Power Matters Alliance


Power Matters Alliance was a global, not-for-profit, industry organization whose mission was to advance a suite of standards and protocols for wireless power transfer for mobile electronic devices. The organization was merged with Alliance for Wireless Power in 2015 to form AirFuel Allliance.
Founded by Procter & Gamble and Powermat Technologies in March 2012, PMA was networking technology companies in order to guarantee consumers interoperable devices which employed wireless power technology. Marked by the electron "P", PMA interface standard described analog power transfer, digital transceiver communication, cloud based power management, and environmental sustainability. The PMA board of directors included representatives from AT&T, Duracell, Starbucks, Powermat Technologies, Flextronics, Federal Communications Commission, and Energy Star. The membership of the PMA was made up of companies across the mobile device ecosystem, including handset providers, service providers, chipset suppliers, manufacturers, test labs and public establishments.

PMA standard and technology

The PMA's stated mission was to formulate and advance a suite of interface standards for smart and energy-efficient transfer of wireless power. The PMA was actively publishing a suite of standards based on inductive coupling technology to provide advanced inductive and resonant power. In addition, the PMA sought to add a digital layer providing policy-setting, monitoring, and extensible APIs. The PMA managed interoperability, certification and logo programs according to these specifications.
On February 11, 2014, the Alliance for Wireless Power and the PMA announced that they signed an agreement calling for the following immediate next steps:
This agreement was a move toward industry consolidation of wireless charging standards. The two organisations went a step further in 2015, by announcing their intent to merge into a new organisation., named the AirFuel Alliance.

Key Features

The 'Electron P' mark of interoperability was required to set compatibility standards across markets and industry, and across all links in the delivery chain of the alliance. It was used by industries and companies that adopt and implement the PMA standards. It was displayed at coffee shops, clubs, hair salons, airline terminals, entertainment venues, and on mobile phone accessories.

Semi-Annual Conferences and Quarterly PlugFests

PMA conducted member conferences.

Working Groups

Adoption

On June 11, 2014, Starbucks announced plans to provide wireless chargers at its coffeehouses in the United States and to test the wireless chargers in select European and Asian markets.