Patent ID: 11933645
Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G  H

Claim 20:
21. An apparatus comprising:
a capacitive sensor configured to detect a capacitance value associated with a conductor;
a counter coupled to the capacitive sensor, wherein the counter is configured to determine a count value associated with the capacitance value; and
a controller coupled to the counter, wherein the controller is configured to determine a characteristic based on the count value, and wherein: the capacitive sensor includes a plurality of sensing regions; and the count value includes a plurality of individual count values, wherein each of the plurality of individual count values is associated with a respective one of the plurality of sensing regions, further wherein:
the conductor is a first conductor;
a first sensing region of the plurality of sensing regions is configured to detect a first capacitance value associated with the first conductor based on a first count value of the plurality of individual count values;
a second sensing region of the plurality of sensing regions is configured to detect a second capacitance value associated with a second conductor based on a second count value of the plurality of individual count values; and
the controller is configured to determine the characteristic based on either the first count value or the second count value.