Patent Application
20150091765
Traditional consumer wearable devices such as wrist watches do not contain an antenna or, if they do contain one or more antennas, the communication via the antenna is not optimal due to the electrical interference caused by components of the wearable device itself or due to the user's skin surface. A component of the wearable device may cause an electrical interference if, for example, the component contains one or more electrical or metal components. An electrical component may generate electromagnetic signals that interfere with radio frequency signals transmitted and/or received by the antenna. Similarly, a user's skin may also cause a disruption in operation of the antenna as the user's skin may generate electromagnetic signals that interfere with radio frequency signals transmitted and/or received by the antenna. More specifically, a wearable device component or a user's skin may cause interference as a result of either electromagnetic induction or electromagnetic radiation emitted from the component or skin. Such effects may cause degradation of data or cause a reduction in signal strength.
According to implementations of the disclosed subject matter, a device may contain a band that contains multiple flexible and rigid sections. A rigid section of the multiple rigid sections may contain a central processing unit (CPU) and another rigid section of the multiple rigid sections may contain a radio frequency (RF) circuit. A flexible section of the multiple flexible sections may be between the rigid section with the CPU and the rigid section with the RF circuit and may contain an antenna element. Alternatively, a first flexible section of the multiple flexible sections may be between the rigid section with the CPU and the rigid section with the RF circuit and a different flexible section adjacent to the rigid section with the RF circuit may contain the antenna element. The antenna element may contain a top side and a bottom side and the flexible section containing the antenna element may contain or roll over a roller that is located beneath the antenna element. The device may contain a grounding flap which may be integrated into the flexible section or may be attached to the flexible section via contact points.
Systems and techniques according to the present disclosure enable communication between a wearable device and one or more other devices with reduced interference from device components and/or a user's skin. Additional features, advantages, and implementations of the disclosed subject matter may be set forth or apparent from consideration of the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. Moreover, it is to be understood that both the foregoing summary and the following detailed description include examples and are intended to provide further explanation without limiting the scope of the claims.
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosed subject matter, are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings also illustrate implementations of the disclosed subject matter and together with the detailed description serve to explain the principles of implementations of the disclosed subject matter. No attempt is made to show structural details in more detail than may be necessary for a fundamental understanding of the disclosed subject matter and various ways in which it may be practiced.
a shows an example visualization corresponding to a wearable device with multiple flexible and rigid sections, according to an implementation of the disclosed subject matter.
b shows another example visualization corresponding to a wearable device with multiple flexible and rigid sections, according to an implementation of the disclosed subject matter.
a shows an example visualization corresponding to a flexible section with a roller, according to an implementation of the disclosed subject matter.
b shows another example visualization corresponding to a flexible section with a roller, according to an implementation of the disclosed subject matter.
A wearable device that contains a band including multiple flexible and rigid sections as well as one or more antennas may allow the one or more antennas to transmit and/or receive signals to/from an external element with limited or no interference from device electronic or metal components and/or an electrical field presented by human skin. The antenna may be contained within a flexible section of the band such that the antenna is placed a minimum distance above a user's skin while the wearable device is worn. The flexible section may be adjacent to at least one rigid section containing a radio frequency circuit. The band may also contain a central processing unit on another rigid section. The flexible section containing the antenna may be between the two rigid sections containing the radio frequency circuit and the central processing unit. Alternatively, the flexible section may only be adjacent to the rigid section containing the radio frequency circuit without being located between that rigid section containing the radio frequency unit and another rigid section containing the central processing unit. The flexible section may contain or may be placed over a roller and the roller may enable the flexible section to bend above the roller when the wearable device is worn by a user. An antenna contained within the flexible section may either bend above the roller when the wearable device is worn or may maintain its shape while at least a portion of the flexible section containing the antenna bends over the roller. A grounding flap may be placed beneath the antenna to further decrease the effect of any electromagnetic field generated by the user's skin.
Implementations of the presently disclosed subject matter and/or a device in connection or communication with a device disclosed herein may be implemented in and used with a variety of component and network architectures.
The bus 21 allows data communication between the central processor 24 and the memory 27, which may include read-only memory (ROM) or flash memory (neither shown), and random access memory (RAM) (not shown), as previously noted. The RAM can include the main memory into which the operating system and application programs are loaded. The ROM or flash memory can contain, among other code, the Basic Input-Output system (BIOS) which controls basic hardware operation such as the interaction with peripheral components. Applications resident with the computer 20 can be stored on and accessed via a computer readable medium, such as a hard disk drive (e.g., fixed storage 23), an optical drive, floppy disk, or other storage medium 25.
