Patent ID: 7759945
Filing Date: 2010-07-20
Classification: G01D

Abstract:
1. A dual range sensor comprising: a sensing element for sensing a sensed parameter, the sensing element providing an analog output signal that is related to a current sensed parameter value; an analog-to-digital converter coupled to the sensing element, the analog-to-digital converter converting the analog output signal of the sensing element to a digital value; and a processing element coupled to the analog-to-digital converter, the processing element comparing the digital value to a transition value and, if the digital value reported by the analog-to-digital converter is less than the transition value, the processing element provides a digital output signal that relates to the digital value and corresponds to a first range of the sensed parameter at a first resolution, and if the digital value reported by the analog-to-digital converter is greater than the transition value, the processing element provides a digital output signal that relates to the digital value and corresponds to a second range of the sensed parameter at a second resolution, wherein the first range of the sensed parameter is not the same as the second range.