GB2601150A

GB2601150A - Electronics module and system

Info

Publication number: GB2601150A
Application number: GB2018209.3A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Carter Liam
Original assignee: Prevayl Innovations Ltd
Current assignee: Prevayl Innovations Ltd
Priority date: 2020-11-19
Filing date: 2020-11-19
Publication date: 2022-05-25
Also published as: GB202018209D0

Abstract

An electronics module 200 for a wearable article 300 and also a system comprising the electronics module. The electronics module 200 comprises an electronics assembly 100. The electronics assembly 100 comprises a substrate 101. The substrate comprises an outer peripheral region (103 fig 2) and an inner region (105) bounded by the outer peripheral region 103. The electronics assembly 100 comprises an antenna 113 deposited on the substrate. The antenna 113 extends along at least part of the outer peripheral region. The electronics assembly comprises a component 115,117,119 connected to substrate and aligned with the inner region (105 fig 2,3) of the substrate. The antenna may be a wireless power antenna to remotely harvest power to charge an onboard battery and/or a communications antenna. The antenna may form a circular coil surrounding the inner components. The module may be included in housing (figs 5-7) which may include a surface which has an external opening 207. The component, which may be a sensor (optical, contact, temperature) may be aligned in the opening and situated in use near to the skin of an user. The module may be a pulse oximeter (or similar) bioelectrical monitor. A charging station to control the inductively coupled energy to the module and charging the on-board battery of the electronics module is also disclosed (fig 7). A wearable article or garment may be arranged to hold and also interface to the module and may further include contacts on and to the module (fig 6).

Description

ELECTRONICS MODULE AND SYSTEM

The present invention is directed towards an electronics module and a system comprising the electronics module.

Background

Wearable articles can be designed to interface with a user of the article, and to determine information such as the user's heart rate, rate of respiration, activity level, and body positioning.

Such properties can be measured with a sensor assembly that includes a sensor for signal transduction and/or microprocessors for analysis. The articles include electrically conductive pathways to allow for signal transmission between an electronics module for processing and communication and sensing components of the article. The wearable articles may be garments. Such garments are commonly referred to as 'smart clothing' and may also be referred to as tiosensing garments' if they measure biosignals.

It is desirable to overcome at least some of the problems associated with the prior art, whether explicitly discussed herein or otherwise.

Summary

According to the present disclosure there is provided an electronics module and system as set forth in the appended claims. Other features of the invention will be apparent from the dependent claims, and the description which follows.

According to a first aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an electronics module for a wearable article. The electronics module comprises an electronics assembly comprising: a substrate comprising an outer peripheral region and an inner region bounded by the outer peripheral region; an antenna deposited on the substrate, the antenna extending along at least part of the outer peripheral region; and a component connected to the substrate, wherein the component is aligned with the inner region of the substrate.

Advantageously, since the component is aligned with the inner region of the substrate, the component and the antenna are able to occupy the same physical space in the electronics module. Since the antenna is provided in the outer peripheral region of the substrate, the antenna does not affect the performance of the component aligned with the inner region of the substrate. Moreover, since the component is provided in the inner region of the substrate, the component does not affect the performance of the antenna provided in the outer peripheral region. Beneficially, the electronics assembly provides the dual functionality of the antenna and the component in a reduced form factor, which allows for the overall form factor of the wearable electronics module to be reduced.

The antenna may be a wireless power antenna. The electronics module may comprise a battery.

The wireless power antenna may be configured to receive wireless power from an external device so as to charge the battery and/or is configured to wirelessly transmit power stored in the battery so as to charge a battery of an external device.

Advantageously, the antenna is a wireless power antenna capable of charging a battery of the electronics module and/or wirelessly transferring power to another device. The electronics assembly provides wireless power transfer capabilities for the electronics module without necessarily increasing the form factor due to the provision of the components within the central void space of the wireless power antenna.

The electronics module may comprise a housing. The substrate may be positioned within the housing. The component may be at least partially positioned within the housing.

Advantageously, the housing may at protect components such as the electronics assembly from damage due to physical impacts or water ingress for example.

The housing may comprise an opening extending at least partially through a surface of the housing. The component may be aligned with the opening in the surface. The surface may face a skin surface of a wearer of the wearable article.

Advantageously, the component is aligned with the opening in the surface and thus able to interface with the environment external to the opening. For example, component may be a sensor able to perform measure a property of a point of measurement external to the housing via the opening in the housing. For example, component may be a coupling medium arranged to couple a sensor of the electronics module to a point of measurement external to the housing via the opening in the housing.

The component may have line-of-sight through the opening. This improves the ability of the component to measure a point of measurement external to the housing.

The component may extend at least partially through the opening. This improves the ability of the component to measure a point of measurement external to the housing.

The housing may comprise a plurality of openings extending at least partially through the surface in the housing. The electronics assembly may comprise a plurality of components connected to the substrate. Each of the components may be aligned with the inner region of the substrate.

Each of the components is aligned with a respective one of the openings in the surface.

Advantageously, a plurality of components are aligned with the inner region of the substrate.

This means that the antenna and a plurality of components are able to occupy the same physical space in the housing of the electronics module.

