Patent ID: 11894844
Assignee: ALLEGRO MICROSYSTEMS, LLC
Field: Basic communication processes (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  G | IPC G  H

Claim 0:
1. A rapid-data-transfer sensor array comprising:
a. a controller configured to receive serial data; and
b. a first plurality of sensor integrated circuits (ICs) connected in series and configured to periodically take measurements and provide measurement data to the controller as serial data, each sensor IC including a transducer, a shift register, a serial-data-in (SDI) pin, a serial-data-out (SDO) pin, a bi-directional start/done (ST/DN) pin, a power regulation circuit configured to selectively supply power for a sleep mode and an active mode, and a clock pin for receiving a clock signal from the controller;
c. wherein each sensor IC is configured for operation in the sleep mode in which the transducer is inactive and the active mode in which a measurement is performed with the transducer, wherein the bi-directional ST/DN pin is configured to activate the sensor IC from the sleep mode in which the ST/DN pin is in a high state into the active mode in which the ST/DN pin is in a low state for the measurement, wherein the sensor IC is configured to pull the bi-directional ST/DN pin to the low state when performing the measurement and to release the bi-directional ST/DN pin and enter the sleep mode after finishing the measurement, and wherein, when finished with the measurement, the sensor IC is configured to provide measurement data to the shift register for transfer to the controller; and
d. wherein the controller is configured to provide a clock signal on the clock pin to initiate serial transfer of data from each of the shift registers of the first plurality of sensor ICs to the respective SDO pins for data transfer to the controller.