Abstract: A system may include a sensor having a variable phase response, a dummy impedance having a known phase response, and a measurement circuit communicatively coupled to the sensor and configured to measure first phase information associated with the sensor, measure second phase information associated with the dummy impedance, and determine a phase response of the measurement circuit based on a comparison of the first phase information to the second phase information.

Abstract: A calibration system includes an excitation module that introduces an excitation signal to a primary coil of a differential transformer, a measurement module that measures, at a first phase shift, a positive value of an induced signal. The induced signal is caused by the excitation signal on a secondary coil of the differential transformer. The system further includes a calculation module that compares the positive value to a last positive value to form a compared positive value, and a calibration module that changes the first phase shift based on the compared positive value.

Abstract: A magnetic field sensor assembly for measuring an angular direction of a sensed magnetic field relative to the assembly is disclosed. The sensor assembly includes a sensor of a first type configured to sense an orientation of the sensed magnetic field, a sensor of a second type configured to measure an orientation and a direction of the sensed magnetic field and processing circuitry connected to each of the magnetic field sensors. The processing circuitry being configured to process output signals from the sensor of the first type to determine an uncorrected sensed magnetic field angle and to apply an offset angle to the uncorrected magnetic field angle dependent on a logical combination of signs of output signals from the sensors of the first and second types.

Abstract: A method is provided to coerce a wire type net in an integrated circuit design to become a wreal net in the design, comprising: running a wreal coercion process on a computer system including the acts of, identifying a wire type net that is connected to a wreal net in an integrated circuit design; and converting the identified wire type net to a wreal net.

Abstract: The invention concerns a covering and/or sealing film for a pack, in particular a blister pack, configured to seal at least one filling product chamber and allow opening access to the filling product chamber by separation and/or tearing, wherein the film, in particular in the area of the filling product chamber, has a predetermined electrical conductance property (C14) which can be contacted for electronic analysis and as a reaction to separation or tearing undergoes an evaluatable change, wherein the film, at least in sections, has a capacitatively active, contactable layer structure, the electrical capacitance of which undergoes a change by the tearing or separation.

Abstract: A front end of a vector network analyzer (VNA) on an integrated circuit includes a clock generator and two ports. The VNA couples to a device under test (DUT) using the two ports. Each port may include a plurality of receivers and a VSWR bridge, and can be configured as either an input or an output. The clock generator can generate a stimulus signal, an in-phase I clock signal, and a quadrature-phase Q clock signal. The output port provides the stimulus signal to the DUT and measures both reference and reflected power from the DUT, such as by utilizing two receivers by using direct conversion and the I and Q clock signals. The input port measures transmitted power through the DUT using a second VSWR bridge and one of its receivers by using direct conversion along with the I and Q clock signals. The VNA IC can provide S-parameter measurements to a processing unit for further processing and/or analysis to compute the DUT S-parameters.

Abstract: An output sensor apparatus, system, and method including a circuit having a plurality of bridge resistors and one or more connecting resistors coupled to the plurality of bridge resistors. Additionally, a programmable amplifier can be coupled to the connecting resistor, wherein the circuit produces an output signal that changes in a manner similar to that of an output of a Wheatstone bridge circuit sensor. Thus, a circuit can be provided, which can be effortlessly added to a readily available programmable integrated circuit (IC) chip.

Abstract: A circuit is provided that can provide, in a single package, a circuit to monitor a sensing element which uses a variable resistor. The circuit (also known as a signal conditioning circuit) may contain resistor input terminals to which a reference set resistor and a resistive sensor can be attached. A reference voltage signal can be applied to both terminals. There are also a circuit for sensing the resulting current flowing through both the set resistor and the resistive sensor. The difference of the currents flowing through each element can then be monitored as being indicative of the difference in resistance between the set resistor and the resistive sensor. The current difference signal can be used to generate a voltage difference signal indicative of the difference in resistance between the set resistor and the resistive sensor. The signal conditioning circuit may be used to adjust the temperature of various devices.

