GB2611305A

GB2611305A - Antenna system, electronics module and wearable article

Info

Publication number: GB2611305A
Application number: GB2113891.2A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Lynch Michael
Original assignee: Prevayl Innovations Ltd
Current assignee: Prevayl Innovations Ltd
Priority date: 2021-09-29
Filing date: 2021-09-29
Publication date: 2023-04-05
Also published as: WO2023052753A1; GB202113891D0

Abstract

A wearable article 100 has a fabric layer 101 with conductive material 103. An electronics module (200, figure 8) couples to the wearable article 100. The electronics module has an antenna, communications circuitry and a conductor for connection with the fabric layer conductive material 103. The fabric layer conductive material 103 forms a first ground plane for the antenna in signal communication and may be yarn which is knitted, stitched, felted, woven or embroidered. The electronics module may include a printed circuit board PCB, forming a second ground plane which cooperates with the first ground plane, proving a large surface area. The electronics module may be removably attached to the wearable article. The wearable article may be a smart clothing garment having sensors to measure bio-signals such as heart and respiration rate. The antenna system may be suitable for sub-Gigahertz communication and 4G long-term-evolution LTE wireless protocol.

Description

ANTENNA SYSTEM, ELECTRONICS MODULE AND WEARABLE ARTICLE The present invention is directed towards an antenna system, electronics module and wearable article.

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.

Electronics modules are small electronic devices that may either be integrally formed with or removably coupled to the wearable article. Electronics modules can comprise internal sensors for performing the measurement functions or may communicatively couple with sensing components such as electrodes incorporated into the wearable article.

It is desirable for electronics modules to communicate with other devices over wireless communication protocols. Example electronics modules may include a driven antenna element, a communications circuit, and a PCB on which the driven antenna element and communication circuit are mounted. The driven antenna element, communications circuit and PCB form an antenna system. The PCB forms a ground plane for the antenna system and cooperates with the driven antenna element for wireless communication. The ground plane is often provided by a comparatively large area of copper foil on a board of the PCB.

There is a trend for ever greater miniaturization of electronics modules for wearable articles.

Smaller electronics modules are generally more comfortable to wear when coupled to a wearable article such as a garment and produce noticeable. The limited form factor places a constraint on the wireless performance of the electronics module particularly when several antennas for supporting wireless communications over different protocols are required.

The problem is particularly apparent when communication of sub-Gigahertz frequencies is desired. Sub-Gigahertz frequencies are used in 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) communications, for example. Using 4G, support for communication over frequencies as low as 698 MHz can be required. Such sub-Gigahertz frequencies generally require a ground plane of at least 100 mm to achieve satisfactory performance. Given that electronics modules are desired to be as small as possible, and generally are desired to have a maximum dimension of far less than 100 mm, it is not currently possible to achieve effective antenna performance at these frequencies.

The problems with constrained ground plane dimensions in existing electronics modules are compounded by degradations in antenna performance caused by the electronics modules being worn on the body.

There exists a need to provide solutions to overcome the problem of limited space for a ground plane in electronics modules used with wearable articles that incorporate a fabric layer, such as articles of clothing.

Summary

According to the present disclosure there is provided an antenna system, electronics module and wearable article 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 antenna system.

The antenna system comprises a wearable article. The wearable article comprises a fabric layer. The fabric layer comprises a conductive material.

The antenna system comprises an electronics module arranged to be coupled to the wearable article.

The electronics module comprises a driven antenna element.

The electronics module comprises communication electronics communicatively coupled to the driven antenna element for signal communication.

The electronics module comprises a conductor electrically connected to the communication electronics and arranged to couple with the conductive material of the fabric layer.

The conductive material of the fabric layer forms at least part of a ground plane for co-operation with the driven antenna element in signal communication.

Advantageously, the fabric layer of the wearable article comprises a conductive material that forms at least part of the ground plane for use in signal communication. In this way, the ground plane is not constrained to the electronics module. The wearable article has a greater surface area than the electronics module and thus provides a larger space for a ground plane. The antenna system is not constrained by the small form factor of the electronics module in providing wireless communication. Instead, a ground plane of sufficient size for efficient wireless communication can be provided by making use of the larger surface area of the wearable article.

