3 levels of Qi testing
You’ve designed, prototyped and built a revolutionary product with cutting edge Qi technology – congrats! Before you get to officially certifying your Qi product, you’ll need to do some testing to ensure its veracity.
Qi Sniffer
This product is a USB enabled Qi system diagnostic tool that you can set near a transmitter and receiver pair during charging. It will scan the electromagnetic fields, pick up the communication protocol and display the data on an included app for Windows computers.
After you initially develop your device, your next step should be to use this sniffer device to understand what is being communicated. If there’s an error with data being sent at the wrong time or formatted incorrectly, the sniffer will pick it up.
The sniffer can be considered the first line of defense for debugging your product before investing in a more costly testing process. Example: Qi Sniffer, AVID Technologies
Qi Certified Product Testers
Because NOK9, a company specializing in wireless charging measurement equipment, is currently the only Qi certified tester on the market, these can get a little pricey. But each tool in the CATS line of Qi charging testing tools relies on an individual calibration system. So, because each coil is individually measured engineers can get a specific problem and test list report.
CATS I testers work for lower power projects (up to 5W) and CATS II are more expansive (up to 31.5W). Example: CATS MDT tester for overall, CATS I, BPP product tester and CATS II, EPP product tester
Qi Certification
The most laborious – but also the most fruitful – test for your Qi project is the certification process through the Wireless Power Consortium.
Only companies that are members of the Consortium and have signed the logo agreement can then go through the six step product certification process. This distinguishes products that are “Qi compliant” or “compatible with the Qi standard,” from those that are truly certified by the organization. Certified products have passed levels of functionality, interoperability and safety.
The six step process includes administration of licenses and verification of data as well as two rounds of testing by WPC authorized labs.
Example: Full Qi Product Certification, Wireless Power Consortium