Transactions of The Japan Institute of Electronics Packaging  Vol. 6, No.

1, 2013

[Technical Paper]

A 36 W Wireless Power Transfer System with 82% Efficiency for

LED Lighting Applications
Wei-Ting Chen*, Raul A. Chinga**, Shuhei Yoshida***, Jenshan Lin**, and Chao-Kai Hsu*
*Electronics and Optoelectronics Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu 31040, Taiwan, ROC
**Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA
***Green Innovation Research Laboratories, NEC Corporation, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-841, Japan

(Received July 26, 2013; accepted October 25, 2013)

Abstract
This paper presents the design and implementation of an LED lighting module powered by a wireless power transfer
system. The overall system achieves an efficiency of 82% with an output power of 36 W when the load resistance in the
receiver is 30 Ω, which is the turn-on resistance of the LED lighting module. The transmitter of the system adopts Class-
E power amplifier structure instead of Class-D, to decrease the number of transistors and its cost. The coils of the system
are designed by electromagnetic coupling methodology and realized by Litz wire to reach high efficiency. Matching cir-
cuits between the system blocks are also discussed in this paper in order to obtain the excellent system performance.

Keywords: Wireless power transfer, Class-E power amplifier, Electromagnetic coupling, Litz wire, LED

1. Introduction also a switching type amplifier. It has fewer components

Recently, interest in wireless power transfer (WPT)
technology has been growing substantially. This technol-
ogy can be applied to charge or power electronic devices
wirelessly. WPT further contributes to technical fields
such as medical science and automobile industry. A WPT
system consists of a transmitter, coupling coils, a receiver,
and matching circuits. The matching circuits between
each system block are introduced to transform the imped-
ance in order to confirm the system blocks operate at cor-
rect input and output impedance condition. However, the
matching design depends on the load resistance in the
receiver. When the resistance changes, the efficiency of
the receiver drops due to the mismatch, resulting in a drop
in coupling coefficient which consequently causes a drop
in efficiencies of the transmitter and overall system. In this
study, the turn-on resistance of the LED module is 30 Ω,
thus, the system design is based on this condition.
Another design challenge is the transmitter circuit. It
determines the performance of WPT systems. Generally,
Class-D power amplifiers are chosen to realize the trans-
mitter, but it requires at least two transistors to achieve
zero voltage switching (ZVS), increasing the cost of prod-
ucts and introducing process yield problems. This study
selects Class-E power amplifier circuit structure which is
with high reliability and a low-cost advantage, with a theo-
retical efficiency of 100%.[1] However, compared to Class-
D power amplifiers, Class-E power amplifiers are more
sensitive to the output impedance. Understanding the
methodology on how to design an accurate output imped-
ance of the Class-E power amplifier is the crucial aspect in
the system implementation. In this study, the matching
circuit between the Class-E power amplifier and transmit-
ting coil is combined with the capacitor of the resonating
circuit in the Class-E power amplifier, simplifying the sys-
tem structure while keeping the same performance.
Three main methodologies are introduced to achieve
wireless power transmission, including electromagnetic
coupling, magnetic resonance, and microwave power
transmission.[2, 3] Among these technologies, electro-
magnetic coupling is the most suitable solution for LED
lighting applications. It can achieve efficiency levels of at
least 70% for distances of several millimeters to several
centimeters between the transmitting and receiving coil.
For designing the coils, the quality factor Q is the key
parameter. In order to obtain the high quality factor, this
study uses Litz wire to fabricate the coils to improve the
efficiency.
In this paper, section 2 describes the design and mea-

