SELF-PACKAGED WRAPPABLE PATCH ANTENNA AND CIRCUIT SYSTEM FOR A UNIVERSAL WIRELESS ENDOSCOPE PLATFORM
Xiaoyu Cheng, Gloria Kim and Yong-Kyu Yoon
A patch antenna and an electronic circuit/sensor system implemented on a flat flexible substrate are rolled up to form a wireless endoscope capsule. A flexible Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) substrate is used. A conventional wirelesses endoscope system is assembled by stacking up multiple layers of PCBs comprising a transceiver, a microprocessor, a sensor, and an antenna etc., and communication between different layers are realized by vertical vias, which usually cause loss and cost to design and implement. The approach used here is to design all the necessary components on a single piece of a flexible substrate and assemble them by rolling up. No via is needed for communication between components and layers. Further, the layout is designed to enclose all other electronics by the wrapped patch antenna, which offers an omnidirectional radiation pattern as well as electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding to the enclosed analog/digital circuits as well as sensitive sensors.
Keywords: Electromagnetic interference, Endoscopes, Patch antennas, Substrates, Wireless communication and Wireless sensor networks