Consumer demand for more portable and capable electronic devices has driven the development and production of smaller and more user-friendly devices. Users expect greater functionality out of even smaller devices and carry with them devices that exhibit functionality that was previously not available or only available in non-portable devices. Garments now include specialized pockets for phones, GPS devices and music players with built-in sleeves for routing cords for controllers or headsets.
As will be appreciated, the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale or intended to limit the claimed invention to the specific configurations shown. For instance, while some figures generally indicate straight lines, right angles, and smooth surfaces, an actual implementation of a transistor structure may have less than perfect straight lines, right angles, and some features may have surface topology or otherwise be non-smooth, given real world limitations of the processing equipment and techniques used. In short, the figures are provided merely to show example structures.
In one aspect, a fabric is provided that includes electronic and computing functionality that can be used anywhere that conventional woven and non-woven textiles can be used, for example in clothing, footwear, sporting goods, upholstery and other applications. The fabric may include flexible electrically functional fibers that impart electronic functionality to the fabric without adversely affecting the appearance and/or feel of the fabric. The flexible electrically functional fibers can include conductive materials, dielectric materials and semiconductor materials. The fabric may also include one or more electronic elements that may not be integral to the flexible electrically functional fibers but may be operationally connected via the fibers. These electronic elements can include, for example, microprocessors, emitters, receivers, antennas, electronic arrays, circuits, dies, batteries, solar cells, microphones, sensors, radiative elements, switches, lights, controllers, input devices and output devices. The flexible electrically functional fibers may be woven directly into a fabric, as is practiced with textile fibers, and may be used to place multiple electronic devices in electrical communication with each other.
As used herein, a “textile fiber” is a natural or synthetic fiber conventionally used to make woven or non-woven textiles. Textile fibers typically do not exhibit electrical functionality although they may exhibit electrical properties. Example natural materials include plant fibers such as cotton, cellulose, flax and hemp as well as animal derived fibers such as wool and silk. Example synthetic materials include polymeric and non-polymeric materials. Example polymers may be polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene and halogenated polymers such as polyvinylchloride. Additional example synthetics include those materials used in fibers and fabrics such as rayon, nylon, acrylic, polyester, aramid, carbon fiber and glass fiber. The flexible electrically functional fibers may incorporate conventional natural or synthetic fibers in order to blend in with other fibers that may be used to form the bulk of the fabric. The flexible electrically functional fibers may include a single core of electronically active material(s), a bundle of independent electrical conductors, or can include coaxial layers of electronically active and inactive materials. The flexible electrically functional fibers may include specific electronic features and capabilities such as low resistance conductors, piezo resistant materials, piezo luminescent materials and capacitive materials. When incorporated into fabrics and then into textiles, these flexible electrically functional fibers can be used to connect electrical systems that can perform a variety of functions that are traditionally performed using free-standing devices. The electronically functional fabrics can be used broadly, for example, in finished goods that traditionally incorporate fabrics such as clothing, footwear, outerwear, upholstery and recreational goods such as sporting goods, camping materials and boating equipment. The fabrics can provide a variety of new electronic functionalities without adversely affecting the aesthetics or utility of the fabric.
