South, Nicholas Geoffrey

A sensor including: a substrate having a cavity formed in a first main surface of the substrate; a first mesa that is formed in the cavity; a second mesa that is formed in the cavity a first magnet that is formed in the cavity, the first magnet being arranged to at least partially fill the cavity, the first magnet being arranged to surround the first mesa and the second mesa.

A switching device comprising a first fixed contact, a second fixed contact, and a movable contact. The movable contact is mounted on a plunger configured to operate to change the state of the switching device from a closed state allowing current flow through the switching device to an open state which interrupts current flow through the switching device. The plunger is operable to move the movable contact between the open closed states in response to a magnetic field. The switching device further comprises a solenoid arranged to provide the magnetic field in response to an electrical signal. An arc chamber in included that housing the movable contact with arc chamber surfaces surrounding the moveable contact and having an arc suppressing material below the moveable contact.

A magnetoresistance sensing device includes an on-chip coil capable of generating a magnetic field measured by a wheat stone bridge. The on-chip coil is used in a compensation loop and constructed in parallel with a main signal path using a separate, matched xMR compensation bridge. The separate xMR bridge allows generating and measuring a compensation signal continuously and differentially, which improves signal fidelity without introducing noise into the primary signal path. One or more chopper switches are provided to eliminate offset and flicker noise.

According to one aspect, a magnetic flux concentrator includes: a ferromagnetic material having a loop shape interrupted by an air gap region and forming a central opening, wherein the air gap region includes a first side having at least two protrusions and a second side having at least one protrusion interleaved with, and not in mechanical contact with, the protrusions of the first side. According to another aspect, a sensor utilizes such a magnetic flux concentrator to detect a difference in current between two conductors.

A sensor comprising: a sensing bridge including a first leg and a second leg, the first leg including a first magnetoresistance (MR) element that is coupled to a second MR element via a first transistor, the second leg including a third MR element that is coupled to a fourth MR element via a second transistor; a frontend circuit having a first input and a second input, the first input being coupled to the first leg, and the second input being coupled to the second leg; and a first resistive digital-to-analog converter (R-DAC) that is coupled to at least the first leg, the first R-DAC being arranged to receive a first trim code and modify a first resistance of the first leg based on the first trim code.

Disclosed are example systems and methods for error checking in magnetic field sensing applications. In particular, described are example systems and methods for error checking in magnetic field sensors used for determining a rotation angle of an object that rotates. In some embodiments, a plurality of signals representative of a magnetic field generated by a magnetic target may be received. The plurality of signals may be combined to determine a value, and a determination made as to whether the determined value is an expected value. When the determined value is not an expected value, an output signal representing an error may be output.

Disclosed are example systems, methods, and structures for improving magnetic field sensor performance. In particular, described are example systems, methods, and structures for improving magnetic field sensor performance in applications where magnetic field sensing elements detect a deflection of a magnetic field generated by a magnet. Systems, methods, and structures disclosed herein may provide a sensor device that includes magnetic field sensing elements and a plurality of magnet structures embedded in a semiconductor die. In some embodiments, the plurality of magnet structures may be configured to generate a magnetic field corresponding to a layout of the magnetic field sensing elements in the semiconductor die.

Systems, structures, packages, circuits, and methods provide multi-channel isolation transformer and gate driver structures with one or more primary and multiple secondary coils. The transformer structures include magnetic cores configured for use with multiple channels providing galvanic isolation for each channel. The channels can pass control (data) and/or power signals/pulses. One or more integrated circuits may be included with transformer packages, structures, and modules. In some examples, structure, chip packages, or modules may include one or more galvanically isolated gate drivers and/or other high voltage circuits.

A sensor, comprising: a first signal path including a plurality of magnetoresistance (MR) elements, the first signal path being configured to generate a first signal based, at least in part, on an output of the MR elements, the output of the MR elements being generated, at least in part, in response to an external magnetic field that is incident on the sensor and a first feedback magnetic field; a second signal path including one or more Hall elements, the second signal path being configured to generate a second signal based, at least in part, on an output of the Hall elements; a first feedback coil that is configured to generate the first feedback magnetic field, the first feedback coil being driven with a first drive current, the first drive current being generated, at least in part, based on the first signal.

Fleece filter including a filter chamber and a fleece retainer for intimately retaining fleece against inside primary filter chamber plates on being extended between a feed reel and a take-up reel. Fleece filter including a fleece filter controller having a feed reel with a feed reel encoder for enabling accurate measurement of fresh fleece dispensed from a fleece roll wherein a length of fresh fleece is a function of a fleece roll's instantaneous external diameter, fleece thickness, and a number of rotations of fleece unwound from a feed reel. Fleece filter including a fleece filter housing having a polluted water inlet, a filtered water outlet and a chemical media basket mounted on the filtered water outlet such that substantially the entire flow of filtered water from the filtered water outlet immediately subsequently passes through the chemical media basket.