Enabling Scalable Hybrid Systems: Architectures for Exploiting Large-Area Electronics in Applications

Abstract

| By enabling diverse and large-scale transducers, large-area electronics raises the potential for electronic systems to interact much more extensively with the physical world than is possible today. This can substantially expand the scope of applications, both in number and in value. But first, translation into applications requires a base of system functions (instrumentation, computation, power management, communication). These cannot be realized on the desired scale by large-area electronics alone. It is necessary to combine largearea electronics with high-performance, high-efficiency technologies, such as crystalline silicon CMOS, within hybrid systems. Scalable hybrid systems require rethinking the subsystem architectures from the start by considering how the technologies should be interfaced, on both a functional and physical level. To explore platform architectures along with the supporting circuits and devices, we consider, as an application driver, a self-powered sheet for high-resolution structural health monitoring (of bridges and buildings). Top-down evaluation of design alternatives within the hybrid design space and pursuit of template architectures exposes circuit functions and device optimizations traditionally overlooked by bottomup approaches alone.

Large-area electronics combined with integrated circuits into a strain sensing sheets

“…Figure 2. Prototype of sensing sheet [9] 3 Unit sensor Full-bridge resistive strain sensor has been choosen for sensing sheet because it has long been used in SHM, and thus, its sensing principle is proven and well understood. The sensor contains four electrical resistors oriented in two perpendicular directions, as shown in Figure 3.…”

“…POD is a metric frequently used to quantify the reliability of inspection systems. In the case of SHM, it is interpreted as a probability of correct detection of a damage of given size [9]. Geometric probability approach was taken to evaluate POD of various designs of sensing sheet.…”

“…Let assume that the damage (crack) is detected by a sensor if it "touches" or "intersects" that sensor, and false positive and negative detections are not possible (i.e., the sensor function is perfectly reliable). Also, let assume that crack has a uniform probability of occurrence within the sensing sheet and that it can be represented as a segment of the line with length c. Then, POD for each design can be modelled as a function of the size of the damage and computed using Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) [9]. Examples are given in Figure 5.…”

“…Up: sensing sheets with the same dimensions and equidistantly spaced 4, 9 and 16 sensors; Down: corresponding PODs[9] …”

18-2: Oxide TFT LC Oscillators on Glass and Plastic for Wireless Functions in Large-Area Flexible Electronic Systems

“…While a broad set of sensors have been demonstrated [1][2][3][4], creating full sensing systems with exclusively low-temperature compatible components remains challenging. Full LAE sensing systems can be achieved effectively with a hybrid approach in which silicon-CMOS ICs are coupled with LAE components (TFT circuits, large-area passive inductors and capacitors, thinfilm solar cells, sensors) [5]. In these systems, we avoid complex challenges of monolithic system integration by fabricating different large-area components on separate polyimide sheets and laminating them together into a single flexible unit.…”