Infineon Technologies Ag

Alessandro Caspani

Andreas Wiesbauer

Dietmar Straeussnigg

Cesare Buffa

Constantin Crisu

Elmar Bach

Niccoló De Milleri

Bernhard Winkler

Marc Fueldner

Christian Jenkner

Franz Michael Darrer

Christian Bretthauer

Athanasios Kollias

Victor Popescu-Stroe

Pedro Augusto Borrego Lambin Torres Amaral

Dan-Ioan-Dumitru Stoica

Alessandra Fusco

Constantin Stroi

Vlad Buiculescu

Dan Ioan Dumitru Stoica

Matthias Böhm

Niccolò De Milleri

A capacitive sensor includes a first conductive structure and a second conductive structure that form a first capacitor having a first capacitance that changes in response to an external force acting thereon and includes a MEMS output configured to output a first sense signal representative of the first capacitance; a second capacitor coupled to the MEMS output and configured to output a second sense signal based on the first sense signal; an amplifier comprising an amplifier input and configured to output an amplified signal based on the second sense signal; and a diagnostic circuit configured to receive two measurement signals, generate an offset measurement based on the two measurement signals, and detect a fault on a condition that the offset measurement is outside of a threshold range.

Diagnosis of electrical failures in capacitive sensors

A sensor circuit, having a startup phase and an operation phase, includes: a sensor configured to generate a sensor signal based on a measured property, wherein the sensor signal has a frequency spectrum defined by a first frequency and a second frequency that is greater than the first frequency; a signal processing circuit including an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) configured to convert the sensor signal into a digital sensor signal; and an offset diagnosis circuit. The offset diagnosis circuit includes: a low pass filter having a cutoff frequency less than the first frequency and configured to generate a filtered signal based on the digital sensor signal; an offset register configured to store a startup signal value of the filtered signal during the startup phase; and an offset comparator circuit configured to set a threshold range based on the startup signal value for use during the operation phase.

Gain and offset diagnosis of analog-to-digital converters in sensor signal path

A capacitive sensor includes a first electrode structure; a second electrode structure that is counter to the first electrode structure, wherein the second electrode structure is movable relative to the first electrode structure and is capacitively coupled to the first electrode structure to form a capacitor having a capacitance that changes with a change in a distance between the first electrode structure and second electrode structure; a signal generator configured to apply an electrical signal at an input or at an output of the capacitor to induce a voltage transient response at the output of capacitor; and a diagnostic circuit configured to detect a fault in the capacitive sensor by measuring a time constant of the first voltage transient response and detecting the fault based on the time constant and based on whether the first electrical signal is the pull-in signal or the non-pull-in signal.

Detecting sensitivity faults in capacitive sensors by using pull-in functionality

A controller for an environmental sensor provides digital environmental measurement values from analog environmental measurements performed by analog circuitry, the digital environmental measurement values lying in a global scale range. The controller subjects the global scale range to a subdivision into scale subranges that are proper subranges of the global scale range. The controller selects, among the scale subranges, one scale subrange in which an analog environmental measurement is to be performed, selects an offset information and a gain information that are associated with the selected scale subrange and that are indicative of an offset and a gain to be applied by the analog circuitry to perform an analog environmental measurement in the selected scale subrange, and to provide the offset information and the gain information to the analog circuitry.

Environmental sensor

A MEMS device includes a MEMS sound transducer, and control circuitry. The control circuitry includes a supply signal provider for providing a high-level supply signal and read-out circuitry for receiving an output signal from the MEMS sound transducer, and a switching arrangement for selectively connecting the MEMS sound transducer to the supply signal provider, and for selectively connecting the MEMS sound transducer to the read-out circuitry based on a control signal. The control circuitry provides the control signal having an ultrasonic actuation pattern to the switching arrangement during a first condition TX of the control signal, wherein the ultrasonic actuation pattern of the control signal triggers the switching arrangement for alternately coupling the high-level supply signal to the MEMS sound transducer.

MEMS device

In accordance with an embodiment, a system includes a digital calibration filter device configured to receive a digital input signal based on a sensor output signal from a sensor, receive a sensor-specific control signal, and perform digital filter processing of the digital input signal to produce a calibrated output signal, wherein the digital filter processing is based on the sensor-specific control signal; and a control device configured to select the sensor-specific control signal from a plurality of sensor-specific control signals based on an ascertained influencing parameter, and provide the sensor-specific control signal to the digital calibration filter device.

System and method for a digital calibration filter device

A MEMS transducer includes a first and a second differential MEMS sensor device. The first differential MEMS sensor device includes a first and a second electrode structure for providing a first differential output signal, and a third electrode structure between the first and second electrode structure. The second differential MEMS sensor device includes a first and second electrode structure for providing a second differential output signal, and a third electrode structure between the first and second electrode structure. A biasing circuit provides the third electrode structure of the first differential MEMS sensor device with a first biasing voltage and provides the third electrode structure of the second differential MEMS sensor device with a second biasing voltage. A read-out circuitry combines the first and second differential output signal in an anti-parallel manner.

MEMS transducer and method for operating the same

In various embodiments, a circuit arrangement includes a calibration filter set up to receive a signal based on a first signal and to provide a calibrated signal, the first signal being a signal which is provided by an analog/digital converter and is based on an analog signal, the analog signal being provided by at least one sensor of a sensor arrangement, a filter arrangement set up to receive a signal based on the first signal and to provide a second signal, and a controller set up to select a sensor-specific control signal dependent on the frequency response of the sensor from a plurality of control signals and to provide the calibration filter with said signal, the calibrated signal being based on the first signal and the sensor-specific control signal and corresponding or substantially corresponding to a predefined spectral mask in a predefined frequency range.

Circuit arrangement with an optimized frequency response and method for calibrating a circuit arrangement

In various embodiments, a circuit arrangement is provided. The circuit arrangement includes a sensor set up to provide an analogue signal, an analogue/digital converter set up to receive the analogue signal and to provide a first signal, and a first filter set up to receive a signal based on the first signal and to provide a second signal. The first filter is set up in such a manner that the second signal is allowed through without amplification or substantially without amplification in a frequency range of approximately 20 Hz to approximately 10 kHz, and the second signal has a gain of greater than 0 dB at least above a predefined frequency which is greater than approximately 20 kHz.

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Villach, Austria

Alessandro Caspani