Functional Fibers
In a first set of embodiments, flexible electrically functional fibers are provided that can provide electrical functionality to flexible substrates such as woven and non-woven fabrics. As used herein, a flexible electrically functional fiber (“functional fiber” throughout) is a man-made fiber comprising at least one electrically functional material and a layer surrounding the at least one electrically functional material. The functional fiber may include a conductor, active electronic devices and embedded structures to provide low capacitance and low resistance for high speed interconnects. The functional fiber may have a single core surrounded by an insulating cover or can include, for example, two or more coaxial layers that may be, for instance, either conductive or non-conductive. In another embodiment, the functional fiber can include a plurality of electrical elements, such as conductors, bundled together into a single fiber. In many embodiments, multiple thin layers of material can provide greater flexibility than do fewer, thicker layers of material at an equivalent carrying capacity. As illustrated in the specific embodiments shown in transverse cross-sectional views in
As shown in transverse cross-section in
In another embodiment, core 20 can comprise one or more low-k flexible dielectric materials or materials having a dielectric constant on par with silicon dioxide. The dielectric materials may exhibit a dielectric constant (k) of, for example, less than 3.9, less than 3.5 or less than 3.0, in some embodiments. Dielectric materials, in some embodiments, include porous silicon dioxide and silicon dioxide doped with fluorine and/or carbon. Other example dielectric materials include polymer dielectrics including spin-on organic polymeric dielectrics such as hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) and methyl silsesquioxane (MSQ), polyimide, polynorbornenes, benzocyclobutene, and PTFE. Additional example polymeric dielectrics may be made from cyclic carbosilanes.
In another embodiment, core 20 can comprise one or more high-k dielectric materials. These materials include, for instance, hafnium oxide, hafnium silicon oxide, nitride hafnium silicates, lanthanum oxide, lanthanum aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide, zirconium silicon oxide, tantalum oxide, titanium oxide, barium strontium titanium oxide, barium titanium oxide, strontium titanium oxide, yttrium oxide, aluminum oxide, lead scandium tantalum oxide, and lead zinc niobate. The dielectric may be porous or non-porous. In general, porosity may be provisioned as a way of controlling the desired k-factor (increased porosity may be used to cause a decrease in the dielectric constant of the layer).
In another embodiment, core 20 can comprise a transducer. For example, core 20 may include a material that is piezo functional, such as a piezoelectric or piezo luminescent material. In general, a piezoelectric material translates pressure or touch into an electrical signal, and a piezo-luminescent material translates pressure or touch into electromagnetic radiation, such as a light signal. The resulting electrical/light signals can be used in various electrical and optical circuits, respectively, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. The piezoelectric material may be organic or inorganic and can include, for example, quartz, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), apatite, aluminum nitride, potassium sodium tartrate, lead zirconate titanate, zinc oxide composite, barium titanate, lithium tantalite, lanthanum gallium silicate, bismuth ferrite, lead scandium tantalate and gallium phosphate. Examples of piezo luminescent materials include alkali halides, ferro-electric polymers and quartz materials. In some embodiments, the piezoelectric or piezo-luminescent material may be flexible. In these embodiments, materials such as polymers (e.g., PVDF), lead zirconate titanate and zinc oxide composite may be preferred.
Outermost layer 16 may be flexible, ductile and/or electrically insulative. In some embodiments layer 16 may be opaque, translucent or transparent. The layer can include a polymeric material, can consist essentially of a polymeric material or can be exclusively a polymeric material. Example polymers may include, for example, polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene and halogenated polymers such as polyvinylchloride and PTFE. Additional example polymers include materials such as rayon, nylon, acrylic, polyester and aramid. Outer layer 16 may completely cover core 20 and may be substantially circular in cross-section. Layer 16 may have a wall thickness of, for example, less than 500 μm, less than 100 μm, less than 10 μm, less than 1 μm, less than 100 nm, less than 10 nm, less than 5 nm, less than 3 nm or greater than 1 nm, in some embodiments. Outer layer 16 may include natural materials to, for example, give the functional fiber the aesthetic qualities of a textile fiber. Outer layer 16 may also include additives such as pigments, dyes, antioxidants and/or UV inhibitors and may also include an additive for rendering the layer more compatible with dyes. Layer 16 may be chemically treated, for example by ozone or another oxidizer, to improve compatibility with a dye or ink. In this manner, the functional fiber can be colored using methods similar to those used for conventional fibers. If the functional fiber is to be used in a fabric comprising natural fibers such as cotton, outer layer 16 of the functional fiber can be a hydrophilic material, such as rayon, which will accept many of the dyes used to color cotton. In this way, a fabric comprising both natural fibers and functional fibers can be dyed evenly, blending the functional fibers with the natural fibers in the fabric. In other embodiments, hydrophobic materials are preferred. In yet another embodiment, oleophobic polymer coatings (e.g. fluoro-POSS containing polymers) can be used to treat the outer coating. Specific functional fiber colors can be used for identification or for aesthetic purposes when incorporated into fabrics. The outer layer 16 may protect the fiber from heat and moisture and can allow fabrics made using the fiber to be treated like a textile fiber. For example, in some embodiments, the functional fiber can be laundered and/or heat dried without damaging the functionality of the fiber.