The component may be positioned on the inner region of substrate. Advantageously, the antenna and the component are both provided on the same substrate. This reduces the size, cost and complexity of the electronics assembly.

The substrate comprises a plurality of layers. Conductive traces of the antenna may be provided in at least two of the layers. The conductive traces of the at least two layers are electrically connected to one another.

Advantageously, conductive traces of the antenna are provided in multiple layers of the substrate and are electrically connected together to form the antenna. The use of multiple layers of the substrate to form the antenna helps maximise the length of the antenna while not increasing the overall size of the electronics assembly. This helps to maximise the performance of the antenna.

The substrate may comprise a first face and a second face. The second face of the substrate may comprise a magnetically permeable material.

Advantageously, the magnetically permeable material improves the efficiency of the antenna by helping to contain the incident field within the area defined by the substrate, and reducing the wastage of energy in metallic objects beyond the substrate (i.e. above the second face of the substrate).

The magnetically permeable material may cover the second face of the substrate The electronics module may comprise an interface that couples the electronics module to a further object such that the electronics module may receive signals from the further object. The further object may comprise a sensor such as an electrode.

The interface may comprise a plurality of contacts. The plurality of contacts may be coupled to an external surface of a housing of the electronics module. The plurality of contacts may be arranged to couple with a further object external to the wearable electronics module.

The plurality of contacts may be spaced apart from one another.

The electronics assembly may be provided between the plurality of contacts. Advantageously, electronics assembly is provided in the housing such that it is located between the contacts. That is, the electronics assembly is aligned with and occupies the void space between the contacts. This utilises the space between the contacts helping to reduce the overall form factor of the electronics module.

The component may comprise a sensor.

The sensor may comprise an optical sensor. The optical sensor may measure light in one or more of the infrared, visible, and ultraviolet spectrums. The optical sensor may be a pulse oximeter. The optical sensor may be arranged to measure the oxygen saturation of the wearer. Oxygen saturation is the fraction of oxygen-saturated haemoglobin relative to total haemoglobin (unsaturated + saturated) in the blood. The optical sensor may be arranged to measure the capillary perfusion of the wearer. A pulse oximeter may be useable to measure the capillary perfusion using a double-wavelength method. The capillary perfusion can be derived from a variation in the detected signal strength. The optical sensor may be arranged to measure the temperature of the wearer.

The sensor may comprise a contact sensor The contact sensor may be a temperature sensor.

The temperature sensor may be a thermocouple or thermistor. A coupling medium may be provided on the contact sensor so as to couple the contact sensor to the point of measurement.

The sensor may comprise a chemical sensor. The chemical sensor may be arranged to measure the chemical properties of one or more analytes on or obtained from a skin surface of the wearer The component may comprise a biofeedback unit arranged to apply a stimulus to the wearer when worn. The stimulus may be a vibrational, electrical, optical or thermal stimulus. Preferred examples apply an electrical feedback to the user such as by applying a current to the skin surface. The biofeedback unit may be arranged to perform transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation.

The component may comprise a coupling medium arranged to couple an external measurement point to a sensor of the electronics module. The sensor may be located within a housing of the electronics module. The sensor may be a contact sensor The coupling medium may be a thermally conductive material.

The substrate may be a first substrate. The wearable electronics module further comprises a second substrate and a controller positioned on the second substrate. The second substrate may be positioned between a surface of a housing and the electronics assembly of the electronics module.

The electronics module may be arranged to be (releasably) coupled to a wearable article.

The electronics module may form all or part of a skin patch arranged to be temporarily bonded to a skin surface.

According to a second aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a system comprising: an electronics module according to the first aspect of the disclosure; and a wearable article. The wearable article may be arranged to (releasably) retain the electronics module.

The wearable article may comprise a sensing component. When the electronics module is (releasably)retained by the wearable article, the electronics module is brought into communication with the sensing component.

According to a third aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a system comprising an electronics module according to the first aspect of the disclosure, and a charging station. The electronics module comprises a battery. The antenna of the electronics module is a wireless power antenna. The charging station comprises a power transmission circuit that controls wireless power antenna of the charging station to wireless transmit power to the electronics module so that it may be received by the wireless power antenna so as to charge the battery.

According to a fourth aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an electronics assembly comprising: a substrate comprising an outer peripheral region and an inner region bounded by the outer peripheral region; an antenna deposited on the substrate, the antenna extending along at least part of the outer peripheral region; and a component connected to the substrate, wherein the component is aligned with the inner region of the substrate.

The electronics assembly may be useable in the electronics module according to the first aspect

of the disclosure.

According to a fifth aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an electronics module for a wearable article. The electronics module comprises a sensor. The electronics module comprises a housing that comprises an opening exteming at least partially through a surface of the housing, wherein the sensor is aligned with the opening in the surface. The electronics module comprises an interface that couples the electronics module to a further object such that the electronics module may receive signals from the further object. The interface comprises a plurality of spaced apart contacts arranged to couple with a further object external to the wearable electronics module. The sensor is located between the contacts.

Advantageously, the sensor is provided such that it is located between the contacts. That is, the sensor is aligned with and occupies the void space between the contacts. This utilises the space between the contacts helping to reduce the overall form factor of the electronics module.