The fixed storage 23 may be integral with the computer 20 or may be separate and accessed through other interfaces. A network interface 29 may provide a direct connection to a remote server via a telephone link, to the Internet via an internet service provider (ISP), or a direct connection to a remote server via a direct network link to the Internet via a POP (point of presence) or other technique. The network interface 29 may provide such connection using wireless techniques, including digital cellular telephone connection, Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) connection, digital satellite data connection or the like. For example, the network interface 29 may allow the computer to communicate with other computers via one or more local, wide-area, or other networks, as shown in
Many other devices or components (not shown) may be connected in a similar manner (e.g., wearable devices, touchscreen devices, music players, document scanners, digital cameras and so on). Conversely, all of the components shown in
More generally, various implementations of the presently disclosed subject matter may include or be implemented in the form of computer-implemented processes and apparatuses for practicing those processes. Implementations also may be implemented in the form of a computer program product having computer program code containing instructions implemented in non-transitory and/or tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, USB (universal serial bus) drives, or any other machine readable storage medium, wherein, when the computer program code is loaded into and executed by a computer, the computer becomes an apparatus for practicing implementations of the disclosed subject matter. Implementations also may be implemented in the form of computer program code, for example, whether stored in a storage medium, loaded into and/or executed by a computer, or transmitted over some transmission medium, such as over electrical wiring or cabling, through fiber optics, or via electromagnetic radiation, wherein when the computer program code is loaded into and executed by a computer, the computer becomes an apparatus for practicing implementations of the disclosed subject matter. When implemented on a general-purpose microprocessor, the computer program code segments configure the microprocessor to create specific logic circuits. In some configurations, a set of computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium may be implemented by a general-purpose processor, which may transform the general-purpose processor or a device containing the general-purpose processor into a special-purpose device configured to implement or carry out the instructions. Implementations may be implemented using hardware that may include a processor, such as a general purpose microprocessor and/or an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) that implements all or part of the techniques according to implementations of the disclosed subject matter in hardware and/or firmware. The processor may be coupled to memory, such as RAM, ROM, flash memory, a hard disk or any other device capable of storing electronic information. The memory may store instructions adapted to be executed by the processor to perform the techniques according to implementations of the disclosed subject matter.
According to implementations of the disclosed subject matter, a wearable device may contain a band that may be configured to secure the wearable device onto a user's body. The wearable device may be any applicable device such as a communication device, a media device (e.g., a video playback device, an audio playback device, etc.), an interactive device (e.g., enables video game play, receives user input, provides an output based on user input, etc.), a web access device, or the like. The wearable device may be worn on any applicable portion of a user's body such as a user's wrist, arm, neck, head, leg, or the like. The band may secure the wearable device to a user's body in any applicable manner such as via a clasp, buckle, hook, fastener, or the like or via pressure or friction applied by the band onto the user.
The band may contain a plurality of sections, including rigid sections and flexible sections. A rigid section may be a section that contains an electric component and may not be elastic such that it cannot bend or stretch when the wearable device is worn by a user. More specifically, the wearable device band may be configured to exist in at least two modes: worn and not worn. The rigid section may maintain its structure regardless of whether the wearable device is worn or not worn. More specifically, even when the band is bent, the rigid section may maintain its structure such that neither the rigid section nor anything integrated onto/into the rigid section is stretched or bent.
A flexible section may be a section that is configured to bend or stretch and may contain an antenna, a grounding flap, and/or a roller, as disclosed herein. A flexible section may be between one or more rigid sections and at least some portion of a flexible section may change its structure when a band containing the flexible section changes its position from worn to not worn or vice versa. More specifically, at least a portion of a flexible section may bend or stretch when a force pulls the flexible section from one or more directions. The flexible section may stretch over a roller, as disclosed herein. As a specific example, a user may place a wrist watch on the user's wrist and pull two sections of the band toward each other to facilitate a connection joining the two sections. One or more flexible sections contained in the two sections of the band may be bent or stretched to facilitate the change in shape and/or the change in length of band necessary to facilitate the connection. Notably, here, the structure for one or more rigid sections may not change whereas the structure for at least a portion of the flexible sections may change to facilitate the different configurations of the band.
A rigid section may contain sub-rigid or sub-flexible section and/or any applicable electronic component such as an electronic circuit (e.g., a radio frequency circuit, a central processing unit, etc.), a display (e.g., a touchscreen display, a tactile display, an LED display, etc.), an audio speaker, soft buttons, hard buttons, or the like. Alternatively, a rigid section may not contain any additional components other than the material that makes up the rigid section.
