Received 13 November 2023; revised 6 January 2024 and 22 January 2024; accepted 28 January 2024.

Date of publication 31 January

2024; date of current version 1 March 2024. The review of this article was arranged by Associate Editor Al-Thaddeus (OJ GAE) Avestruz.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/OJPEL.2024.3360878

Design and Optimization of a Planar

Omnidirectional Wireless Power Transfer
System for Consumer Electronics
XIPEI YU 1 (Student Member, IEEE), JUNJIE FENG 2 (Member, IEEE), LIYAN ZHU 3 (Member, IEEE),
AND QIANG LI 3 (Member, IEEE)
1
Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0131 USA
2
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0131 USA
3
Center for Power Electronics Systems, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0131 USA
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: LIYAN ZHU (e-mail: [email protected])

ABSTRACT Recently, omnidirectional wireless power transfer (WPT) has gained increasing popularity
due to its capability to charge in arbitrary positions and directions. However, existing solutions still face
several challenges, including coupled coils, non-optimized structure, non-uniform magnetic field, and poor
misalignment tolerance. This work proposes an omnidirectional WPT system with three fully decoupled
coils consisting of one square coil and two perpendicular DD coils. Comprehensive modeling and Pareto
optimization for the transmitter coil structure are conducted for improved tolerance to both lateral and angular
misalignment. Experimental results are provided to validate the system performance in terms of the output
voltage and efficiency under different lateral and angular misalignments. With a 12 V input, the efficiency of
the system exhibits a <10% variation, ranging from 69% to 78%, with 50 mm misalignment in the x and y
axes and a 90-degree angular misalignment. At the same time, the output voltage remains within the range
of 11.5 V to 14.5 V.

INDEX TERMS Omnidirectional wireless power transfer, coil modeling, uniform field distribution, coil
optimization.

I. INTRODUCTION

Starting from the pioneering work of Nikola Tesla, wireless

power transfer (WPT) has received considerable attention,
especially in the last two decades due to its ability to transfer
power without physical contact. WPT technology is known
for numerous benefits, such as electrical isolation, safety,
convenience, and adaptability to harsh environments. These
benefits make it an attractive choice for a wide range of ap- FIGURE 1. Current practice of wireless charging pad. (a) Fully aligned case.
(b) When angular misalignment exists.
plications like electric vehicles [1], [2], [3], automatic guided
vehicles [4], [5], [6], biomedical implants [7], [8], [9], Internet
of Things [10], [11], [12], and consumer electronics [13], [14], perfectly aligned with the transmitter coil, the WPT system
[15]. may not work properly or efficiently. Moreover, for con-
Particularly in the consumer electronics industry, the WPT sumer electronics applications like earphones and electronic
has gained significant popularity as a convenient solution for watches, lateral and angular misalignment is natural as shown
battery charging. However, the commonly employed planar in Fig. 1(b). Such misalignment can significantly reduce the
structures for transmitter coils pose a strict alignment require- magnetic coupling, leading to compromised efficiency and
ment, as depicted in Fig. 1(a). If the receiver coil is not charging experience.
© 2024 The Authors. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License. For more information, see
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YU ET AL.: DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION OF A PLANAR OMNIDIRECTIONAL WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER SYSTEM

