Patent ID: 7304475

Claim:
A method of biasing a magnetic sensor, the method comprising the steps of: placing a bare die magnetic sensor within a coil of electrically conductive wire such that the coil substantially surrounds the sensor, the coil presenting an inner radius of between ten and twenty thousandths of an inch and an outer radius of between twenty and fifty thousandths of an inch; fixedly securing the coil to a substrate; fixedly securing a pair of electrically non-conductive posts to the substrate; fixedly securing the sensor to the pair of posts such that the sensor is separated from the substrate by a space; applying an electrical current through the coil of wire to generate a biasing magnetic field that opposes an ambient magnetic field detected by the sensor, and manipulating the electrical current to create a desired biased condition; and detecting changes in the ambient magnetic field by determining when the magnetic field detected by the sensor deviates from the biased condition.