The electronics module may comprise a printed circuit board, PCB. The PCB may comprise the communication electronics. The conductor may extend from and be electrically connected to the PCB.

The conductive material of the fabric layer may have a length of at least one fourth of the wavelength at the lowest transmitting frequency used by the wireless communication protocol supported by the antenna system. This contrasts with existing approaches which use a PCB to provide the ground plane. In these existing approaches, the ground plane length is typically less than one tenth of the wavelength at the lowest transmitting frequency.

The conductive material may be flexible and arranged to conform to the shape of the fabric layer. In this way, the conductive material can be flexed in use to conform to the shape of the wearable article (such as a garment). This ability to flex helps minimise any awareness that the wearer may have of the presence of the conductive material in the garment. This helps ensure that the conductive material is comfortable in use.

The conductive material may comprise a conductive fabric. A conductive fabric is comfortable and can flex with the fabric layer. The conductive material may have an appearance which blends with the appearance of the fabric layer. That is, the conductive material and the fabric layer may have the same colour, texture and/or other visual properties.

The conductive fabric may comprise conductive yarn.

The conductive fabric may be knitted, stitched, felted, woven or embroidered using the conductive yarn.

The conductive fabric may be integrally formed with the fabric layer. The conductive fabric may be integrally knit or woven with the fabric layer.

The electronics module may comprise a housing. The communication electronics may be provided in the housing. A PCB on which the communication electronics is located may be provided within the housing.

The conductor may extend to an external surface of the housing. The conductor may extend from a PCB on which the communication electronics is located to the external surface of the housing.

The housing may comprise an opening through which the conductor extends.

The conductor may terminate in a conductive contact pad located on the external surface of the housing.

The driven antenna element may be provided within the housing.

The electronics module may comprise a printed circuit board, PCB. The PCB may comprise the communication electronics. The driven antenna element may be provided on the PCB.

The PCB may form part of the ground plane for co-operation with the driven antenna element in signal communication.

The PCB may form a first ground plane component, and the conductive material of the fabric layer may form a second ground plane component. The first and second ground plane components may cooperate to define the ground plane.

The electronics module may be arranged to be removably coupled to the wearable article.

The wearable article may comprise an electronics module holder arranged to releasably retain the electronics module.

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

The electronics module holder may comprise a pocket sized to receive and temporarily retain the electronics module.

The electronics module holder may comprise a magnetic material that cooperates with a magnetic material of the electronics module to form a magnetic coupling.

The electronics module may comprise an interface arranged to communicatively couple with the sensing component.

The interface may comprise one or more contacts located on an external surface of a housing of the electronics module.

The one or more contacts may be conductively connected to a process of the electronics module so as to couple signals from the sensing component to the processor.

The wearable article may be a garment.

The driven antenna element may function as a transmitter and/or receiver antenna for a cellular communication protocol. Example cellular communication protocols include as 2G, 3G, 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), LTE Cat-M1, LTE Cat-M2, NB-loT, fifth generation (5G), sixth generation (6G).

The driven antenna element may function as a receiver antenna for a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Such satellite systems include the Global Positioning System (GPS), GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo.

The driven antenna element may be a first driven antenna element of the electronics module.

The electronics module may comprise one or more additional antenna elements for signal communication. The additional antenna elements may be used for wireless communication over different wireless communication protocols.

The additional antenna elements may comprise an antenna element that supports near field communication.

The additional antenna elements may comprise an antenna element that supports communication over one or more of the Bluetooth 0 family of communication protocols. Example Bluetooth communication protocols include Bluetooth 0, Bluetooth 0 Low Energy, Bluetooth 0 Mesh, and Bluetooth 0 5.

The driven antenna element and ground plane may form a dipole, inverted L-antenna (ILA), planar inverted-L antenna (PILA), planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA), or any other known antenna configuration. The driven antenna element and the ground plane may be on different but substantially parallel planes. The driven antenna element may be substantially coplanar with the ground plane. The driven antenna element may be parallel but spaced from the plane of the ground plane According to a second aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an electronics module arranged to be coupled to a wearable article.

The electronics module comprises a driven antenna element.

The electronics module comprises a conductor electrically connected to the communication electronics and arranged to couple with a conductive material of a fabric layer of the wearable article.

The electronics module may be the electronics module described above in relation to the first

aspect of the disclosure.