Functional fiber 12, shown in
Embedding material 26 may be any material that can support individual fibers 22 inside of outer layer 10. In different embodiments, embedding material may include a solid, a liquid, a gel or a gas and can be conductive or nonconductive. In some embodiments, embedding material 26 can comprise one or more of the materials used for core 20 or for outer layer 16. For example, embedding material 26 may be a high k or low k dielectric material. In some embodiments, the dielectric material may be an easily flexed material that can retain most of its dielectric capabilities upon flexing. For instance, in some embodiments, the dielectric material can be a flexible polymer, a gel or a foam and may be porous or nonporous. Embedding material 26 may be of low density, for example, less than 0.5 g/cc, less than 0.2 g/cc or less than 0.1 g/cc. In one embodiment, embedding material 26 can comprise an aerogel, such as a silica aerogel. Outer layer 16 may be of any suitable material including those described with reference to coating layer 16 in
In this embodiment and others described throughout this disclosure, conductive materials may be applied as a film using methods known for applying conductive films to substrates. If a polymer, the conductive material may include a dopant or additive such as iodine or carbon black. In some embodiments the conductive layer may be a translucent or transparent material. These materials include, for example, transparent conductive oxides (TCO) such as tin-doped indium-oxide, aluminum-doped zinc-oxide (AZO) and indium-doped cadmium-oxide. Transparent or translucent polymeric materials include, for example, polymers containing thiophenes such as poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), PEDOT with poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) and poly(4,4-dioctylcyclopentadithiophene).
In transverse cross-section, conductive layers 30 and 50 may be substantially circular and may have an average diameter of from 10 nm to 100 μm, 100 nm to 10 μm, or 100 nm to 1 μm, in some embodiments. The ratio of the diameters of first conductive layer 30 or second conductive layer 50 to core 20 may be, for example, greater than 1.5:1, greater than or equal to 3:1, greater than or equal to 5:1, greater than or equal to 10:1, greater than or equal to 50:1 or less than 100:1. The ratio of the diameter of second conductive layer 50 to that of first conductive layer 30 can be, for example, greater than or equal to 1.5:1, greater than or equal to 2:1, greater than or equal to 3:1, greater than or equal to 10:1, greater than or equal to 50:1 or less than 100:1. The wall thickness of each of conductive layers 30 and 50 may be, for example, less than 100 μm, less than 10 μm, less than 1 μm, less than 100 nm, less than 10 nm or greater than 1 nm.
The inner insulative layer 40 can include, for example, a low-k flexible dielectric material, or any other suitable dielectric material capable of providing the desired flexibility and insulative effect including high-k dielectrics as well as dielectric materials having a dielectric constant on par with silicon dioxide. The materials may exhibit a dielectric constant (k) of, for example, less than 3.9, less than 3.5 or less than 3.0, in some embodiments. The dielectric layer 40 may be substantially circular in cross-section and the ratio of the diameter of the layer compared to first conductive layer may be less than or equal to 3:1, less than or equal to 2:1, less than or equal to 1.5:1, less than or equal to 1.2:1 and may be greater than or equal to 1.01:1. Dielectric layer 40 can have a wall thickness of, for example, less than 100 μm, less than 10 μm, less than 1 μm, less than 100 nm, less than 10 nm, less than 5 nm or greater than or equal to 1 nm. Dielectric layer 40 can be made from materials including porous silicon dioxide and silicon dioxide doped with fluorine and/or carbon. Other example dielectric materials include polymer dielectrics including spin-on organic polymeric dielectrics such as hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) and methyl silsesquioxane (MSQ), polyimide, polynorbornenes, benzocyclobutene, and PTFE. Additional example polymeric dielectrics may be made from cyclic carbosilanes. Examples of high-k dielectric materials include, for instance, hafnium oxide, hafnium silicon oxide, nitride hafnium silicates, lanthanum oxide, lanthanum aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide, zirconium silicon oxide, tantalum oxide, titanium oxide, barium strontium titanium oxide, barium titanium oxide, strontium titanium oxide, yttrium oxide, aluminum oxide, lead scandium tantalum oxide, and lead zinc niobate. The dielectric may be porous or non-porous. In general, porosity may be provisioned as a way of controlling the desired k-factor (increased porosity may be used to cause a decrease in the dielectric constant of the layer).
