Wireless micro-electro-opto-fluidic-mechanical foldable flex system

• US 7,656,673 B1
• Filed: 05/25/2005
• Issued: 02/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: University of South Florida (State University System of Florida)
• Original Assignee: University of South Florida (State University System of Florida)
• Inventors: Weller, Thomas, Fries, David P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Reichard; Dean A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Aychillhum; Andargie M
• Application Number:
  US10/908,760
• Time in Patent Office: 1,714 Days
• Field of Search: 361/749, 361/744, 361/784, 361/398, 607/60, 607/45, 607/30, 600/300, 600/301, 385/14, 385/89, 137/554, 604/890.1
• US Class Current: 361/749
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/0272 Adaptations for fluid transport, e.g. channels, holes
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/0274 Optical details, e.g. printed circuits comprising integral optical means H05K1/0269 takes precedence; coupling light guides with opto-electronic components G02B6/42
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/189 characterised by the use of a flexible or folded printed circuit H05K3/326 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/0141 Liquid crystal polymer [LCP]
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/042 Stacked spaced PCBs; Planar parts of folded flexible circuits having mounted components in between or spaced from each other
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/10037 Printed or non-printed battery
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/10098 Components for radio transmission, e.g. radio frequency identification [RFID] tag, printed or non-printed antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 3/4691 Rigid-flexible multilayer circuits comprising rigid and flexible layers, e.g. having in the bending regions only flexible layers

Abstract

The present invention provides a highly miniaturized wireless transceiver employing WLAN technology that offers flexible integration with multiple, generic sensing technologies. The developed wireless system can be readily integrated with existing sensing technology to enable direct sensor-to-internet communication in environments where wired connections are too costly, or otherwise impractical.

Claims

1. A wireless integrated foldable flex microsystem comprising:

a programmable microprocessor mounted on a first multi-layer printed circuit board;

at least one microelectronic element mounted on a second multi-layer printed circuit board;

a wireless telemetry element mounted on a third multi-layer printed circuit board, the wireless telemetry element for receiving data from the at least one microelectronic element and for transmitting the received data to a remote receiving station; and

a flexible bi-directional liquid crystal polymer interconnect comprising at least one etched non-electrical interconnect and at least one etched electrical interconnect, the flexible bi-directional liquid crystal polymer interconnect positioned between the layers of the first circuit board, second circuit board and third circuit board and a portion of the flexible bi-directional liquid crystal polymer interconnect extending across a space between said circuit boards, the extending portion of the flexible bi-directional liquid crystal polymer interconnect affording foldability of the microsystem.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the programmable microprocessor further comprises circuitry to establish wireless connectivity to the internet employing the wireless telemetry element.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the microelectronic element is a MEMS sensor.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the microelectronic element is a MEMS actuator.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a programmable last metal interconnect grid to accept the microelectronic element.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the flexible bi-directional liquid crystal polymer interconnects further comprise embedded passive circuit elements.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one etched non-electrical interconnect is a fluidic interconnect.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one etched non-electrical interconnect is an optical interconnect.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one etched non-electrical interconnect is a photonic waveguide interconnects.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one integrated circuit in circuit communication with the programmable microprocessor through the flexible bi-directional liquid crystal polymer interconnects.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the wireless telemetry element is an 802.11b wireless telemetry element.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising a battery element in circuit communication with the programmable microprocessor.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the foldable flex system placed in a folded configuration allows for vertical component-to-component interconnections between the folds of the system.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising an external antenna coupled to the wireless telemetry element.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one etched non-electrical interconnect is a magnetic interconnects.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the microprocessor, the microelectronic element or the wireless telemetry are mounted on the same circuit board.