Flexible solar-powered wireless communication device
View Patent ↗A solar-powered wireless communication device a flexible circuit, a device layer positioned adjacent to the flexible circuit and having a plurality of electronic components coupled to the flexible circuit, a flexible cover positioned over the device layer, a flexible substrate coupled with a second side of the flexible circuit, opposite the first side, by a first adhesive layer, and a solar panel positioned at a surface of the solar-powered tape node and coupling with the flexible circuit. The solar panel has a light-receiving surface facing away from the flexible circuit and is operable to generate electrical power when light is incident on the light-receiving surface. The solar-powered wireless communication device being operable to determine that power available to the solar-powered wireless communication device is below a first threshold and delegate at least one task of the solar-powered wireless communication device to another node of a network communications environment.
1. A solar-powered tape node, comprising:
a flexible circuit;
a device layer positioned adjacent to the flexible circuit and between a flexible substrate and a flexible cover, the device layer having a plurality of electronic components, each component coupled the flexible circuit, the plurality of electronic components comprising:
a processor,
a memory, and
at least one wireless communication system;
the flexible cover positioned over the device layer and forming a non-adhesive side of the solar-powered tape node;
the flexible substrate having a first aperture in the flexible substrate;
a first adhesive layer on the flexible substrate on an exterior of the solar-powered tape node, the adhesive layer configured to adhere the solar-powered tape node to a surface of an object; and
a solar panel positioned within the first aperture and coupling with the flexible circuit, the solar panel having a light-receiving surface facing away from the flexible circuit and being operable to generate electrical power when light is incident on the light-receiving surface, wherein
the solar-powered tape node is configured to perform wireless communications with a plurality of wireless nodes of a wireless Internet-of-Things (TOT) system using the at least one wireless communication system.
2. The solar-powered tape node of claim 1 , the flexible substrate having a thickness equal to or greater than a thickness of the solar panel.
3. The solar-powered tape node of claim 1 , wherein the first adhesive layer is configured to adhere the solar-powered tape node to a transparent object, whereby the light-receiving surface of the solar panel is positioned to receive light through the transparent object.
4. The solar-powered tape node of claim 3 , the first adhesive layer forming a second aperture aligned with the first aperture.
5. The solar-powered tape node of claim 3 , the first adhesive layer covering the light-receiving surface of the solar panel, wherein the first adhesive layer is optically transparent.
6. The solar-powered tape node of claim 1 , further comprising a static cling film on the flexible substrate formed of a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material that affixes to a glass surface without the use of an adhesive.
7. The solar-powered tape node of claim 3 , the solar panel being positioned to receive sunlight when the transparent object is a window or windshield of a vehicle and the solar-powered tape node is adhered to an interior surface of the window or windshield.
8. A solar-powered tape node, comprising:
a flexible circuit;
a device layer positioned adjacent to the flexible circuit and between a flexible substrate and a flexible cover layer, the device layer having a plurality of electronic components, each component coupled to the flexible circuit, the plurality of electronic components comprising
a processor,
a memory, and
at least one wireless communication system;
the flexible cover positioned over the device layer and forming a non-adhesive side of the solar-powered tape node, with an aperture in the flexible cover layer;
a first adhesive layer on the flexible substrate on an exterior of the solar-powered tape node, the adhesive layer configured to adhere the solar-powered tape node to a surface of an object; and
a solar panel positioned within the aperture and coupled with the flexible circuit, the solar panel having a light-receiving surface facing away from the flexible circuit and being operable to generate electrical power when light is incident on the light-receiving surface, wherein
the solar-powered tape node is configured to perform wireless communications with a plurality of wireless nodes of a wireless Internet-of-Things (TOT) system using the at least one wireless communication system.
9. The solar-powered tape node of claim 8 , wherein the solar-powered tape node is adhered to an exterior surface of a vehicle.
10. The solar-powered tape node of claim 8 , the flexible circuit, the device layer, the flexible cover, and the flexible substrate forming a cutout in the solar-powered tape node that allows the solar-powered tape node to attach to the front side of a rear view mirror, the cutout being shaped and sized to receive a mounting stem of the rear view mirror.
11. The solar-powered tape node of claim 1 , further comprising a battery between the flexible cover and the flexible substrate electrically coupled to one or more of the components of the device layer.
12. The solar-powered tape node of claim 11 , the battery electrically coupled to the solar panel, wherein the battery is a rechargeable battery configured to be recharged by the solar panel.
13. The solar-powered tape node of claim 11 , wherein the solar-powered tape node is configured to switch between an active and a standby mode, the standby mode configuring the solar-powered tape node to reduce power consumption of the solar-powered tape node.
14. The solar-powered tape node of claim 13 , wherein switching between the active mode and the standby mode is based at least in part on a remaining battery level of the battery.
15. The solar-powered tape node of claim 11 , wherein the solar-powered tape node is configured to delegate a task to the solar-powered tape node to another wireless node of the TOT system by communicating the task to the other wireless node using the wireless communication system, in response to the battery having a stored energy level below a threshold level.
16. The solar-powered tape node of claim 11 , wherein a combination of electrical power from the solar panel and from the battery is used to electrically power one or more of the components of the device layer.
17. The solar-powered tape node of claim 11 , wherein the solar-powered tape node is configured to perform a task based on a combination of a solar power generation rate of the solar panel and a remaining stored energy level in the battery.
18. The solar-powered tape node of claim 8 , further comprising a battery between the flexible cover and the flexible substrate electrically coupled to one or more of the components of the device layer.
19. The solar-powered tape node of claim 18 , the battery electrically coupled to the solar panel, wherein the battery is a rechargeable battery configured to be recharged by the solar panel.
20. The solar-powered tape node of claim 18 , wherein the solar-powered tape node is configured to perform a task based on a combination of a solar power generation rate of the solar panel and a remaining stored energy level in the battery.