PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-10209106-B2
Application Number: US-201715722981-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Electronic devices with environmental sensors

Abstract:
An electronic device may be provided with environmental sensors. Environmental sensors may include one or more environmental sensor components and one or more acoustic components. Acoustic components may include a speaker or a microphone. Environmental sensor components may include a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a humidity sensor, a gas sensor, or other sensors or combinations of sensors for sensing attributes of the environment surrounding the device. The environmental sensor may have an enclosure with an opening. The enclosure may be formed from a rigid support structure and a portion of a printed circuit. The opening may be formed in the rigid support structure or the printed circuit. The opening in the enclosure for the environmental sensor may be aligned with an opening in an outer structural member for the device. The outer structural member may be a housing structure or a cover layer for a device display.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device comprising:
 a housing having a first opening; 
 a printed circuit; 
 a rigid support structure attached to the printed circuit; 
 an acoustic component attached to the printed circuit; and 
 a sensor attached to the printed circuit, wherein the rigid support structure and a portion of the printed circuit form an enclosure that surrounds the sensor and the acoustic component, wherein the enclosure comprises a second opening, and wherein air passes through the first and second openings into the enclosure. 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises a sensor selected from the group consisting of: a gas sensor, a smoke detector, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, and a humidity sensor. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device defined in  claim 2 , wherein the acoustic component comprises a microphone. 
     
     
       4. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises a gas sensor that is configured to measure a concentration of a gas. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device defined in  claim 4 , wherein the gas comprises a gas selected from the group consisting of: carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, alcohol vapor, propane, ozone, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, benzene, methane, hydrogen, and oxygen. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , wherein the second opening comprises an opening in the rigid support structure. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device defined in  claim 6 , wherein the second opening is aligned with the first opening. 
     
     
       8. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , wherein the second opening comprises an opening in the printed circuit. 
     
     
       9. The electronic device defined in  claim 8 , wherein the second opening is aligned with the first opening. 
     
     
       10. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , wherein the acoustic component comprises a permeable membrane, wherein the second opening is aligned with the permeable membrane, and wherein air passes through the second opening and the permeable membrane into the enclosure. 
     
     
       11. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , wherein the acoustic component and the sensor are formed from a common semiconductor die. 
     
     
       12. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 mesh that covers that first opening. 
 
     
     
       13. An electronic device comprising:
 a housing having a first opening; and 
 an environmental sensor having an enclosure with a second opening, wherein the environmental sensor includes an acoustic component with a permeable membrane and a sensor, and wherein air passes through the first opening, the second opening, and the permeable membrane into the enclosure. 
 
     
     
       14. The electronic device defined in  claim 13 , further comprising:
 mesh that covers the first opening. 
 
     
     
       15. The electronic device defined in  claim 13 , wherein the acoustic component comprises a microphone. 
     
     
       16. The electronic device defined in  claim 15 , wherein the sensor comprises a sensor selected from the group consisting of: a gas sensor, a smoke detector, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, and a humidity sensor. 
     
     
       17. The electronic device defined in  claim 13 , wherein the enclosure is formed by a printed circuit and a rigid support structure attached to the printed circuit. 
     
     
       18. An electronic device comprising:
 a housing having a first opening; 
 mesh that covers the first opening; 
 a printed circuit; 
 a rigid support structure attached to the printed circuit; 
 an acoustic component attached to the printed circuit; and 
 a gas sensor attached to the printed circuit that is configured to measure a concentration of a gas, wherein the gas comprises a gas selected from the group consisting of: carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, alcohol vapor, propane, ozone, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, benzene, methane, hydrogen, and oxygen, wherein the rigid support structure and a portion of the printed circuit form an enclosure that surrounds the gas sensor and the acoustic component, and wherein the enclosure comprises a second opening. 
 
     
     
       19. The electronic device defined in  claim 18 , wherein the acoustic component comprises a microphone. 
     
     
       20. The electronic device defined in  claim 18 , wherein the acoustic component comprises a speaker. 
     
     
       21. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , wherein the housing comprises a cellular telephone housing, the electronic device further comprising a display mounted in the cellular telephone housing. 
     
     
       22. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , wherein the air passes through the first opening then the second opening to reach the enclosure.