The sensor may comprise an optical sensor. The electronics module may comprise any of the features of the electronics module according to the first aspect of the disclosure.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Examples of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows an electronics assembly according to aspects of the present disclosure; Figure 2 shows a first surface of the electronics assembly in Figure 1; Figure 3 shows an exploded diagram of the electronics assembly in Figure 1; Figure 4 shows an exploded diagram of an electronics module comprising the electronics assembly of Figure 1; Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram for another example electronics module according to

aspects of the present disclosure;

Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram for an example system comprising the electronics module of Figure 5; Figure 7 shows a schematic diagram for another example system comprising the electronics module of Figure 5; Figure 8 shows a schematic diagram of another example electronics assembly according to

aspects of the present disclosure; and

Figure 9 shows a schematic diagram of another example electronics assembly according to aspects of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of various embodiments of the disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the various embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings but are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of various embodiments of the disclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

"Wearable article" as referred to throughout the present disclosure may refer to any form of device interface which may be wom by a user such as a smart watch, necklace, garment, bracelet, or glasses. The wearable article may be a textile article. The wearable article may be a garment. The garment may refer to an item of clothing or apparel. The garment may be a top.

The top may be a shirt, t-shirt, blouse, sweater, jacket/coat, or vest. The garment may be a dress, garment brassiere, shorts, pants, arm or leg sleeve, vest, jacket/coat, glove, armband, underwear, headband, hat/cap, collar, wristband, stocking, sock, or shoe, athletic clothing, personal protective equipment, including hard hats, swimwear, wetsuit or dry suit.

The term "wearer" includes a user who is wearing, or otherwise holding, the wearable article. The type of wearable garment may dictate the type of biosignals to be detected. For example, a hat or cap may be used to detect eiectroencephalogram or magnetnencephalogram signals.

The wearable article/garment may be constructed from a woven or a non-woven material. The wearable article/garment may be constructed from natural fibres, synthetic fibres, or a natural fibre blended with one or more other materials which can be natural or synthetic. The yam may be cotton. The cotton may be blended with polyester and/or viscose and/or polyamide according to the application. Silk may also be used as the natural fibre. Cellulose, wool, hemp and jute are

B

also natural fibres that may be used in the wearable article/garment. Polyester, polycotton, nylon and viscose are synthetic fibres that may be used in the wearable article/garment.

The garment may be a tight-fitting garment. Beneficially, a tight-fitting garment helps ensure that the sensor devices of the garment are held in contact with or in the proximity of a skin surface of the wearer. The garment may be a compression garment. The garment may be an athletic garment such as an elastomeric athletic garment.

The garment has sensing units provided on an inside surface which are held in close proximity to a skin surface of a wearer wearing the garment. This enables the sensing units to measure biosignals for the wearer wearing the garment.

The sensing units may be arranged to measure one or more biosignals of a wearer wearing the garment.

"Biosignal" as referred to throughout the present disclosure may refer to signals from living beings that can be continually measured or monitored. Biosignals may be electrical or nonelectrical signals. Signal variations can be time variant or spatially variant.

Sensing components may be used for measuring one or a combination of bioelectrical, bioimpedance, biochemical, biomechanical, bioacousfics, bioopfical or biothermal signals of the wearer. The bioelectrical measurements include electrocardiograms (ECG), electrogastrograms (EGG), electroencephalograms (EEG), and electromyography (EMG). The bioimpedance measurements include plethysmography (e.g., for respiration), body composition (e.g., hydration, fat, etc.), and electroimpedance tomography (EIT). The biomagnetic measurements include magnetoneurograms (MNG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), magnetogastrogram (MGG), magnetocardiogram (MCG). The biochemical measurements include glucose/lactose measurements which may be performed using chemical analysis of the wearer 600's sweat. The biomechanical measurements include blood pressure. The bioacousfics measurements include phonocardiograms (PCG). The biooptical measurements include orthopantomogram (OPG).

The biothermal measurements include skin temperature and core body temperature measurements.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3 there is show an example electronics assembly 100 according to

aspects of the present disclosure.

As explained in greater detail below, the electronics assembly 100 comprise sensors 115, 117 that are arranged to be placed on or in close contact with a skin surface of a subject so that the sensors 115, 117 can measure one or more biosignals of the subject.

The electronics assembly 100 is arranged to be disposed within a housing that temporarily couples the electronics assembly 100 to the subject. The electronics assembly 100 may be mounted (removably) on a wearable article worn by the subject such as an article of clothing. In other examples, the electronics assembly 100 may be provided as part of a skin patch that may be temporarily adhesively bonded to the skin surface. When position in proximity to the skin surface either by the wearable article or by being adhesively bonded, the sensors 115, 117 are able to measure the biosignals.

The electronics assembly 100 comprises a substrate 101. The substrate 101 is a rigid multi-layered substrate used for printed circuits in this example. The substrate 101 may be single-layered and may be flexible.

The substrate 101 comprises an outer peripheral region 103 and an inner region 105 bounded by the outer peripheral region 103. The inner region 105 is a centre region of the substrate 101.