32 Copyright © The Japan Institute of Electronics Packaging

 Chen et al.: A 36 W Wireless Power Transfer System with 82% Efficiency (2/6)
surement results of a 38 W Class-E power amplifier with
93% efficiency. The content also includes the experiment of
varying the amplitude of driving clock signal to examine
the performance of the Class-E. The implementation of the
WPT system is demonstrated in section 3. The discussion
of load resistance variation is also presented. Section 4
shows the LED lighting module powered by the designed
WPT circuit. Finally, the conclusion of this work is pre-
sented in section 5.
2.  High Performance Class-E Power Amplifier
Figure 1 shows the schematic diagram of the Class-E
power amplifier which is used to convert DC power to AC
power. The output power capability of a WPT system is
related to the maximum output power of the DC-AC
inverter. In order to obtain a higher output power, the
value of load resistor R of the Class-E power amplifier
should be smaller. That is because the Class-E power
amplifier will be driven by a higher current, and the output
power will dramatically increase when the biasing voltage
is at the same condition. However, according to the equa-
tions listed in [3], the Class-E power amplifier needs a
smaller C1 to operate normally when a smaller R is cho-
sen. Therefore, a transistor with small parasitic capaci-
tance Cds is a better choice to design a high output power
Class-E power amplifier.[4] In this study, the transistor
IRF640 with less than 200 pF parasitic capacitor Cds was
selected when the drain to source voltage is over 30 V.
Considering the value of load resistor R should be higher
than parasitic resistance of L2 to reduce the power loss in
the inductor, a 10 Ω load resistor was used to be the initial
condition for the equations listed in [3]. Selecting 240 kHz
as the operating frequency, the other component values
are L1 = 500 µH, C1 = 14.4 nF, C2 = 54 nF, L2 = 18 µH. Con-
sidering the maximum output power is over 38 W, these
components have the characteristic of high voltage and
current rating. The quality factor of the components was
also considered to reduce the power loss in the compo-
nents. The 240 kHz clock operating the transistor M1 is
Fig. 1  Schematic diagram of the Class-E power amplifier.
generated by Agilent 33521A waveform generator. Figure
2 shows the implemented Class-E power amplifier. Figure
3–6 show the performance of the circuit, and the wave-
forms and output power are measured by using a current
probe (Tektronix P6021), voltage probes (Tektronix
P2220) and an oscilloscope (Tektronix TDS2004B).
Figure 3 displays the drain voltage waveform and the
clock signal of 50% duty cycle at the gate of the transistor
M1 when VDD of 25 V was applied. As shown, the drain
voltage drops to zero right before the transistor is turned
on, preventing the overlap between these two waveforms.
This proves that the Class-E power amplifier achieves
proper zero voltage switching condition. Figure 4 shows
the output voltage and current waveforms. Since they are
both in phase, the Class-E can yield the maximum possible
output power. Figure 5 is the output power and drain effi-
ciency versus drain supply voltage. When the supply volt-
age VDD is 32 V, the output power is 38.1 W with a drain
efficiency of 93%. The correlation among the amplitude of
the clock signal, the output power and the drain efficiency
is summarized in Fig. 6. The amplitude of the clock signal
is varied from 5 V to 10 V while the supply voltage VDD
remains at 25 V. The result shows how the circuit per-
Fig. 2  Photograph of the Class-E power amplifier.
Fig. 3  Drain and gate waveform.
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Transactions of The Japan Institute of Electronics Packaging  Vol. 6, No. 1, 2013
Fig. 4  Voltage and current waveforms at R.
Fig. 5  Output power (solid squares) and drain efficiency
(hollow circles) versus drain supply voltage.
Fig. 6  Output power (solid squares) and drain efficiency
(hollow circles) versus amplitude of clock signal.
forms more efficiently when it is driven by clock signals
with the amplitude over 5.5 V.
3.  Design and Verification of WPT System
Figure 7 illustrates the schematic diagram of the WPT
system, consisting of the Class-E power amplifier, coupling
34
VDD
M
L1
L2 C2 C3
Clock
M1 L3 L4
C4
Rload
Fig. 7  Schematic diagram of the WPT system, consisting of
Class-E, coupling coils, rectifier, and matching networks.
Fig. 8  Photograph of the WPT system, including transmitter
