Low-power sensors utilizing wiegand coils
AssigneeAllegro MicroSystems, LLC
InventorsPaul A. David, Alexander Latham, Ronald Lehndorff
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Abstract
Systems, structures, circuits, packages and methods provide low-power devices such as sensors and sensor packages having one or more Wiegand coils that can be used for activation of a sensor or other device, as well as potentially supplying operating power. In some embodiments, one or more Wiegand coils can be located in a sensor package, e.g., as one or more discrete components in the package and/or on formed on or connected to a semiconductor die within the package, for providing wake-up and/or continuous power. The Wiegand coil(s) can be separated from the sensor die in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the Wiegand coil(s) can be constructed on the die itself.
Claims37
A sensor package comprising:
- a sensor disposed in a package body and configured to produce an output signal indicative of a sensed physical phenomenon;
- an integrated circuit (IC) disposed on a semiconductor die disposed in the package body and configured to receive the output signal from the sensor;
- and
- a Wiegand sensor connected to the integrated circuit, wherein the Wiegand sensor includes a coil configured around a Wiegand wire, wherein the Wiegand sensor is configured to provide an energy pulse to the integrated circuit in response to a changing polarity of a sensed magnetic field, and wherein the coil of the Wiegand sensor is configured to reset the Wiegand wire to a known domain state after powerup to have a known North-to-South transition or South-to-North transition to be detected.
A method of making a sensor package, the method comprising:
- providing a sensor disposed in a package body and configured to produce an output signal indicative of a sensed physical phenomenon;
- providing an integrated circuit (IC) disposed on a semiconductor die disposed in the package body and configured to receive the output signal from the sensor;
- and
- providing a Wiegand sensor connected to the integrated circuit, wherein the Wiegand sensor includes a coil configured around a Wiegand wire, wherein the Wiegand sensor is configured to provide an energy pulse to the integrated circuit in response to a changing polarity of a sensed magnetic field;
- wherein the IC is configured to switch from a low-power state to an active state in response to receiving the energy pulse from the Wiegand sensor, wherein the IC is configured to stay in the active state for a specified time, and wherein the specified time is in accordance with a duty cycle.
A sensor package comprising:
- a sensor disposed in a package body and configured to produce an output signal indicative of a sensed physical phenomenon;
- an integrated circuit (IC) disposed on a semiconductor die disposed in the package body and configured to receive the output signal from the sensor;
- and
- a Wiegand sensor connected to the integrated circuit, wherein the Wiegand sensor includes a coil configured around a Wiegand wire, wherein the Wiegand sensor is configured to provide an energy pulse to the integrated circuit in response to a changing polarity of a sensed magnetic field;
- wherein the IC is configured to switch from a low-power state to an active state in response to receiving the energy pulse from the Wiegand sensor, wherein the IC is configured to stay in the active state for a specified time, and wherein the specified time is in accordance with a duty cycle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.