, allowing variable secondary 104 to operate over a.wider range of frequencies. Variable secondary 104 is shown as a variable iridueto'f; although other types "of devices could be. used, ihplace of die variable inductor.
Variable secondary 104 could include a multidimensional secondary.such as the one shown in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. T0/6S9,224,: entitled "Coil Assembly?' and assigned to the assignee of this application If Variable secPndary included such-a

multidimensional winding, remote device 40 wpuld beable to receive ppwer from primary winding 56 withqutxegard to the physical orientation of remote device 40. relative to primary whidiiig 56 as long as remote device 40 were proximal toprimary winding 56. Thus, a user would be spared the. inconvenience of positioning remote device 40 in a specific orientation in order to charge remote device 40.
Tlempte devicecoritf oiler 106 controls the inductance of variable secondary 104 and the operation of load 108. Remote device controller 106 can alter the inductance of variable, secondary 104 or turn on or off load TQ8. Similar tp controller. 60, remote device controller 106 could'be any one of a multitudeof commonlyavailable microcontrollers programmed^ perform the functions-hereinafter described, such as the Intel 8.051 or the Motorola6811, or any of the many variants of those mtcrocontrpllers. Controller 106 could have a ROM (read only memory) and RAM (random access memory) on the chip. Controller 106?coiildalso have a series of ahalog&hd digital outputs for controlling the various functions within the adaptive inductive power supply.
Memory 1.10 cqntains^among. other things, a device ID (identification) number and power iiifontiatibn. about Teniote device 100. Power information would include the Voltage, current and power consumption information for remote device 100. Memory 110 might include discharge rates and charging rates for battery 102.
Rerrxote device 100 also includes remote transceiver. 11,2. Remote transceiver 112 jeceives and transmits information to and from power supply transceiver 68. Remote transceiver 112 •and' powersupply transceiver 68 could be linked- in a myriad of different ways, such asWTFI, infrared, blue tooth, radio frequency (RF) or cellular. Additionally, the transceivers could communicate by way'.bf additional coils on the primary or secondary. Or, since power in. being- delivered by power supply 20 to remote' devices; 100, any one of many different power line communication systems could be used.

Alternatively, remote transceiver 112 could be simply a wireless transmitter.for sending information to power transceiver 68. For example, remotetransceiver 112 could be an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag.
Load 108 represents the fiincf idnal component of remote device338; For example, 'if remote device 100 were a diglM camera, ioad 108 could Tje'amicroprbcesSor within the digital camera. If remote device 100 were an:MF3 player, load 108 could be a digital signal processor or a microprocessor and related circuitry for converting MP3 files into sounds. If remote device 100 wfere.a PDAj, then load. 108 would be-a microprocessolr and related circuitry providing, the functionality of a PDA. Load 108 could access memory 11.0,
Load 108;is also, coupled to secondary device transceiver 112. Thus,, load 108 cpuld. communicate through secphdarj'device tra 20, and thereby could communicate with any other devices connected to ADB 36.
FfG-. 9 showstthe operattonvof one embodiment of the adaptive eontactless energy transmission system with communications capability;.
After inductive vehicle interface 20 starts ({Step 400), itpolls;all remote devices byway Of transceiver 68. Step 402. Step 402 could ;be continuous, where advancement to Step 404 occurs only if a remote device ispresent. Alternatively, the following: steps could be performed before polling is'Tepeated,althdugh
i,eferenc0to..a;nulls,et, ifany remote devicelspresent, it receives power usage information from the remote.device. Step 404.
The potyer usage information could include actual information regarding voltage, current; and pbwertequifements.for remote device 40- Alternatively., power usage information could be simply an ID number for remote .device 40. Jfso, controller:60 would receive the ID number, and loplcup the power requirement "for remote device 40 from a table contained in memory 62.

