Allegro Microsystems, LLC

Loïc André Messier

Yannick Vuillermet

Andreas P Friedrich

Simon Rock

Alexander Latham

Maxwell McNally

Cédric Gillet

Xavier Blanc

Shaun D Milano

Shixi Louis Liu

Georges El Bacha

Thomas Kerdraon

Evan Shorman

Christophe Lutz

Solène Bastien

An apparatus, including: one or more first conductive layers; a plurality of second conductive layers that are electrically coupled to the first conductive layers, the first conductive layers and the second conductive layers being arranged to form a conductor, the first conductive layers being arranged to define a rift in the conductor, the rift being formed by using a plurality of through-holes that are situated above or below each other, each of the plurality of through-holes being formed in a different one of the second conductive layers, each of the plurality of through-holes being formed directly above or below a solid portion of at least one of the first conductive layers; and a dielectric material that is arranged to encapsulate, at least in part, the first conductive layers and the second conductive layers.

Current sensor system

A sensor, comprising: a magnetic field sensing module that is configured to generate a plurality of signals, each signal indicating a magnetic flux density of a different component of a magnetic field that is produced by a magnetic field source; a processing circuitry that is configured to: receive the plurality of signals from the magnetic field sensing module; evaluate a neural network based on the plurality of signals to obtain a plurality of probabilities, each of the plurality of probabilities indicating a likelihood of the magnetic field source being positioned in a different one of a plurality of positional domains; generate an output signal based on the plurality of probabilities, the output signal encoding an identifier of a current positional domain of the magnetic field source.

Multi-domain detector based on artificial neural network

Electronic circuits and methods sense an electromagnetic property of a target, and transmit data packets that encode the property along with diagnostic messages while avoiding data loss due to truncation at high sensing speeds. Data address bits may be used to split messages across multiple data packets. Data bits may be combined into a unified header that takes less time to transmit than in prior communication protocols. The transmission duration of each data bit may be lowered, thereby increasing throughput. The receiving system may synchronize its own operation against these shortened data bits, increasing its speed. Error packets may be sent between data packets, thereby reducing time to respond to faults in safety-critical systems. And additional current levels may be used to increase the data information rate.

High resolution sensing protocol

A current sensor IC includes a lead frame having a die attach pad and elongated leads extending in a single direction with respect to the die attach pad, a semiconductor die having a first surface attached to the die attach pad and a second, opposing surface supporting magnetic field sensing elements, and a non-conductive mold material. A first portion of the mold material encloses the semiconductor die and the die attach pad, a second portion of the mold material encloses a portion of the elongated leads, and the mold material further includes a wing structure between the first portion and the second portion. In assembly, the first portion of the mold material extends into a cutout through a current conductor and the wing structure abuts a surface of the conductor. The current sensor can implement differential sensing based on signals from at least two magnetic field sensing elements.

Sensor package and system

Auto-calibrating current sensor integrated circuits (ICs) are configured for mounting at a position relative to a conductor. The auto-calibrating current sensor ICs can include a plurality of magnetic field sensing elements disposed at different locations within the integrated circuit, respectively, and can be configured to measure a magnetic field produced by a current carried by the conductor. The auto-calibrating sensors can include an electromagnetic model of the IC and the conductor. The model can be operative to determine a magnetic field at points in space due to a given current in the conductor at a known location of the conductor from the IC, and also the inverse situation of determining an unknown current and/or location of the conductor based on measurements of a magnetic field at known locations in space due to an unknown current in the conductor. Related auto-calibration methods are also described.

Auto-calibration for coreless current sensors

A current sensor assembly can include: a coil structure having a first coil and a second coil connected in series, the coil structure configured to generate a differential magnetic field responsive to an electrical current passing through the first and second coils; a first magnetic field sensing element disposed proximate to the first coil and operable to generate a first signal responsive to the differential magnetic field passing through the first magnetic field sensing element in a first direction; a second magnetic field sensing element disposed proximate to the second coil and operable to generate a second signal responsive to the differential magnetic field passing through the second magnetic field sensing element in a second direction; and a circuit operable to subtract the first and second signals to generate a differential signal proportional to the electrical current.