Description:
This application is a continuation of patent application Ser. No. 14/687,438, filed Apr. 15, 2015, which is a continuation-in-part of patent application Ser. No. 13/658,316, filed Oct. 23, 2012, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     This relates generally to electronic devices and, more particularly, to electronic devices with environmental sensors. 
     Electronic devices such as cellular telephones, portable computers, and tablet computers are sometimes provided with audio components such as microphones and speakers. Audio components are often mounted behind open ports in the device that allow sound to pass through the ports to or from the audio components. 
     In some situations it may be desirable to provide a device with environmental sensors such as thermometers for sensing the temperature of the environment in the vicinity of the device. Environmental sensors may require additional open ports in a device that allow interaction with the surrounding environment. However, additional open portions in a device can increase the risk of unwanted environmental materials such as moisture entering the device. 
     It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved environmental sensors for electronic devices. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may be provided with electronic components such as environmental sensors. 
     An environmental sensor may include multiple sensor components such as a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a humidity sensor, a gas sensor, a smoke detector, and a sound sensor (microphone). The sensor components may be mounted within an enclosure that at least partially surrounds the sensor components. The enclosure may have an opening that allows sound and/or other environmental materials such as air to enter the enclosure and interact with the sensor components. The enclosure may include a rigid support structure and portion of a printed circuit such as a flexible printed circuit. 
     The sensor components may be attached to the printed circuit. Conductive structures such as wire bonds may be used to electrically couple contact pads on the sensor components to other sensor components and/or to the printed circuit. The rigid support structure may be attached to the printed circuit and pass over the sensor components. 
     The opening in the enclosure for the environmental sensor may be formed in the rigid support structure or the printed circuit. The opening in the enclosure may be aligned with an opening in a housing structure for the electronic device. In this way, a device may be provided with multiple environmental sensor components and audio components while minimizing the number of open ports into the interior of the device. 
     If desired, an environmental sensor may include an output component such as an audio output component in the enclosure. 
     Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantages will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device with an environmental sensor in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device with an environmental sensor in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional perspective view of a portion of an illustrative electronic device in the vicinity of an environmental sensor having an opening in a printed circuit portion of the sensor that is aligned with an opening in an outer structural member for the device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional perspective view of a portion of an illustrative electronic device in the vicinity of an environmental sensor having an opening in a rigid support structure of the sensor that is aligned with an opening in an outer structural member for the device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative environmental sensor having an opening in a printed circuit portion of the sensor showing how sensor components may be wire bonded to other sensor components in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative environmental sensor having an opening in a printed circuit portion of the sensor showing how sensor components may be wire bonded to other sensor components and to multiple contact pads on the printed circuit portion of the sensor in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative environmental sensor having an opening in a rigid support structure of the sensor showing how sensor components may be wire bonded to other sensor components in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative environmental sensor having an opening in a rigid support structure of the sensor showing how sensor components may be wire bonded to other sensor components and to multiple contact pads on the printed circuit portion of the sensor in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative environmental sensor having an integrated circuit that serves as a sensor data processing circuit for multiple associated sensor components in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative environmental sensor having a microphone sensor data processing circuit that processes microphone sensor data from a stand-alone microphone and having a gas sensor data processing circuit that processes gas sensor data from a stand-alone gas sensor in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative environmental sensor having a single sensor data processing circuit that handles data from multiple sensors such as microphone and gas sensors that are formed from a common semiconductor die in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 12  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative environmental sensor having multiple sensor data processing circuits for handling data from multiple sensors integrated on a common semiconductor die in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 13  is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in gathering and processing sensor data in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An electronic device may be provided with electronic components such as buttons, switches, displays, speakers, microphones, and environmental sensors. Environmental sensors may be provided that include multiple sensor components and one or more audio components such as a microphone or a speaker. 