According to a third aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a wearable article. The wearable article comprises a fabric layer. The fabric layer comprises a conductive material. The conductive material forms at least pad of a ground plane for co-operation with a driven antenna element of an electronics module coupled to the wearable article.

The wearable article may be the wearable article descried above in relation to the second aspect of the disclosure.

The wearable articles according to aspects of the disclosure may comprise one or more sensing components. The one or more sensing components may be arranged to measure one or more biosignals of a user wearing the wearable article. Here, "biosignal" may refer to any signal in a living being that can be measured and monitored. The term "biosignal" is not limited to electrical signals and can refer to other forms of non-electrical biosignals. The sensing components may be used for measuring one or a combination of bioelectrical, bioimpedance, biochemical, biomechanical, bioacoustics, biooptical or biothermal signals of the user. 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 user's sweat. The biomechanical measurements include blood pressure. The bioacoustics measurements include phonocardiograms (PCG). The biooptical measurements include orthopantomogram (OPG). The biothermal measurements include skin temperature and core body temperature measurements. The sensing units may comprise a radar unit. The wearable article may sense a combination of external signals and biosignals of the user.

According to a fourth aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an electronics module comprising: a driven antenna element; communication electronics communicatively coupled to the driven antenna element for signal communication; a power store; and a conductor communicatively coupled to the communication electronics and the power store, wherein, when the conductor is coupled with a conductive material of a wearable article, the communication electronics are brought into communication with the conductive material such that the conductive material forms at least part of a ground plane for co-operation with the driven antenna element in signal communication, and wherein, when the conductor is coupled with an external power source, the power store is brought into communication with the external power source such that power is able to be transferred from the external power source to the power store.

The electronics module may further comprise a switching unit, wherein the conductor is coupled to the communication electronics and the power store via the switching unit, and wherein the switching unit is arranged to selectively route signals between the conductor and the communication electronics and the conductor and the power store.

The electronics module may be provided in a system comprising the wearable article and/or the external power store. The wearable article may be the wearable article of the third aspect of the disclosure.

The electronics module may comprise any of the features of the electronics module described above in relation to the first aspect of the disclosure.

Brief Description of the Drawings

B

Examples of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of an example antenna system according to aspects of the

present disclosure;

Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of another example antenna system according to aspects of the present disclosure; Figures 3 and 4 show external and internal views of an example wearable article according to aspects of the present disclosure; Figures 5 to 7 show a detailed section of the wearable article of Figures 3 and 4; Figure 8 shows a sectional view of an electronics module positioned on the wearable article of Figures 3 and 4; and Figures 9 and 10 show schematic diagrams for example systems 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 forthe 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 article which may be worn by a user, and which incorporates a fabric layer. 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, brassiere, shorts, pants, arm or leg sleeve, vest, jacket/coat, glove, armband, chest-band underwear, headband, hat/cap (e.g. a hard hat), collar, wristband, stocking, sock, or shoe, athletic clothing, personal protecting equipment, swimwear, wetsuit or drysuit 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 user. The garment may be a compression garment. The garment may be an athletic garment such as an elastomeric athletic garment.

The wearable article may be constructed from a woven or a non-woven material. The wearable article 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 yarn may be cotton. The cotton may be blended with polyester and/or viscose and/or polyamide according to the particular application. Silk may also be used as the natural fibre. Cellulose, wool, hemp, and jute are also natural fibres that may be used in the wearable article. Polyester, polycotton, nylon and viscose are synthetic fibres that may be used in the wearable article.

The following description refers to particular examples of the present disclosure where the wearable article is a garment. It will be appreciated that the present disclosure is not limited to garments and other forms of wearable article are within the scope of the present disclosure as outlined above.

The antenna system 1 comprises a wearable article 100. The wearable article 100 comprises a fabric layer 101. The fabric layer 101 comprises a conductive material 103.

The antenna system 1 further comprises an electronics module 200. The electronics module 200 is arranged to be coupled to the wearable article 100. In this example, the electronics module 200 is arranged to be removably coupled to the wearable article 100. This enables a single electronics module 200 to be used with multiple different wearable articles 100. In addition, a removable electronics module 200 is beneficial as it allows for the electronics module 200, containing the sensitive electronics components, to be removed prior to washing of the wearable article 100.

