Method and apparatus for sensing environmental conditions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10164611-B2
Application number	US-201715665251-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 31, 2017
Priority date	Nov 18, 2006
Publication date	Dec 25, 2018
Grant date	Dec 25, 2018

Abstract

A wireless sensor includes a radio frequency (RF) receiving circuit including a plurality of components, where impedances of the plurality of components establish a resonant frequency of the RF receiving circuit. The wireless sensor further includes a sensing element that when exposed to an environmental condition, affects the resonant frequency of the RF receiving circuit. The wireless sensor further includes a processing module that is operable to determine a first value for an adjustable element of a plurality of elements for a known environmental condition based on the resonant frequency and the carrier frequency, determine a second value for the adjustable element for an unknown environmental condition based on the resonant frequency and the carrier frequency, and determine a difference between the first and second values that corresponds to a change between the known environmental condition and the unknown environmental condition.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A wireless sensor comprises:
a radio frequency (RF) receiving circuit operable to receive an RF signal having a carrier frequency of a plurality of carrier frequencies, the RF receiving circuit includes a plurality of components, wherein impedances of the plurality of components establish a resonant frequency of the RF receiving circuit;
a sensing element proximally positioned with respect to the RF receiving circuit, wherein, when the sensing element is exposed to an environmental condition, the sensing element affects the resonant frequency of the RF receiving circuit; and
a processing module operably coupled to the RF receiving circuit, wherein the processing module is operable to:
determine a first value for an adjustable element of a plurality of elements for a known environmental condition based on the resonant frequency of the RF receiving circuit and the carrier frequency of the RF signal, wherein the plurality of elements includes the plurality of carrier frequencies and the impedances of the plurality of components and wherein other elements of the plurality of elements are fixed elements;
determine a second value for the adjustable element for an unknown environmental condition based on the resonant frequency of the RF receiving circuit and the carrier frequency of the RF signal; and
determine a difference between the first and second values that corresponds to a change between the known environmental condition and the unknown environmental condition.

2. The wireless sensor of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of components comprises:
an antenna operable to receive the RF signal; and
a capacitor coupled to the antenna to form a tank circuit.

3. The wireless sensor of claim 2 , wherein the processing module is further operable to perform one of:
adjust characteristics of the antenna to affect the resonant frequency, wherein the antenna corresponds to the adjustable element; and
adjust capacitance of the capacitor to affect the resonant frequency, wherein the capacitor corresponds to the adjustable element, wherein the capacitor includes one or more of a varactor and a selectable capacitor bank.

4. The wireless sensor of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of components comprises:
an antenna operable to receive the RF signal;
a capacitor; and
an inductor, wherein the capacitor and at least one of the antenna and the inductor are coupled to form a tank circuit.

5. The wireless sensor of claim 4 , wherein the processing module is further operable to perform one of:
adjust characteristics of the antenna to affect the resonant frequency, wherein the antenna corresponds to the adjustable element;
adjust capacitance of the capacitor to affect the resonant frequency, wherein the capacitor corresponds to the adjustable element, and wherein the capacitor includes one or more of a varactor and a selectable capacitor bank; and
adjust inductance of the inductor to affect the resonant frequency, wherein the inductor corresponds to the adjustable element.

6. The wireless sensor of claim 1 , wherein the processing module is further operable to:
request a change in the carrier frequency of the RF signal, wherein the carrier frequency corresponds to the adjustable element.

7. The wireless sensor of claim 1 , wherein the environmental condition comprises one of:
moisture;
temperature;
proximity; and
pressure.

8. The wireless sensor of claim 1 , wherein the processing module is further operable to determine the first value by:
for a range of values for the adjustable element, determining power levels for the received RF signal; and
identifying a value of the range of values corresponding to a peak power level of the power levels as the first value.

9. The wireless sensor of claim 1 , wherein the processing module is further operable to determine the second value by:
for a range of values for the adjustable element, determining power levels for the received RF signal; and
identifying a value of the range of values corresponding to a peak power level of the power levels as the second value.

10. A method for execution by a wireless sensor, the method comprises:
receiving a radio frequency (RF) signal having a carrier frequency of a plurality of carrier frequencies, wherein an RF receiving circuit of the wireless sensor includes a plurality of components, wherein impedances of the plurality of components establish a resonant frequency of the RF receiving circuit, wherein a sensing element of the wireless sensor is proximally positioned with respect to the RF receiving circuit and to sense an environmental condition, and wherein, when the sensing element is exposed to the environmental condition, the sensing element affects the resonant frequency of the RF receiving circuit;
determining a first value for an adjustable element of a plurality of elements for a known environmental condition based on the resonant frequency of the RF receiving circuit and the carrier frequency of the RF signal, wherein the plurality of elements includes the plurality of carrier frequencies and the impedances of the plurality of components and wherein other elements of the plurality of elements are fixed elements;
determining a second value for the adjustable element for an unknown environmental condition based on the resonant frequency of the RF receiving circuit and the carrier frequency of the RF signal; and
determining a difference between the first and second values that corresponds to a change between the known environmental condition and the unknown environmental condition.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of components comprises:
an antenna operable to receive the RF signal; and
a capacitor coupled to the antenna to form a tank circuit.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprises one of:
adjusting characteristics of the antenna to affect the resonant frequency, wherein the antenna corresponds to the adjustable element; and
adjusting capacitance of the capacitor to affect the resonant frequency, wherein the capacitor corresponds to the adjustable element.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of components comprises two or more of:
an antenna operable to receive the RF signal;
a capacitor; and
an inductor, wherein the capacitor and at least one of the antenna and the inductor are coupled to form a tank circuit.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprises one of:
adjusting characteristics of the antenna to affect the resonant frequency, wherein the antenna corresponds to the adjustable element;
adjusting capacitance of the capacitor to affect the resonant frequency, wherein the capacitor corresponds to the adjustable element; and
adjusting inductance of the inductor to affect the resonant frequency, wherein the inductor corresponds to the adjustable element.

15. The method of claim 10 further comprises:
requesting a change in the carrier frequency of the RF signal, wherein the carrier frequency corresponds to the adjustable element.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the environmental condition comprises one of:
moisture;
temperature;
proximity; and
pressure.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein the determining of the first value further comprises:
for a range of values for the adjustable element, determining power levels for the received RF signal; and
identifying a value of the range of values corresponding to a peak power level of the power levels as the first value.

18. The method of claim 10 , wherein the determining of the second value further compr

Assignees

• Rfmicron Inc

Inventors

• Rokhsaz Shahriar

Classifications

• H04B5/0062

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H03H7/40

  Automatic matching of load impedance to source impedance · CPC title

• H03J3/20

  of single resonant circuit by varying inductance only or capacitance only · CPC title

• G06K7/10148 Primary

  the step consisting of dynamically tuning the resonant circuit of the interrogation device that is emitting the interrogation signal, e.g. for impedance matching inside of the interrogation device (for tuning related to loop aerials in general H01Q7/00) · CPC title

• G06K7/10336

  the antenna being of the near field type, inductive coil · CPC title