Patent ID: 8446220
Filing Date: 2013-05-21
Classification: G01D,H03M

Abstract:
1. Apparatus for processing an analog sensor output signal from a sensor, comprising: an amplifier block, the amplifier block having two or more gain settings, the amplifier block receiving an analog sensor output signal from the sensor; an offset block for selectively applying an offset to the analog sensor output signal when instructed to do so to output an offset analog sensor output signal; and a controller coupled to the amplifying block and the offset block, the controller causing the amplifier block to amplify the analog sensor output signal using a first gain setting to produce a lower resolution analog sensor output signal over a first range, the controller using a measure related to the lower resolution analog sensor output signal to determine an offset value, the controller instructing the offset block to apply the determined offset value to the analog sensor output signal, resulting in the offset analog sensor output signal, the controller also causing the amplifier block to amplify the offset analog sensor output signal using a second gain setting that is higher than the first gain setting to produce a higher resolution analog sensor output signal over a second range, wherein the second range is a subset of the first range.