The electronics module 100 comprises a driven antenna element 201.

The electronics module 100 comprises a printed circuit board (PCB) 203. The PCB 203 carries communication electronics 205 which are communicatively coupled to the driven antenna element 201. The communication electronics 205 are able to send and/or receive wireless signals via the driven antenna element 201.

In the example of Figure 1, the communication electronics 205 and the driven antenna element 201 are provided in a single integrated circuit package which is mounted on the PCB 203. An example of such an IC package is the Inverse LTE Antenna No. SR4L034-L manufactured by Antenova Ltd. The driven antenna element 201 and communications electronics 205 are not required to be in the same IC package in all examples. The driven antenna element 201 may be separate from the communication electronics 205 and may be spaced from the PCB 203. The driven antenna element 201 may be provided as a separate layer within the housing 211 of the electronics module 200 or may be formed as part of the housing 211.

The PCB 203, communication circuit 205 and driven antenna element 201 are provided within the housing 211 of the electronics module 200. This is not required in all examples. The driven antenna element 201 may form part of the housing 211 if the housing 211 comprises a conductive material.

The electronics module 200 further comprises a conductor 207 that extends from and is electrically connected to the PCB 203. The conductor 207 terminates in a ground contact 207. The ground contact 207 is located on an external surface of the housing 211 and forms a contact 30 pad The housing 211 is formed of a rigid material in this example. The housing 211 may comprise a (rigid) polymeric material. The polymeric material may be a rigid plastic material. The rigid plastic material may be ABS or polycarbonate plastic but is not limited to these examples. The rigid plastic material may be glass reinforced. The rigid housing 211 may be injection moulded. The rigid housing 211 may be constructed using a twin-shot injection moulding approach.

The contact pad of the conductor 207 is provided on an outer surface of the housing 211. The contact pad is formed from a flexible, conductive, material, but this is not required in all examples.

"Rigid" will be understood as referring to a material which is stiffer and less able to bend than the contact pads formed of flexible material. The rigid housing 211 may still have some degree of flexibility but is less flexible than the flexible material of the contact pad. The contact pad comprises conductive material, and thus act as conductive contact pad for the electronics module 200.

The contact pad is formed from a piece of conductive elastomeric or metallic material. The conductive elastomeric material used in this example is a conductive silicone rubber material, but other forms of conductive elastomeric material may be used.

The contact pad defines an external surface that is textured to provide additional grip when positioned on the wearable article 100. The texture may be, for example, a ribbed or knurled texture. The contact pad may be flat and is not required to have a textured surface.

The present disclosure is not limited to contact pads and other forms of electrical contacts such as studs, prongs or pins are within the scope of the present disclosure.

The conductive material 103 of the wearable article forms at least part of a ground plane 103 for cooperation with the driven antenna element 201 in signal communication. The conductive material 103 and the driven antenna element 201 are electrically coupled to one another via the conductor 207 and PCB 203.

The driven antenna element 201 is a conductive element that is connected to the communication electronics 205. The driven antenna element 201 is used by the communication electronics 205 to communicate with an external device.

The driven antenna element 201 is able to function as one or both of a transmitter antenna and a receiving antenna. As a transmitting antenna, the driven antenna element 201 is the source of transmitted waves. As a receiving antenna, the driven antenna element 201 collects incoming waves for reception and converts them to oscillating electric currents which are interpreted by the communication electronics 205 that are connected to the driven antenna element 201.

The driven antenna element 201 in this example is configured to form a monopole antenna. The ground plane 103 cooperates with the driven antenna element 201 for signal communication. In effect, the ground plane 103 acts as another pole for the antenna that balances out the monopole of the driven antenna element 201 and carries electric currents that cause efficient RF radiation.

Because the ground plane 103 is formed as part of the fabric layer 101 of the wearable article 100, it is able to have an area sufficient for efficient RF radiation. Advantageously, the ground plane 103 is not required to be formed entirely from the PCB 203 of the electronics module 200. In this way, efficient RF radiation can be achieved without increasing the form factor of the electronics module 200.

