Switching circuitry for reconfigurable arrays of sensor elements

• US 7,280,435 B2
• Filed: 10/29/2004
• Issued: 10/09/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Mills, David Martin, Wodnicki, Robert Gideon, Thomenius, Kai Erik, Fisher, Rayette Ann, Smith, Lowell Scott, Hazard, Christopher Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Lobo; Ian J.
• Application Number:
  US10/978,196
• Publication Number:
  US 20050169107A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,075 Days
• Field of Search: 367/105, 367/153, 367/178, 367/181, 600/447, 600/459
• US Class Current: 367/153
• CPC Class Codes: B06B 1/0207 Driving circuits specially adapted for particular applications, see the relevant subclass, e.g. G01; circuits for steering transducer arrays G10K11/34; basic circuits H03
• CPC Class Codes: B06B 1/0292 Electrostatic transducers, e.g. electret-type
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/044 Internal reflections (echoes), e.g. on walls or defects
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/106 one or more transducer arrays
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/262 by electronic orientation or focusing, e.g. with phased arrays phased arrays per se G10K11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 11/00 Coding in connection with keyboards or like devices, i.e. coding of the position of operated keys keyboard switch arrangements, structural association of coders and keyboards H01H13/70, H03K17/94

Abstract

A device comprising an array of sensors that are reconfigurable by means of a switching network. The sensors may be optical, thermal or pressure sensors or ultrasonic transducers. More specifically, the device comprises: a multiplicity of sensor elements; a plurality of bus lines; a set of access switches for selectively connecting a set of the sensor elements in a row to a bus line, one of the access switches being connected to a first sensor element; a multiplicity of sets of matrix switches, each of the sets of matrix switches selectively connecting a respective sensor element of the multiplicity of sensor elements to a respective set of adjacent sensor elements, one of the matrix switches being connected to the first sensor element and to a second sensor element that is not a member of the set of sensor elements; and control circuitry that controls the access switches and the matrix switches in accordance with a selected switching configuration such that the first sensor element is connected to the bus line via said one access switch, while at the same time the second sensor element is connected to said one access switch via said one matrix switch.

Claims

1. A device comprising

a multiplicity of sensor elements arranged in rows;

a plurality of bus lines;

a plurality of system channels;

a multiplicity of multiplexer switches for selectively connecting various bus lines to various system channels;

a first set of access switches for selectively connecting a first set of said sensor elements in a first row to a first bus line of said plurality of bus lines, each access switch of said first set of access switches being disposed underneath a respective sensor element of said first set of sensor elements, a first access switch of said first set of access switches being connected to a first sensor element that is a member of said first set of sensor elements;

a multiplicity of sets of matrix switches, each of said sets of matrix switches selectively connecting a respective sensor element of said multiplicity of sensor elements to a respective set of adjacent sensor elements, a first matrix switch of said multiplicity of sets of matrix switches being connected to said first sensor element and to a second sensor element that is not a member of said first set of sensor elements; and

control circuitry that controls said multiplexer switches, said access switches and said matrix switches in accordance with a selected switching configuration such that said first sensor element is connected to a first system channel via a first multiplexer switch of said multiplicity of multiplexer switches that is connected to said first bus line, via said first bus line, and via said first access switch, while at the same time said second sensor element is connected to said first access switch via said first matrix switch.

2. The device as recited in claim 1, further comprising a second set of access switches for selectively connecting a second set of said sensor elements in said first row to a second bus line of said plurality of bus lines, each access switch of said second set of access switches being disposed underneath a respective sensor element of said second set of sensor elements, a second access switch of said second set of access switches being connected to and disposed under a third sensor element that is a member of said second set of sensor elements, a second matrix switch of said multiplicity of sets of matrix switches being connected to said third sensor element and to a fourth sensor element that is not a member of said second set of sensor elements, wherein said control circuitry controls said multiplexer switches, said access switches and said matrix switches in accordance with said selected switching configuration such that said third sensor element is connected to a second system channel via a second multiplexer switch of said multiplicity of multiplexer switches that is connected to said second bus line, via said second bus line, and via said second access switch, while at the same time said fourth sensor element is connected to said second access switch via said second matrix switch.

