Organic clock generator

• US 7,843,342 B2
• Filed: 02/21/2006
• Issued: 11/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: PolyIC GmbH & Co. KG (Leonhard KURZ Stiftung & Company KG)
• Original Assignee: PolyIC GmbH & Co. KG (Leonhard KURZ Stiftung & Company KG)
• Inventors: Welker, Merlin, Fix, Walter, Knobloch, Alexander, Ullmann, Andreas
• Primary Examiner(s): Pascal; Robert
• Assistant Examiner(s): Johnson; Ryan
• Application Number:
  US11/817,329
• Publication Number:
  US 20080265965A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,743 Days
• Field of Search: 331/57, 340/572.4, 340/572.7, 340/572.1, 332/112, 235/472.02
• US Class Current: 340/572.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/077 Constructional details, e.g. mounting of circuits in the carrier
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 3/0315 Ring oscillators
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 3/354 Astable circuits

Abstract

An organic electronic module has a clock generator having n organic switching elements connected in series. The output of the nth organic switching element is connected to the input of the first organic switching element. The outputs of two or more organic switching elements are connected to respective inputs of a first electronic circuit of the electronic module tapping off two or more clock signals such that a first clock signal for a first electronic circuit is tapped from the output of a first one of the switching elements and a second clock signal, phase-shifted with respect to the first clock signal, for the first electronic circuit is tapped from the output of a second switching element different than the first switching element.

Claims

1. An electronic module having organic components comprising:

a first electronic circuit; and

a clock generator having n organic switching elements, wherein n is greater than or equal to 11 and is odd, each element having an input and an output and connected in series from a first to the nth element and constructed from organic components, the output of the nth organic switching element being connected as an input to the first organic switching element, the outputs of two or more of the organic switching elements having at least one further switching element therebetween such that the two or more switching elements are not directly connected to one another, the outputs of the two or more switching elements being connected as a respective input to the first electronic circuit for tapping off two or more clock signals at tapping points from the outputs of the two or more switching elements to the respective corresponding inputs of the electronic circuit, the at least one further switching element output not being connected as a clock signal to the first electronic circuit, with the result that a first clock signal for the first electronic circuit is tapped off from the output of a first of the two or more switching elements at a first tapping point and a second clock signal, which is phase-shifted with respect to the first clock signal, for the first electronic circuit is tapped off at a second tapping point from the output of a second of the two or more switching elements so that a clock signal is only applied to the first electronic circuit from the outputs of the two or more switching elements and not from the further switching element output, and wherein the outputs of three or more of the organic switching elements of the clock generator are connected to respective inputs of the first electronic circuit for the purpose of tapping off three or more clock signals which are phase-shifted with respect to one another, and in that the first electronic circuit has two or more logic gates which are constructed from organic components and combine the three or more clock signals to generate two or more output signals having pulses which do not overlap in time of occurrence.

2. The electronic module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first electronic circuit is a logic circuit which is constructed from organic components.

3. The electronic module as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first electronic circuit comprises one or more logic gates constructed from organic components and logically combine two or more of said clock signals to generate one or more output signals for a second electronic circuit.

4. The electronic module as claimed in claim 3 including the second electronic circuit and wherein the second electronic circuit is a logic circuit constructed from organic components.

5. The electronic module as claimed in claim 1 wherein the two or more switching elements are at a distance from each other comprising at least one intervening switching element therebetween.

6. The electronic module as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least two of the clock signals are combined in the first electronic circuit using a NOR gate or an AND gate to generate an asymmetrical pulsed output signal, the pulse width of the pulses of the pulsed output signal being determined by the number of organic switching elements arranged between the tapping points of the clock signals.

7. The electronic module as claimed in claim 1 wherein the three or more clock signals which are phase-shifted with respect to one another are respectively combined in pairs using a logic gate, the number of organic switching elements arranged between the respective tapping points of the clock signals being selected in such a manner that the two or more output signals have pulses which do not overlap in time of occurrence.

8. The electronic component as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first electronic circuit is one of a two-stage or multistage logic circuit.

9. The electronic module as claimed in claim 1 wherein the one or more output signals from the first electronic circuit are supplied to a second electronic circuit as data signals.

10. The electronic module as claimed in claim 9 including the second electronic circuit and wherein the second electronic circuit has a memory unit and the one or more output signals from the first electronic circuit are supplied to the second electronic circuit as an addressing signal.

11. The electronic module as claimed in claim 1 wherein the electronic module includes components that form an RFID transponder which also has an antenna resonant circuit, a rectifier and a digital control circuit, the clock generator being connected to a clock input of the digital control circuit.

12. The electronic module as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first electronic circuit and clock generator are formed on a flexible film element and arranged to operate as a security element.