     The electronic device may include one or more housing structures that form a housing for the device. The housing structures may have one or more openings. The environmental sensor may have an enclosure with an opening that is aligned with an opening in the housing structures. 
     An electronic device may use one or more environmental sensors to gather environmental data associated with the environmental conditions surrounding the device. As an example, an electronic device may use an environmental sensor having a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a humidity sensor, a combined temperature and humidity sensing integrated circuit, a pressure sensor, and/or a sound sensor (i.e., a microphone) to gather environmental data such as temperature data, humidity data, pressure data and audio input data for the device. 
     The environmental data may be converted to user readable numbers such as a temperature, a humidity level, an air pressure value, etc. The user readable numbers may be provided to the user (e.g., using a display such as a liquid crystal display or an organic light-emitting diode display) or may be used in operating the device (e.g., control circuitry in the device may place the device in a safe mode of operation in response to a detected temperature that is outside of a predetermined safe range of operating temperatures). 
     An illustrative electronic device that may be provided with an environmental sensor having multiple sensor components in an enclosure is shown in  FIG. 1 . Electronic devices such as device  10  of  FIG. 1  may be cellular telephones, media players, other handheld portable devices, somewhat smaller portable devices such as wrist-watch devices, pendant devices, or other wearable or miniature devices, gaming equipment, tablet computers, notebook computers, desktop computers, televisions, computer monitors, computers integrated into computer displays, or other electronic equipment. 
     As shown in the example of  FIG. 1 , device  10  may include a display such as display  14 . Display  14  may be mounted in a housing such as housing  12 . Housing  12  may have upper and lower portions joined by a hinge (e.g., in a laptop computer) or may form a structure without a hinge, as shown in  FIG. 1 . Housing  12 , which may sometimes be referred to as an enclosure or case, may be formed of plastic, glass, ceramics, fiber composites, metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, etc.), other suitable materials, or a combination of any two or more of these materials. Housing  12  may be formed using a unibody configuration in which some or all of housing  12  is machined or molded as a single structure or may be formed using multiple structures (e.g., an internal frame structure, one or more structures that form exterior housing surfaces, etc.). 
     Display  14  may be a touch screen display that incorporates a layer of conductive capacitive touch sensor electrodes or other touch sensor components (e.g., resistive touch sensor components, acoustic touch sensor components, force-based touch sensor components, light-based touch sensor components, etc.) or may be a display that is not touch-sensitive. Capacitive touch screen electrodes may be formed from an array of indium tin oxide pads or other transparent conductive structures. 
     Device  10  may have internal user interface components such as button  17  or component  19  that occupy openings such as openings  16  in an optional rigid cover layer of display  14 . Component  19  may be a speaker component or may be an environmental sensor having at least one sensor component and a speaker component. Device  10  may include additional components such as components  20  that occupy openings such as openings  22  in housing  12 . Components  20  may be speaker components, microphone components, environmental sensors having one or more sensor components, environmental sensors having one or more sensor components including a sound sensor component, or environmental sensors having one or more sensor components and a speaker component. 
     Housing  12  may be provided with additional openings such as audio port opening  24  for receiving an audio cable and connector port  28  for receiving a connector (e.g., a 30-pin connector, a universal serial bus (USB) connector, or other connector). 
     Openings in device  10  such as openings  22  in housing  12  and opening  16  for component  19  may be provided with a cover member such as mesh members  26  that covers the opening while allowing air and sound to flow through openings in the mesh member. 
     A schematic diagram of device  10  showing how device  10  may include environmental sensors and other components is shown in  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , electronic device  10  may include control circuitry such as storage and processing circuitry  40 . 
     Storage and processing circuitry  40  may include one or more different types of storage such as hard disk drive storage, nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory or other electrically-programmable-read-only memory), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic random-access-memory), etc. Processing circuitry in storage and processing circuitry  40  may be used in controlling the operation of device  10 . The processing circuitry may be based on a processor such as a microprocessor and other suitable integrated circuits. With one suitable arrangement, storage and processing circuitry  40  may be used to run software on device  10 , such as internet browsing applications, email applications, media playback applications, operating system functions, software for capturing and processing images, software implementing functions associated with gathering and processing sensor data such as temperature data, software that makes adjustments to display brightness and touch sensor functionality, etc. 
