Tire pressure detector having reduced power consumption mechanism
First Claim
1. A tire pressure detector, comprising:
- a pressure sensor that measures pressure of a tire;
a data processing circuit that receives the tire pressure from said pressure sensor and generates an input data stream, said input data stream configured to be encoded to represent a first logic state and a second logic state, wherein said data processing circuit modulates said input data stream for radio frequency transmission;
a phase-locked loop circuit that includes a voltage controlled oscillator, said voltage controlled oscillator configured to be powered on according to said first logic state and powered off according to said second logic state; and
an RF antenna transmitting the modulated input data stream.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A tire pressure detector employs a reduced power consumption mechanism comprising a PLL circuit including a VCO, that is operated in response to the logic states of an input data stream and a power amplifier configured to be externally located to an integrated circuit. The input data stream includes tire pressure information and is configured to be encoded to have multiple logic states. A micro-controller is employed to control the VCO, turning the VCO, and/or the amplifier, on and off for a certain period, according to the pattern of each data bit of the input data stream thus providing reduced current consumption. This tire pressure detector thus embodies an optimized circuit arrangement in terms of power efficiency.
22 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A tire pressure detector, comprising:
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a pressure sensor that measures pressure of a tire; a data processing circuit that receives the tire pressure from said pressure sensor and generates an input data stream, said input data stream configured to be encoded to represent a first logic state and a second logic state, wherein said data processing circuit modulates said input data stream for radio frequency transmission; a phase-locked loop circuit that includes a voltage controlled oscillator, said voltage controlled oscillator configured to be powered on according to said first logic state and powered off according to said second logic state; and an RF antenna transmitting the modulated input data stream. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A tire pressure detector, comprising:
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a pressure sensor that measures pressure in a tire; an integrated circuit that receives tire pressure information from said pressure sensor and processes it as an RF signal for transmission; a power amplifier that receives said RF signal from said integrated circuit and amplifies said RF signal, said power amplifier configured to be externally disposed to said integrated circuit; and an RF antenna connected to said power amplifier and transmitting said RF signal. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A reduced power consumption mechanism of a tire pressure detector, wherein said tire pressure detector is configured to detect and process tire pressure information, said mechanism comprising:
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an input data stream including said tire pressure information and configured to be encoded to have multiple logic states; and a phase-locked loop circuit including a voltage controlled oscillator that is operated in response to the logic states of said input data stream, wherein said phase-locked loop circuit is implemented with an integrated circuit. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method comprising:
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collecting data at each tire of a plurality of tires of a vehicle representative of at least one tire characteristic; generating an input data stream employing a data processing circuit at each respective tire, including data responsive to said data representative of said at least one tire characteristic; encoding said input data stream to comprise a plurality of bits such that each bit of data may contain a plurality of logic states; powering a voltage controlled oscillator included in a phase-locked loop circuit in response to said logic states within said data bits included in said input data stream; presenting a signal representative of said input data stream using said voltage controlled oscillator to a power amplifier; and transmitting said output signal from said power amplifier to a central control unit using additional circuitry contained in said tire pressure detector - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification