Infineon Technologies Ag

Capital One Services, LLC

Dan-Ioan-Dumitru Stoica

Constantin Crisu

Bernhard Winkler

Cesare Buffa

Alessandro Caspani

Victor Popescu-Stroe

Catalina-Petruta Juglan

Razvan-Catalin Mialtu

Mihai-Liviu Tudose

Heinz Untersteiner

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

Detecting capacitive faults and sensitivity faults in capacitive sensors

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 capacitive sensor includes a first conductive structure; a second conductive structure movable relative to the first conductive structure in response to an external force acting thereon, wherein the first and the second conductive structures form a first capacitor having a first capacitance that changes with a change in a distance between the first conductive structure and second conductive structure, wherein the first capacitance is representative of the external force; and a diagnostic circuit configured to detect a first leakage current in the capacitive sensor by measuring an first electrical parameter that is affected by the first leakage current and comparing the measured first electrical parameter to a first predetermined error threshold, wherein the diagnostic circuit is further configured to generate a first error signal in response to the measured first electrical parameter being greater than the first predetermined error threshold.

Embodiments relate to predictive output switching threshold determination systems and methods for sensors, for example magnetic field sensors. In embodiments, at least one individual switching threshold is determined predictively, rather than reactively, for each tooth or pole of a ferromagnetic tooth or pole wheel, respectively. For example, in one embodiment, the number of teeth or poles is programmed, and an optimal threshold for each tooth or pole is determined during a rotation of the wheel. The determined optimal threshold for each tooth is then used for that tooth in at least one subsequent rotation of the wheel, with calibration optionally taking place in future subsequent rotations. Thus, in embodiments, thresholds are predictive for each individual tooth or pole rather than reactive to an adjacent tooth or pole.

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Bucharest, Romania

Dan-Ioan-Dumitru Stoica