25 August 2008, 10:02

IDF: Wireless laptop battery chargers

At the close of the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), chief technology officer Justin Rattner delivered the traditional peek into the company’s research activities. The treat for this year was a wireless resonant energy link (WREL), which was able to light up a 60 watt bulb. According to Rattner, there are still many technical hurdles to be overcome before this invention makes it onto the shelves, but he hopes that compact, affordable devices which can charge batteries in mobile devices at a distance of around a metre will be available within around five years. This would represent the final victory in the battle against the cable.

Wireless energy transfer is nothing new – it is already in large-scale use in both RFID transmitters and chargers for electric toothbrushes. But in these cases either the power consumption is tiny or energy transfer takes place over very short distances. It is much harder to transfer higher power levels over larger distances with a reasonable level of efficiency, without the energy beam endangering people, animals or other devices.

The Kontenda project in Germany has been working on a technology for transferring electrical energy at a distance for industrial applications since 2004. In this case, it’s all about avoiding trailing cables. the aim being to allow power levels in the kilowatt range to be transferred over very short distances. Intel appears to be interested in power levels of around 10 to 100 watts, but wants to traverse greater distances. The company is collaborating on the project with working groups from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

For more on the Autumn IDF 2008 see also: