Intel Announces Wireless Power Technology

Intel has introduced a wireless power system that could eliminate power cords for many gadgets and electronics.

Intel chief technology officer Justin Rattner demonstrated the Wireless Resonant Energy Link by powering a 60-watt light bulb without a cord at an Intel developer conference.

"The trick with wireless power is not can you do it; it's can you do it safely and efficiently," Intel researcher Josh Smith said in an online video explaining the breakthrough.

"It turns out the human body is not affected by magnetic fields; it is affected by elective fields. So what we are doing is transmitting energy using the magnetic field not the electric field."

Cell phones and other electronic devices could be recharged just by setting them on a power counter. Most laptop computers consume less than 60 watts. Other devices like coffee makers would never need to be plugged in if they were positioned close enough to a wireless power transmitter.

The wireless power system builds on the work by Massachusetts Instititute of Technology physicist Marin Soljacic that pioneered the concept of using resonant magnetic fields to transmit electricity without cords. The MIT research group dubbed the technology WiTricity.

Intel reached 75 percent efficiency in the power transmission over wireless whereas MIT researchers had reached only 50 percent efficiency previously.

Researchers say that the wireless power system is capable of transmitting much more than the 60 watts demonstrated and it can transmit power two or three feet. Currently, the coils required to generate and receive the electricity are large, but Intel said that they will work on shrinking the coils small enough to be included in typical portable electronics, but much research needs to be done before the technology can be brought to market.

"Hopefully we'll show the wirelessly powered laptop in the not too distant future," said Rattner.

WildCharge, based in Boulder, Colo., and WiPower, based in Altamonte Springs, Fla., have announced wireless charging technologies. But they require that the gadgets touch the charging station.

Wireless power is not a new technology. According to Wikipedia, William C. Brown demonstrated in 1964 on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite a microwave-powered model helicopter.

Nikola Tesla, who invented radio, microwaves, and alternating current, filed patents in 1897 dealing with Wardenclyffe tower, which was designed to transmit telephony and wireless power. The tower was shut down in 1917 due to economic problems.