Patent ID: 8797026

Claim:
A digital output sensor, comprising: a sensing structure comprising at least one sensing element, said sensing structure outputting a differential sensing signal, and an integrated circuit comprising a substrate including signal conditioning circuitry for conditioning said sensing signal, said signal conditioning circuitry comprising: a differential amplifier coupled to receive said sensing signal and provide first and second differential outputs; a comparator having input transistors coupled to receive outputs from said differential amplifier, said comparator comprising first and second current-mirror loads coupled to said input transistors in a cross coupled configuration to provide hysteresis, said first and second current-mirror loads providing differential drive currents, wherein said comparator further comprises a first current regulator, said first current regulator comprising a matching resistor that is coupled to said regulated supply voltage and a current mirror coupled to said matching resistor, wherein said current mirror is coupled to provide bias current for said comparator, wherein a voltage across said matching resistor is approximately equal to a voltage across said sensing structure; an output driver coupled to receive said differential drive currents; an output stage comprising at least one output transistor coupled to said output driver for providing a digital output for said sensor, and a voltage regulator coupled to receive a supply voltage and output at least one regulated supply voltage, said regulated supply voltage coupled to said sensing structure, said differential amplifier and said comparator.