and receiver.
coils, a rectifier circuit and matching networks.[3] Wire-
less power transfer is accomplished by the coupling coils.
These coils, designed by using electromagnetic field analy-
sis method, were made by using Litz wire to form an 8-turn
rectangular shape on a paperboard. Due to its multiple-
strand structure, this type of wire can reduce the power
loss caused by skin effect and proximity effect at high fre-
quency, thus the quality factor is increased. The measured
mutual inductance between the two coils separated by 5
mm is 21.59 μH while the inductance of the transmitting
coil L3 is 17 μH with a parasitic resistance of 0.17 Ω, and
the inductance of the receiving coil L4 is 17.36 μH with a
parasitic resistance of 0.17 Ω. Those values were measured
by using an Agilent impedance analyzer 4192A at 240 kHz.
The quality factor of the designed coils is higher than 150.
It proves that Litz wire has excellent performance to imple-
ment low loss electromagnetic coupling coils. The full-
bridge rectifier, composed of four SK310A diodes and a
capacitor C4 of 68 uF, was selected to convert the AC
power to DC power. The series-series matching network
structure[5, 6] is chosen to transform the impedance in
order to ensure the system blocks operating with correct
input and output impedances when the load resistance R is
30 Ω. C2 of 38 nF, combining the capacitor of the resonator
in the Class-E power amplifier with the capacitance from
series matching network, is designed to obtain the maxi-
mum power transmission. C3 of 10 nF performs the same
role. The photograph of the WPT system is shown in Fig. 8.
 Chen et al.: A 36 W Wireless Power Transfer System with 82% Efficiency (4/6)
Fig. 9  Power delivered to a 30-Ω load (solid squares) and
system efficiency (hollow circles) versus drain supply voltage.
Fig. 10  Power delivered to Rload (solid squares) and system
efficiency (hollow circles) versus load resistance.
Figure 9 shows the power delivered to the load and the
system efficiency versus drain supply voltage when the
load resistance is 30 Ω. The system delivers 35.9 W to the
load resistance R with a system efficiency of 81.8%. The
system efficiency versus load resistance when a supply
voltage VDD of 34 V is shown in Fig. 10, which verifies
that the system achieves the best performance when the
load resistance is 30 Ω. Figure 11 illustrated the simplified
circuit model of the Class-E output impedance. Equation
(1) further explains why the performance of the system
degrades fleetly when the load resistance changes in Fig.
10. This equation represents the impedance looking into
the transmitting coil at the resonance which is also the
output impedance of the Class-E power amplifier. When
the load resistance Rload of the system changes, the out-
put impedance of the Class-E power amplifier also
changes, resulting in a non-optimal operating condition of
the Class-E power amplifier. This is the reason that the
M
C1 C2
L1 L2 Rload
Zin
Fig. 11  Simplified circuit model of Class-E output imped-
ance.
Fig. 12  Photograph of the LED Module.
Fig. 13  Photograph of the measuring setup.
system achieves the highest efficiency and output power
at an optimal Rload.
ω2M 2
Zin = (1)
Rload
4.  LED Lighting Module With WPT System
Figure 12 displays the photograph of the LED module
consisting of 12 LED chips bonded on a flexible PCB that
can be attached to a curved surface. Measurement setup
for testing the LED lighting module powered by the WPT
system is illustrated in Fig. 13. The receiving coil is on top
of the transmitting coil, and the distance between the two
coils is 5 mm. The system load resistance of 30 Ω is
replaced by the LED module and it is connected to the
rectifier directly. When the LED module turns on, the
power delivered to the module is 2.5 W while the Class-E
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Transactions of The Japan Institute of Electronics Packaging  Vol. 6, No. 1, 2013
power amplifier consumes 3.1 W from a supply voltage of 9
V. The system efficiency is 80.6%. It is capable of powering
more LED modules.
5. Conclusion
In this study, a 36 W wireless power transfer system
with 82% efficiency had been developed to power an LED
lighting module. Due to the sensitivity to load variation in
the WPT system, the load is fixed to 30 Ω to meet the turn-
on resistance of the lighting module. In this load condition,
it is confirmed that the system can achieve the best output
power and efficiency when it is connected to the module.
The measured result proves that the wireless power trans-