In many embodiments, the functional fibers described herein can be spun into yarn and/or thread using spinning techniques that are available to those in the fabric and textile arts. Functional fibers may be spun with other functional fibers or may be spun with textile fibers to form a hybrid thread comprising both functional threads and textile fibers. These hybrid threads may include one, two, three, four, five or more functional fibers. In some embodiments, hybrid threads may have a functional fiber to textile fiber ratio, on a fiber to fiber basis, of less than, greater than, or equal to 1:10, 1:5, 1:2, 1:1, 2:1, 5:1 or 10:1.
As illustrated in
Functional Fiber Applications
Flexible functional fibers can be provided with different types of electronically functional capabilities. In one set of embodiments, the fibers can serve as connective wires and can serve in any way that conventional wires and traces do. For example, functional fibers can be used to provide electrical communication between two devices, a device and a power source, a device and an input source, a device and an output source or a device and a signal source. A single functional fiber can include, for example, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, greater than 10, greater than 100 or greater than 1000 independent conductors.
Functional fibers can also incorporate electrical devices integrally into the fiber. For example, functional fibers can include memory devices, input devices and output devices. These devices can include, in some embodiments, transducers such as piezoelectric devices. For example, dielectric layer 40 as shown in
Piezo functional materials can provide functional fibers with functionality that allows the functional fibers to respond to pressure. For example, a piezo functional fiber woven into a shirt can act as a switch when the portion of the fabric of the shirt that includes the piezo functional portion is pressed or bent. By monitoring resistance between ends of the electrically functional fiber one is able to detect when a piezoelectric material in series with the fiber has been activated. Resistance may increase or decrease as a result, depending on the type of piezo active material that is used. If more than one piezoelectric device in series in a fiber is activated, the change in resistance will be proportionally greater. In this manner, one can detect the difference between pressure over a small portion of the fiber (or fabric) and pressure over a larger portion of the fiber. For instance, the difference between a finger pushing on a fiber and a hand pushing on the same fiber could be detected by a greater change in resistance due to pressure contact on a greater number of piezoelectric devices. The active portion of the fabric may be identified by color or other indicia but in some embodiments is not visually identifiable or otherwise highlighted and can blend in with the rest of the fabric.
Functional fibers including piezo functional materials may be of consistent diameter throughout their length, in some embodiments. The portion of a functional fiber including a piezo functional material can have a same or similar diameter as the portion of the functional fiber comprising an interconnect. The length of a piezo active portion of a functional fiber may be selected to elicit a detectable response when activated. In some cases, the length of the piezo active portion may, for example, fall within a range having a lower limit of 10 nm, 100 nm, 1 μm, 10 μm, 100 μm or 1 mm and an upper limit of 1 μm, 1 mm, 1 cm or 10 cm. In embodiments where the piezo active portion is not flexible, the portion may be shorter than in other applications. For instance, the piezo active portion may be less than 1 mm, less than 100 μm, less than 10 μm, or less than 1 μm in length. Multiple piezo active materials may be formed in a functional fiber at consistent and/or varying intervals along the fiber. For example, a 1 mm length of piezo functional material may be formed in a functional fiber at 1 cm intervals along the fiber. Regular intervals can be used to assure that when pressure is applied anywhere along the functional fiber by, for example, a human thumb or finger(s) or hand, at least one piezo functional portion will be activated.
