Global InformationWireless Power Consortium information
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| Abbreviation | WPC |
|---|---|
| Formation | December 17, 2008[1] |
| Type | Technology consortium |
| Headquarters |
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Region served | Worldwide |
Membership | Open |
Key people |
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| Website | www |
The Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) is a multinational technology consortium formed on December 17, 2008, and based in Piscataway, New Jersey. Its mission is to create and promote wide market adoption of its interface standards Qi, Ki Cordless Kitchen, and Qi Medium Power for inductive charging.[2][3] It is an open membership of Asian, European, and American companies, working toward the global standardization of wireless charging technology.[4]
The Wireless Power Consortium was started by Fulton Innovation, a 100% subsidiary of Alticor, parent company of Amway. The original motivation was to power a portable water purifier, sold by Amway, called eSpring, for which the wireless power transfer technology called eCoupled was created. On Nov 26, 2008 Fulton Innovation released "The Base Spec: Low Power Specification Guide for Partnered Product Development, Revision 0.9".[5] Buoyed by the acquired intellectual property of a bankrupt University of Cambridge spin-out called Splashpower, in an attempt to replicate the success story of the Wi-Fi Alliance formed in 1999, Fulton Innovation founded the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) in Dec 2008. In the process they partnered with seven others: ConvenientPower, Logitech, Philips, Sanyo, Shenzhen Sang Fei Communications, National Semiconductor (now Texas Instruments), and Texas Instruments. In Aug 2009 they published the now well-known Qi standard, version 0.95. A month later they released version 1.0. By then WPC already had 55+ members.
By 2012 Amway was looking for a buyer for its entire patent portfolio concerning wireless power transfer.[6] This despite creating a lot of buzz at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, with demos even for electric vehicle (EV) charging.[7] Things clearly changed when in September 2012 it became clear that Nokia was releasing the Lumia 920 smartphone with built-in Qi charging.[8]
Philips has by now acquired most of the Qi patent portfolio from Access Business Group. Royalties are therefore now being collected by Philips,[9] but the key patent underlying the Qi standard[10] is still assigned to Access Business Group, a 100% subsidiary of Alticor, which also fully owns Amway.[11]
As of 2019, the Wireless Power Consortium has over 600 individual companies, of which 25 are members of its board of management, also known as the "Steering Group".[12]
- ^ "Wireless Power Consortium". QInside. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
- ^ "Energizer Batteries, Flashlights, Battery Chargers, Lighting". www.energizer.com.
- ^ "Qi Group Announces Wireless Power Prototypes". eWeek Europe. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
- ^ "An introduction to the Wireless Power Consortium standard" (PDF).
- ^ Maniktala, Sanjaya. "WPT breaks all connections, Part 2". EDN.
- ^ Martinez, Shandra (October 8, 2012). "Amway's parent company getting out of wireless technology business". mlive.
- ^ "Fulton Innovation blows our minds with eCoupled wireless Tesla, inductive cereal boxes (video)". Engadget.
- ^ Byford, Sam (September 5, 2012). "Nokia's Qi wireless charging for Lumia 820 and 920: Fatboy pillow unit, public charge points". The Verge.
- ^ "Philips IP&S". www.ip.philips.com.
- ^ "Water treatment system with an inductively coupled ballast".
- ^ "About ABG".
- ^ "Wireless Power Consortium - Member list". Wireless Power Consortium. Retrieved 2019-06-07.