Multi-turn magnetic sensor mid-range reset
AssigneeAnalog Devices International Unlimited Company
InventorsEnda Joseph Nicholl, Dara Lorcan O'Sullivan
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Abstract
Aspects of this disclosure relate to multi-turn magnetic sensing systems and related methods. A system can include a first multi-turn magnetic sensor and a second multi-turn magnetic sensor, in which domain walls propagate in an opposite direction in the second multi-turn magnetic sensor relative to the first multi-turn magnetic sensor in response to a magnetic field. A decoder can output a turn count that is based on states of the first and second multi-turn sensors. The first and second multi-turn sensors can have a reset state that corresponds to the turn count having a value between minimum and maximum values of a counting range relative to the reset state.
Claims20
A multi-turn magnetic sensing system comprising:
- a first multi-turn magnetic sensor;
- a second multi-turn magnetic sensor, wherein domain walls propagate in an opposite direction in the second multi-turn magnetic sensor relative to the first multi-turn magnetic sensor in response to a magnetic field;
- and
- a decoder configured to output a turn count that is based on output signals from the first multi-turn magnetic sensor and the second multi-turn magnetic sensor, wherein the decoder is configured to determine the turn count for more than one full clockwise rotation of the magnetic field from a reset state and to determine the turn count for more than one full counterclockwise rotation of the magnetic field from the reset state.
A multi-turn magnetic sensing system with mid-range reset, the multi-turn magnetic sensing system comprising:
- a first multi-turn magnetic sensor;
- a second multi-turn magnetic sensor, wherein domain walls propagate in opposite directions in the second multi-turn magnetic sensor and the first multi-turn magnetic sensor in response to a magnetic field;
- and
- a decoder configured to output a turn count associated with states of the first multi-turn magnetic sensor and the second multi-turn magnetic sensor, wherein the turn count is in a range from a first value to a second value relative to a reset state, and wherein the turn count for the reset state is between the first value and the second value.
A method of multi-turn magnetic sensing with mid-range reset, the method comprising:
- resetting a first multi-turn sensor and a second multi-turn sensor to a reset state, wherein domain walls propagate in opposite directions in the first multi-turn sensor and the second multi-turn sensor in response to rotation of a magnetic field;
- detecting a first non-zero number of turns of the magnetic field from the reset state based on reading out first values from the first multi-turn sensor and the second multi-turn sensor, the first non-zero number of turns representing that a cumulative rotation of the magnetic field is in a clockwise direction from the reset state;
- and
- detecting a second non-zero number of turns of the magnetic field relative to the reset state based on reading out second values from the first multi-turn sensor and the second multi-turn sensor, the second non-zero number of turns representing that the cumulative rotation of the magnetic field is in a counterclockwise direction from the reset state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.