In some cases, a piezo functional material may not spontaneously return to its initial state after being activated, thereby effectively providing a memory cell. The value of the cell can be read out using conductive interconnects, and can be based, for instance, on the resistive state of the piezo functional material (e.g., a high resistance value can be a logical 1, and a low resistance can be a logical 0, assuming a binary system). To re-set these materials, a charge or current can be applied to the functional fiber to re-set or re-activate the piezo components. In this manner, the functional fiber can be effectively programmed and unprogrammed repeatedly. A functional fiber including a piezo luminescent device can be used in a similar fashion, except that the output signal is light. In embodiments where the output signal is light, the light can be in the visible range, the infrared range or the UV range, for example.
In addition, a functional fiber including a piezo luminescent device could be used in clothing to inform the user that a desired user control input to electronics embedded within the fabric has been received or that a sufficient charge is available to power such embedded electronics or to store a user input in an optical-based memory cell of the embedded electronics has received data. Numerous other applications will be apparent in light of this disclosure. For example, a functional fiber including a piezo luminescent device could be used on and/or in an automobile and/or test dummy to indicate where impact points occur during a test crash. The luminescent device could then be re-set for one or more subsequent tests. Other lighting devices can be used and may include luminescent, electroluminescent and electrophosphorescent devices, such as, for example, light emitting diodes (LEDs). Optical circuits such as memories and sensors may be implemented with such fabric-embedded circuits, for example.
As used here, activating a device, such as a device integral to a functional fiber, may include, for example, storing a potential in the device, biasing a junction of the device or causing a transducing effect in the device (e.g., converting signal to light, converting signal to pressure, converting signal to vibration, converting signal to movement, etc). To this end, devices can be, for example, a capacitor, a variable resistor, a piezo-electric device, a piezo-luminescent device, an LED, a transistor or other active device having one or more active junctions, a transducer or sensor (e.g., electro-optical transducer, piezo-based transducer, MEMS-based sensor), or any other electronic device that can be formed in the context of a functional fiber using a stepped fabrication process such as the example one described with reference to
Fabrics Incorporating Functional Fibers
In one aspect, the electrically functional fibers described herein can be formed into two dimensional grids that can be incorporated into flexible fabrics. The flexibility of a functional fabric can be measured in a way (natural bending radius) similar to that used to measure the flexibility of fibers. For instance, a functional fabric can be wrapped around a cylinder of a specific radius and the functionality of the fabric tested. In some embodiments, the flexible fabrics described herein exhibit a natural bending radius of less than or equal to 10 cm, less than or equal to 5 cm, less than or equal to 2 cm, less than or equal to 1 cm, less than or equal to 5 mm, less than or equal to 2 mm, less than or equal to 1 mm or less than or equal to 0.5 mm.
Numerous weave patterns can be used for both functional and non-functional fabrics, and the claimed invention is not intended to be limited to any particular one. For example, the fabrics can be woven in twill, plain or satin patterns. Any number of non-functional fibers, such as textile fibers, may be woven in with the functional fibers to form a fabric. Thus, the fabric, by mass or by surface area, may be 100% functional fiber, 50 to 100% functional fiber, 20 to 50% functional fiber, 10 to 20% functional fiber, 5 to 20% functional fiber, 1 to 10% percent functional fiber, 1 to 5% functional fiber, 0.1 to 5% functional fiber, 0.1 to 1% functional fiber or from greater than 0 to 0.1% functional fiber. Similarly, the fabric may contain, greater than 50%, greater than 75%, greater than 90%, greater than 95%, greater than 99% or greater than 99.9% textile fiber, by weight or by surface area.