After all devicesJiaVe-been polled and the power information for each device has been received, inductive vehicle interface,20 then determines whether any device is no Ionger,present. If so, then a.remote device Jist is updated. Step; 408.
One embddiniehtoffthe remote device list maintained by controller'60 is shown in FIG. £0. The remote device'list could contaittfora;:deviceID, avoltage, a current and a statusfor eaclr remoterdcvice 40,42, 44 . The deviee;numiber can be assigned by controller 60, The device ID is received from remote devices 40,:42,44. If two remote devices are the same type, men thedevice ID cduld bethesame. The Voltage, and currentare the. amountpf voltage of currentrequired to power thedevice; The voltage and current could be. transmitted discretely by remote-devices 40,42 44, or'tiiey could be obtairied by using thedevice ID as a key to a database of remotedevices maintained in memory 62. The status is the current status of the device. For example, the device status could be 'on', 'off, 'charging', etc.
Next indiictiye vehicle interface 20 determines whether the status of any device hasehanged. Step 410. For example remote device 40 could havea rechargeable battery or other-charge storage device. Whenthe rechargeable battery is fully charged, remote device 40 would no longer needpower. Thus,- its status would change from "Charging" to "Off." If the status of the device changes, then the remote device list is updated. Step 412.
Inductive; vehicle, interface".20 then determines if any .devices are present. Step
414, If so, then the remote device list is updated Step4l6... Thcremote device list -is .then
checked. Step 418. If the list was not updated, the system then polls the devices again, and the process restarts. Step 402;
If the List was updated then the power usage by,the remote devices has changed, and thus the power supplied by inductive-vehicle interface 20 must also change. Controller 60 uses the remote device listtodetenriine the power requirernehts of all the remote devices. It then determines if the system can be reconfigured to adequately power all the devices. Step. 420;

If inductive vehicle interfaced can supply power to all of the remote deviees, then controller 60 calculates the settings for inverter frequency,,duty cycle, resonant frequency, arid rail voltage. Furmer,,controlier 60 determines .the best setting for the variable impedance of secondary Winding 104 of remote device 40. Step 422. It then sets the inverter frequency, djuty cycle, resonant.frequencyi.and rail voltage. Step 424 It also instructs remote.device 40 to setthe variable impedance of secondary winding; 104 to the desired leveil. Step 424. --
On the other hand, if inductive vehicle interface 20 cannot supply povyer to all of the remote. devices. controller 60 determines: the'best possftle-ppwer settings for the entire system. Step 426.. It may then instruct one ormore of remote devices 40, 42, 44 to turn off or change its power consumption: Controller 60 determinesthe best setting for the variable impedance of secondary winding 104 of remote devices 40, 42,44, Step 428. Itthen sets the inverter frequency; duty cycle, resonant frequency, and rail voltage for the system; Step 430. 'Controller instructs remote devices:40j 42,44 to set 1he variable impedance of secohdary winding 104 at; the desired' level. The system then returns to polling the devices,,and the process-repeats. Step 402.
The above description is of the preferred embodiment. Various alterations and changes can be made without departing from the spirit and broader aspects of the invention as defined in the appended claims, which are to. be interpreted in accord ance.with.theprih6iples of patent law including the doctrine of equivalents.: Any references to claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles "a," l-an,' "the," or "said," is not to be construed as 1 imfting the elfement.to the singular.

WE CLAIM:
1. A system for supplying power from a primary coil side to a plurality of remote devices,
the system comprising:
an inductive power supply (32) having a primary coil for supplying power to at least one of the plurality of remote devices (40), the inductive power supply having a communication system (68) for communicating with the at least one of the plurality of remote devices;
a data network having a controller (60) and the inductive power supply; and wherein the controller is located on the primary coil side and is configured to 1) obtain power usage information for the at least one of the plurality of remote devices; 2) determine whether power can be supplied to the at least one of the plurality of remote devices as a function of the obtained power usage information; 3) adjust power consumption characteristics of the system in response to a determination that power cannot be supplied to the at least one of the plurality of remote devices.
2. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the power consumption characteristics include an amount of power consumption of one or more of the plurality of remote devices.
3. A vehicle interface for providing power from a primary coil side to at least one of a plurality of remote devices and communicating with the at least one of the plurality of remote devices, the vehicle interface comprising:
a holder (20) for containing the at least one of the plurality of remote devices;
an inductive power supply (32), the inductive power supply having a primary coil, the primary coil placed proximal to the holder;
a communication system (68) located on the primary coil side for enabling communication with the at least one of the plurality of remote devices, the communication system receives power usage information from the at least one of the plurality of remote devices; and
a controller (60) located on the primary coil side configured to use the power usage information to 1) determine the power requirements of the at least one of the plurality of