Various omnidirectional WPT systems have been proposed TABLE 1 Calculation and Simulation Parameters
to accommodate the different charging positions. In [16], a
bowl-shaped WPT system is proposed. However, it utilizes
identical currents in transmitter coils, resulting in a fixed
magnetic field vector and power transfer direction. Another
design proposed in [17] uses a three-orthogonal-coil struc-
ture that can generate an omnidirectional magnetic field, but
it has limited free-positioning performance due to the poor
uniformity of the magnetic field. In [18], a three-coil WPT
system is proposed, but it lacks the Y-direction magnetic field.
A double three-dimensional (3-D) coil is utilized in [19], but
its non-uniform magnetic field leads to extreme degradation TABLE 2 Calculation and Simulation Time
when misalignment exists. In [15], a new bowl-shaped struc-
ture is proposed, that does realize omnidirectional WPT but
its complex structure brings manufacturing challenges.
While planar omnidirectional WPT systems feature sim-
ple structures thus facilitating the fabrication and furniture
integration, they do not inherently contribute to enhanced
performance. For instance, the reticulated structure in [20]
still exhibits weak magnetic fields in the y direction and low zero-coupling point, which is not practical in real application.
transfer efficiency. Similarly, the planar structure proposed In [25], a square coil matrix is used as the transmitter coil
in [21], which is composed of a metasurface, driver loop, and a flux pipe coil is applied as the receiver coil. This coil
and resonator, has low transfer efficiency and weak magnetic is cost-intensive and its anti-orientation misalignment perfor-
fields in the x and y directions. A crossed dipole coil is ana- mance is limited. For example, in [26], two DD coils are
lyzed in [22], but due to its sparse coil distribution, its transfer applied as transmitter coils, and two DD coils are applied as
efficiency is low. In [23], a tripolar structure is proposed but the receiver coil. This structure utilizes four DD coils which is
its anti-misalignment performance is quite limited. Obviously, cost-intensive. Meanwhile, the anti-misalignment is not men-
the planar structures have benefits in integration compatibility, tioned which might be a big issue for the real application. For
but optimization in structure design and improvement in anti- [27], a DD coil is applied as the transmitter coil while a DD
misalignment performance are still missing. coil is used as the receiver coil. Meanwhile, two square coils
From the discussion above, existing planar omnidirectional are used as the data coil. For this structure, the data coil does
WPT systems still face challenges such as: not contribute to the power transfer and the mutual inductance
1) Special coil structures are widely applied to extend the decreases sharply versus Z direction misalignment. In [28],
charging area coverage. However, in consumer elec- one square coil is used as the transmitter coil, and one DD
tronics applications, square coils are preferred on the coil is used as the receiver coil, while one square coil and
receiver side, which is not compatible with most of the one DD coil are applied as the relay coil. The three-coil
existing solutions. A new transmitter structure that is structure is complex and according to Table 2 of [28], the
compatible with consumer receivers is appealing. mutual inductance decreases by 30% with only 15% diameter
2) The design of the most existing structures is based on misalignment. For [29], the authors investigate the different
simulation. However, simulation is time-consuming as display possibilities of the DD coil and two square coils, of
many parameter combinations need to be taken into which the DD coil can be viewed as two rectangular coils. The
consideration. In order to simplify the design process, transmitter coil design is not mentioned at all. From the exper-
analytical models for coil design and optimization are imental results, the output voltage decreases by two-thirds at
needed. 30% orientation misalignment. At the same time, the receiver
3) Previous analysis focuses on the realization of a 3-D coil should be defined by standards like Qi or AirFuel Alliance
magnetic field without optimization. This results in un- to increase compatibility rather than self-defined.
even magnetic field distribution and poor misalignment To address the aforementioned issues, this paper proposes
tolerance [16], [20], [23]. An optimization process to a planar omnidirectional transmitter that is comprised of two
improve both the lateral and angular misalignments is DD coils perpendicular to each other and one square coil to
imperative. obtain better anti-misalignment performance for a square coil
Some coil structures employing the combination of square receiver. DD coils are employed to generate the X and Y
coil and DD coil have been proposed. However, some emerg- direction magnetic field while the square coil generates the Z
ing problems still exist. The solution is to increase the number directional field. The planar structure will naturally solve the
of square coils, which will increase the cost. For example, integration compatibility problem. Modeling and optimization
in [24], a quadrupolar coil is proposed. However, the biggest of the proposed structure are also performed to deliver optimal
problem is that at 20% x-axis misalignment, it will have a performance.

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 FIGURE 3. Initial magnetic field trajectories: (a) at (0, 0, 20 mm), (b) at
(60 mm, 60 mm, 20 mm).