In the embodiment shown in
In one set of embodiments, the functional fabric of
In another embodiment, the functional fabric can include a plurality of micro processing elements that can be coordinated in software to achieve parallel processing in a flexible, functional fabric. The microprocessors may be interconnected via functional fibers that are integral to the functional fabric. Power can be provided to the microprocessor by, for example, a power source such as one or more battery cells and or one or more solar panels operatively coupled to the fabric.
Manufacturing Methodologies
The electrically functional fibers described herein can be produced using a variety of methods, including both continuous processes and batch type processes. One embodiment of a continuous process is shown schematically in
In a further embodiment, second coating device 830 can apply a pre-polymer of, for example, a low-k polymer (or other polymer having a suitable dielectric constant for a given application) by methods such as dipping or spraying. Additives may be included in the pre-polymer to take advantage of the specific surface energy of the first conductive layer so that a desired thickness of pre-polymer is retained on the fiber via surface tension. Portions of the fiber may then be selectively cured by, for example, UV radiation. Uncured portions of pre-polymer may be rinsed, vaporized or otherwise removed from the fiber to produce portions that are void of low-k polymer. These void portions can then be coated, in third coating device 840 via 832, for example, with an electrically functional material such as a ferro-electric polymer. Fiber may be passed through coating device 840 multiple times via 844.
After the third layer of the fiber is complete, the fiber can include, for example, low-k material, electrically functional materials such as piezoelectric materials, or linear portions of each. The fiber may then be pulled through third coating device 840 which can apply a second electrically conductive layer. The methods of application can be the same or different from those used to apply the first conductive layer in coating device 820. As with coating device 820, the fiber may be passed through third coating device 840 one, two, three or more times via 844. In certain embodiments, portions of layer 50 may be built up (not shown) so that the portion extends outward from the core to an extent equal to, or beyond, the expected outer diameter of the outer layer (16 in
After the second conductive coating has been applied, the fiber can be passed to coating device 850 from coating device 840 via 842 or directly from coating device 830 via 838. Final coating device 850 can apply an insulative coating such as a polymer. The polymer, for example PVC, may be applied using any suitable conventional method. The polymer may be mixed with textile fibers to provide the coating with the look and feel of a textile fiber. The polymer may include a pigment to provide color or may be translucent or transparent. After the insulative coating has been applied, the coating may be treated in a secondary operation, such as ozone treatment, to render the coating more amenable to dyes that may be applied to the fiber after it has been woven into a fabric.
After the coating has been applied, or at any other point during process 800 the functional fiber can be stored on a spool. After completion, the functional fiber can be passed to weaving device 860 via 852 where it can be incorporated into a fabric along with textile fibers provided by fiber source 870 via 872. The functional fiber can be woven conventionally with textile fibers into an electrically functional fabric or can be made into an electrically functional non-woven fabric. The functional fibers in the fabric may form a circuit and the fabric may also incorporate a microprocessor and/or other functional electronics. Thus, in some embodiments, the fabric can include microprocessors, radiative elements, solar cells, power sources, switches, input devices such as piezoelectric devices and output devices such as piezo luminescent devices. The fabric may be conveyed to coloring apparatus 880 via pathway 862 for dying and/or printing after it has been formed into a fabric in process 860. Alternatively, fibers may be dyed prior to being incorporated into the fabric. In many cases, the electrically functional fabric can be conventionally laundered without damaging the functionality of the fabric.
In embodiments where electronic elements, for example dies, are to be connected to a flexible electronically functional fabric after the fabric is woven, the electronic elements can be attached after weaving by, for example, thermal compression bonding, self-alignment or soldering. In some embodiments, the functional fabrics can be dyed, washed and/or dried after the electronic elements have been attached.
In another set of embodiments, multi-layered electrically functional fibers can be produced using an extrusion process.
