APPLICATIONS OF NANO-ENABLED LARGE AREA MACROELECTRONIC SUBSTRATES INCORPORATING NANOWIRES AND NANOWIRE COMPOSITES
First Claim
1. A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, comprising:
- an antenna;
a beam-steering array that includes a plurality of tunable elements, each tunable element including;
a plurality of phase-adjustment components;
a switch corresponding to each phase-adjustment component, said switch including a transistor formed by a thin film of nanowires in electrical contact with source and drain contacts;
wherein said switch enables said corresponding phase-adjustment component to change a phase of said tunable element;
wherein an electromagnetic (EM) signal transmitted by said antenna is redirected by said beam-steering array.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Macroelectronic substrate materials incorporating nanowires are described. These are used to provide underlying electronic elements (e.g., transistors and the like) for a variety of different applications. Methods for making the macroelectronic substrate materials are disclosed. One application is for transmission an reception of RF signals in small, lightweight sensors. Such sensors can be configured in a distributed sensor network to provide security monitoring. Furthermore, a method and apparatus for a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag is described. The RFID tag includes an antenna and a beam-steering array. The beam-steering array includes a plurality of tunable elements. A method and apparatus for an acoustic cancellation device and for an adjustable phase shifter that are enabled by nanowires are also described.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, comprising:
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an antenna;
a beam-steering array that includes a plurality of tunable elements, each tunable element including;
a plurality of phase-adjustment components;
a switch corresponding to each phase-adjustment component, said switch including a transistor formed by a thin film of nanowires in electrical contact with source and drain contacts;
wherein said switch enables said corresponding phase-adjustment component to change a phase of said tunable element;
wherein an electromagnetic (EM) signal transmitted by said antenna is redirected by said beam-steering array. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, comprising:
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a beam-steering array that includes a plurality of tunable antenna elements, each tunable antenna element including;
a plurality of phase-adjustment components;
a switch corresponding to each phase-adjustment component, said switch including a transistor formed by a thin film of nanowires in electrical contact with source and drain contacts;
wherein said switch enables said corresponding phase-adjustment component to change a phase of said tunable antenna element;
wherein an electromagnetic (EM) signal transmitted by said beam-steering array is directed by controlling the phase of each of said plurality of tunable antenna elements. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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22. A method for steering an electromagnetic (EM) signal related to a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, comprising:
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(a) receiving the EM signal at a beam-steering array of the RFID tag, wherein the beam-steering array includes a plurality of tunable elements; and
(b) adjusting a phase of a tunable element of the beam-steering array to re-direct the EM signal, including the step of;
(1) actuating a switch corresponding to a phase-adjustment component coupled to the tunable element to change a phase of the tunable element, the switch including a transistor formed by a thin film of nanowires in electrical contact with source and drain contacts. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A method for steering an electromagnetic (EM) signal related to a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, comprising:
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(a) transmitting the EM signal using a beam-steering array of the RFID tag, wherein the beam-steering array includes a plurality of tunable antenna elements; and
(b) adjusting a phase of a tunable antenna element of the beam-steering array to re-direct the EM signal, including the step of;
(1) actuating a switch corresponding to a phase-adjustment component coupled to the tunable antenna element to change a phase of the tunable element, the switch including a transistor formed by a thin film of nanowires in electrical contact with source and drain contacts. - View Dependent Claims (35)
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Specification