Due to the rotating excitation as depicted in (2)–(4), the

flux density at a given position is not a constant but a time-
variant vector. By applying current in (2)–(4), the magnetic
field vector Btotal at different time constants can be derived.
Meanwhile, it can be decomposed as Btotal =Bx +By +Bz . Af-
FIGURE 2. Proposed transmitter coil structure. (a) Assembled transmitter
coils. (b) X coil. (c) Y coil. (d) Z coil. terward, the combination of Bx , By , and Bz can be plotted
in Fig. 3, representing the vector trajectories at two example
points, A1 (0, 0, 20 mm) and A2 (60 mm, 60 mm, 20 mm).
The field trajectory is on the surface of an ellipsoid. The
The rest of the article is organized as follows: Section II
corresponding envelope curve in X, Y, and Z directions is
introduces the operation principle of the coil structure. Sec-
depicted in red, green, and blue lines. The results confirm that
tion III conducts the modeling of the coil structure. In
the proposed structure generated an omnidirectional magnetic
Section IV, the lateral and angular misalignment effects are
field. However, it also indicates a non-uniform flux density
studied, and the optimal coil parameters are selected by the
distribution throughout the entire area, which necessitates the
Pareto front from the multi-objective optimization to obtain
modeling and optimization of the coil parameters.
a strong and uniform magnetic field. In Section V, simula-
tion results are presented to validate the analytical modeling.
III. MODELLING OF PLANAR WPT COIL
Additionally, an experimental prototype is built, and experi-
The square coil and DD coil can be regarded as multiple lines
mental verification is conducted to verify the design. Finally,
connected in series. Due to the superposition principle, the
Section VI concludes this work.
mutual inductance between transmitter and receiver coils can
be represented as the sum of the contribution of each line. The
II. PROPOSED PLANAR OMNIDIRECTIONAL WPT SYSTEM
calculation can be derived according to [30]. The assumption
The proposed planar omnidirectional WPT system is illus-
is that the self-resonant frequency is at least 2 times larger
trated in Fig. 2. The transmitter coil comprises three sets of
than the resonant frequency.
coils, including one square coil and two DD coils oriented
When the WPT system operates at the resonant frequency,
perpendicular to each other. The square Z coil mainly provides
the coupler efficiency can be calculated as [31]:
the magnetic field in the Z direction while the X and Y DD
2 2
coils mainly provide the magnetic field in the X and Y direc- λ ω M
tions. The total magnetic field at point A1 (0, 0, 20 mm) can η= √ 2
,λ = (5)
(1 + 1 + λ) R p Rs
be obtained by adding the magnetic field vector in respective
directions depicted in (1): where M is the mutual inductance, ω is the angular frequency,
and Rp and Rs are the resistance of the coils. According to (5),
Btotal = f (i1 )Bx + f (i2 )By + f (i3 )Bz (1)
the coupler efficiency is directly related to the mutual induc-
tance, which should be optimized for efficiency improvement.
The excitation currents in these three transmitter coils are Prior to that, the mutual inductance should be modeled first.
set as:
A. MODELLING OF Z COIL
i1 = Im cos(ω1t )cos(ω2t )sin(ω0t ) (2)
Fig. 4(a) depicts the schematic of the Z coil with the receiver
i2 = Im sin(ω1t )cos(ω2t )sin(ω0t ) (3) coil with lateral misalignment. Assuming the transmitter coil
has the same spacing, denoted as dp . The turns number of the
i3 = Im sin(ω2t )sin(ω0t ) (4)
transmitter coil is Np while that of the receiver coil is Ns .
where ω0 =2π ∗6.78 MHz, ω1 =2π ∗2.5 Hz, ω2 =2π ∗50 Hz. The diameter of the outer transmitter coil is denoted as sp .
By applying the current specified in (2)–(4) to the utilized coil The diameter of the outer receiver coil is denoted as ss . The
structure, a 3-D rotating magnetic field can be generated. spacing is denoted as ds . The height of the receiver coil is

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When the angular misalignment exists, the schematic of Z

coil with a receiver coil is shown in Fig. 4(c). θ is defined
as the counterclockwise angle in Fig. 4(d). The parameter
definition is

2 
2
M= (Mia(k+2)a + Mia(k+2)b + Mib(k+2)a + Mib(k+2)b )
k=1 i=1
(9)
For instance, M1a3a can be calculated by:

M1a3a =
Np Ns
 
M(ss − 2ids , sp − 2kdp , Pa Rd , Pa Ra , Pd Rd , Pd Ra )
k=0 i=0
(10)
s sp 
p
Pa = −kdp , − +kdp , 0 ,
2 2
 s sp 
p
Pd = − +kdp , − + kdp , 0
2 2
√  s  π 
s
Ra = 2 − ids cos − θ + xcenter ,
2 4
√  ss  π  
2 − ids sin − θ + ycenter , h
2 4
√  s  π 
s
Rd = 2 − ids sin − θ + xcenter ,
FIGURE 4. Phone charging case with misalignment: (a) the Z coil and the 2 4
receiver coil with lateral misalignment (b) top view. (c) The Z coil and the √  ss  π  
receiver coil with lateral and angular misalignment (d) top view. − 2 − ids cos − θ + ycenter , h (11)
2 4

B. MODELLING OF X AND Y COIL

denoted as h and the center of the receiver coil is denoted as X coil with a receiver coil with lateral misalignment is de-
xmis and ymis in Fig. 4(b). picted in Fig. 5(a). X coil has two rectangular coils connected
By applying the superposition principle, the mutual in- in series in the opposite direction, of which the length and
ductance between the transmitter and receiver coils can be width of the rectangular coil are 2L and W, respectively. The
calculated by: distance between these two rectangular coils is defined as 2d
and da and db are denoted as the outer and inner spaces of the

2
M= (Mia(i+2)a + Mia(i+2)b + Mib(i+2)a + Mib(i+2)b ) rectangular coil. The turn number of the transmitter coil is Np
i=1
while the turn number of the receiver coil is Ns . The parameter
(6) definition of a receiver coil is similar to that of the Z coil case.
where M(i+1)a(i+3)a represents the mutual inductance between The mutual inductance between the X coil and the receiver
part (i+1)a and part (i+3)a shown in Fig. 4(a). The definition coil can be modeled as:
for other parts is similar. For example, M1a3a can be calculated

2 
2
as: M= (Mia(k+2)a +Mia(k+2)b +Mib(k+2)a +Mib(k+2)b )
M1a3a k=1 i=1
(12)
Np where M1a5a can be given in (13) and (14): The other parame-

Ns
= M(sp −2kdp , ss −2ids , dz_1a,k_3a_i , z_1a,k_3a_i ) ter calculation can be calculated similarly to M1a5a .
k=0 i=1
(7) M1a5a =
Np Ns
where  
 M(2L − 2kda , ss − 2ids , dx_1a,k_5a_i , x_1a,k_5a_i )
s ss 2
p
= − + ycenter − kdp + ids + h
2 k=0 i=0
dz_1a,k_3a_i
2 2 (13)
sp ss 
z_1a,k_3a_i = − + + xcenter + ids + kdp (8) 2 2
2 2 dx_1a,k_5a_i = (d + W − xcenter − kda ) + (h + ids )

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 FIGURE 6. Mutual inductance between the Z coil and the receiver coil with
different Ns : (a) versus lateral misalignment (b) versus angular
misalignment.

 
ss −ids ss −ids
Z2 = − sin θ +xcenter , cos θ +ycenter , h+ids
2 2
(17)
Similarly, other mutual inductance can be obtained via the
calculation process of M1a5a.

IV. COIL OPTIMIZATION OF PLANAR WPT COIL

As illustrated in Fig. 3, the magnetic field distribution of
the charging system is not uniform, which results in lower
FIGURE 5. Watch charging case with misalignment: (a) the X coil with a efficiency and reduces the charging power at certain positions
receiver coil with lateral misalignment (b) top view. (c) The X coil with
receiver coil with lateral and angular misalignment (d) top view.
of the receiver. Therefore, to address this issue, coil optimiza-
tion is necessary to achieve a consistent and strong magnetic
field throughout the entire charging area. For the optimization
process, all three coils should be conducted, but due to the
ss symmetry, only X and Z coils are shown here.
x_1a,k_5a_i = − + ycenter −L + ids +kda (14)
2
A. NS AND ANGULAR MISALIGNMENT EFFECT ON Z COIL
Similar to the phone charging case, angular misalignment For mobile phone applications, a receiver with ss = 70 mm
also exists between the receiver and X-Y coils in the watch and ds = 1.5 mm is used. The resonant frequency is selected
charging case. But different from the phone charging case, at 6.78 MHz, which is recommended by the AirFuel Alliance
when angular misalignment exists, both X and Y coils con- [32], [33]. In order to cater to the Qi standard at the same time
tribute to the receiver coil, as shown in Fig. 5(c). Under this [34], [35], [36], the Ns effect on the coupling should be studied
circumstance, M can be modeled as: first. Here, sp = 90 mm, dp = 10 mm, and Np = 4 are selected
as initial parameters. The mutual inductance with different
4 
 