The virtual boundary line 107 in Figure 2 represents the division between the outer peripheral region 103 and the inner region 105.

The substrate 101 in this example is in the form of a circular disc. The outer peripheral region 103 extends around the circumference of the inner region 105. The substrate 101 comprises first 109 and second 111 opposed faces. The faces have a circular shape. Other shapes of substrate 101 are within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the substrate 101 may have an oval shaped cross-section.

An antenna 113 is disposed on the substrate 101. The antenna 113 is in the form of a coil and is formed from multiple turns of a conductive trace. The antenna 113 extends circumferentially around the outer peripheral region 103 so as to bound the inner region 105.

The substrate 101 has a plurality of layers 125, 127, 129 (Figure 3). The conductive trace of the antenna 113 extends around the outer peripheral region of the substrate 101 in a multiple of these layers 125, 127, 129 of the substrate 101. The conductive trace may be present in all of the layers 125, 127, 129 of the substrate 101 but this is not required in all examples. Each of the multiple layers 125, 127,129 of the substrate 101 may comprise multiple turns of the conductive trace which are series connected with the conductive traces in adjacent layers of the substrate 101 to form a group of connected spiral coils that are spatially separated along the height of the substrate 101. The conductive trace may be formed of a copper or other conductive material.

The use of multiple connected adjoining layers of the conductive trace in series serves to maximise the number of times the conductive trace circumnavigates the outer peripheral region 103 of the substrate 101. A larger number of coil 'loops' increases the voltage that is induced in the presence of an electromagnetic filed, which allows the coil to receive more energy from a given field.

In this example, the antenna 113 is a wireless power antenna 113 capable of receiving power wirelessly. The power received by the antenna 113 may be used for wirelessly charging a power store of the electronics assembly 100 or associated with the electronics assembly. The wireless power antenna 113 is capable of receiving power transmitted by a wireless power antenna (wireless power transmitter) separate to the electronics assembly 100. The wireless charging may use any known wireless power transfer scheme such as electromagnetic induction. The wireless power antenna 113 may thus comprise an inductive coil which may be, in particular, be a spiral near-field inductive coil.

In an electromagnetic induction scheme, the wireless power transmitter generates a magnetic field which is induced in the wireless power antenna 113 when the wireless power antenna 113 is positioned in proximity with the wireless power transmitter. The electromagnetic induction scheme may follow a standard defined by a body such as the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) or the Power Matters Alliance (PMA).

In a charging operation, an electromagnetic field generated by the wireless power transmitter, when the electronics assembly 100 is located in a wireless charging position, is incident on the first face 109 of the substrate 101. The second face 111 of the substrate 10 comprises a magnetically permeable material such as a ferrite material, MuMetal, and a large number of other alloys variations which may be selected by the skilled person. Ferrite material is preferred for wireless power applications for its higher saturation point. In this example, the second face 111 of the substrate 101 is lined with the magnetically permeable material such that the second face 111 is covered by the magnetically permeable material. A material with high magnetic permeability such as a ferrite material acts to contain the incident field within the electronics assembly 100. This improves the efficiency of the antenna 113 and reduces the wastage of energy being transferred to other electronics components which the electronics assembly 100 is located with other components within a housing that the electronics assembly is provided in.

The wireless power antenna 113 is not required to be a wireless power receiver. The wireless power antenna 113 may be capable of separately or additionally transmitting wireless power to another device. That is, the wireless power antenna 113 may be configured to receive wireless power from an external device so as to charge a battery and/or is configured to wirelessly transmit power stored in the battery so as to charge a battery of an external device. To use the wireless power antenna 113 as a power transmitter, the antenna coil 113 will typically be required to be larger than when the wireless power antenna 113 operates as (only) a wireless power receiver. In preferred implementations, the antenna coil 113 only operates as a wireless power receiver as this generally enables the antenna coil 113 and the power store (e.g. a battery) to have a smaller form-factor.

The present disclosure is not limited to wireless power antennas 113. The antenna 113 may be a communication antenna 113. The communication antenna 113 may be an antenna coil 113. The antenna coil 113 may be able to communicate with an external device inductively. The antenna coil 113 may function as both a wireless power antenna 113 and an electromagnetic induction-based communication coil 113. Inductive based communication protocols include near

field communication (NEC).

Non-induction-based communication antennas 113 are also within the scope of the present disclosure. Such communication antennas 113 are typically not coils. In non-induction communication examples, the magnetically permeable material is generally not provided as it may degrade the performance of the communication antenna 113. Moreover, in non-induction based examples, the antenna 113 generally is unable to function as both a wireless power antenna 113 and a communication antenna 113.

The communication antenna 113 may be, for example, a short-range communication antenna 113. The short-range communication antenna 113 may be arranged to transmit and/or receive data over a communication range of up to 50 metres, optionally up to 30 metres, optionally up to 10 metres, and optionally up to 1 metre. The short-range communication antenna 113 may comprise one or more of a near field communication, NFC, wireless body area network, BAN, and a wireless personal area network, PAN, communication antenna. The short-range communication antenna 113 may comprise one or more of a NFC, Bluetooth 0, Bluetooth Low Energy, Bluetooth Mesh, Bluetooth ® 5, Thread, Zigbee, IEEE 802.15.4, and Ant communication antenna. The short-range communication antenna 113 may be arranged to communicate using electromagnetic induction (e.g. for NEC).