3. The device as recited in claim 1, further comprising a second set of access switches for selectively connecting a second set of said sensor elements in said first row to said first bus line, each access switch of said second set of access switches being disposed underneath a respective sensor element of said second set of sensor elements, a second access switch of said second set of access switches being connected to and disposed under a third sensor element that is a member of said second set of sensor elements, a second matrix switch of said multiplicity of sets of matrix switches being connected to said third sensor element and to a fourth sensor element that is not a member of said second set of sensor elements, wherein said control circuitry controls said multiplexer switches, said access switches and said matrix switches in accordance with said selected switching configuration such that said third sensor element is connected to said first system channel via a second multiplexer switch of said multiplicity of multiplexer switches that is connected to said first bus line, via said first bus line, and via said second access switch, while at the same time said fourth sensor element is connected to said second access switch via said second matrix switch.

4. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein each of said sensor elements comprises a respective multiplicity of micromachined ultrasound transducer (MUT) cells, and each MUT cell comprising a top electrode and a bottom electrode, wherein the top electrodes of the MUT cells making up any particular subelement are connected together and are not switchably disconnectable from each other, and the bottom electrodes of those same MUT cells are connected together and are not switchably disconnectable from each other.

5. The device as recited in claim 1, further comprising a semiconductor substrate, said access switches and said matrix switches being fabricated in or on said semiconductor substrate and said sensor elements being fabricated in or on said semiconductor substrate.

6. The device as recited in claim 1, further comprising first and second substrates laminated together, said access switches and said matrix switches being fabricated in or on said first substrate and said sensor elements being fabricated in or on said second substrate.

7. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said control circuitry controls said switches so that the aperture on transmit is different than the aperture on receive.

8. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said control circuitry controls said switches so that switched-on sensor elements form a generally annular ring.

9. The device as recited in claim 2, wherein said access switches of said first and second sets of access switches are staggered to reduce the number of access switches required for a given number of bus lines.

10. The device as recited in claim 2, wherein each sensor element in said first row has only one respective access switch associated therewith, each of said access switches being connected to only one respective bus line of a set of bus lines associated with said first row of sensor elements.

11. The device as recited in claim 10, wherein a random ordering of access switch-to-bus line mapping is used to reduce artifacts due to repeating patterns.

12. The device as recited in claim 2, wherein each sensor element in said first row has a respective set of N access switches associated therewith, the access switches of said set being connected to respective bus lines of a set of bus lines associated with said first row of sensor elements, wherein the number of bus lines in said set of bus lines associated with said first row of sensor elements is greater than or equal to N.

13. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said multiplexer switches form a cross-point switching matrix whereby each bus line can be selectively connected to each system channel.

14. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said multiplexer switches form a sparse cross-point switching matrix.

15. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said control circuitry controls said access and matrix switches to ensure that there is a respective different access switch connected at both ends of a long run of matrix switch connections, which access switches are connected to the same bus line, to reduce delay.

16. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said plurality of bus lines comprises a set of horizontal bus lines and a set of vertical bus lines.

17. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said control circuitry controls said access switches so that access switches are chosen to lie equidistant from either edge of a ring (or other shape) formed by selected sensor elements to minimize delay inside said ring (or other shape).

18. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein more than one access switch per bus line is used in each sensor element to provide a redundant connection to improve yield.

19. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said control circuitry controls said switches so that the aperture is different at multiple intervals during receive.

20. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said control circuitry controls said switches so that a single access switch is connected to an entire ring of sensor elements, each sensor element in said ring in turn being connected together by matrix switches.

21. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said control circuitry controls said switches so that multiple access switches are connected to an entire ring of sensor elements, with matrix switches between sensor elements having access switches to form respective sections of said ring.

22. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said control circuitry controls said switches so that multiple access switches are connected to an entire ring of sensor elements, with said access switches being distributed at equal distances spaced around said ring to reduce the signal delay for those sensor elements between access switches.

23. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said control circuitry controls said switches so that multiple rings of sensor elements are formed, wherein each ring is connected to a single system channel using one or more access switches, each of which is connected to a bus line, which is in turn connected to a system channel.

24. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said control circuitry controls said switches so that multiple redundant matrix switch connections are employed to form a single ring in order to reduce the series resistance and thereby reduce the delay.

25. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said control circuitry controls said switches so that selected matrix switches are used to route around a known bad sensor element.

26. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said control circuitry controls said switches so that switched-on sensor elements form patterns other than rings while still choosing access switch placement to minimize delay.

27. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said control circuitry controls said switches so that an entire ring pattern of sensor elements can be translated to create a moving beam by repeated use of a minimum delay algorithm at each new step in the translation.

28. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said control circuitry controls said switches so that the center of an element can be stepped by an increment less than a complete subelement by changing the shape of the element.

29. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said control circuitry controls said switches so that when stepping integer numbers of subelements, switch states can be passed directly from subelement to neighbor without the need to program via the bus lines.

30. The device as recited in claim 1, further comprising a scan converter, wherein said control circuitry controls said switches so that when stepping fractions of subelements, the beams for each different configuration can be stepped independently at the coarse beam spacing using the direct subelement to neighbor communication scheme and the resulting sets of course beams can be interleaved by said scan converter to get the full resolution.

31. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said control circuitry controls said switches so that when stepping integer numbers of subelements, the multiplexer switches between row bus lines and system channels change by a rotation of the channels.

32. The device as recited in claim 1, further comprising a system beamformer, wherein said control circuitry controls said switches so that when stepping integer numbers of subelements, the states of the multiplexer switches between row bus lines and system channels, but rather said system beamformer changes the delays on the given channels to account for said stepping.

33. An ultrasound transducer array comprising:

a multiplicity of bus lines;

a multiplicity of access switches, each access switch being connected to one of said bus lines; and

a multiplicity of subelements, each subelement being switchably connectable to one of said bus lines via a respective one of said access switches and comprising a respective multiplicity of MUT cells and a respective plurality of matrix switches, and each MUT cell within a particular subelement being connected together and not switchably disconnectable,

wherein each subelement is switchably connectable to each adjacent subelement via a respective matrix switch.

34. The array as recited in claim 33, wherein a selected subelement can be switchably connected to a selected bus line via a matrix switch that connects said selected subelement to a neighboring subelement and via the access switch via which neighboring subelement is connected to said selected bus line.

35. The array as recited in claim 33, further comprising programming means for interconnecting selected subelements to form respective elements.

36. The array as recited in claim 35, wherein said respective elements form multiple concentric annuli of an electronically formed annular array.

37. The array as recited in claim 36, wherein said electronically formed annular array is moved, under electronic control, across said transducer array.

38. A device comprising

a multiplicity of sensor elements;

a plurality of bus lines;

a first set of access switches for selectively connecting a first set of said sensor elements in a first row to a first bus line of said plurality of bus lines, a first access switch of said first set of access switches being connected to a first sensor element that is a member of said first set of sensor elements;

a multiplicity of sets of matrix switches, each of said sets of matrix switches selectively connecting a respective sensor element of said multiplicity of sensor elements to a respective set of adjacent sensor elements, a first matrix switch of said multiplicity of sets of matrix switches being connected to said first sensor element and to a second sensor element that is not a member of said first set of sensor elements; and

control circuitry that controls said access switches and said matrix switches in accordance with a selected switching configuration such that said first sensor element is connected to said first bus line via said first access switch, while at the same time said second sensor element is connected to said first access switch via said first matrix switch.

39. The device as recited in claim 38, wherein each of said sensor elements comprises a respective multiplicity of micromachined ultrasound transducer (MUT) cells, and each MUT cell comprising a top electrode and a bottom electrode, wherein the top electrodes of the MUT cells making up any particular subelement are connected together and are not switchably disconnectable from each other, and the bottom electrodes of those same MUT cells are connected together and are not switchably disconnectable from each other.