Design of a GaN-Based Wireless Power Transfer System at 13.56 MHz to Replace Conventional Wired Connection in a Vehicle

Wired connections running through the doors, hatchbacks, and trunks of a vehicle are subjected to extensive mechanical wear from repeated bending caused by the open-and-close motion. By employing wireless power transfer, this failure mode can be completely eliminated. In this paper, a 300 W 48-to-48 V WPT system with above 90% efficiency designed for such application is demonstrated. To achieve a system that is small, light-weight, and highly efficient as desired by the automotive industry, a novel inductor elimination technique is developed. The following paper shows the system design methodology, the inductor elimination technique, and the control scheme used in this work.