A Robust Wireless Power and Data Link

Speaker: Jiacheng Pan
Affiliation: Ph.D. Candidate - UCLA

Abstract:  Next-generation biomedical implants for brain-computer interface can sense neural signals, send them out for analysis, and based on the neural data pattern, stimulate the brain with proper waveforms (a.k.a. closed-loop sensing & stimulating). It is highly desired that the implant can be powered wirelessly by an external piece and can send out the sensed neural data at the same time.

Motivated by this demand, we present a wireless power and data link connecting the external piece and the implant with one pair of inductive coils. This link can supply a robust and stable power up to almost 100mW. The power delivery is immune to variations in the coils’ separation or their misalignment due to patient movement and is immune to change in implant loading which can be due to the mode-switching between sensing and stimulation. In addition, by realizing a newly proposed modulation, Load-Induced Resonance-Shift Keying (L-RSK), the link can send out data at a few Mb/s over the same pair of coils simultaneously while the implant is wirelessly charged.

This design methodology for wireless power can be extended and scaled up to cover Watt-level applications. We will also present a robust wireless power system, capable of delivering up to 11W. This implementation is sufficient for charging various portable electronic devices, such as smartphones.

Key to all our designs is a free-running oscillator driver and a set of coupled resonators. This talk will also cover some theoretical developments on these topics, providing design-oriented analyses and intuitive understandings.

Biography: Jiacheng Pan received B.S. (Summa Cum Laude) and M.S. (Outstanding Master’s Thesis in Circuits & Embedded Systems) in Electrical Engineering at UCLA in 2013 and 2015. He is now a Ph.D. candidate in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at UCLA. His research interests include wireless power transfer and near-field communication, for biomedical implants as well as for consumer electronics.

For more information, contact Prof. Asad A. Abidi (abidi@seas.ucla.edu)

Date/Time:
Date(s) - Aug 16, 2018
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Location:
E-IV Maxwell Room #57-124
420 Westwood Plaza - 5th Flr. , Los Angeles CA 90095