The communication antenna 113 may be, for example, a medium-range communication antenna 113. The medium-range communication antenna 113 may be arranged to transmit and/or receive data over a communication range of up to 200 metres, optionally up to 100 metres, optionally up to 50 metres, optionally up to 30 metres. The medium-range communication antenna 113 may comprise one or more of a wireless near-me area network, NAN, a wireless local area network, VVLAN, and a VVi-Fi communication antenna.

The communication antenna 113 may be, for example, a long-range communication antenna 113. The long-range communication antenna 113 may be arranged to transmit and/or receive data over a communication range of over 200 metres, optionally over 100 metres, optionally over 50 metres. The long-range communication antenna 113 may comprise one or more of a wireless metro-area network, WMAN, a wireless wide area network, WAN, a low power wide area network, LWAN, and a cellular antenna. The cellular antenna may be configured to transmit or receive data over one or more of a fourth generation (4G) LTE, LTE Advanced (LTE-A), LTE Cat-M1, LTE Cat-M2, NB-IoT, fifth generation (5G), sixth generation (6G), and/or any other present or future developed cellular wireless network.

A plurality of components 115, 117, 119 (three in this example) are located on the first face 109 of the substrate 101 and, in this example, are deposited on the first face 109 of the substrate 101 The plurality of components 115, 117, 119 are aligned with and deposited in the inner region 105 of the substrate 101 that is bounded by the outer peripheral region 103. The components 115, 117, 119 make use of the empty space in the centre of the substrate 101 without affecting the performance of the antenna 113. The electronics assembly provides the dual functionality of the antenna and the component in a reduced form factor.

The plurality of components 115, 117, 119 comprise sensors 115, 117 and a coupling medium 119. The sensors 115, 117 are arranged to be placed on or in close contact with a skin surface of a subject so that the sensors 115, 117 can measure one or more biosignals of the subject.

The coupling medium improves the coupling of the sensor 117 to the skin surface The first sensor 115 comprises an optical sensor 115 such as for measuring the oxygen saturation, capillary perfusion or temperature of the subject.

The second sensor 117 comprises a contact sensor 117 such as a contact temperature sensor 117 for measuring a skin surface temperature of the subject. The coupling medium 119 may be a thermally conductive material that improves the thermal coupling between the skin surface and the contact sensor 117.

In a measurement operation, the first face 109 of the substrate 101 faces the skin surface of the subject such that the first and second sensors 115, 117 are brought into proximity/contact with the skin surface of the subject.

The rigid substrate 101 is positioned on and electrically connected to flexible substrate 121.

Flexible substrate 121 comprises a flexible printed circuit interconnect 123 connected to the substrate. The flexible printed circuit interconnect 123 facilitates the connection of the electronics assembly 100 to other components.

Referring to Figures 4 to 5, there is shown example electronics modules 200 comprising the electronics assembly 100 of Figures 1 to 3.

The electronics module 200 comprises a housing 201. The housing 201 comprises a first surface 203 and a second surface 205. The first surface 203 faces the skin surface "S" of the subject when the electronics module 200 is worn by the subject. The second surface 205 faces away from the skin surface The electronics assembly 100 is at least partially disposed within the housing 201. In particular, the substrate 101 is disposed within the housing 201. The components 115, 117, 119 may be fully or partly located within the housing 201.

The first surface 203 of the housing 201 comprises an opening 207 that extends at least partially through the first surface 203 of the housing 201. The substrate 101 of the electronics assembly 100 is positioned in the housing 201 such that the sensor 115 is aligned with the opening 207 and has line of sight through the opening 207. This enables the optical sensor 115 to perform a measurement of the external environment (e.g. the skin surface) while being fully or partly located within the housing 201. The sensor 115 may extend at least partly into the opening if desired but this is not required.

The opening 207 may not extend fully through the first surface 203. The opening 207 may be at least partially filled with an optically transparent or translucent material that enables the sensor 115 to perform an external measurement while preventing the ingress of liquid or other material into the housing 201.

The first surface 203 of the housing 201 comprises an opening 209 that extends through the first surface 203 of the housing 201. The substrate 101 of the electronics assembly 100 is positioned in the housing 201 such that the sensor 117 is aligned with the opening 209 and has line of sight through the opening 207. This enables the optical sensor 117 to perform a measurement of the external environment (e.g. the skin surface) while being fully or partly located within the housing 201 via the opening 207.

The sensor 117 may extend at least partly into the opening if desired but this is not required. The coupling medium 119 attached to the sensor 117 extends through the opening 209 so as to couple with elements, such as a skin surface, external to the housing 201. The coupling medium 119 may act to plug the opening so as to prevent the ingress of liquid or other material into the housing 201 via the opening 209.

The flexible printed circuit interconnect 123 is connected to a printed circuit board 211 that comprises electronics components such as a controller (not shown). The flexible printed circuit interconnect 123 conductively connects the printed circuit board 211 to the sensors 115, 117 of the electronics assembly 100. This enables the controller to control the sensors 115, 117 and receive measurement signals from the sensors 115, 117.

