Rain sensor with sigma-delta modulation and/or footprinting comparison(s)
First Claim
1. A method of determining whether moisture is present on an external surface of a vehicle window, the method comprising:
- receiving a signal relating to at least one sensing capacitor, and processing the signal to obtain a signal footprint; and
comparing the signal footprint with one or more predetermined signal footprints stored in memory to determine whether a detected material on the external surface of the vehicle is moisture or some other material.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and/or method for sensing the presence of moisture (e.g., rain) and/or other material(s) on a window such as a vehicle window (e.g., vehicle windshield, sunroof or backlite). In certain example embodiments of the invention, at least one sensing capacitor is supported by a window such as a vehicle windshield, the capacitor(s) having a field that is affected by moisture (e.g., rain) on a surface of the window. A sensing circuit outputs an analog signal that is based on and/or related to the capacitance(s) of the sensing capacitor(s). The analog output of the circuit may be converted to a digital signal via sigma-delta modulation, and subjected to processing (e.g., correlation) for determining whether moisture (e.g., rain, dew, fog, etc.) or the like is present on the surface of the window.
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Citations
4 Claims
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1. A method of determining whether moisture is present on an external surface of a vehicle window, the method comprising:
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receiving a signal relating to at least one sensing capacitor, and processing the signal to obtain a signal footprint; and comparing the signal footprint with one or more predetermined signal footprints stored in memory to determine whether a detected material on the external surface of the vehicle is moisture or some other material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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Specification