Fouling layer detection on an environmental sensor
AssigneeNXP B.V.
InventorsAly Aamer Syed, Manvi Agarwal
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Abstract
An environmental sensor is disclosed. The environmental sensor includes a semiconductor substrate including a light sensor, a surface through which ambient light can pass to reach a light sensor and a light source operable to illuminate the surface, whereby at least some of the light from the light source is reflected by the surface onto the light sensor. The environmental sensor is operable to determine the presence of a fouling layer on the surface by comparing measurements of ambient light and reflected light by the at least one light sensor.
Claims15
An environmental sensor comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate including a light sensor;
- a surface through which ambient light can pass to reach a light sensor, and
- a light source operable to illuminate the surface, whereby at least some of the light from the light source is reflected by the surface onto the light sensor,
- wherein the environmental sensor is operable to determine the presence of a fouling layer on the surface by comparing measurements of ambient light and reflected light by the at least one light sensor.
A method of operating an environmental sensor comprising a semiconductor substrate including a light sensor, a surface through which ambient light can pass to reach the light sensor, and a light source operable to illuminate the surface, whereby at least some of the light from the light source is reflected by the surface onto the light sensor, the method comprising:
- determining the presence of a fouling layer on the surface by comparing measurements of ambient light and reflected light by the light sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.