FLOW SENSOR WITH CONDITIONING-COEFFICIENT MEMORY

• US 20070271070A1
• Filed: 05/17/2006
• Published: 11/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Ricks, Lamar F., Dmytriw, Anthony M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,175,835 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/188
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 15/022 using electrical means
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 25/10 of flowmeters

Abstract

A sensor includes one or more sensor transducers coupled with a signal conditioning IC incorporating signal conditioning circuitry and memory devoted to storing end-user downloadable coefficients. In a preferred embodiment, the IC is an ASIC and the end-user downloadable coefficients are pre-selected by the end-user based on its needs, and the coefficients are pre-stored in the ASIC when the sensor is calibrated. This results in a more cost-effective and space-efficient sensor device with improved functionality over that available in the prior art.

Claims

1. A sensor apparatus comprising:

a first sensor transducer sensing a first parameter and outputting a first raw signal corresponding to said sensed first parameter;

signal-conditioning circuitry receiving said first raw signal output from said first sensor transducer, performing a coarse-conditioning process on said first raw signal to produce a first coarsely-conditioned signal, and outputting said first coarsely-conditioned signal via a first sensor output; and

a storage location coupled to a second sensor output, storing predetermined sensor-specific conditioning coefficients for use in performing a fine-conditioning process.

2. The sensor apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a second sensor transducer sensing a second parameter and outputting a second raw signal corresponding to said sensed second parameter;

wherein said signal-conditioning circuitry receives said second raw signal output from said second sensor transducer, performs a coarse-conditioning process on said second raw signal to produce a second coarsely-conditioned signal, and outputs said second coarsely-conditioned signal via said first sensor output.

3. The sensor apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

said signal-conditioning circuitry and said storage location are coupleable to an end-user device;

when said signal conditioning circuitry and said storage location are coupled to the end-user device, said end-user device receives said first coarsely-conditioned signal from said first sensor output and said stored coefficients from said second sensor output; and

said end-user device performs said fine conditioning process on said first coarsely-conditioned signal using said stored coefficients.

4. The sensor apparatus of claim 2, wherein:

said signal-conditioning circuitry and said storage location are coupleable to an end-user device;

when said signal conditioning circuitry and said storage location are coupled to the end-user device, said end-user device receives said first coarsely-conditioned signal and said second coarsely-conditioned signal from said first sensor output and said stored coefficients from said second sensor output; and

said end-user device performs said fine conditioning process on said first coarsely-conditioned signal and/or said second coarsely-conditioned signal using said stored coefficients.

5. The sensor apparatus of claim 1, wherein said stored coefficients are pre-selected based on requirements provided by an end-user of said sensor apparatus.

6. The sensor apparatus of claim 2, wherein said stored coefficients are pre-selected based on requirements provided by an end-user of said sensor apparatus.

7. The sensor apparatus of claim 1, wherein said signal conditioning circuitry and said memory are configured as an ASIC.

8. The sensor apparatus of claim 2, wherein said signal conditioning circuitry and said memory are configured as an ASIC.

9. The sensor device of claim 1, wherein said storage location comprises an EEPROM.

10. The sensor device of claim 2, wherein said storage location comprises an EEPROM.

11. The sensor device of claim 1, wherein said first sensor transducer comprises a flow sensor-transducer.

12. A method of conditioning a signal sensed by a sensor, comprising:

configuring a first sensor transducer to sense a first parameter and output a first raw signal corresponding to said sensed first parameter;

configuring a signal-conditioning circuit to receive said first raw signal output from said first sensor transducer, perform a coarse-conditioning process on said first raw signal to produce a first coarsely-conditioned signal, and output said first coarsely-conditioned signal via a first sensor output; and

configuring a storage location, coupled to a second sensor output, to store predetermined sensor-specific conditioning coefficients for use in performing a fine-conditioning process.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

configuring a second sensor transducer to sense a second parameter and output a second raw signal corresponding to said sensed second parameter;

configuring said signal-conditioning circuitry to receive said second raw signal output from said second sensor transducer, perform a coarse-conditioning process on said second raw signal to produce a second coarsely-conditioned signal, and output said second coarsely-conditioned signal via said first sensor output.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein said signal-conditioning circuitry and said storage location are coupleable to an end-user device, said method further comprising:

when said signal conditioning circuitry and said storage location are coupled to the end-user device, outputting to said end-user device said first coarsely-conditioned signal from said first sensor output and said stored coefficients from said second sensor output; and

performing, using said end-use device, said fine conditioning process on said first coarsely-conditioned signal using said stored coefficients.

15. The sensor apparatus of claim 13, wherein said signal-conditioning circuitry and said storage location are coupleable to an end-user device, said method further comprising;

when said signal conditioning circuitry and said storage location are coupled to the end-user device, outputting to said end-user device said first coarsely-conditioned signal and said second coarsely-conditioned signal from said first sensor output and said stored coefficients from said second sensor output; and

performing, using said end-user device, said fine conditioning process on said first coarsely-conditioned signal and/or said second coarsely-conditioned signal using said stored coefficients.

16. The sensor apparatus of claim 12, wherein said signal conditioning circuitry and said memory are configured as an ASIC.

17. The sensor apparatus of claim 13, wherein said signal conditioning circuitry and said memory are configured as an ASIC.

18. The sensor device of claim 12, wherein said storage location comprises an EEPROM.

19. The sensor device of claim 13, wherein said storage location comprises an EEPROM.

20. The sensor device of claim 12, wherein said first sensor transducer comprises a flow sensor-transducer.

21. A sensor apparatus comprising:

a plurality of sensor transducers, each sensing a parameter and outputting a raw signal corresponding to it respective sensed parameter;

signal-conditioning circuitry receiving said each raw signal output from said plurality of sensor transducers, performing a coarse-conditioning process on each of said raw signals to produce a coarsely-conditioned signal corresponding to each raw signal, and outputting each coarsely-conditioned signal via a first sensor output; and

a storage location coupled to a second sensor output, storing predetermined sensor-specific conditioning coefficients for use in performing a fine-conditioning process.