An electronics assembly for integration with a tire structure or in
another environment includes a condition-responsive device, an RF source,
an antenna, and at least one controllable switching element. The
condition-responsive device may comprise at least one acoustic wave
resonator that is configured for monitoring such parameters as pressure
and temperature within a tire or associated wheel assembly environment.
The frequency and bandwidth of the RF source is preferably inclusive of
the respective resonant frequency bands for each acoustic wave resonator.
An antenna may also be connected to the condition-responsive device for
facilitating the transmission of electric signals generated therein. In
some embodiments, a switching element is coupled between the
condition-responsive device and the RF source. Selective control of such
switching element results in the modulation of data on the RF carrier,
causing the condition-responsive device to transmit both sensed condition
information as well as some other predefined digital data signal. Another
controllable switching element may be provided in parallel with the
condition-responsive device to selectively cloak the device for
predetermined amounts of time, thus offering an anti-collision solution
for multiple transmitting condition-responsive devices. The switching
elements and corresponding control elements may respectively correspond
to such devices as a field-effect transistor with a programmable
microcontroller input or as an RFID transponder.