Update: The Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) and Power Matters Alliance (PMA) have settled upon a new brand identity after completing a merger agreement earlier this year. The new organization will be renamed the AirFuel Alliance, and both former brands will be retired.
The unified organization will continue to promote the use of inductive and magnetic resonance technologies and the development of multi-node systems that can operate with either approach. The organization also plans to establish a working group that will attempt to develop technology that pushes "beyond the use of magnetics."
The AirFuel Alliance has been operating as a single organization since July, and has fully integrated its existing teams and committees, according to an official statement from the organization. In October, it established the first inductive and resonant "plugfest," where several companies tested wireless power receivers and transmitters to gauge compliance and commercial viability.
Previously: In the hopes of accelerating growth in the wireless charging industry, two of the main standards organizations in the wireless charging industry have merged in the hopes of accelerating the widespread growth of the technology. The A4WP and PMA recently finalized a merger agreement that was first announced back in January.
The new organization, which will be renamed later this year, is supported by 195 member companies in the technology industry, including AT&T, Broadcom, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, Procter & Gamble, Duracell Powermat, ON Semiconductor, and Intel, among others.
Before the merger agreement, both organizations had supported inductive and magnetic resonance standards for wireless charging. These systems use inductive coupling between coils of wire to transfer power over short distances from a charging device to a wireless product. Because of their similar approaches to wireless charging, the organization is expected to introduce a new standard for use in consumer products, ranging from smartphones and computers to kitchen appliances and automobiles.
The new standard is expected to rival the wireless charging specification maintained by the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), the only other major standards organization in the industry. Founded by Qualcomm and several other organization, the WPC has released the Qi (pronounced “chee”) wireless charging specification, which combines inductive coupling and magnetic resonance technology to transmit wireless power to devices.
Both organizations have retained key contributors within the technical, testing and certification, regulatory and marketing divisions. Ron Resnick, president of Power Matters Alliance, will assume his role as the president of the new organization. Kamil Grajski, president of the Alliance for Wireless Power, will remain in an executive position as chairman.