Magnetic field speed sensor output signal protocol
AssigneeAllegro MicroSystems, LLC
InventorsSarkis Dono, Syed Bilal Ali
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A magnetic field speed sensor includes one or more magnetic field sensing elements to generate a magnetic field signal indicative of a magnetic field associated with a moveable target and a controller to generate a controller output signal including a plurality of output words, each including a speed pulse and a plurality of data pulses capable of having four different amplitudes. The time between the speed pulses of consecutive output words is indicative of the speed of movement of the target. Each data pulse corresponds to a data bit having a binary value represented by a transition direction of the data pulse and the amplitude of the data pulse. Features include a programmable data pulse width or an adaptively adjustable data pulse width to avoid truncation.
Claims22
A magnetic field speed sensor, comprising:
- a magnetic field sensing element operable to generate a magnetic field signal indicative of a magnetic field associated with a moveable target;
- and
- a controller responsive to the magnetic field signal and configured to generate a controller output signal comprising a plurality of output words, each output word comprising a speed pulse and a plurality of data pulses capable of having four different amplitudes, wherein a time between the speed pulses of consecutive output words is indicative of the speed of movement of the target and wherein each data pulse corresponds to a data bit having a binary value represented by a transition direction of the data pulse and the amplitude of the data pulse.
A method of communicating an output signal of a magnetic field speed sensor, comprising:
- generating, by the magnetic field sensor, a magnetic field signal indicative of a magnetic field associated with a target;
- generating, by a controller in the magnetic field sensor, a controller output signal comprising a plurality of output words, each output word comprising a speed pulse and a plurality of data pulses capable of having four different amplitudes;
- generating a sensor output signal by the magnetic field sensor based on the controller output signal;
- and
- determining a binary value of each data bit represented by a transition direction of the data pulse and the amplitude of the data pulse.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.