Ns versus lateral misalignment is shown in Fig. 6(a). It can
M ia5a +Mib5a +Mic5a +Mid5a
M= (15) be observed that the trend under different Ns remains similar.
+Mia5b +Mib5b +Mic5b +Mid5b
k=1 This implies that the selection of Ns won’t affect the mutual
inductance distribution throughout the whole area. Therefore,
where M1a5a can be given as: optimization can be conducted for any specific Ns . In this
work, Ns = 6 is selected to accommodate the coil size.
M1a5a = Angular misalignment is important for omnidirectional ap-
Np Ns plications. For the phone charging case, the mutual inductance
  can be calculated according to (6)–(8) when the angular
M(ss − 2ids , 2L − 2kda , X1a Z2 , X1a Z1 , X2a Z1 , X2a Z2 )
misalignment exists. For instance, when sp = 90 mm, dp =
k=0 i=0
(16) 10 mm, and Np = 4, mutual inductance versus the angular
misalignment is plotted in Fig. 6(b). The results demonstrate
X1a = (d + W − kda , L − kda , 0) that the mutual inductance is merely affected by the angular
misalignment due to the introduction of the square coil on the
X2a = (d + W − kda , −L + kda , 0)
  transmitter side. Therefore, for the phone charging case, the
ss −ids ss −ids optimization process can be conducted without considering
Z1 = sin θ +xcenter , − cos θ +ycenter , h+ids
2 2 the angular misalignment.

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FIGURE 7. Mutual inductance with different Ns versus lateral

misalignment: (a) between X coil and a receiver, (b) between Y coil and
FIGURE 9. Mutual inductance of X and Y coil and a receiver coil versus
receiver.
angular misalignment of several points.

FIGURE 8. Mutual inductance versus angular misalignment: (a) X coil and

a receiver coil, (b) mutual inductance of Y coil and a receiver coil.

FIGURE 10. Mavg and Mstd under different Np .

B. NS AND ANGULAR MISALIGNMENT EFFECT ON X AND Y

COIL
Here the whole charging area is defined as a square area
For X and Y coils, a receiver with ss = 38 mm and ds = 1.5 mm
with a 200 mm diameter. Due to the symmetry of magnetic
is adopted to emulate the receiver coil of an electronic watch.
field distribution, only the first quadrant is considered. Here
Similarly, the Ns effect on the coupling should be investigated
11∗11 characteristic points of the first quadrant are selected,
first. Here, the dimensions of L= 90 mm, W= 80 mm, d=
with a step of 10 mm, Mavg represents the average value of
10 mm, da = 4 mm, db = 10 mm, and Np =4 are selected as
these points while Mstd represents the standard deviation of
initial parameters. The results for X and Y coils are illustrated
these points. The specific equations of Mavg and Mstd deriva-
in Fig. 7. It is observed that the trend under different Ns
tion can be written as:
remains similar. This aligns with the phone charging case, and
Ns =6 is selected as the same. 1 
11 11
Similarly, it is necessary to consider the effect of angu- Mavg = Mij (18)
121
lar misalignment. For the X coil, mutual inductance versus j=1 i=1
angular misalignment of several points can be plotted in 
11 11 2
Fig. 8(a) and (b). It is evident that angular misalignment will Mstd = (Mij −Mavg ) (19)
j=1 i=1
significantly affect the mutual inductance and it cannot be
ignored. Fortunately, when the mutual inductance between According to Fig. 3, the magnetic field distribution is not
the X coil and the receiver coil is suffering from angular uniform. To achieve high Mavg and low Mstd for the whole
misalignment, the Y coil compensates. As a result, the over- charging area, the magnetic field strength and uniformity need
all mutual inductance remains relatively consistent even with to be optimized.
angular misalignment, as illustrated in Fig. 9. Therefore, X Firstly, Np should be selected. da = 10 mm, db = 4 mm
and Y coils should be considered as a whole, and the angular with even coil segment line distribution is considered as the
misalignment can be ignored to focus the further optimization initial setting. The relation between the Np and the Mavg and
on lateral misalignment. Mstd is depicted in Fig. 10. The results show that when Np
≤ 4, the Mstd decreases sharply, which indicates uneven field
C. OPTIMIZATION OF X AND Y COILS FOR WATCH distribution cases. When Np ≥ 4, Mavg increases while Mstd is
CHARGING stable. However, if keep increasing the Np , the average mutual
For X and Y coils, a receiver coil with ss = 38 mm, ds = inductance contributed by each turn Mavg_N will decrease,
1.5 mm, and Ns = 6 is selected to emulate the receiver of an which implies a low charging area utilization. Therefore, the
electronic watch. optimal turn number Np should be identified as 4.

