Company K was looking for new mainstay products to replace AC adapters, which offer only small profit margins, and was approached by a leading supplier to discuss the possibility of supplying, on an OEM basis, wireless power transfer systems compliant with Qi standards, which are international standards. On the market, the demand for wireless power transfer as a new power-charging method is increasing hand in hand with the rapid spread of tablets and smartphones.
Company K eagerly accepted the challenge and proceeded with development, fully aware both that wireless power transfer systems were experiencing rapid growth and that there were merits inherent to the company being able to use the technology and expertise it had accumulated during its production of AC adapters.
Using the information acquired from IC manufacturers and other sources and its own expertise, the company fabricated some prototypes and started to evaluate them. However, no matter how many evaluations it performed, problems arose, including a deterioration in the reception sensitivity of the sound and data communications and an increase in the radiation noise. The company tried to make improvements, but as a company with no knowledge about suppressing noise generated by wireless power transfer, it could not meet the requirements of the leading supplier on its own.
At a total loss, Company K consulted with the manufacturers of the components used in its project, among others, to find ways of suppressing the noise, but no advice or information was forthcoming, and it was unable to come up with actual noise suppression measures.
Although the company was able to envision the framework of the wireless power transfer main units, it was unable to see how it could deal with the noise problem at all, and the project came to a complete standstill.