The second face 111 of the substrate 101 faces the printed circuit board 211. The first face 109 faces away from the printed circuit board 211. As explained above, the second face 111 comprises a magnetically permeable material that helps to contain an incident magnetic field within the substrate 101 and stops energy being wastefully transferred to the printed circuit board 211.

The wireless power antenna 113 of the electronics assembly 100 is coupled to power store 213 (e.g. battery) that is positioned above the printed circuit board 211 and conductive connected to the printed circuit board 211. The wireless power antenna 113 may be coupled to the power store 213 via power management circuitry which may be provided on the printed circuit board 211. The power management circuitry may comprise a charge controller, battery monitor and regulator. These components may be provided through use of a dedicated power management integrated circuit (PMIC). The controller is communicatively connected to the power management circuitry so that the controller may obtain information about the state of charge of the battery 213.

The wireless power antenna 113 is able to receive power from an external device and supply the received power to the power store 213.

The power store 213 is a rechargeable battery 213 capable of being charged by wireless charging. The power store 213/electronics module 200 may additionally comprise an energy harvesting device. The energy harvesting device may be configured to generate electric power signals in response to kinetic events such as kinetic events performed by the subject wearing the electronics module. The kinetic event could include walking, running, exercising or respiration of the subject. The energy harvesting material may comprise a piezoelectric material which generates electricity in response to mechanical deformation of the converter. The energy harvesting device may harvest energy from body heat of subject. The energy harvesting device may be a thermoelectric energy harvesting device.

The electronics module 200 further comprises a communication antenna 215 that is positioned proximate to the second surface 205 of the housing 201. The communication antenna 215 is useable to wireless communication data to a user electronic device such as a mobile phone. The communication antenna 215 may be used for inductive communication with the user electronic device although this is not required in all examples. Various protocols enable wireless communication between the electronics module 100 and the user electronic device 300. Example communication protocols include Bluetooth 0, Bluetooth Low Energy, and near-field communication (NFC).

The electronics module 200 further comprises an interface 217 that couples the electronics module 200 to a further object such that the electronics module 200 may receive signals from the further object external to the electronics module 200. The further object may comprise a sensor such as an electrode. The interface 217 receives signals from the further object and provides them (or a processed version thereof) to the controller of the electronics module 200.

The interface 217 comprises a plurality (two in this example) of contacts 217 that are coupled to the first surface 203 of the housing 201. The contacts 216 are arranged to couple with the further object. The coupling between the contacts 217 and the further object may be conductive or a wireless (e.g. inductive) communication coupling.

The plurality of contacts 217 are spaced apart from one another. The electronics assembly is provided between the spaced apart contacts 217 such that the antenna 113 and the components 115, 117, 119 are located between the contacts 217.

The electronics module 200 may also include an input unit such as a proximity sensor or a motion sensor, for example in the form of an inertial measurement unit (IMU).

The electronics module 200 may also include a location device such as a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) device which is arranged to provide location and position data for applications as required. In particular, the location device provides geographical location data at least to a nation state level. Any device suitable for providing location, navigation or for tracking the position could be utilised. The GNSS device may include device may include Global Positioning System (GPS), BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) and the Galileo system devices.

The electronics module 200 may additionally comprise a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) that enables the electronics module 200 to access services provided by a mobile network operator (MNO) or virtual mobile network operator (VMNO). The UICC may include at least a read-only memory (ROM) configured to store an MNO or VMNO profile that the garment can utilize to register and interact with an MNO or VMNO. The UICC may be in the form of a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card. The electronics module 200 may have a receiving section arranged to receive the SIM card. In other examples, the UICC is embedded directly into a controller of the electronics module 200. That is, the UICC may be an electronic/embedded UICC (eUICC). A eUICC is beneficial as it removes the need to store a number of MNO profiles, i.e. electronic Subscriber Identity Modules (eSIMs). Moreover, eSIMs can be remotely provisioned to electronics module 200. The electronics module 100 may comprise a secure element that represents an embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card (eUICC). In the present disclosure, the electronics module may also be referred to as an electronics device or unit. These terms may be used interchangeably.

Referring to Figure 6, there is shown an example system comprising the electronics module 200 of Figures 4 and 5 and a wearable article 300. The wearable article 300 in this example is arranged to releasably retain the electronics module 200.

The wearable article 300 comprises a pair of sensing components 301. Each of the sensing components comprises a connection region 303 and an electrode 305 provided on opposing surfaces of a base component 307. The connection region 303 and the electrode 305 are electrically connected by a conductive pathway (not shown) which is attached to or integral with the base component 307. The connection regions 303 and the electrode 305 are not required to be provided on opposing surfaces in all examples and may be provided on the same surface of the base component 307. The base component 307 may be non-conductive and may in particular be non-conductive fabric.

The sensing components 301 are used to measure bioelectrical signals from the skin surface of the subject. The bioelectrical signals include electropotential signals such as electrocardiogram (ECG) signals, although the sensing components 301 could be configured to measure other biosignal type such as electroimpedance signals (e.g. impedance plethysmography).