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 FIGURE 13. (a) Mavg and Mstd verse different Np . (b) Mavg_N and Mstd_N
verse different Np .

FIGURE 11. Multi-objective coil optimization process of X and Y coil.

FIGURE 14. Multi-objective coil optimization process of Z coil.

FIGURE 12. Relationship between Mavg and Mstd when Np = 4.

Unlike the X and Y coil case, the Z coil contributes little
to the X and Y magnetic field, However, due to the pla-
nar structure, X and Y coils do make contributions to the
Z magnetic field. Although this contribution is trivial at the
Once Np is selected as 4, the further optimization objectives center point [37], it becomes significant when there is lateral
are to maximize Mavg while minimizing Mstd over the entire misalignment. This mechanism beneficially compensates for
area by optimizing the coil spacing. With given sp , first all the mutual inductance reduction between the receiver and Z
the combinations of dai and dbi should be derived. The only coil when lateral misalignment happens. When conducting the
limitation is that the length of the inner coil should be larger optimization of the Z coil, this factor should be considered.
than 0. By obtaining all the possible combinations, then the Similarly, Np should be selected first. The relation between
mutual inductance across all the characteristic points in the the Np and the Mavg and Mstd is plotted in Fig. 13(a). Ac-
first quadrant can be derived and Mavg and Mstd values can be cording to Fig. 13(a), Mavg and Mstd increase almost linearly
obtained accordingly by (18) and (19). Afterwards, the multi- with the increase of Np which means it is hard to select the
objective optimization is conducted and the flowchart of this optimal Np . In order to select the optimal Np , further analysis
optimization is shown in Fig. 11. should be conducted. Similar to the analysis conducted for the
Following this flowchart, the corresponding Pareto Front X and Y coils, the average contribution of each turn should
can be plotted. The optimal operating point is identified, be considered. Therefore, Mavg_N and Mstd_N should be the
which is denoted by a red star in Fig. 12. Specifically, the criteria and are plotted in Fig. 13(b). From Mavg_N point of
optimal value is L= 100 mm, W= 200 mm, d= 16 mm, db1 = view, when Np ≤ 5, Mavg_N is almost constant, and when Np
4 mm, db2 = 18 mm, and db3 = 20 mm. ≥ 5, Mavg_N decreases slightly. From Mstd_N point of view,
when Np ≤ 5, Mstd_N is almost constant, and when Np ≥ 5,
Mstd_N increases slightly. In all, Np = 5 is the optimal point.
D. OPTIMIZATION OF Z COILS FOR PHONE CHARGING Different from X and Y coils, the Z coil only has a single
For Z coil, the common circumstance is to charge the mobile parameter d, rather than da and db for X and Y coils. Sim-
phone flat on the charging pad. A receiver coil with ss = ilarly, to achieve high Mavg and small Mstd , multi-objective
70 mm, ds = 1.5 mm, and Ns = 6 is chosen to emulate the optimization is conducted. The flowchart is shown in Fig. 14,
mobile phone receiver as discussed previously. and the corresponding Pareto Front is plotted in Fig. 15, with

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FIGURE 17. Impedance against frequency for the proposed coils. .