     Input-output circuitry  32  may be used to allow data to be supplied to device  10  and to allow data to be provided from device  10  to external devices. 
     Input-output circuitry  32  may include wired and wireless communications circuitry  34 . Communications circuitry  34  may include radio-frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry formed from one or more integrated circuits, power amplifier circuitry, low-noise input amplifiers, passive RF components, one or more antennas, and other circuitry for handling RF wireless signals. Wireless signals can also be sent using light (e.g., using infrared communications). 
     Input-output circuitry  32  may include input-output devices  36  such as button  17  of  FIG. 1 , joysticks, click wheels, scrolling wheels, a touch screen such as display  14  of  FIG. 1 , other touch sensors such as track pads or touch-sensor-based buttons, vibrators, audio components such as microphones and speakers, image capture devices such as a camera module having an image sensor and a corresponding lens system, keyboards, status-indicator lights, tone generators, key pads, and other equipment for gathering input from a user or other external source and/or generating output for a user. 
     Sensor circuitry such as sensors  38  of  FIG. 2  may include ambient light sensors, proximity sensors, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, environmental sensors such as sensor packages having multiple sensor components such as a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a gas sensor, a smoke sensor, and a microphone, and other circuitry for making measurements of the environment surrounding device  10 . 
     In some configurations, some of input-output components  36  and some of sensors  38  may be mounted in a common sensor package having an enclosure with an opening. 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a portion of device  10  in the vicinity of an environmental sensor package that is aligned with an opening in an outer device structure. As shown in  FIG. 3 , an environmental sensor package such as environmental sensor  50  may include sensor components such as components  64 ,  68 , and  72  mounted to a printed circuit such as printed circuit  54 . Sensor  50  may, as examples, be one of components  19  or  20  of  FIG. 1 . Sensor components  64 ,  68 , and  72  may be covered by a cowling structure such as rigid support structure  56  so that components  64 ,  68 , and  72  are formed in an enclosure formed by rigid support structure  56  and a portion of printed circuit  54 . 
     Rigid support structure  56  may be formed from metal, plastic, ceramic, or other materials or combinations of materials. Printed circuit  54  may be formed from a rigid printed circuit board (e.g., one or more layers of fiberglass-filled epoxy with interposed conductive layers), a flexible printed circuit (e.g., one or more flexible sheets of polyimide or other flexible polymer layers having conductive traces), or a combination of rigid and flexible printed circuit layers. 
     Rigid support structure  56  may be attached to printed circuit  54  using adhesive (e.g., pressure sensitive adhesive, curable liquid adhesive, or other adhesive) or using mechanical attachment members such as screws, clips or clamps (as examples). 
     Sensor components such as components  64 ,  68  and  72  may be attached to printed circuit  54 . Sensor components  64 ,  68 , and  72  may be attached to printed circuit  54  using adhesive, using mechanical attachment members, or using conductive adhesive such as solder, anisotropic conductive adhesive or other adhesive materials that conductively couple components such as sensor components  64 ,  68 , and  72  to printed circuit  54 . 
     In configurations in which conductive adhesive attaches a component to printed circuit  54 , that conductive adhesive may be used to transfer control signals to and from conductive signal lines  78  (conductive traces) in printed circuit  54  to that component. However, this is merely illustrative. If desired, printed circuit  54  may be provided with conductive contacts  76  (e.g., copper bond pads) that are formed separately from components  64 ,  68 , and  72 . 
     Components such as components  64 ,  68 , and  72  may be attached to one or more other components  64 ,  68 , or  72  or to conductive contacts  76  using, for example, wire bonds such as wire bonds  77 . Wire bonds  77  may be bonded on a first end to a contact  76  and on an opposing second end to a conductive contact (not shown) on one of components  64 ,  68 , and  72 . If desired, additional wire bonds (not shown) may be used to couple a component such as one of components  64 ,  68  or  72  to another one of components  64 ,  68 , and  72 . 
     Components  64  and  72  may be environmental sensor components such as temperature sensors (i.e., thermometers), pressure sensors, humidity sensors, combination temperature and humidity sensors, or other environmental sensor components (e.g., gas sensors, smoke detectors, etc.). In one suitable example, component  64  is an integrated circuit having temperature and humidity sensing capabilities and component  72  is a pressure sensor for sensing the pressure of the air within the enclosure formed by printed circuit  54  and rigid support structure  56 . 
     Component  68  may be an audio component (sometimes referred to as an acoustic component) such as a microphone (sometimes referred to as a sound sensor) or a speaker. Printed circuit  54  may be provided with an opening such as opening  60 . Opening  60  in printed circuit  54  may be aligned with an opening such as opening  58  in an outer structural member for device  10  such as structural member  52 . Structural member  52  may be a portion of housing  12  or a portion of an outer cover layer for display  14  of device  10  (see, e.g.,  FIG. 1 ). Opening  58  may, as examples, be one of openings  16  or  20  of  FIG. 1 . Printed circuit  54  may be attached to structural member  52  using adhesive or mechanical attachment members such as screws, clips, clamps, or other attachment members (as examples). 