When the electronics module 200 is positioned on the wearable article 300, the contacts 217 are brought into contact with and electrical connection with the connection regions 303 of the sensing components 301.

When the wearable article 300 is worn, the electrodes 305 are brought into proximity with/contact with the skin surface "S". This enables the electrodes 305 to measure biosignals of the subject. The biosignals are conveyed to the electronics module 200 via the connection regions 303, and contacts 217.

The wearable article 300 is constructed such that the components 115, 117, 119 have line-of-sight with and may even contact the skin surface "S".

The skilled person will appreciate that Figure 6 is just a simplified schematic diagram. In reality some or all of the components 115, 117, 119 may extend out of the housing 201 and may be close to or in contact with the skin surface S. Advantageously, the present disclosure means that electrode measurements as well as measurements from the sensors 115, 117 are able to be performed at the same time using the same electronics module 200. This allows for a combination of bioelectrical, optical and temperature measurements, for example, to be taken for the subject at the same time. Moreover, positioning the sensors 115, 117 within the void formed by the antenna 113 means that the additional sensor functionality is provided without an increase in the form factor of the electronics module 200. This is particularly important for wearable electronics as smaller modules are more comfortable to wear and less visibly intrusive.

The wearable article 300 comprises an electronics module holder in the form of a pocket (not shown). The pocket is sized to receive the electronics module 200. When disposed in the pocket, the electronics module 200 is arranged to receive sensor data from the sensing components 301. The electronics module 200 is therefore removable from the wearable article 300.

The present disclosure is not limited to electronics module holders in the form pockets.

The electronics module 200 may be configured to be releasably mechanically coupled to the wearable article 300. The mechanical coupling of the electronic module 200 to the wearable article 300 may be provided by a mechanical interface such as a clip, a plug and socket arrangement, etc. The mechanical coupling or mechanical interface may be configured to maintain the electronic module 200 in a particular orientation with respect to the wearable article when the electronic module 200 is coupled to the wearable article 300. This may be beneficial in ensuring that the electronic module 200 is securely held in place with respect to the wearable article 300 and/or that any electronic coupling of the electronic module 200 and the wearable article 300 (or a component of the wearable article 300) can be optimized. The mechanical coupling may be maintained using friction or using a positively engaging mechanism, for

example.

Beneficially, the removable electronic module 200 may contain all the components required for data transmission and processing such that the wearable article 300 only comprises the sensing components 301. In this way, manufacture of the wearable article 300 may be simplified. In addition, it may be easier to clean a wearable article 300 which has fewer electronic components attached thereto or incorporated therein. Furthermore, the removable electronic module 200 may be easier to maintain and/or troubleshoot than embedded electronics. The electronic module 200 may comprise flexible electronics such as a flexible printed circuit (FPC).

The electronic module 200 may be configured to be electrically coupled to the wearable article 300.

Referring to Figure 7, there is shown an example system comprising the electronics module 200 of Figures 4 and 5 positioned on a charging station 400. The charging station 400 comprises a power transmission circuit 401 that controls wireless power antenna 403 to wireless transmit power to the electronics module 200 so that it may be received by the wireless power antenna 113 (Figure 1) of the electronics assembly 100.

The power received by the wireless power antenna 113 is transferred to and stored in the power store 213 (rechargeable battery). This enables the electronics module 200 to be charged for subsequent use in measuring biosignals from the subject. Advantageously, having a rechargeable battery means that the electronics module 200 does not need to disposed of or have its battery replaced when it runs out of power. This reduces the cost and environmental impact of the electronics module 200. Moreover, the use of wireless power charging while not only being convenient for the user, means that a physical charging interface, such as a USB charging interface, is not required to be provided in the electronics module 200. This helps reduce the form factor of the electronics module 200 and makes it simplerto proof the electronics module 200 against water ingress.

The charging station 400 in this example is not part of the wearable article 300 but a separate charging component. The electronics module 200 may be removed from the wearable article 300 and coupled to the charging station 400 to charge the power store 213 via wireless power transfer. The electronics module 200 may then be recoupled to the wearable article 300 to perform measurement operations. Alternatively, if the electronics module 200 is permanently coupled to the wearable article 300, the wearable article 300 comprising the electronics module 200 may be removed from the skin surface and positioned on the charging station 400.

Referring to Figures 8 and 9, there are shown other examples of electronics assembly 100. Like reference numerals are used to indicate like components.

In this example, the substrate 101 has a central opening 105 that defines the inner region 105. A second substrate 131 is positioned above the second face 111 of the substrate 101. The components 115, 117, 119 are provided on the second substrate 131 and are arranged such that the components 115, 117, 119 are aligned with the opening 105 in the substrate 101. The second substrate 131 is connected to the first substrate 101.

The second substrate 131 is spaced vertically apart from the substrate 101 in Figure 8 and is in contact with the substrate 101 in Figure 9. The components 115, 117, 119 are positioned above the opening 105 in Figure Band extend at least partially into the opening in Figure 9.

The other components of the electronics assembly 100 are the same as those described above in relation to Figures Ito 3.

