Methods and apparatus for sensor data consistency

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12061937-B2
Application number	US-202217846455-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 22, 2022
Priority date	Jun 22, 2022
Publication date	Aug 13, 2024
Grant date	Aug 13, 2024

Abstract

A sensor system includes a signal sensing block including at least two sensing elements. Each of the at least two sensing elements is configured to generate an output that represents a first parameter associated with the sensor system. The sensor system also includes a data acquisition block configured to convert the outputs of the at least two sensing elements into digital data to be retrieved by a data retrieval block. The digital data is stored in one or more data registers of the data acquisition block. The sensor system also includes a data freeze block configured to cause the one or more data registers to refrain from updating with new data while the data retrieval block is retrieving the stored digital data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sensor system comprising:
a signal sensing block comprising at least two sensing elements, each of the at least two sensing elements configured to generate an output that represents a first parameter associated with the sensor system;
a data acquisition block configured to convert the outputs of the at least two sensing elements into digital data for retrieval, wherein the digital data is stored in one or more data registers of the data acquisition block;
a data ready block configured to identify when the digital data stored in the one or more data registers is available for retrieval, wherein the data ready block is configured to identify, by assertion of a data-ready flag, when the digital data is available for retrieval based on a signal received from the data acquisition block;
a data retrieval block configured to retrieve digital data from the data acquisition block, wherein the data retrieval block is configured to initiate retrieval of the digital data based in part on identifying that the data-ready flag is asserted; and
a data freeze block configured to cause the one or more data registers to refrain from updating with new data while the data retrieval block is retrieving the stored digital data,
wherein the data freeze block is configured to monitor for initiation of retrieval of the digital data, and in response to identifying that the retrieval of the digital data has been initiated, assert a freeze signal to the data acquisition block causing the one or more data registers to refrain from updating.

2. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein a combination of the outputs of the at least two sensing elements represents a second parameter associated with the sensor system, and the data acquisition block is further configured to convert the combination of the outputs of the at least two sensing elements into the digital data.

3. The sensor system of claim 2 , wherein the output of each of the at least two sensing elements represents the first parameter at a particular time, and the combination of the outputs from the at least two sensing elements represents the second parameter at the particular time.

4. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the data retrieval block is configured to retrieve the digital data with a serial communication interface.

5. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the signal sensing block, the data acquisition block, and the data freeze block are included as part of the same integrated circuit package.

6. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the data ready block is configured to de-assert the data-ready flag in response to the data retrieval block completing retrieval of the digital data stored in the one or more data registers.

7. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the data freeze block is configured to de-assert the freeze signal to the data acquisition block, to re-enable updating of the one or more data registers, in response to the data-ready flag being de-asserted.

8. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the data retrieval block is part of an Engine Control Unit (ECU).

9. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein each of the at least two sensing elements of the signal sensing block comprises at least one magnetic field sensing element for sensing a magnetic field affected by movement of a proximate object.

10. The sensor system of claim 2 , wherein the first parameter comprises a strength of a magnetic field in a respective axis and the second parameter comprises an angle of the magnetic field.

11. A method comprising:
generating, by each of at least two sensing elements, an output that represents a first parameter;
converting the outputs of the at least two sensing elements into digital data, and storing the digital data in one or more data registers;
identifying when the digital data stored in the one or more data registers is available for retrieval, wherein the digital data stored in the one or more data registers is identified as being available for retrieval based on a received signal, and the received signal causes a data-ready flag to be asserted;
initiating retrieval of the digital data based in part on identifying that the data-ready flag is asserted;
monitoring for initiation of retrieval of the digital data;
in response to identifying that the retrieval of the digital data has been initiated, asserting a freeze signal; and
in response to the data freeze signal, causing the one or more data registers to refrain from updating with new data while the stored digital data is being retrieved.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising converting a combination of the outputs of the at least two sensing elements into the digital data, wherein the combination of the outputs of the at least two sensing elements represents a second parameter.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
de-asserting the data-ready flag in response to the retrieval of the digital data stored in the one or more data registers being completed.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
de-asserting the freeze signal, to re-enable updating of the one or more data registers, in response to the flag being de-asserted.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first parameter comprises a strength of a magnetic field in a respective axis and the second parameter comprises an angle of the magnetic field.

Assignees

• Allegro Microsystems Llc

Inventors

• Scheinkerman Ricardo

Classifications

• G01D5/145

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• G06F9/526 Primary

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• G01D9/005 Primary

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