Electrically active resonant structures for wireless monitoring and control

Claim 3

The device of claim 1 wherein the external condition is at least one of (a) applied force, (b) temperature, (c) humidity, and (d) light.

Claim 4

The device of claim 1 wherein the material having an intrinsic electrical property is also the dielectric.

Claim 5

The device of claim 3 wherein the intrinsic electrical property is charge leakage.

Claim 6

The device of claim 3 wherein the material is polyvinylidene difluoride in sheet form.

Claim 7

The device of claim 3 wherein the material is a piezoelectric ceramic.

Claim 8

The device of claim 3 wherein the material is a photoconductive polymer.

Claim 9

The device of claim 3 wherein the material is magnetostrictive.

Claim 10

The device of claim 3 wherein the material is ferroelectric.

Claim 11

The device of claim 1 wherein the material having an intrinsic electrical property is also the inductor.

Claim 12

The device of claim 10 wherein the intrinsic electrical property is magnetic permeability.

Claim 13

The device of claim 1 wherein the inductor comprises at least two pancake spirals of conductive material each disposed on an insulative sheet, the spirals having outermost loops electrically connected to one another, the spirals being disposed opposite one another to also serve as plates forming the capacitor, and the dielectric material being located between the spirals.

Claim 14

The device of claim 12 wherein the spirals are located on the same insulative sheet in spaced-apart relation to one another, the spirals being disposed opposite one another by folding of the sheet.

Claim 15

The device of claim 12 wherein the spirals each comprise an inner terminus, the inner terminus of at least one of the spirals comprising a solid area of conductive material.

Claim 16

The device of claim 3 wherein the dielectric material is sealed between the conductors.

Claim 17

The device of claim 3 wherein at least a portion of the dielectric material is at least partially exposed.

Claim 20

The method of claim 17 wherein the measurement is a time-domain measurement.

Claim 21

The method of claim 17 wherein the measurement is a frequency-domain measurement.

Claim 22

The method of claim 17 wherein the external condition is at least one of (a) applied force, (b) temperature, (c) humidity, (d) light.

Claim 23

The method of claim 17 wherein the wireless measurement step comprises applying a signal to the device and measuring power reflected from the package.

Claim 24

The method of claim 17 wherein the wireless measurement step comprises applying a signal to the device from a transmit antenna and measuring power received by a receive antenna.

Claim 25

The method of claim 17 wherein the wireless measurement step comprises applying a signal pulse to the device and, after the pulse, measuring ringdown from the device.

Claim 26

The method of claim 17 wherein the wireless measurement step comprises applying a signal to the device and measuring a resulting harmonic spectrum.

Claim 27

The method of claim 17 further comprising the step of providing first and second device each comprising a pair of conductors separated by a dielectric, each device comprising a material having an intrinsic electrical property altered by an external condition, alteration of the electrical property remotely detectably varying at least one characteristic of the circuit selected from resonant frequency, harmonic spectra and Q factor, the variation differing between the devices, and further comprising the steps of: a. simultaneously wirelessly measuring at least one characteristic of the first and second circuits selected from resonant frequency, harmonic spectra and Q factor; and b. based on the measured characteristic, determining the external condition relative to the first and second circuits.

Claim 28

The method of claim 17 wherein the characteristic is resonant frequency.

Claim 29

The method of claim 17 wherein the characteristic is Q factor.

Claim 30

The method of claim 17 wherein the characteristic is harmonic spectra.

Claim 33

The method of claim 29 wherein the sensing step comprises measuring nonlinear time-domain signals and signal interactions.

Claim 34

The method of claim 29 wherein the sensing step comprising measuring energy at a plurality of frequencies as a function of time.