FIGURE 15. Relationship between Mavg and Mstd when Np = 5.

FIGURE 18. Mutual inductance between receiver and Z coil: (a) lateral
misalignment; (b) lateral and angular misalignment.

FIGURE 16. Magnetic field trajectories after optimization: (a) at (0, 0,

20 mm), (b) at (60 mm, 60 mm, 20 mm).

optimal parameters as sp = 135 mm, dp1 = 9 mm, dp2 = 9 mm,

dp3 = 9 mm, dp4 = 38 mm.
With the optimal coil parameters, the optimized magnetic
vector trajectories are given in Fig. 16. Compared to the initial
one shown in Fig. 3, a clear improvement in anti-misalignment
performance is exhibited. More evidence of the improved filed
FIGURE 19. Mutual inductance between receiver and X-Y coils: (a) lateral
distribution will be illustrated in the next section from the misalignment; (b) lateral and angular misalignment.
output voltage point of view.

V. SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION

During the modeling process, the displacement current is results confirm again that the angular misalignment barely
not considered and the parasitic capacitance is ignored. In affects the mutual inductance value, which aligns with the
order to verify the assumption, the impedance of the coils conclusion made in Section III. In addition, the calculation
is swept by the Keysight E4990A Impedance Analyzer as and Ansys simulation time are recorded in Table 2. Thanks
plotted in Fig. 17. The results show a self-resonant frequency to the analytical model, the calculation shows a much faster
over 32 MHz, which is five times higher than the resonant calculation speed, which made the parametric optimization
frequency and validated the assumption. possible.

A. VERIFICATION OF PROPOSED MODELLING METHODS B. HARDWARE SETUP

To verify the accuracy of the proposed analytical model, the To verify the feasibility of the proposed WPT system, the
3-D FEA simulation is conducted with the parameters in Ta- omnidirectional WPT prototype is constructed as shown in
ble 1. For the phone charging case scenario as discussed in Fig. 20(a). The LCCL-LC resonant converter is adopted as
Fig. 4(a), the comparison of calculated and simulated mutual shown in Fig. 20(b) [14]. The experiment setup consisted of
inductance with misalignments is plotted in Fig. 18, and the a DC source, three half-bridge inverters, three LCC compen-
watch charging case is given in Fig. 19. sation networks, three sets of transmitter coils, one receiver,
The comparison shows a less than 1% calculation error series resonant networks, and a load. The system is powered
with both lateral and angular misalignments. Particularly, the by the Agilent E3631A DC power source with a 12 V input

318 VOLUME 5, 2024

FIGURE 20. (a) Experimental prototype. (b) Circuit diagram of LCCL-LC
resonant converter.
FIGURE 21. Steady-state waveform of phone charging case: (a) at point (0,
0) (b) at point (50 mm, 50 mm) (c) at point (0, 0) with a 45-degree angular
misalignment (d) at point (50 mm, 50 mm) with a 45-degree angular
misalignment.
TABLE 3 Specifications of WPT System

FIGURE 22. Measured results of phone charging case with lateral

misalignment (a) efficiency test (b) output voltage.

C. TESTS FOR PHONE CHARGING

For verification of phone charging anti-misalignment perfor-
mance, the Z coil is independently excited. The waveform
of input and output voltage and current at points (0,0) and
(50 mm,50 mm) are shown in Fig. 21(a) and (b), and (c) and
(d) shows the cases with angular misalignment.
The transfer efficiency and output voltage with different
voltage. The parameters of the resonant tank are shown in misalignments are measured. As the transmitter coil structure
Table 3. is symmetric, only the misalignment in the first quarter is
The inductance value of the coils and passive components considered. When there is only lateral misalignment, Fig. 22
are measured with the Keysight E4990A Impedance Analyzer shows an efficiency range from 69%-78%, and the output
as listed in Table 3. To control the coil geometry accurately, voltage ranges from 11.5 V to 14.5 V, which exhibits a
the Ultimake S5 3D printer is adopted to print the coil periph- good anti-lateral misalignment performance. When the an-
ery. Here the coil is fabricated by Litz wire and it consists of gular misalignment is considered, the efficiency and output
450 strands of AWG 48 wires. The Litz wire is fitted into the voltage at xmis =ymis =0 mm–50 mm are measured as plotted
coil periphery. in Fig. 23. As shown in the figure, the efficiency remained in

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FIGURE 23. Measured results of phone charging case with lateral and FIGURE 25. Measured results with X coil excited under the misalignment
angular misalignment (a) efficiency test (b) output voltage. in x and y orientation (a) efficiency test (b) output voltage.

