Patent ID: 8106658

Claim:
An identification code circuit for a receiving coil in a magnetic resonance imaging system, said identification code circuit comprising: a main receiving coil having a coil housing comprising a socket configured to connect to a sub-coil to said main receiving coil by plugging a sub-coil plug of the sub-coil into said socket, said sub-coil comprising a switch that is closed by plugging said sub-coil plug of said sub-coil into said socket; a circuit embodied in said coil housing comprising a fixed resistance that generates an identification code for the main coil, and a regulating resistance, with closure of said switch of said sub-coil causing respective values of said regulating resistance and said fixed resistance to be added together to form a combined resistance value; and upon connection of said main coil to said magnetic resonance system, an identification code source voltage value across said combined resistance value representing an identification code for the combined main coil and sub-coil.