     Opening  58  and opening  60  may allow air to flow from outside device  10  (e.g., outside of structural member  52 ) through openings  58  and  60  and into the enclosure for sensor  50 . In this way, sensor components  64 ,  68 , and  72  may be exposed to the environment surrounding device  10  and may therefore be used to gather temperature data, humidity data, pressure data, sound data, user input data, or other data from the surrounding environment and/or to transmit sound from sensor  50  to the surrounding environment. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , audio component  68  may be mounted over opening  60  in printed circuit  54 . Audio component  68  may include a membrane such as permeable membrane  70 . Permeable membrane  70  may move in response to electrical signals provided to component  72  from printed circuit  54  to generate sound that is transmitted out of device  10  through openings  58  and  60  or membrane  70  may move in response to sound that enters device  10  through openings  58  and  60  and component  72  may generate electrical signals in response to that movement. Permeable membrane  70  may allow air to flow through membrane  70  into other portions of the enclosure for sensor  50 , thereby allowing air from the external environment of device  10  to reach additional sensor components such as sensor components  64  and  72 . 
     Opening  58  in structural member  52  may be covered by a mesh cover such as mesh member  26 . Mesh member  26  may be formed from wires that are spaced apart so that air and sound can be passed through mesh member  26  while larger objects such as dust particles are prevented from entering device  10  through opening  58 . 
     The arrangement of  FIG. 3  in which printed circuit  54  is provided with an opening that allows air to enter the enclosure for sensor  50  is merely illustrative. If desired, rigid support structure  56  may be provided with an opening that allows air to enter the enclosure for sensor  50 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
     In the example of  FIG. 4 , rigid support structure  56  is attached to structural member  52  (e.g., a portion of housing  12  or a display cover layer for display  14 ). Rigid support structure  56  may be attached to structural member  52  using adhesive (e.g., pressure sensitive adhesive, curable liquid adhesive, or other adhesive) or using mechanical attachment members such as screws, clips or clamps (as examples). 
     Rigid support structure  56  may be provided with a hole such as opening  90 . Opening  90  may be aligned with opening  58  in structural member  52  so that air may flow into the enclosure for sensor  50  (e.g., into the space between printed circuit  54  and rigid support structure  56 ). Permeable membrane  70  of acoustic component  68  may be aligned with opening  90  and opening  58  so that sounds generated using membrane  70  may pass through opening  90  and opening  58  or sounds generated outside of device  10  such as a user&#39;s voice may pass through opening  90  and opening  58  to move membrane  70 . 
       FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional side view of environmental sensor  50  in a configuration in which sensor components such as components  64 ,  68 , and  72  are mounted to a printed circuit having an opening  60 , showing how the sensor components may be coupled to each other and to the printed circuit using wire bonds  77 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , sensor components  64 ,  68 , and  72  may have one or more conductive contacts  92  (e.g., copper bond pads) formed on a surface of the component. 
     One of wire bonds  77  may be bonded to each contact  92 . Sensor  50  may include wire bonds  77 C that electrically couple a first sensor component to a second sensor component and wire bonds  77 P that electrically couple a sensor component to one of contacts  76  on printed circuit  54 . In the example of  FIG. 5 , a wire bond  77 C is coupled between contacts  92  on acoustic component  68  and sensor component  64  (e.g., a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, or a temperature and humidity sensing integrated circuit) and an additional wire bond  77 C is coupled between contacts  92  on sensor component  64  and sensor component  72  (e.g., a pressure sensor). In this way, multiple sensor components may be electrically coupled to a single conductive contact  76  on printed circuit  54 . Sensor signals (e.g., temperature signals, pressure signals, humidity signals and sound signals) may be transmitted across components  64 ,  68 , and  72  to contact  76 . However, this is merely illustrative. If desired, one or more sensor components such as components  64 ,  68 , and  72  may have dedicated electrical connections to printed circuit  54  as shown in  FIG. 6 . 
     In the example of  FIG. 6 , acoustic component  68  is coupled to a dedicated contact  76  using one of wire bonds  77 P. In a configuration in which acoustic component  68  is coupled to a dedicated contact  76 , component  64  may be coupled to component  72  using a wire bond  77 C and component  72  may be coupled to an additional contact  76  using one of wire bonds  77 P. However this is merely illustrative. If desired, each sensor component in sensor  50  may be coupled to a dedicated contact  76  on printed circuit  54  using wire bonds, solder, or other conductive coupling members or materials. 
       FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional side view of environmental sensor  50  in a configuration in which sensor components such as components  64 ,  68 , and  72  are covered by a rigid support structure  56  having an opening  90 , showing how the sensor components may be coupled to each other and to the printed circuit using wire bonds  77 . In the example of  FIG. 7 , membrane  70  of acoustic component  68  is aligned with opening  90 , a wire bond  77 C is coupled between contacts  92  on acoustic component  68  and sensor component  64  (e.g., a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, or a temperature and humidity sensing integrated circuit), and an additional wire bond  77 C is coupled between contacts  92  on sensor component  64  and sensor component  72  (e.g., a pressure sensor). 
       FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional side view of environmental sensor  50  in a configuration in which sensor components such as components  64 ,  68 , and  72  are covered by a rigid support structure  56  having an opening  90 , showing how one or more of components  64 ,  68 , and  72  may have a dedicated electrical connection to printed circuit  54 . In the example of  FIG. 8 , membrane  70  of acoustic component  68  is aligned with opening  90 , acoustic component  68  is coupled to a dedicated contact  76 , component  64  is coupled to component  72  using a wire bond  77 C and component  72  is coupled to an additional contact  76  using one of wire bonds  77 P. However this is merely illustrative. If desired, each sensor component in sensor  50  may be coupled to a dedicated contact  76  on printed circuit  54  using wire bonds, solder, or other conductive coupling members or materials. 
     If desired, sensor components for device  10  and environmental sensor  50  (e.g., sensor components  64 ,  68 ,  72 , and/or other sensors) may include gas sensors, smoke detectors, and other sensors. Smoke sensors may measure particulates in the air that are indicative of the presence of a fire or other source of smoke. Gas sensors may, for example, be used to measure the concentration of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, alcohol vapor, water vapor (humidity), propane and other fuels, volatile organic compounds, ozone, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, benzene, methane, hydrogen, oxygen, or other gases that are present in the atmosphere in the vicinity of device  10 . 
     Sensor data may be gathered using one or more sensor components in environmental sensor  50 . One or more sensor data processing circuits (i.e., application-specific integrated circuits) may be used in processing the sensor data. 
     For example, an audio sensor such as a microphone may produce analog microphone signals. These microphone signals may be processed using a sensor data processing integrated circuit with an analog amplifier and associated analog-to-digital converter circuitry. The analog amplifier may be used to amplify the sensor signals. The analog-to-digital converter circuitry may convert the amplified signals to digital form. Additional control circuits may, if desired, process the digital audio sensor data. 
     As another example, a gas sensor such as a sensor for detecting carbon monoxide or other gases may produce a gas sensor reading that is processed using a hardwired gas sensor data processing circuit in an integrated circuit. In some situations, the resources of multiple sensor components can be implemented on a common semiconductor die. For example, a microelectromechanical systems (MEMs) microphone and a gas sensor may be implemented on a common silicon die. By incorporating multiple components into a single part, cost and complexity may be minimized. 
     Consider, as an example, illustrative environmental sensor  50  of  FIG. 9 . As shown in the example of  FIG. 9 , an opening such as opening  90  may be formed in structure  56  or an opening such as one or more openings  60  may be formed through a supporting substrate such as printed circuit board  54  to allow the environment surrounding sensor  50  to communicate with one or more components  100 . Components  100  may include a pressure sensor, humidity sensor, temperature sensor, audio sensor (microphone), gas sensor, smoke detector, or other sensor(s). One or more processing circuits such as sensor data processing circuit  102  may be used in processing sensor data from sensor(s)  100 . Sensor data processing circuit  102  and components  100  may be interconnected with each other and with external circuitry using signal paths formed from wire bonds  77  and/or printed circuit board paths  78 . The signal paths of sensor  50  may be coupled to external components using contacts  76  on the upper and/or lower surfaces of printed circuit board  54  (as an example). 
     Sensor data processing circuit  102  may include one or more circuits (circuit blocks) such as circuits  104 . Circuits  104  may include a communications interface block for supporting analog and/or digital signal communications between circuit  102  and external resources (e.g., communications with a system controller over a digital signal bus, etc.). Circuits  104  may also include sensor data processing blocks for one or more associated components  100 . If, for example, components  100  include first, second, and third components, circuits  104  may include a first circuit for processing sensor data from the first component (e.g., hardwired gas sensor processing circuitry for processing signals from a gas sensor), a second circuit for processing sensor data from the second component (e.g., hardwired audio amplifier and analog-to-digital converter circuitry for handling audio data from a microphone), and a third circuit for processing sensor data from the third component (e.g., a temperature processing circuit for processing temperature sensor data from a temperature sensor). Components  100  and circuits  104  may also contain additional sensors and additional corresponding processing circuits, if desired (e.g., resources for sensing humidity, pressure, etc.). 
     If desired, circuits  102  may include a general purpose data processing block (e.g., a microcontroller circuit) for handling signal processing operations for one or more of components  100 . Wire bonds  77  and/or printed circuit paths  78  may be used to couple each of components  100  directly to circuit  102  or one or more of components  100  may be coupled to circuit  102  through one or more intervening components  100 . 
