Pulsed pressure sensor circuit and method therefor
First Claim
1. A pulsed pressure sensor circuit having increased sensitivity comprising:
- a pressure sensor having a bias input, a port and an output, said pressure sensor for providing an output voltage corresponding to a pressure at said port when a bias voltage is applied to said bias input; and
a pulse generation circuit for providing a voltage pulse to said bias input of said pressure sensor, said voltage pulse biasing said pressure sensor for generating said output voltage.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A pulsed pressure sensor circuit (11) with increased sensitivity for measuring low pressures. A pulse generation circuit (12) is enabled by a microprocessor (28) to output a voltage pulse. The voltage pulse biases a pressure sensor (17) which has a port exposed to a pressure to be sensed. The pressure sensor (17) outputs a differential voltage which is proportional to the pressure at the port. The differential voltage is amplified by an amplifier (23) which has an output coupled to the microprocessor (28). A voltage divider circuit (26) is coupled to the pulse generation circuit (12) and has an output coupled to the microprocessor (28). The microprocessor (28) samples the voltages at the output of the amplifier (23) and the output of the voltage divider circuit (26). Microprocessor (28) then calculates the pressure using the sampled voltages and data stored in memory.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A pulsed pressure sensor circuit having increased sensitivity comprising:
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a pressure sensor having a bias input, a port and an output, said pressure sensor for providing an output voltage corresponding to a pressure at said port when a bias voltage is applied to said bias input; and a pulse generation circuit for providing a voltage pulse to said bias input of said pressure sensor, said voltage pulse biasing said pressure sensor for generating said output voltage. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method for sensing pressure comprising:
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exposing a port of a pressure sensor to a pressure; biasing said pressure sensor with a voltage pulse; and
measuring an output voltage of said pressure sensor. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 16, 17)
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10. A pulsed pressure sensing circuit comprising:
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a pressure sensor having a bias input, a first output, a second output, and a port, said pressure sensor for providing an output voltage corresponding to a pressure at said port when a bias voltage is applied to said bias input; a pulse generation circuit for providing a voltage pulse to said bias input of said pressure sensor, said voltage pulse biasing said pressure sensor for generating said output voltage wherein sensitivity of said pressure sensor is increased by increasing a magnitude of said voltage pulse and average power dissipated by said pressure sensor is reduced by said voltage pulse; an amplifier for amplifying said output voltage of said pressure sensor having a first input and a second input coupled respectively to said first and second outputs of said pressure sensor and an output; a voltage divider circuit having an input coupled to said output of said pulse generation circuit, and an output; and means for calculating pressure having a first input coupled to said output of said amplifier, a second input coupled to said output of said voltage divider, a first output, and a second output coupled to said control input. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification