Diagnosis of electrical failures in capacitive sensors

A device, comprising:

• a first capacitor comprising a first conductive structure and a second conductive structure,
• wherein the first capacitor is configured to have a first capacitance that changes with a change in a distance between the first conductive structure and the second conductive structure, and
• wherein the first capacitor is configured to output a first sense signal representative of the first capacitance;
• a second capacitor comprising a first terminal and a second terminal,
• wherein the first terminal is configured to receive the first sense signal and the second terminal is configured to output a second sense signal based on the first sense signal;
• and
• a diagnostic circuit configured to:
• receive a signal associated with at least one of the first sense signal or the second sense signal as a first measurement signal;
• receive another signal associated with at least one of the first sense signal or the second sense signal as a second measurement signal;
• generate a first offset measurement based on the first measurement signal and the second measurement signal,
• wherein the first offset measurement is representative of a degree of similarity between the first measurement signal and the second measurement signal;
• determine a first fault based on comparing the first offset measurement to a threshold range;
• compare the first offset measurement to the threshold range and activate a first fault signal;
• and
• receive the first fault signal and generate a second fault signal in response to the first fault signal being activated, for a predetermined time interval,
• wherein the second fault signal is indicative of a confirmation of the first fault.