FIGURE 26. Measured results with X coil excited under misalignment in x

and y against the angular misalignment (a) efficiency test (b) output
voltage.

FIGURE 24. Steady-state waveform of watch charging case: (a) at point (0,
0), (b) at point (50 mm, 50 mm), (c) at point (0, 0), and (d) at point (50 mm,
50 mm) with a 30-degree angular misalignment.
FIGURE 27. Measured results with both X and Y coils excited under lateral
and angular misalignment (a) efficiency test (b) output voltage.

the range of 69%-78%, and the output voltage keeps high from
11.5 V to 14.5 V. The results show a good anti-angular mis- The transfer efficiency and output voltage at different posi-
alignment performance, which is consistent with the analysis tions are measured as plotted in Fig. 25. The efficiency ranges
in Section III. from 55% to 65% and the output voltage is constrained from
10.5 V to 12.5 V. At xmis =ymis =0 mm–50 mm with angular
D. MISALIGNMENT TESTS FOR WATCH CHARGING misalignment as shown in Fig. 26, the efficiency drops sharply
For electronic watch applications, the X and Y coils are ex- when only X or Y coils are separately excited. It is aligned
cited separately, and a square coil with ss = 38 mm, ds = with the previous analysis. However, when both the X and
1.5 mm, and Ns = 6 is used as the receiver for electronic Y coils work together to counteract angular misalignment, the
watch. Typically, electronic watch users place their watches system performance stays decent, as evidenced in Fig. 27. The
in a vertical position on the charging pad, as illustrated in stable efficiencies and output voltage validate the previous
Fig. 1(b). As a result, the experiment considers the receiver analysis and optimization.
coil in a vertical position. To account for the thickness of both
the electronic watch and charging pad, the height h is set at E. COMPARISON WITH OTHER OMNIDIRECTIONAL WPT
10 mm. SYSTEMS
The waveform of input and output voltage and current un- The comparison with the state-of-the-art omnidirectional
der positions (0,0) and (50 mm,50 mm) when the X coil is WPT system is depicted in Table 4 Compared with the three-
excited is shown in Fig. 24(a) and (b). It is observed that the dimensional structure like [15], [16], [19], the planar structure
input voltage and current remain stable even under misalign- is easy to gain compatibility with the home furniture.
ment. The waveform under 30-degree angular misalignment As for the anti-misalignment performance, first the anti-
is depicted in Fig. 24(c) and (d). orientation misalignment is discussed. In most literature, they

320 VOLUME 5, 2024

TABLE 4 Comparison With Recent Omnidirectional WPT Systems

anti-orientation misalignment and anti-angular misalignment

performance with low-cost and low manufacturing difficulty.

VI. CONCLUSION
This paper proposes a planar omnidirectional WPT system.
The modeling process is conducted for the coil structure and
its Ns , lateral, and angular misalignment effects are studied.
Furthermore, optimization is conducted on the coil structure
to achieve free positioning performance. Finally, a 6.78 MHz
omnidirectional prototype is built for tests of mobile phone
and electronic watch charging cases. Results show an effi-
ciency range of 69%-78% efficiency for the phone charging
case and an efficiency range of 55%-65% for the electronic
watch charging case. When compared with the state-of-art
research in Table 4, the proposed solution presents good
FIGURE 28. Efficiency drop versus normalized orientation misalignment. anti-lateral and anti-angular misalignment performance on
the premise of compatibility with furniture and simplicity in
structure, which offers a fundamental and convenient solution
for future 3-D omnidirectional wireless charging applications.
fail to mention the anti-misalignment but the efficiency under
misalignment is measured. In this case, the efficiency drop
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