In summary, there is provided an electronics module 200 for a wearable article 300. The electronics module 200 comprises an electronics assembly 100. The electronics assembly 100 comprises a substrate 101. The substrate comprises an outer peripheral region 103 and an inner region 105 bounded by the outer peripheral region 103. The electronics assembly 100 comprises an antenna 113 deposited on the substrate 101. The antenna 113 extends along at least part of the outer peripheral region 103. The electronics assembly 100 comprises a component 115, 117, 119 connected to the substrate 101. The component 115, 117, 119 is aligned with the inner region 105 of the substrate 101. A system comprising the electronics module 200 is also provided.

In the present disclosure, the electronics module may also be referred to as an electronics device or unit. These terms may be used interchangeably.

In some embodiments, the described elements may be configured to reside on a tangible, persistent, addressable storage medium and may be configured to execute on one or more processors. These functional elements may in some embodiments include, by way of example, components, such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables.

Although the example embodiments have been described with reference to the components, modules and units discussed herein, such functional elements may be combined into fewer elements or separated into additional elements. Various combinations of optional features have been described herein, and it will be appreciated that described features may be combined in any suitable combination. In particular, the features of any one example embodiment may be combined with features of any other embodiment, as appropriate, except where such combinations are mutually exclusive. Throughout this specification, the term "comprising" or "comprises" means including the component(s) specified but not to the exclusion of the presence of others.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims

CLAIMS1. An electronics module for a wearable article, the electronics module comprises: an electronics assembly comprising: a substrate comprising an outer peripheral region and an inner region bounded by the outer peripheral region; an antenna deposited on the substrate, the antenna extending along at least part of the outer peripheral region; and a component connected to the substrate, wherein the component is aligned with the inner region of the substrate.
2. An electronics module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the antenna is a wireless power antenna.
3. An electronics module as claimed in claim 2, wherein the electronics module further comprises a battery, and wherein the wireless power antenna is configured to receive wireless power from an external device so as to charge the battery and/or is configured to wirelessly transmit power stored in the battery so as to charge a battery of an external device.
4. An electronics module as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising a housing, wherein the substrate is positioned within the housing.
5. An electronics module as claimed in claim 4, wherein the housing comprises an opening extending at least partially through a surface of the housing, wherein the component is aligned with the opening in the surface.
6. An electronics module as claimed in claim 5, wherein the surface faces a skin surface of a wearer of the wearable article in use.
7. An electronics module as claimed in claim 5 or 6, wherein the component has line-of-sight through the opening.
8. An electronics module as claimed in any of claims 5 to 7, wherein the component extends at least partially through the opening.
9. An electronics module as claimed in nay of claims 5 to 8, wherein the housing comprises a plurality of openings extending at least partially through the surface, the electronics assembly comprises a plurality of components connected to the substrate, each of the components is aligned with the inner region of the substrate, and each of the components is aligned with a respective one of the openings in the surface.
10. An electronics module as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the component is positioned on the inner region of the substrate.
11. An electronics module as claimed in claim 10, wherein the substrate comprises a plurality of layers, conductive traces of the antenna are provided in at least two of the layers, and conductive traces of the at least two layers are electrically connected to one another.
12. An electronics module as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the substrate comprises a first face and a second face, and wherein the second face of the substrate comprises a magnetically permeable material.
13. An electronics module as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising an interface that couples the electronics module to a further object such that the electronics module may receive signals from the further object.
14. An electronics module as claimed in claim 13, wherein the interface comprises a plurality of contacts arranged to couple with a further object external to the wearable electronics module.
15. An electronics module as claimed in claim 14, wherein the plurality of contacts are spaced apart from one another.
16. An electronics module as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the component comprises a sensor.
17. An electronics module as claimed in claim 16, wherein the component comprises an optical sensor.
18. An electronics module as claimed in claim 16 or 17, wherein the component comprises a contact sensor.
19. An electronics module as claimed in any of claims 16 to 18, wherein the sensor comprises a temperature sensor.
20. An electronics module as claimed in any of claims 16 to 19, further comprising a coupling medium arranged to couple an external measurement point to the sensor.
21. An electronics module as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the component comprises a coupling medium arranged to couple an external measurement point to a sensor of the electronics module.
22. A system comprising: an electronics module comprising: an electronics assembly comprising: a substrate comprising an outer peripheral region and an inner region bounded by the outer peripheral region; an antenna deposited on the substrate, the antenna extending along at least part of the outer peripheral region; and a component connected to the substrate, wherein the component is aligned with the inner region of the substrate.
23. A system as claimed in claim 22, further comprising a wearable article arranged to retain the electronics module.
24. A system as claimed in claim 23, wherein the wearable article comprises a sensing component, wherein when the electronics module is retained by the wearable article, the electronics module is brought into communication with the sensing component.
25. A system as claimed in any of claims 22 to 24, further comprising a charging station, wherein the electronics module comprises a battery and the antenna of the electronics module is a wireless power antenna, and wherein the charging station comprises a power transmission circuit that controls wireless power antenna of the charging station to wireless transmit power to the electronics module so that it may be received by the wireless power antenna so as to charge the battery.