eCoupled Technology

Photo: An eCoupled intelligent wireless power prototype developed by Fulton Innovation charges popular consumer electronic devices wirelessly without the use of cords or device-specific chargers.

Adapters...Adapters ...everywhere!! Power cords and chargers have been the bane of consumer devices for years, with bulky cords and cables contributing to office and home clutter and presenting a potential safety hazard. Now, help is on the way.

At the International Consumer Electronics Show, recently concluded in Las Vegas, Fulton Innovation (a member of the Alticor family of corporations) introduced a way to charge wireless devices with its eCoupled technology, which allows for the transmission of power and data without the need for cords and ports.

The eCoupled technology transfers energy from one device to another through a shared magnetic field. The user places the device in a wireless charger, which verifies whether the device is close enough to be charged. Then the power is transferred by electromagnetic induction from the charging surface to the user's device. The technology stems from the foundational work of renowned scientists Michael Faraday and Nikola Tesla.

Most of the common consumer electronic devices such as cellular phones, digital music players and PDAs can be charged this way. Fulton Innovation's intelligent inductive power technology overcomes historic limitations of inductive coupling by using resonance-seeking circuitry that dynamically seeks and optimizes power transfer under multiple, varying load conditions and spatial configurations. To overcome the limitation, the eCoupled technology features a feedback and control system that will correspond with individual devices in real time, enabling the technology to determine the power needs of the particular wireless device as well as the age and charging habits of the battery. This will help the technology to deliver the right amount of power to keep a device at high efficiency, the company said.

Products that will use eCoupled technology are scheduled to be brought to market in 2007. Leading manufacturers of consumer devices have adopted Fulton Innovation's eCoupled technology as the de facto standard for wireless power.