Multi-range pressure sensor apparatus and method utilizing a single sense die and multiple signal paths
First Claim
1. A multi-range pressure sensor apparatus, comprising:
- a pressure transducer comprising a sense die having a plurality of piezoresistive elements situated in a bridge configuration for transducing a pressure force into an electrical output signal;
at least two amplifiers, each of the at least two amplifiers having an input and an output, wherein the input of each of the at least two amplifiers is electrically coupled to the electrical output signal of the pressure transducer, and each of the at least two amplifiers has a different gain than the other of the at least two amplifiers; and
a programmable compensation circuit coupled to the outputs of the at least two amplifiers, wherein said programmable compensation circuit selects between the outputs of the at least two amplifiers to produce a digital output that corresponds to the selected amplifier output.
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Abstract
A multi-range pressure sensor apparatus and method that provide multiple signal paths for detecting a broad range of pressures with a high accuracy. A pressure transducer can be configured to include the use of a pressure sense die with piezoresistive elements integrated into the sensor die and in a Wheatstone bridge configuration. A sensed output signal from the sense die can be transferred to one or more amplifier circuits. A programmable compensation circuit can be utilized to multiplex different amplified output signals from each of the amplifier circuits and to provide a digital output. A memory associated with the programmable compensation circuit provides separate compensations, which are stored for each of the different signal paths and removes errors due to amplifier gain and offset.
56 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A multi-range pressure sensor apparatus, comprising:
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a pressure transducer comprising a sense die having a plurality of piezoresistive elements situated in a bridge configuration for transducing a pressure force into an electrical output signal; at least two amplifiers, each of the at least two amplifiers having an input and an output, wherein the input of each of the at least two amplifiers is electrically coupled to the electrical output signal of the pressure transducer, and each of the at least two amplifiers has a different gain than the other of the at least two amplifiers; and a programmable compensation circuit coupled to the outputs of the at least two amplifiers, wherein said programmable compensation circuit selects between the outputs of the at least two amplifiers to produce a digital output that corresponds to the selected amplifier output. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A multi-range pressure sensor apparatus, comprising:
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a pressure transducer comprising a sense die having a plurality of piezoresistive elements integrated with said sense die in a bridge configuration for transducing a pressure force into an electrical output signal; at least two amplifiers, each of the at least two amplifiers having an input and an output, wherein the input of each of the at least two amplifiers is electrically coupled to the electrical output signal of the pressure transducer, and each of the at least two amplifiers has a different gain than the other of the at least two amplifiers; a programmable compensation circuit coupled to the outputs of the at least two amplifiers; and a memory integrated with said programmable compensation circuit, wherein said memory stores separate compensations for each of the at least two amplifiers; wherein said programmable compensation circuit selects between the outputs of the at least two amplifiers, applies the compensations that corresponding to the selected amplifier output, and generates a digital output that corresponds to the selected amplifier output. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A multi-range pressure sensing method, said method comprising:
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sensing a fluid pressure; transducing the fluid pressure into an electrical output signal; amplifying the electrical output signal with a first amplifier having a first gain to produce a first amplifier output signal; amplifying the electrical output signal with a second amplifier having a second gain to produce a second amplifier output signal, wherein the second gain is different from the first gain; selecting one of the a first amplifier output signal or second amplifier output signal, resulting in a selected amplifier output signal; applying compensation parameters to the selected amplifier output signal, wherein the applied compensation parameters are dependent on whether the first amplifier output signal or second amplifier output signal was selected; and outputting a compensated output signal. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. An integrated circuit for processing an output signal from a sensor transducer, comprising:
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at least two amplifiers, each of the at least two amplifiers having an input and an output, wherein the input of each of the at least two amplifiers is configured to be in communication with the output signal of the sensor transducer, and each of the at least two amplifiers has a different gain than the other of the at least two amplifiers; and a circuit coupled to the outputs of the at least two amplifiers, wherein said circuit selects between the outputs of the at least two amplifiers to produce an output that corresponds to the selected amplifier output. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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26. A multi-range module for processing an output signal from a sensor transducer, comprising:
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at least two amplifiers, each of the at least two amplifiers having an input and an output, wherein the input of each of the at least two amplifiers is configured to be in communication with the output signal of the sensor transducer, and each of the at least two amplifiers has a different gain than the other of the at least two amplifiers; a compensation circuit coupled to the outputs of the at least two amplifiers; and a memory, wherein said memory stores separate compensations for each of the at least two amplifiers; wherein said compensation circuit selects between the outputs of the at least two amplifiers, applies the compensations that corresponding to the selected amplifier output, and generates an output that corresponds to the selected amplifier output.
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Specification