Energous to Launch WattUp Distance-Charging Technology in 900 MHz Band

changed its system to successfully address any such “coexistence” issues. One wave may be transmitted at 5.7 GHz and another at 5.8 GHz. This is in the band originally reserved internationally for use with industrial, scientific and medical equipment, now also widely used for low-power, short-range communication devices such as cordless phones, Bluetooth links, near-field communication devices and Wi-Fi. In a patent application (2017/0373725) coincidentally published two days after Energous landed FCC OK, inventors from Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea fleshed out risks of wireless power technology causing interference. “In general,” interference will result when a “wireless power transfer apparatus uses the same frequency band as a wireless communication system such as Wi-Fi,” said the application. One could make the wireless-charging system behave more like a Wi-Fi communications network and continually exchange handshake signals that check whether the communications airspace is “clear to send” so it can avoid “collisions” with wireless devices, it said. An Energous spokeswoman responded that WattUp uses the 913 MHz band for transmission of power, not 5.8 GHz. “WattUp will launch and operate in the 900MHz band,” because it has two main advantages over 5.8 GHz “for non-contact, charging at a distance,” she said: 900 MHz offers better safety about how energy is absorbed by the human body, and “coexistence” with other devices is improved in 900 MHz.