Systems and methods for operating a hall-effect sensor without an applied magnetic field

A system for confirming an operation of a Hall-effect sensor, the system comprising:

• a bias source that applies a bias signal to a first pair of terminals of a Hall-effect element of a Hall-effect sensor;
• a current source that generates a Hall current signal to be applied to a second pair of terminals of a Hall-effect element of the Hall-effect sensor, the current source is an adjustable current source and is configured to generate the Hall current signal based on a sensitivity of the Hall-effect element and the bias current signal;
• and
• a detection system that detects a Hall output voltage of the Hall-effect element and compares the Hall output voltage to an expected Hall output voltage that would be provided by a corresponding magnetic field being applied to the Hall-effect element.

A circuit for generating Hall output voltages without requiring a magnetic field, the circuit comprising:

• a Hall-effect sensor configured to establish a Hall output voltage signal across a first pair of terminals of a Hall-effect element of the Hall-effect sensor based on a Hall current signal, such as would be generated by a corresponding magnetic field being applied to the Hall-effect sensor, and a biasing signal across a second pair of terminals of the Hall-effect element;
• a variable current source configured to apply the Hall current signal to the first pair of terminals of the Hall-effect element;
• a biasing current source configured to apply the biasing signal to the second pair of terminals of the Hall-effect element;
• a common-mode voltage amplifier stage configured to apply across a respective pair of terminals of the Hall-effect element a common-mode voltage;
• and
• a Hall-effect sensor signal pathway configured to receive the Hall output voltage and generate a corresponding voltage indicative of an operation of the Hall-effect sensor signal pathway.