     Multiple sensor components (sensors) and multiple associated sensor data processing circuits may be mounted within a common structure such as structure  56  of  FIG. 10 . For example, data processing circuit  102 A (e.g., a gas sensor data processing circuit) may be used to process sensor data from sensor component  100 A (e.g., a gas sensor) and data processing circuit  102 B (e.g., a microphone data processing circuit) may be used to process sensor data from sensor component  100 B (e.g., a microphone). 
     As shown in the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 11 , the functionality of multiple sensors may be implemented using a common semiconductor die (e.g., a shared silicon die). For example, sensor component  100 - 1  (e.g., a microphone) and sensor component  100 - 2  (e.g., a gas sensor) may both be formed as parts of common silicon die  100  (i.e., a single integrated circuit). Sensor processing circuits  104  for processing data from sensors  100 - 1  and  100 - 2  may also be implemented on a common semiconductor die such as shared silicon die  102  of  FIG. 11 , which may contain a first sensor data processing circuit  104  (e.g., a microphone data processing circuit) for processing data from sensor  100 - 1  and a second sensor data processing circuit  104  (e.g., a gas sensor data processing circuit) for processing data from sensor  100 - 2 . 
       FIG. 12  illustrates how multiple respective sensor data processing circuits such as circuits  102 B (e.g., a microphone data processing circuit) and  102 A (e.g., a gas sensor data processing circuit) may be used to process sensor data from a common die  100  that has been used to implement multiple respective sensor components  100 - 1  and  100 - 2  (e.g., microphone and gas sensor components, respectively). 
     In the examples of  FIGS. 10, 11, and 12 , two different types of sensors have been used in forming sensor  50 . This is merely illustrative. Three or more sensors and sensors of any suitable types may be used as sensor components for sensor  50 . Moreover, different packaging arrangements may be used in forming sensor packages for environmental sensor  50 . The use of an upper structure such as a cowling to cover sensor components mounted to a lower structure such as a printed circuit is presented as an example. 
     If desired, data from one or more sensors may be used to refine or otherwise process data from one or more other sensors. For example, ambient pressure measurements may be used to adjust the way in which microphone measurements are made (e.g., to accommodate audio characteristics that change with changes in altitude). 
     A flow chart of illustrative steps involved in processing sensor data with sensor  50  is shown in  FIG. 13 . 
     At step  200 , sensor data processing circuitry  104  (one or more integrated circuits) may gather sensor data from sensor components  100 . Sensor components  100  may include microphone(s), gas sensor(s), pressure sensor(s), humidity sensor(s), temperature sensor(s), smoke detector(s), and/or other sensors. 
     At step  202 , the sensor data that was gathered from one or more of the sensors may be used in processing the sensor data. For example, the sensor data that was gathered from one or more of the sensors may be used in processing the sensor data from one or more different sensors. Microphone data, gas sensor data, smoke detector data, temperature data, and/or pressure sensor data may be modified based on ambient pressure data, temperature data, humidity data, microphone data, smoke detector data, and/or other environmental data (as examples). 
     After processing the measured sensor data during the operations of step  202 , device  10  may take suitable action based on the processed sensor data and processing may loop back to step  200 , as indicated by line  204 . 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative of the principles of this invention and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20171002
Publication Date: 20190219
Grant Date: 20190219
Priority Date: 20121023
Inventors: YANG, HENRY H.
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04M2250/12", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01D11/245", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01D11/30", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L2224/48227", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01N33/0004", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L2224/48137", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L2224/48137", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L2924/16151", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L2924/16251", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L2924/15192", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R2499/11", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L2924/16251", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L2924/16151", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01N33/0004", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R2499/11", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/04", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M2250/12", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/021", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L2924/15192", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/021", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L2224/48227", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L2924/16151", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L2924/15192", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R2499/11", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01N33/0004", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L2924/16251", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L2224/48227", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01D11/30", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/04", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01D11/245", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/021", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M2250/12", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L2224/48137", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/04", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 53774678