Abstract: A device for measuring the probe impedance of a linear lambda probe of an internal combustion engine which is caused by an AC current measurement signal which is fed into the lambda probe, comprises a voltage amplifier for amplifying an AC voltage which drops across the probe impedance, and a rectifier for rectifying the amplified AC voltage, wherein the rectifier is a synchronous demodulator, by which in each case the upper and lower amplitude of the AC voltage signal is sampled with its frequency, filtered and stored, and by which the difference of the stored signals is amplified with a gain factor and made available as output signal at its output for controlling the temperature of the lambda probe.

Abstract: A capacitance measuring device and method including ratio transformers, a reference capacitor(s), multiplying digital-to-analog converters connected to form a bridge, the converters being adjustable to at least partially balance the bridge, digital signal processor (DSP) for driving and control functions, and feedback to the DSP to maintain and to correct in real time desired amplitudes and phase relation of the signals produced by the ratio transformers. Commutation is used to balance or to average feedback signals to enhance precision, accuracy, resolution and stability. The bridge uses DSP generated phase shifted signals and reference capacitors to balance the real part of the unknown impedance.

Abstract: A circuit measures the driving and circulating current in an H-bridge drive network directly and linearly. Voltage across two current sensing resistors are input to two precision half-wave rectifiers. The output of the rectifiers are input to a differential amplifier via a circuit of resistors. The output of the differential amplifier is a signal representative of the current in the H-bridge for both the driven periods and non-driven or freewheeling periods.

Abstract: In an inductive debris monitor (IDM) an inductive probe is disposed at a fluid flow passageway to be monitored, and an RF bridge containing a variable resistance network is used to detect changes in the impedance of the probe due to the passage of metallic debris. An indirectly heated thermistor is utilized in the resistance network for balancing the bridge. Thus the operating temperature range is significantly extended without compromising reliability or experiencing degradation.

Abstract: The bridge circuit receives the balance signal output from the balanced signal source, which generates a broad-band balanced signal over a frequency band of a direct current to several tens of MHz as a reflection-characteristic measuring bridge. The balance signal source is constructed by connecting in series the first balance output type circuit whose equivalent circuit is represented by the parallel-connection circuit of the resistor R.sub.1 and the electrostatic capacitor C, and the second balance output type circuit whose equivalent circuit is represented by the parallel-connection circuit of the resistor R.sub.2 and the inductance L, R.sub.1, R.sub.

Abstract: Automatic bridge balancing apparatus includes a reference impedance and a measuring terminal pair for receiving an unknown impedance. A source of a test signal is coupled to the reference impedance and the measuring terminal pair. A measuring detector is connected in series with the unknown impedance when connected to the measuring terminal pair to provide a measured signal. A reference detector is coupled to the reference impedance to provide a reference signal. A combiner combines the measured signal with the reference signal to provide an error signal. The reference detector includes an up/down counter coupled to a digital attenuator that provides the reference signal. A controller responds to the error signal to control the count in the up/down counter so that the associated digital attenuator provides a signal to the combiner that reduces the error signal so that the count in the up/down counter is characteristic of the unknown impedance.

Abstract: A self-contained autonulling bridge circuit based on phase-sensitive deteon of an impedance to be measured is described. The system utilizes a feedback structure to control a variable impedance in order to establish the null of the bridge. The system utilizes a voltage-variable impedance having both resistance and capacitance and provides the phase sensitive relationship in the control means in order to provide highly accurate measurement of an unknown test impedance. The ability to measure small changes in impedance provides particularly useful application to the area of biological sensor impedance measurement or electrochemical impedance measurement using silicon-based devices.

Abstract: Measurements of the permittivity of samples over a very wide frequency range and a wide temperature range have previously involved such problems as changing parts of the measuring equipment in different regions of the frequency range, substituting one of the components of a bridge used as part of the equipment to obtain bridge balance, and limited permittivity resolution. The present invention employs a capacitance bridge formed by a sample held between electrodes, a series capacitor and a detector comprising a high input impedance amplifier and correlators. The bridge is balanced by applying voltages of known relative amplitude and phase constructed from outputs having relative phases of 0.degree., 90.degree. and 180.degree. of two phase-locked oscillators. The voltages are constructed using phase shifters, attenuators and summer-driver circuits. At low frequencies the applied voltages are obtained from a waveform synthesizer.