Low power telemetry system and method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A telemetry system comprising:
- a bus;
a plurality of channels each coupled to the bus; and
a control subsystem for (1) controlling the channels so that each one presents to the bus, during a time period designated for the channel, a channel characteristic representative of a signal sampled by the channel, (2) interrogating in an analog domain, during the time period designated for the channel, the characteristic presented by the channel, and (3) forming a signal representative of the characteristic presented by the channel during the designated time period;
wherein the control subsystem comprises a termination device at one end of the bus;
wherein the control subsystem further comprises a distributed control element at each of the channels;
wherein the distributed control element in a channel identifies the time period designated for the channel within a cycle;
wherein the termination device clocks each of the distributed control elements through a clocking signal sent over the bus;
wherein each of the distributed control elements comprises a timing element which is updated responsive to the clocking signal, and the distributed control element identifies the time period designated for the channel based on a comparison of timing element contents with a predetermined value for the channel.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A telemetry system is described in which a plurality of channels are coupled to a bus. A control subsystem controls the channels so that one of the channels presents to the bus during its designated time period a channel characteristic. The control subsystem interrogates in the analog domain each of the channels during its designated time period, and forms a signal representative of the channel characteristic. The control subsystem may combine one or more of the signals into a digital packet, and transmit the same over a network.
43 Citations
10 Claims
-
1. A telemetry system comprising:
-
a bus; a plurality of channels each coupled to the bus; and a control subsystem for (1) controlling the channels so that each one presents to the bus, during a time period designated for the channel, a channel characteristic representative of a signal sampled by the channel, (2) interrogating in an analog domain, during the time period designated for the channel, the characteristic presented by the channel, and (3) forming a signal representative of the characteristic presented by the channel during the designated time period;
wherein the control subsystem comprises a termination device at one end of the bus;wherein the control subsystem further comprises a distributed control element at each of the channels; wherein the distributed control element in a channel identifies the time period designated for the channel within a cycle; wherein the termination device clocks each of the distributed control elements through a clocking signal sent over the bus; wherein each of the distributed control elements comprises a timing element which is updated responsive to the clocking signal, and the distributed control element identifies the time period designated for the channel based on a comparison of timing element contents with a predetermined value for the channel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
-
-
4. A telemetry system comprising:
-
a bus; a plurality of channels each coupled to the bus; and a control subsystem for (1) controlling the channels so that each one presents to the bus, during a time period designated for the channel, a channel characteristic representative of a signal sampled by the channel, (2) interrogating in an analog domain, during the time period designated for the channel, the characteristic presented by the channel, and (3) forming a signal representative of the characteristic presented by the channel during the designated time period; wherein the channel characteristic presented by the channel is a channel impedance representative of the amplitude of a signal sampled by the channel; wherein the impedance presented by the channel to the bus during the designated time period gives rise to an impedance mismatch condition at the channel; wherein the control subsystem interrogates a channel during its designated time period by transmitting an analog pulse over the bus, and the impedance mismatch at the channel causes at least a partial reflection of the pulse to return to a termination device, with the amplitude of the reflected pulse being representative of the impedance presented by the channel. - View Dependent Claims (5)
-
-
6. A method of telemetering one or more channels coupled to a bus comprising:
-
controlling the one or more channels so that each one presents to the bus, during a time period designated for the channel, a channel characteristic representative of a signal sampled by the channel; interrogating in an analog domain, during the time period designated for the channel, the characteristic presented by the channel; forming a signal representative of the characteristic presented by the channel during the designated time period; identifying the time period designated for the channel within a cycle; clocking a timing element at each of the channels through a clocking signal sent over the bus; and updating the timing element responsive to the clocking signal, and identifying the time period designated for the channel based on a comparison of timing element contents with a predetermined value for the channel. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
-
-
9. A method of telemetering one or more channels coupled to a bus comprising:
-
controlling the one or more channels so that each one presents to the bus, during a time period designated for the channel, a channel characteristic representative of a signal sampled by the channel; interrogating in an analog domain, during the time period designated for the channel, the characteristic presented by the channel; and forming a signal representative of the characteristic presented by the channel during the designated time period; wherein the channel characteristic presented by the channel is a channel impedance representative of the amplitude of a signal sampled by the channel; wherein the impedance presented by the channel to the bus during the designated time period gives rise to an impedance mismatch condition at the channel; further comprising interrogating the channel during its designated time period by transmitting an analog pulse over the bus, and the impedance mismatch at the channel causes at least a partial reflection of the pulse to return to a termination device coupled to one end of the bus, with the amplitude of the reflected pulse being representative of the impedance presented by the channel. - View Dependent Claims (10)
-
Specification