The layers that comprise a particular billet can be of compatible materials that will not flake or separate when forced through the die. For instance, the components of the billet should exhibit similar malleability at the temperature at which the extrusion takes place. In this manner, each layer will deform in a similar manner during the extrusion process, resulting in a fiber in which adjacent layers remain in contact with each other and the thickness of each layer is in proportion to its thickness in the original billet. In one embodiment, all of the layers comprise polymeric materials, and the polymeric materials may exhibit glass transition temperatures that are similar. For instance, each of the materials in the billet may have a glass transition temperature that is within 100° C., within 50° C., or within 20° C. of the glass transition temperature of the other materials comprising the billet. The temperature of the extruder 910 may be optimized for a specific billet and in some instances may be greater than 100° C., greater than 200° C., greater than 300° C. or greater than 400° C. The extruder may also be operated at, or about, the glass transition point of one or more of the components of the billet.
In some embodiments, one or more of the layers can be extruded through die 928 and additional layers may be added using methods such as those described above in reference to the process shown in
The functional fibers described herein may be connected to each other and to other devices and systems to achieve electrical communication therebetween. In some embodiments, functional fibers may be connected in series using an aligned fusion process resulting in connected fibers as shown in
Example System
As will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, the flexible fabrics described herein can be integrated with a variety of computing systems. These computing systems may, in some cases, be physically and/or electronically connected to an electronically functional flexible fabric. These computing systems can include a motherboard and the motherboard may include a number of components, including but not limited to a processor and at least one communication chip, each of which can be physically and electrically coupled to the motherboard, or otherwise integrated therein. As will be appreciated, the motherboard may be, for example, any printed circuit board, whether a main board or a daughterboard mounted on a main board or the only board of system, etc. Depending on its applications, the computing system may include one or more other components that may or may not be physically and electrically coupled to the motherboard. These other components may include, but are not limited to, volatile memory (e.g., DRAM), non-volatile memory (e.g., ROM), a graphics processor, a digital signal processor, a crypto processor, a chipset, an antenna, a display, a touchscreen display, a touchscreen controller, a battery, an audio codec, a video codec, a power amplifier, a global positioning system (GPS) device, a compass, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a speaker, a camera, and a mass storage device (such as hard disk drive, compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD), and so forth). Any of the components included in the computing system may include one or more integrated circuits implemented with a low-k dielectric as described herein. In some embodiments, multiple functions can be integrated into one or more chips if so desired (e.g., for instance, note that the communication chips can be part of or otherwise integrated into the processor).
The communication chip enables wireless communications for the transfer of data to and from the computing system. The term “wireless” and its derivatives may be used to describe circuits, devices, systems, methods, techniques, communications channels, etc., that may communicate data through the use of modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. The term does not imply that the associated devices do not contain any wires, although in some embodiments they might not. The communication chip may implement any of a number of wireless standards or protocols, including but not limited to Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 family), WiMAX (IEEE 802.16 family), IEEE 802.20, long term evolution (LTE), Ev-DO, HSPA+, HSDPA+, HSUPA+, EDGE, GSM, GPRS, CDMA, TDMA, DECT, Bluetooth, derivatives thereof, as well as any other wireless protocols that are designated as 3G, 4G, 5G, and beyond. The computing system may include a plurality of communication chips. For instance, a first communication chip may be dedicated to shorter range wireless communications such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and a second communication chip may be dedicated to longer range wireless communications such as GPS, EDGE, GPRS, CDMA, WiMAX, LTE, Ev-DO, and others.
The processor of the computing system includes an integrated circuit die packaged within the processor. In some embodiments of the present invention, the integrated circuit die of the processor includes one or more transistors or other integrated circuit devices implemented with a fabric based integrated circuit as provided herein. The term “processor” may refer to any device or portion of a device that processes, for instance, electronic data from registers and/or memory to transform that electronic data into other electronic data that may be stored in registers and/or memory.
