Modular Pod Structures for Signal Routing in Wearable Devices
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Wearable electronic devices face a challenge in achieving sophisticated functionality without compromising affordability, particularly in signal routing designs that impact manufacturability and cost.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a wearable electronic device with a set of pod structures that include sensor pods and a processor pod, connected by a plurality of communicative pathways, allowing for the detection of user inputs and the serial routing of signals to the processor pod, which can include amplification and analog-to-digital conversion circuits, enabling efficient signal processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If sophisticated functionality is implemented in wearable electronic devices, then the device capabilities are improved, but manufacturing costs and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The wearable electronic device is divided into multiple discrete pod structures, each containing specific electronic components such as sensors, amplification circuits, and signal routing elements. This segmentation allows for modular manufacturing and assembly, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining sophisticated functionality through the coordinated operation of individual pods.
2Adaptability or versatility
If sophisticated functionality is implemented in wearable electronic devices, then the device capabilities are improved, but manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the device into discrete pods that can be manufactured separately and assembled, the invention enables more efficient manufacturing processes. Each pod can be produced using standardized techniques and then interconnected through flexible printed circuit boards, reducing overall manufacturing costs compared to producing a monolithic complex device.
Solution Approach 2:
The pod structures are designed with universal interfaces and standardized connection methods, allowing the same basic pod design to serve multiple functions or be used in different configurations. This universality reduces manufacturing costs by enabling economies of scale in pod production while still achieving sophisticated overall device functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
Wearable electronic devices that employ techniques for routing signals between components are described. An exemplary wearable electronic device includes a set of pod structures with each pod structure positioned adjacent and physically coupled to at least one other pod structure. The set of pod structures includes multiple sensor pods and at least one processor pod. Each sensor pod includes an on-board sensor to in use detect user-effected inputs and provide signals in response to the user-effected inputs. The signals are serially routed via successive ones of adjacent pod structures by respective communicative pathways until the signals are routed from the sensor pods to the processor pod. A processor on-board the processor pod processes the signals. Systems, articles, and methods for routing electrical signals and/or optical signals, including analog signals and/or digital signals, between pod structures are described.