The first generation of wireless charging has been available in the market for the past few years and is finally catching momentum as a useful application for consumers. The challenge for full market adoption is that it has to be integrated into our everyday lives and offer charging for all of our portable devices. Wireless charging has the potential to be everywhere we go: in our homes, offices, vehicles, in airports, on planes, in restaurants, in hotels. At the same time, it needs to be capable of charging our smartphones, tablets, notebooks and 2 in 1s, power tools, mouse and keyboard, and many others. This is the vision of the A4WP “Rezence” technology.
The current technology in the market, which is based on magnetic induction (MI), has many limitations that prevent full market and consumer adoption. The next generation technology from A4WP, which is based on magnetic resonance (MR), offers the solutions that are needed to make wireless charging ubiquitous. ON Semiconductor is actively developing solutions for the A4WP standard and you will start seeing products that will make MR technology available to the market by the end of this year.
Over the next few months, I will be sharing with you the basics, advantages and disadvantages of each technology and why ON Semiconductor believes MR is the future. In the meantime, take a look at this YouTube video of a Rezence charging table from this year’s Mobile World Congress.
I’d be interested in hearing your opinions – MI or MR? Where do you see the wireless charging market going in the next five years?