remote devices; and 2) reconfigure the vehicle interface to power the at least one of the plurality of remote devices as a function of the determined power requirements.
4. The vehicle interface as claimed in claim 3 where the holder is configured to fit within a console of a vehicle.
5. The vehicle interface as claimed in claim 3 where each of the plurality of remote devices are selected from the group comprising a device located in a trunk of the vehicle, a device located in an overhead console of the vehicle, a device located in a seat back of the vehicle, a device located in a glove compartment of the vehicle and a device located in a side door storage area of the vehicle.
6. The vehicle interface as claimed in claim 3 where the vehicle has a vehicle data bus, and the vehicle interface is connectable to the vehicle data bus via a gateway controller coupled to the vehicle interface, the gateway controller manages communication between the vehicle interface and the vehicle data bus.
7. The vehicle interface as claimed in claim 3 wherein the communication system comprises a transceiver for communicating with the plurality of remote devices.
8. The vehicle interface as claimed in claim 3 wherein the power usage information is selected from the group comprising: actual voltage, actual current, power requirements, a device ID or any combination thereof.
9. A power supply and communication system for a vehicle for providing power from a primary coil side to at least one of a plurality of remote devices, the power supply and communication system comprising:
an inductive power supply (32) located on the primary coil side for inductively supplying power to the at least one of the plurality of remote devices; and
a communication system (68) located on the primary coil side enabling communications between the at least one of the plurality of remote devices (40) and the

vehicle, wherein the communication system is configured to 1) periodically receive power usage information from the at least one of the plurality of remote devices; 2) determine whether the power usage information has changed; and 3) reconfigure the inductive power supply in response to a determination that the power usage information has changed.
10. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 9 where the communication system comprises a transceiver for communicating with the plurality_of remote devices.
11. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 10 comprising a vehicle data bus and a communication controller for controlling communication between the plurality of remote devices and the vehicle data bus.
12. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 9 where the communication system comprises a power line communication protocol using the inductive power supply.
13. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 10 where the transceiver comprises an antenna for wireless communication with the remote device.
14. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 13 where the transceiver communicates with the power supply and communication system by way of a wireless protocol.
15. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 14 where the inductive power supply comprises an inverter and a primary.
16. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 15 where inductive power supply comprises a drive circuit for driving the inverter.

17. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 16 where a power regulator is coupled to the vehicle power supply and to the inverter.
18. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 17 comprising a holder for receiving one of the plurality of remote devices.
19. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 18 where the holder has a perimeter, and the primary is contained within the perimeter.

20. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 19 where the primary is adaptable to supply power to the remote device regardless of the orientation of the remote device.
21. The power supply and communication system as claimed in claim 20 where the transceiver can communicate with the plurality of remote devices regardless of the orientation of the plurality of remote devices.

ABSTRACT

A System for Supplying Power from a Primary Coil Side to a Plurality of Remote Devices
A system for supplying power from a primary coil side to a plurality of remote devices is disclosed. The system comprises an inductive power supply (32); a data network and a controller (60). The controller is configured to determine whether power can be supplied to remote devices as a function of power usage information obtained from the remote devices. The controller is also configured to adjust power consumption characteristics of the system in response to a determination that power cannot be supplied to the remote devices.

A SYSTEM FOR SUPPLYING POWER FROM A PRIMARY COIL SIDE TO A PLURALITY OF REMOTE DEVICES

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