As part of the Polytos project, we defined and investigated new automated design methods, circuit concepts and application scenarios for printed smart labels in cooperation with our partners. Polytos has created the foundation for using smart labels.
One of the results of Polytos was the presentation of the prototype of a temperature sensor with evaluation electronics.
This sensor can be affixed, e.g., as a label on goods, and even without power, it stores events of temperature increases over 80°C. During incoming goods control, the sensor state can be read out using a RFID interface and provided to the participants of a supply chain using data processing systems.
Other important results were basics on automated circuit design which allows for designing circuits between partners across company borders.
For its own manufacturing process, PolyIC developed layout rules which some project partners used in their designs as well. These designs comprise digital and analogous circuit blocks merged to form complex functions.
The digital circuits developed comprised circuit components, such as pulse generators, multiplexers and counters, which were used, e.g., for the temperature sensor evaluation with approx. 200 transistors.
Besides digital circuits, also circuits with analog technique were developed. One of the results is a 3-bit flash ADC (analogous-to-digital converter) with 106 transistors.
These designs were built and tested by PolyIC with polymer semiconductors with photolithographic prototype techniques.
This work was funded by the BMBF (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) as part of the OSS1 Polytos project from the leading-edge cluster "forum organic electronics" funding code: 13N12087.
Topics:
Temperature label
Introduction of innovative design methods
Analog circuit design
Modeling and simulating
