Providing nonlinear temperature compensation for sensing means by use of Padé approximant function emulators

A device for providing temperature-variation countering compensation to a sensing signal produced by a sensing means, where the sensing signal primarily represents a primary physical parameter measured by the sensing means, said primary physical parameter being one other than temperature and where the sensing means exhibits at least one of a temperature-dependent offset and a temperature-dependent sensitivity, the device comprising:

• (a) temperature determining means for determining temperature of a given sensing means;
• (b) compensation generating means, operatively coupled to the temperature determining means, for generating one or more compensating signals representing corresponding one or more Pade' Approximant functions of the temperature determined by said temperature determining means, where at least one of the Pade' Approximant functions is a nonlinear one having a temperature-dependent denominator;
• and
• (c) sensitivity compensating means, operatively coupled to the compensation generating means, for modifying the sensing signal produced by the given sensing means with a temperature-dependent and nonlinear, sensitivity variation countering signal produced by the compensation generating means so as to reduce variation of the modified sensing signal to temperature changes.

A method of compensating for nonlinear behavior of a given sensing device in response to changing temperature where the given sensing device is used for producing a primary sensing signal representing a physical parameter other than temperature, the method comprising:

• applying one or more Padé Approximant-based transformation functions to the primary sensing signal of the given sensing device so as to thereby substantially cancel out or substantially reduce one or more of the nonlinear responses of the given sensing device to changing temperature in a predefined temperature range, where the one or more Padé Approximant-based transformation functions are nonlinearly responsive to a temperature to which the given sensing device is subjected;
• wherein said step of applying one or more Padé Approximant-based transformation functions includes:
• providing a first Padé Approximant-based generating circuit that models a nonlinear temperature-dependent offset of the given sensing device;
• and
• providing a second Padé Approximant-based generating circuit that models a reciprocal of a nonlinear temperature-dependent sensitivity of the given sensing device.

A method of compensating for nonlinear behavior of a given sensing device in response to changing temperature where the given sensing device is used for producing a primary sensing signal representing a physical parameter other than temperature, the method comprising:

• applying one or more Padé Approximant-based transformation functions to the primary sensing signal of the given sensing device so as to thereby substantially cancel out or substantially reduce one or more of the nonlinear responses of the given sensing device to changing temperature in a predefined temperature range, where the one or more Padé Approximant-based transformation functions are nonlinearly responsive to a temperature to which the given sensing device is subjected;
• and
• wherein said step of applying one or more Padé Approximant-based transformation functions includes:
• subtracting a first compensating signal from the primary sensing signal produced by the given sensing device where the first compensating signal represents a temperature dependent offset variable that varies nonlinearly relative to temperature in accordance with a first of said one or more Padé Approximant-based transformation functions, said subtracting producing an offset-compensated version of the primary sensing signal;
• and
• multiplying the offset-compensated version of the primary sensing signal by a second compensating signal, where the second compensating signal represents a temperature dependent gain variable that varies nonlinearly relative to temperature in accordance with a second of said one or more Padé Approximant-based transformation functions.

A method of compensating for temperature-dependent variation of a primary sensing signal output by a sensor, where primary sensing signal represents a primary physical parameter measured by the sensor, said primary physical parameter being one other than temperature, the method comprising:

• (a) obtaining a first indicating signal that is indicative of a temperature to which the sensor is subjected;
• (b) using the first indicating signal to generate a first temperature-variation compensating signal where the first temperature-variation compensating signal represents a first Pade' Approximant function of the first indicating signal and where the first Pade' Approximant function has a nonconstant denominator that varies with variations of said first indicating signal;
• and
• (c) combining the first temperature-variation compensating signal with the primary sensing signal.

A device that provides compensation for temperature-dependent variations in a primary sensing signal produced by a sensor, where the primary sensing signal represents a primary physical parameter measured by the sensor means and the primary physical parameter is one other than temperature, the device comprising:

• (a) a temperature indicator that produces a temperature indicating signal which is indicative of a temperature to which the sensor is subjected;
• and
• (b) a first compensation generator, operatively coupled to the temperature indicator and structured to generate a first temperature-variation compensating signal which represents a first Pade' Approximant function of the temperature indicating signal, where the first Pade' Approximant function has a nonconstant denominator that varies with variations of said temperature indicating signal;
• and
• (c) a combiner that combines the first temperature-variation compensating signal with the primary sensing signal.

A system for providing temperature-variation countering compensation to a sensing signal produced by a sensor where the sensing signal primarily represents a primary physical parameter measured by the sensor, said primary physical parameter being one other than temperature and where the sensor exhibits a temperature-dependent offset and temperature-dependent sensitivity, the system comprising:

• (a) a temperature reporter that supplies a temperature-indicating signal indicative of effective temperature to which the sensor is subject to;
• and
• (b) an offset compensator that generates a first temperature-variation compensating signal that counters said temperature-dependent offset;
• (c) an adder that adds the first temperature-variation compensating signal to the sensing signal to thereby produce an offset-compensated sensing signal;
• (d) a sensitivity compensator that generates a second temperature-variation compensating signal that counters said temperature-dependent sensitivity;
• and
• (e) a multiplier that multiplies the offset-compensated sensing signal by the second temperature-variation compensating signal to thereby produce a sensitivity-compensated sensing signal;
• wherein each of the offset compensator and sensitivity compensator is responsive to the temperature-indicating signal;
• and
• wherein each of the offset compensator and sensitivity compensator is reconfigurable into a respective configuration that generates its respective one of the first and second temperature-variation compensating signals as one that represents a corresponding Pade' Approximant function of the temperature-indicating signal, where the corresponding Pade' Approximant function is a nonlinear one that has a nonconstant denominator that varies with variations of said temperature-indicating signal.