The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 29, 2018
Filed:
Jun. 01, 2017
Nxp Usa, Inc., Austin, TX (US);
Keith L. Kraver, Gilbert, AZ (US);
Chad Dawson, Queen Creek, AZ (US);
Shiraz Jiju Contractor, Phoenix, AZ (US);
NXP USA, Inc., Austin, TX (US);
Abstract
A sensor system includes first and second capacitive sensors. An excitation circuit, coupled with the sensors, applies an excitation voltage to each of the sensors. The excitation voltage is characterized by a first, second, and third excitation voltage components, wherein the second and third excitation voltage components have opposite polarities. A capacitance-to-voltage (C/V) converter, electrically coupled with the sensors, generates a differential-mode output signal in response to the first excitation voltage component applied to the sensors, and the C/V converter generates a common-mode output signal in response to the second and third excitation voltage components applied to the sensors. A signal processing unit, coupled with the C/V converter, extracts a sense signal from the differential-mode output signal, extracts a diagnostic signal from said common-mode out signal, and detects a fault condition in the sensor system when a difference between the sense and diagnostic signals is outside a preset limit.