The communication chip may also include an integrated circuit die packaged within the communication chip. In accordance with some such example embodiments, the integrated circuit die of the communication chip includes one or more transistors or other integrated circuit devices implemented with a low-k dielectric as described herein. As will be appreciated in light of this disclosure, note that multi-standard wireless capability may be integrated directly into the processor (e.g., where functionality of any chips is integrated into processor, rather than having separate communication chips). Further note that processor may be a chip set having such wireless capability. In short, any number of processor and/or communication chips can be used. Likewise, any one chip or chip set can have multiple functions integrated therein.
In various implementations, the computing system may be a laptop, a netbook, a notebook, a smartphone, a tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), an ultra-mobile PC, a mobile phone, a desktop computer, a server, a printer, a scanner, a monitor, a set-top box, an entertainment control unit, a digital camera, a portable music player, or a digital video recorder. In further implementations, the system may be any other electronic device that processes data or employs transistor devices or other semiconductor devices that can be implemented with a fabric based system. As will be appreciated in light of this disclosure, various embodiments of the present invention can be used to improve performance on products fabricated at any process node (e.g., in the micron range, or sub-micron and beyond) by incorporating these products into a flexible electrically functional fabric.
In accordance with some of the embodiments disclosed herein, aspects of the invention may include, for instance, one or more of the following elements, in any combination. Any features or ranges provided are not to restrict the scope of various embodiments. A flexible electrically functional woven or non-woven fabric can comprise a plurality of textile fibers and at least one flexible electrically functional fiber capable of at least one of providing energy storage and/or electrical interconnection to an electrical component. A functional fabric can include, for example, a microprocessor, a power source, a switch, a transducer, a light emitting device, a data storage device, a radiative element, a transmitter, a receiver or any combination thereof. The functional fabric can include a flexible electrically functional fiber that comprises a core surrounded by an insulative coating. The flexible fiber can include a plurality of individual electrical elements in an embedding material and may include a core surrounded by a first conductive layer, a dielectric layer, a second conductive layer and an outer coating. The fabric may include a fiber that in turn may include a low-k material, a high-k material, a piezoelectric material, a piezo-luminescent material or any combination thereof and the fiber may have a natural bending radius of less than 1.0 mm. The fabric may include a fiber that comprises a protrusion extending through an outer layer, the protrusion in electrical contact with a computing element.
In one set of embodiments, a functional fabric may exhibit a natural bending radius of less than 5 cm and/or may have a thread count of greater than 50 per square inch. The fabric may include a hybrid thread comprising a flexible electrically functional fiber and a textile fiber. The fabric may comprise a planar phased array, may include conductance shielding and may include a transmitter and receiver. The functional elements of the fabric can include, for example, computing elements selected from organic computing elements and inorganic computing elements. Computing elements may comprise a die, may have a surface area of less than 1 mm2, and the elements may be interconnected to at least one flexible electrically functional fiber. In some embodiments, the functional fabric can include an output device which can be, for example, one or more light emitting elements and/or one or more luminescent fibers. The fabric may also include a microphone and a storage device, for example.
A mobile computing device may comprise any of the fabrics described herein. In other embodiments, the mobile computing device may be a garment that includes one or more of the fabrics described herein.
A method of making a woven electrically functional fabric can include weaving a flexible electrically functional thread with a textile thread to form the electrically functional fabric. The functional thread can be made using atomic layer deposition or chemical vapor deposition or an extrusion technique. The method of making the fabric may also include a step of making a flexible electrically functional thread, and may include a step of operably attaching an electronic element to the fabric. The fabric may be electronically functional at the completion of weaving without any additional steps. Additional steps may be included to manufacture a garment from the functional fabric.
In another set of embodiments, a method of making a computer includes weaving an electronically functional fabric with electrically functional fibers and textile fibers, and operably attaching a microprocessor to the electronically functional fabric. The microprocessor may be connected to contacts on electrically functional fibers woven into the fabric. A plurality of microprocessors may be coordinated to achieve parallel processing.
The foregoing description of example embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of this disclosure. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto.
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