In an example use case, the antenna system 1 may be desired to communicate at a frequency of 916 MHz. A length of at least a quarter of the wavelength (quarter-wave) is usually considered to be necessary for efficient radiation. A full-wave 916 MHz antenna would require a length of approximately 327 mm. A quarter-wave version would require a length of approximately 82 mm. A quarter-wave drive antenna element 201 can be achieving by coiling the antenna across multiple substrate layers within the IC package of the communication circuit 205.

The ground plane, however, can only realistically achieve acceptable performance if it is provided as a single length of 82 mm or greater. If the PCB 203 was used as the ground plane, this would require the PCB 203 to have a length of at least 82 mm which is practical for wearables applications where the electronics module 200 is desired to be as small as possible. Typically, an electronics module 200 would be desired to have a maximum dimension of at most 40 to 50 mm. Advantageously, incorporating the ground plane 103 into the fabric layer 101 enables a ground plane 103 with sufficient length for acceptable performance to be provided for the antenna system 1.

It will be appreciated that the lengths given above are just examples and are dependent on the frequency or frequencies that are desired to be used for communication. The present disclosure makes use of a fabric layer 101 of the wearable article 100 (such as a garment) for providing the surface area for the ground plane 103. The skilled person will appreciate that the surface area of such a fabric layer 101 is sufficiently large for any desired microwave frequency communications.

Generally, the antenna system 1 is arranged to communicate with an external device over any known wireless communication protocol that operates at microwave frequencies (e.g. 300 MHz to 30 GHz).

The antenna system 1 may operate at any or combination of frequency bands within the microwave frequency range. Example frequency bands include 698-960 MHz, 1700-2170 MHz, 2300-2400 MHz, and 2500-2690 MHz.

Example wireless communication protocols include cellular communication protocols such as 2G, 3G, 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), LTE Cat-M1, LTE Cat-M2, NBloT, fifth generation (5G), sixth generation (6G), and/or any other present or future developed cellular communication protocol. Other example wireless communication protocols that may be supported by the antenna system 1 include Bluetooth 0, Bluetooth 0 Low Energy, Bluetooth Mesh, Bluetooth 0 5, Thread, Zigbee, IEEE 802.15.4, Ant, Ant+, and VVi-Fl.

The antenna system 1 may function as a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver.

Example satellite navigation systems include the Global Positioning System (GPS), GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo. In various implementations, the antenna system 1 can support all of the foregoing satellite navigation systems.

The conductive material 103 in the fabric layer 101 may have a length of at least 70mm, at least 75 mm, at least 85 mm, at least 95 mm, at least 105 mm, at least 115 mm, or at least 125 mm.

The conductive material 103 will generally have a length of between 70 mm and 200 mm.

In some examples, the conductive material 103 of the wearable article 100 forms the entirety of the ground plane 103. In other examples, the PCB 203 and the conductive material 103 may cooperate to form the ground plane. That is, the conductive material of the PCB 203 may form a first component of the ground plane and the conductive material 103 of the wearable article 100 forms a second component of the ground plane.

In the example of Figure 1, the wearable article 100 further comprises sensing components in the form of electrodes 105 for measuring biosignals from a wearer of the wearable article 100.

The electrodes 105 are arranged to contact a skin surface of the wearable article 100 when the wearable article 100 is worn. The electronics module 200 comprises an interface 209. The interface 209 comprises electrode contacts 209 that are located on an external surface of the housing 211 of the electronics module 200. The electrode contacts 209 communicatively couple with the electrodes 105 to obtain the measurement signals.

The electrode contacts 209 are in the form of contact pads 209 that are provided on an outer surface of the housing 211. The contact pads 209 are formed from a flexible, conductive, material, but this is not required in all examples. The contact pads 209 are spaced apart from one another on the bottom surface of the housing 211. The contact pads 209 comprise conductive material, and thus act as conductive contact pads 211 for the electronics module 200.

The contact pads 209 are formed of two separate pieces of conductive metallic or elastomeric material 209 that form first and second flexible contacts 209. The conductive elastomeric material used in this example is a conductive silicone rubber material, but other forms of conductive elastomeric material may be used.

The contact pads 209 each define an external surface that is textured to provide additional grip when positioned on the wearable article 100. The texture may be, for example, a ribbed or knurled texture. The contact pads 209 may be flat and are not required to have a textured surface.