fer technology is a suitable solution for powering this type
of appliances.
The Class-E power amplifier was chosen as the DC-AC
inverter of the WPT system, achieving 38.1 W output
power with 93% efficiency. In the design, the small load
resistance and the transistor with low parasitic capacitance
were selected to generate higher current, yielding more
output power. Choosing high quality passive components
also reduced the power loss, thus improving the circuit
efficiency. The wireless power transfer was realized by
using electromagnetic coupling technology and Litz wire,
which achieved a good power transfer performance at a
distance of 5 mm between coils. In addition, the matching
networks were used to enable each system block to oper-
ate at the correct input and output impedance condition.
For the future work, the sensitivity to load variation
which causes the system performance to degrade must be
solved. This situation appears when the WPT technology
is used to charge batteries. The impedance looking into a
battery is changing during the charging period, which
means that the WPT system cannot operate at the optimal
load condition. How to maintain a good system efficiency
36
while the system load is changing is a challenging problem
in practical applications.
References
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[2] H. Shoki, “Issues and initiatives for practical use of
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[3] K. A. Grajski, R. Tseng, and C. Wheatley, “Loosely-
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 Chen et al.: A 36 W Wireless Power Transfer System with 82% Efficiency (6/6)
Wei-Ting Chen received his master’s
degree in communication engineering from
Yuan Ze University, Taiwan, in 2005. In the
same year, he joined the electronic and opto-
electronics research laboratories at the
Industrial Technology Research Institute,
Hsinchu, Taiwan, as an engineer. Between
2011 and 2012, he was sent to the University of Florida to study
wireless power transfer technology, ser ving as a visiting
researcher. His major research interests include system in pack-
age (SiP) technology, wireless communication systems, and wire-
less power transmission (WPT) technology.
Raul A. Chinga began attending the Uni-
versity of Florida in 2005 where he went on
to receive bachelor’s degree in electrical and
computer engineering. Upon finishing his
undergraduate curriculum, Raul began
working towards his Doctor of Philosophy in
electrical and computer engineering in 2008
under the guidance of Dr. Jenshan Lin. The same year, Raul
received the Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship from the Univer-
sity of Florida Graduate School. In 2010, Raul received an Honor-
able Mention for the Graduate Research Fellowship from NSF,
the Verosi Scholarship from the University of Florida in 2012 and
the SEAGEP Fellowship from University of Florida in 2013. His
work concentrates in switching RF power amplifiers for wireless
power transmission applications and dielectric barrier discharge
plasma.
Shuhei Yoshida received M.A in school of
integrated design engineering from Keio
University, Japan in 2007. Since 2007, he has
been a research member of Smart Energy
research labs at NEC Corporation, Japan.
His current research interests are design
and analysis of wireless power transmission
system including antennas, rectifiers, amplifiers and control cir-
cuits.
Jenshan Lin received the Ph.D. degree in
Electrical Engineering from the University
of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1994.
He worked for AT&T Bell Labs (later
became Lucent Bell Labs), Murray Hill, New
Jersey, from 1994 to 2001, and its spin-off
Agere Systems from 2001 to 2003. In July
2003, he joined University of Florida as an Associate Professor,
and became a Professor in August 2007. He has authored or co-
authored over 230 technical publications in refereed journals and
conferences proceedings, and holds 10 U.S. patents. Dr. Lin is a
Fellow of IEEE.
Chao-Kai Hsu received his bachelor’s
degree in mechanical engineering from
National Chin-Yi University of Technology in
1991. Since 2004, he has served in electronic
and optoelectronics research laboratories at
the Industrial Technology Research Insti-
tute, Hsinchu, Taiwan, and is now an engi-
neer in the advanced packaging technology division of EOL/
ITRI. His research interests include wafer-level packaging, optical
interconnects packaging, flexible electronic packaging, and 3D
IC technologies.
37