Current sensor assemblies for low currents

A system, comprising a bus bar having a first through-hole formed therein and a first current sensor that is disposed adjacent to the first branch. The first through-hole is arranged to define, at least in part, a first branch of the bus bar and a second branch of the bus bar. The first branch has different length and/or thickness than the second branch. The first current sensor is arranged to measure an electrical current through the bus bar.

Multiple branch bus bar for coreless current sensing application

A current sensor system includes a current sensor integrated circuit (IC) and a printed circuit board (PCB) having a ground plane with a feature configured to reduce an eddy current. The current sensor IC includes a lead frame comprising a die attach pad and at least one lead, a semiconductor die having a first surface attached to the die attach pad and a second, opposing surface, at least one magnetic field sensing element supported by the semiconductor die and configured to sense a current in a proximate primary conductor, and a non-conductive mold material enclosing the semiconductor die and a portion of the at least one lead. The PCB ground plane feature can take various forms such as a hole of a dimension larger than the current sensor IC, elongated cuts, or x-shaped cuts.

Techniques for reducing an eddy current in a ground plane of a coreless sensor

A substrate, comprising one or more first conductive layers, one or more second conductive layers, and a dielectric material that is arranged to encapsulate, at least in part, the first conductive layers and the second conductive layers. The one or more second conductive layers are electrically coupled to the first conductive layers. The first conductive layers and the second conductive layers are arranged to form a conductor. The first conductive layers are arranged to define a first rift in the conductor.

Current sensor packages are described including a leadframe configured to carry a current to be sensed and a current sensor that is electrically isolated from the leadframe. The current sensor is disposed adjacent to a first portion of the leadframe that includes a plurality of notches. An encapsulating material is configured to encapsulate the current sensor and at least a part of the first portion of the leadframe that is adjacent to the current sensor and includes the plurality of notches. The current sensor includes a substrate, a first magnetic field sensing element that is formed on the substrate, and a second magnetic field sensing element that is formed on the substrate. The first magnetic field sensing element and the second magnetic field sensing element are disposed on opposite sides of a central axis of the first portion of the leadframe.

Current sensor package

A current sensor system, includes: a plurality of conductors that are integrated into a substrate, each of the plurality of conductors having a respective first through-hole formed therein and a plurality of current sensors, each of the plurality of current sensors being disposed on the substrate. Each of the plurality of current sensors is disposed above or below the respective first through-hole of a different one of the plurality of conductors, and the substrate includes a plurality of conductive traces, each coupled to at least one of the plurality of current sensors.

A current sensor including: a sensing unit including one or more sensing elements, the sensing unit being arranged to generate, at least in part, an internal signal, the internal signal being generated in response to a magnetic field, the magnetic field being produced, at least in part, by an electrical current that is sensed with the sensing unit; a first signal processing path coupled to the sensing unit, the first signal processing path including a first compensation unit for adjusting the internal signal, the first signal processing path being configured to generate a first signal based on the internal signal; a second signal processing path coupled to the sensing unit, the second signal processing path including a second compensation unit for adjusting the internal signal, the second path having a different sensitivity than the first path.

Multi-gain channels for multi-range sensor

According to some embodiments, a device includes: a magnetic field current sensor magnetically coupled to a conductor and configured to generate a magnetic field signal having a magnitude responsive to a current flowing through the conductor; a shunt interface having first and second input terminals electrically coupled to ends of a shunt disposed along the conductor, the shunt interface configured to generate a shunt signal having a magnitude responsive to the current flowing through the conductor; and a diagnostic circuit configured to receive the magnetic field signal and the shunt signal and to generate a fault signal based on a comparison between the magnitude of the magnetic field signal and the magnitude of the shunt signal.

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Vanzy, France

Loïc André Messier