The electronics module 200 further comprises a processor which, in this example, is mounted on the PCB 203 along with the communications circuit 205 and driven antenna element 201. The processor is arranged to receive the measurement signals or a processed version thereof from the electrode contacts 209.

Referring to Figure 2, there is shown a more detailed schematic diagram of an example antenna system 1 according to aspects of the present disclosure. Like reference numerals are used to indicate like components.

The electronics module 200 comprises a driven antenna element 201, PCB 203, communication circuit 205, conductor 207, interface 209 and housing 211 as described above in relation to Figure 1.

The electronics module 200 comprises a processor 213. The processor 213 is configured to process a DC output received from an AC-to-DC converter 215 of the electronics module 200.

The AC-to-DC converter 215 is coupled to the interface 209, receives analogue signals from the interface 209, and converts the analogue signals into digital signals which are then provided to the processor 213. The AC-to-DC converter 215 may also perform additional filtering and signal processing operations.

The processor 213 is a component of a controller that is mounted on the PCB 203. The controller 212 has an internal memory and is also communicatively connected to an external memory 217 of the electronics module 200 which in this example is a NAND Flash memory. The memory 217 has a storage capacity of at least 1GB and preferably at least 2 GB. The electronics module 200 comprises a motion sensor 219, a temperature sensor 221, and a light emitting diode 223 for conveying status information. The electronics module 200 is not limited to these examples and may include other forms of sensors such as optical sensors for measuring a user's pulse rate and/or oxygen saturation. The housing of the electronics module 200 may have an opening or window to allow the optical sensor to have line of sight with a skin surface of the wearer.

The memory 217, motion sensor 219, temperature sensor 221 and light emitting diode 223 may be mounted on the PCB 203. The housing 211 is constructed such that light emitted by the light emitting diode 223 is visible externally.

The electronics module 200 also comprises conventional electronics components including an electrostatic discharge protection circuit 225, a power-on-reset generator 227, a crystal 229, and a PROG header 231. These components may also be mounted on the PCB 203.

The electronics module 200 also comprises a power source 237 and associated circuitry 233.

The power source 237 in this example is a rechargeable lithium polymer battery 237. The associated circuitry includes a charge controller 235. A USB C input 239 is also provided to allow for the battery 237 to be charged using a wired connection. The battery 237 may also be charged inductively or over wirelessly over far-field. The associated circuitry 235 is provided on the PCB 203. The battery 237 is provided separately to the PCB 203 and may be positioned above or below the PCB 203 in the housing 211.

The power source 237 is not required to be a battery 237. The power source 237 may 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 wearer of the wearable article. The kinetic event could include walking, running, exercising or respiration of the wearer. 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 the wearer. The energy harvesting device may be a thermoelectric energy harvesting device. The power source 237 may be a super capacitor, or an energy cell.

The electronics module 200 is coupled to a wearable article 100. The wearable article 100 comprises a fabric layer 101. The fabric layer 101 comprises conductive material 103 and sensing components 105 in the form of electrodes 105.

The electronics module 200 and wearable article 100 form an antenna system 1.

In addition to the driven antenna element 201, the electronics module 200 may comprise one or more additional wireless communicators 241. The wireless communicator 241 may support communication over a relatively short communication distance such that a large ground plane is not required. The wireless communicator 241 may support communication over Bluetooth 0, Bluetooth 0 Low Energy, Bluetooth 0 Mesh, Bluetooth 0 5, or a near field communication protocol such as near field magnetic induction.

Referring to Figures 3 and 4 there is shown the external 102 and internal 104 surfaces of a wearable article 100 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The wearable article 100 comprises a fabric layer 101 and an electronics module holder (not shown) in the form of a pocket located on the external surface 102 of the wearable article 100.

The wearable article 100 comprises the conductive material 103 that forms all or part of the ground plane 103 of the antenna system 1. The conductive material 103 is shown on the external surface 102 the wearable article 100 in this example but may also be provided on the internal surface 104 or both the external and internal surfaces 102, 104. The conductive material 103 may have an appearance similar to that of the remainder of the fabric layer 101 such that the conductive material 103 blends in with the fabric layer 101.

The wearable article 100 comprises the sensing components 105 in the form of electrodes 105. The sensing components 105 are provided on the internal surface 102 of the wearable article.

Figures 5 to 7 show a section of the wearable article 100 of Figures 3 and 4 in detail.

