Circuits and methods for limiting a smallest separation of thresholds in a magnetic field sensor
First Claim
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1. A magnetic field sensor, comprising:
- at least one magnetic field sensing element configured to generate a magnetic field signal influenced by a ferromagnetic object;
peak finding circuitry operable to identify at least one of a positive peak value or a negative peak value of the magnetic field signal;
a threshold generation module coupled to receive the at least one of the positive peak value or the negative peak value, wherein the threshold generation module comprises;
a peak-to-peak calculation module operable to determine a peak-to-peak value by using the at least one of the positive peak value or the negative peak value;
a threshold calculation module operable to determine an upper threshold value and a lower threshold value based on the peak-to-peak value, wherein the upper threshold value is a first predetermined percentage of the peak-to-peak value and the lower threshold value is a second lower predetermined percentage of the peak-to-peak value; and
a threshold limiting module operable to identify a difference between the upper threshold value and the lower threshold value, and, if the difference is smaller than a minimum separation value based on a function of an RMS noise level associated with the magnetic field signal, operable to set the difference between the upper threshold value and the lower threshold value to a corrected difference value.
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Abstract
A magnetic field sensor uses upper and lower thresholds. The upper and lower thresholds are limited such that they have a minimum separation distance between equivalent voltage levels of the upper and lower thresholds.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A magnetic field sensor, comprising:
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at least one magnetic field sensing element configured to generate a magnetic field signal influenced by a ferromagnetic object; peak finding circuitry operable to identify at least one of a positive peak value or a negative peak value of the magnetic field signal; a threshold generation module coupled to receive the at least one of the positive peak value or the negative peak value, wherein the threshold generation module comprises; a peak-to-peak calculation module operable to determine a peak-to-peak value by using the at least one of the positive peak value or the negative peak value; a threshold calculation module operable to determine an upper threshold value and a lower threshold value based on the peak-to-peak value, wherein the upper threshold value is a first predetermined percentage of the peak-to-peak value and the lower threshold value is a second lower predetermined percentage of the peak-to-peak value; and a threshold limiting module operable to identify a difference between the upper threshold value and the lower threshold value, and, if the difference is smaller than a minimum separation value based on a function of an RMS noise level associated with the magnetic field signal, operable to set the difference between the upper threshold value and the lower threshold value to a corrected difference value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of sensing a magnetic field, comprising:
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generating a magnetic field signal influenced by a ferromagnetic object with at least one magnetic field sensing element; identifying at least one of a positive peak value or a negative peak value of the magnetic field signal; determining a peak-to-peak value by using the at least one of the positive peak value or the negative peak value; determining an upper threshold value and a lower threshold based on the peak-to-peak value, wherein the upper threshold value is a first predetermined percentage of the peak-to-peak value and the lower threshold value is a second lower predetermined percentage of the peak-to-peak value; identifying a difference between the upper threshold value and the lower threshold value; and if the difference is smaller than a minimum separation value based on a function of an RMS noise level associated with the magnetic field signal, setting the difference between the upper threshold value and the lower threshold value to a corrected difference value. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer readable code thereon, the medium comprising:
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instructions for determining a peak-to-peak value by using the at least one of a positive peak value or the negative peak value of a magnetic field signal generated by at least one magnetic field sensing element; instructions for determining an upper threshold value and a lower threshold based on the peak-to-peak value, wherein the upper threshold value is a first predetermined percentage of the peak-to-peak value and the lower threshold value is a second lower predetermined percentage of the peak-to-peak value; instructions for identifying a difference between the upper threshold value and the lower threshold value; and instructions for, if the difference is smaller than minimum separation value based on a function of an RMS noise level associated with the magnetic field signal, setting the difference between the upper threshold value and the lower threshold value to a corrected difference value. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification