Bit rate-adapting resoswitch

A bit rate adaptive resonant switch (resoswitch) communication system, comprising:

• a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) resonant switch (resoswitch) operating as a receiver;
• a resonator of said resoswitch which is configured for oscillating between a first and second position, said resoswitch is conductive and connected to a voltage source, and configured for impacting against a conductive output electrode when said resonator reaches a threshold displacement, whereby charge is transferred from the resonator to the output electrode;
• wherein said conductive output electrode is configured for storing a desired level of charge, wherein each instance that said resonator makes contact with the output electrode, charge is transferred through the resonator and is stored in the charge storage circuit, and whereas when contact is not being made between said resonator and output electrode, then charges are being drained from said conductive output electrode to selectively ramp down the voltage level on said output electrode;
• a transmitter circuit configured for wirelessly transmitting a received binary data stream to said resoswitch;
• wherein said transmitter circuit is configured for receiving phase encoded (PE) data, or converting its input data to provide a PE data stream which limits the number of consecutive “0” bits to be received by said resoswitch;
• a carrier oscillator of said transmitter circuit is configured for generating a carrier frequency which matches the mechanical resonance frequency of said resoswitch;
• a mixer of said transmitter circuit that is configured for using the PE data stream as a modulation envelope for the carrier frequency and generating a mixed signal with marks and spaces which is transmitted to said resoswitch;
• wherein said transmitter circuit is configured for generating an extended length first ‘1’ input at the start of receiving a new binary data stream to be communicated to said resoswitch;
• wherein said resoswitch and said transmitter circuit are configured for interoperating in said system to harness stored mechanical resonance energy of said resoswitch to reduce its required switching energy, and to adapt to higher bit rates of the transmitter circuit by using an increased Quality (Q) factor of said resoswitch to extend the duration of resonator oscillation to span the length of any ‘0’ level input, so that sufficient stored mechanical resonance energy is still present in said oscillating resonator when the next ‘1’ level input is received, whereby resonator oscillation more rapidly reaches a displacement amplitude in which said resonator then makes contact with said output electrode;
• and
• wherein said transmitter circuit and said resoswitch can operate at higher bit rates because each transmission does not incur delays in ramping up resonator oscillation displacement from a static condition when receiving a ‘1’ input and awaiting after a ‘0’ input for the resonator to return to a static displacement state.

A method of controlling a vibrating element within a structure, comprising:

• receiving an input for inducing a movable element within a mechanical structure to resonate at a resonant frequency with increasing mechanical displacements until this resonance reaches a threshold level of displacement in establishing impacting contacts with an output electrode element of the mechanical structure;
• applying a voltage at the movable element, wherein said voltage is applied from said movable element to the output electrode element in response to said impacting contacts;
• wherein said mechanical structure is configured for storing resonance energy;
• configuring the mechanical structure so that a time period required for the movable element to change from a static state into sufficient resonance to begin impacting the output electrode element, or change from the sufficient resonance for impacting the output electrode element back to a static state, is of a longer duration than a time period required to charge or discharge the output electrode element;
• and
• pre-energizing said movable element into a resonant state in which mechanical energy is stored and utilizing this stored mechanical energy to shorten the amount of time required for the movable element to re-establish impacting contact with an output electrode element after a period in which the moveable element displacement is insufficient for making impacting contacts with the output electrode.