The conductive region 103 (Figure 5) is provided on the external surface 102 of the fabric layer 101.

The electrodes 105 (Figure 6) are provided on the internal surface 104 of the fabric layer 101.

The electrodes 105 are electrically coupled to connection regions 109 (Figure 5) provided on the external surface 102 via a conductive pathway 111 that extends across the external surface 102 of the fabric layer 101 and through the fabric layer 101.

The conductive region 103 in this example is a conductive fabric formed from conductive yarn. The conductive yarn may be a stainless-steel yarn such as those manufactured by TIBTECH Innovations. The conductive yarn may be a silver coated yarn such as the Circuitex T" conductive yarn from Noble Biomaterials Limited. Of course, other conductive yarns may be used. The conductive yarn may comprise a non-conductive or less conductive base yarn which is coated or embedded with conductive material such as carbon, copper and silver.

The conductive region 103 may be knitted, woven or embroidered with the fabric layer 101. The conductive region 103 may therefore be integral with the fabric layer 101. In other examples, the conductive region 103 may be manufactured separately as a conductive fabric patch which is subsequently attached to the fabric layer 101.

The electrodes 105, connection regions 109 and conductive pathways 111 may also be formed from conductive yarn and may be knitted, woven or embroidered with the fabric layer 101. The electrodes 105, connection regions 109 and conductive pathways 111 may therefore be integral with the fabric layer 101. In other examples, the electrodes 105, connection regions 109 and conductive pathways 111 may be manufactured separately and subsequently attached to the fabric layer 101. For example, the electrodes 105, connection regions 109 and conductive pathways 111 may be formed on one or more separate fabric base layers which are then attached to the fabric layer 101.

The conductive regions 103, electrodes, connection regions 109, and conductive pathways 111 are not required to be formed from conductive yam and may be formed from other conductive materials that may be attached or incorporated into fabric layer 101. Example conductive materials include conductive inks and conductive polymers.

Figure 8 shows the wearable article 100 of Figures 5 to 7 and an electronics module 200 positioned on the wearable article 100 to form the antenna system 1. The electronics module 200 is positioned in an electronics module holder (not shown) of the wearable article 100 which may be, for example, a fabric pocket.

When the electronics module 200 is positioned in the electronics module holder, the conductor 207 of the electronics module 200 is brought into contact with the conductive material 103. In addition, the interface elements 209 of the electronics module 200 are brought into contact with the connection regions 109. The electronics module 200 receives measurement signals from the electrodes 105. The signals are generally bioelectrical signals. Bioelectrical signals include biopotenfial signals such as electrocardiogram signals and bioimpedance signals such as plethysmography signals.

Referring to Figures 9 and 10, there is shown another example system 1 according to aspects of the present disclosure.

The antenna system 1 comprises an electronics module 200. The electronics module 200 may comprise any of the features of the electronics modules 200 as described above.

The electronics module 200 is shown as comprising communication electronics 205. The communication electronics 205 are coupled to a driven antenna element (not shown) as described above.

The electronics module 200 further comprises a (first) conductor 207. The conductor 207 terminates in a ground contact 207. The conductor is communicatively coupled to the communication electronics 205 via a radio frequency (RF) switch 243. The conductor is also communicatively coupled to a power store 237 of the electronics module 200 via the RF switch 243. Additional power management circuitry (PMIC) 233 is shown in Figures 9 and 10.

A further (second) conductor 245 is also provided and is communicatively coupled to the RFswitch 243.

In the example of Figure 9, the electronics module 200 is coupled to a wearable article 100 as described above comprising a fabric layer 101 and a conductive material 103. The first conductor 207 contacts the conductive material 103. The RF-switch 243 creates a signal path between the communication electronics 205 and the conductive material 103. This enables the conductive material to form at least part of a ground plane for co-operation with the driven antenna element in signal communication.

In the example of Figure 10, the electronics module 200 is coupled to an external power source 300 for charging the internal power store 237 of the electronics module 200. The external power source 300 may be a charging unit for the electronics module 200. The external power source 300 comprises a first contact 301 (e.g., a positive terminal) for coupling with the first conductor 207 of the electronics module 200. The external power source 300 comprises a second contact 301 (e.g., a negative terminal) for coupling with the second conductor 245 of the electronics module. The RF switch 243 creates a signal path between the power store 237 and the external power source 300 such that power is able to be transferred from the external power source 300 to the power store 237.