A flexible section may contain sub-rigid or sub-flexible section and/or one or more components such as an electronic component, an antenna, a grounding flap, a roller, or the like. The components may be attached to a flexible section in any applicable manner such as by attaching with contact points integrated into the flexible section, by solder, by being disposed on, under, or within the flexible section or the like. Alternatively, a flexible section component may be integrated into the flexible section.
A wearable device band may contain a plurality of flexible sections and a plurality of rigid sections. A first rigid section may contain a central processing unit and second rigid section may contain a radio frequency circuit. It will be understood that although the present disclosure describes a first and a second rigid section, there may be multiple rigid sections that contain one or more central processing units and/or radio frequency circuits. The central processing unit may be in communication with the radio frequency circuit via any applicable technique such as wireless communication or wired communication. A central processing unit may be a hardware component that carries out computer based instructions by performing any applicable arithmetic, logical, processing or memory operation. The central processing unit may contain any applicable components such as transistors, electronic busses, power, or the like. A radio frequency circuit may be configured for any applicable application such as to receive and/or transmit radio frequency signals, amplify a signal, mix a signal, or the like.
According to an implementation of the disclosed subject matter, a wearable device band may contain a flexible section including an antenna and be located adjacent to a first rigid section. The rigid section may contain a radio frequency circuit that is in communication with the antenna. The antenna may be any applicable antenna configured to facilitate communication such as an RF antenna capable of transmitting and/or receiving radio signals. As a specific example, the antenna may be 2.4 GHz antenna configured to optimally transmit and receive signals at 2.4 GHz. The antenna may be integrated into the flexible region such that it is a part of the flexible section (e.g., integrated into the flexible section during production). Alternatively, the antenna may be joined with the flexible section in any applicable manner such as by connecting the antenna to connection points on the flexible section or by soldering an antenna onto the flexible section.
According to an implementation of the disclosed subject matter, an antenna contained within a flexible section of a band may be located at a position within the flexible section such that the antenna is not in contact with a user's skin when the wearable device containing the device is worn by the user. As shown in
According to an implementation of the disclosed subject matter, a flexible section of a wearable device band may either contain a roller or may be located above a roller. It will be understood that although the present disclosure describes the roller as a part of a flexible section that is part of a band, a flexible section may be placed over a roller. As an example, as shown in
The shape of an antenna contained within a flexible section may or may not change when a portion of the flexible section changes shape by bending or stretching over a roller. The antenna may be flexible such that when the flexible section is bent or stretched over a roller, at least a part of the antenna also changes shape along with the flexible section. Alternatively, the flexible section may be configured such that when a portion of the flexible section is bent or stretched over a roller, the antenna associated with the flexible section does not change shape. More specifically, portions of the flexible section around the antenna may change shape to accommodate any stretching, while the antenna maintains its shape.
According to implementations of the disclosed subject matter, a grounding flap may be located beneath an antenna. The grounding flap may prevent user contact such that any unintended voltage is not transferred from the user to the antenna. Further, the grounding flap may also be connected to any other electronic circuit such as the radio frequency circuit or the central processing unit. For example, the grounding flap may be attached to a common ground plane used by at least one of the radio frequency circuit and/or the central processing unit. A grounding flap may be connected to a flexible section with an antenna in any applicable manner such as soldered into one or more solder points on one or more sides of a flexible section, received by contact points located on the flexible section, integrated into a flexible section. The grounding flap may remain in a relative position as at least a part of the flexible section and/or the antenna shifts when the band containing the flexible section is stretched. Notably, the grounding flap remaining relatively stationary may reduce stress on the solder points while at least a portion of the flexible section flexes. The grounding flap may be located adjacent to a roller such that the grounding flap may be above, below or shifted physically, relative to a roller. A grounding flap located above a roller may change a shape when the roller is stretched. Alternatively, a grounding flap located beneath a roller may maintain its shape when a portion of the flexible section is bent or stretched above the roller.
Another rigid section containing a central processing unit may be located on the side of the flexible section opposite of the rigid section with the radio frequency circuit. Here, the flexible section may be contained between the rigid section with the radio frequency circuit and the rigid section with the central processing unit. As an example, as shown in
In an illustrative example of the disclosed subject matter, as shown in
In another illustrative example of the disclosed subject matter, as shown in
The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been described with reference to specific implementations. However, the illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit implementations of the disclosed subject matter to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The implementations were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of implementations of the disclosed subject matter and their practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to utilize those implementations as well as various implementations with various modifications as may be suited to the particular use contemplated.