Advantageously, the arrangement of Figures 9 and 10 enables the conductor 207 to have a dual function of connecting the electronics module 200 to a ground plane 103 of a wearable article 100 and connecting the electronics module 200 to an external power source 300. The RF-switch 243 can selectively route the conductor 207 to the communication electronics 205 or the power store 237 depending on whether the electronics module 200 is coupled to the wearable article 100 or the power source 300.

The present disclosure is not limited to wearable articles that incorporate electrodes. Other forms of sensing unit such as temperature sensors, hydration sensors, chemical sensors, motion sensors, and light sensors may be incorporated into the wearable article. The sensing units may be biosensors for use in measuring a biosignal. Electrocardiography (ECG) and electromyography (EMG) signals are examples of biosignals that may be measured by the sensing units.

In the above examples. the electronics module 200 may have a length of less than 100 mm, a width of less than 100 mm, and a depth of less than 50 mm. The electronics module 200 may have a length of less than 70 mm, a width of less than 70 mm and a depth of less than 30 mm. The length may be less than 50mm. The width may be less than 50mm. The depth may be less than 20mm. An example electronics module 200 has a length 38mm, a width of 25 mm, and a depth of 9.6 mm. Advantageously, the electronics module 200 has a small form factor making it suitable to be comfortable provided on a wearable article comprising a fabric layer such as an article of clothing. Beneficially, the communication performance is not affected due to the conductive material in the wearable article functioning as part of the ground plane.

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

At least some of the example embodiments described herein may be constructed, partially or wholly, using dedicated special-purpose hardware. Terms such as 'component', 'module' or 'unit' used herein may include, but are not limited to, a hardware device, such as circuitry in the form of discrete or integrated components, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), which performs certain tasks or provides the associated functionality. 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

21 CLAIMS 1. An antenna system comprising: a wearable article comprising a fabric layer, the fabric layer comprising a conductive material; and an electronics module arranged to be coupled to the wearable article, the electronics module comprising: a driven antenna element; communication electronics communicatively coupled to the driven antenna element for signal communication; and a conductor electrically connected to the communication electronics and arranged to couple with the conductive material of the fabric layer, wherein the conductive material of the fabric layer forms at least part of a ground plane for co-operation with the driven antenna element in signal communication.
2. An antenna system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the conductive material is flexible and arranged to conform to the shape of the fabric layer.
3. An antenna system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the conductive material comprises a conductive fabric.
4. An antenna system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the conductive fabric comprises conductive yarn.
5. An antenna system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the conductive fabric is knitted, stitched, felted, woven or embroidered using the conductive yarn.
6. An antennas system as claimed in any of claims 3 to 5, wherein the conductive fabric is integrally formed with the fabric layer.
7. An antenna system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the electronics module comprises a housing, and where the communication electronics are provided within the housing.
8. An antenna system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the conductor extends to an external surface of the housing.
9. An antenna system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the housing comprises an opening through which the conductor extends.
10. An antenna system as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein the conductor terminates in a conductive contact pad located on the external surface of the housing.
11. An antenna system as claimed in any of claims 7 to 10, wherein the driven antenna element is provided within the housing.
12. An antenna system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the electronics module comprises a printed circuit board, PCB, wherein the PCB comprises the communication electronics.
13. An antenna system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the driven antenna element is provided on the PCB.
14. An antenna system as claimed in claim 12 or 13, wherein the PCB forms part of the ground plane for co-operation with the driven antenna in signal communication.
15. An antenna system as claimed in any of claims 12 to 15, wherein the PCB forms a first ground plane component, and the conductive material of the fabric layer forms a second ground plane component, the first and second ground plane components cooperate to define the ground plane.
16. An antenna system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the electronics module is arranged to be removably coupled to the wearable article.
17. An antenna system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the wearable article comprises an electronics module holder arranged to releasably retain the electronics module.
18. An antenna system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the wearable article comprises a sensing component.
19. An antenna system as claimed in claim 1 8, wherein the electronics module comprises an interface arranged to communicatively couple with the sensing component.
20. An antenna system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the wearable article is a 35 garment.