Patent ID: 7280435

Claim:
A device comprising a multiplicity of sensor elements arranged in rows; a plurality of bus lines; a plurality of system channels; a multiplicity of multiplexer switches for selectively connecting various bus lines to various system channels; a first set of access switches for selectively connecting a first set of said sensor elements in a first row to a first bus line of said plurality of bus lines, each access switch of said first set of access switches being disposed underneath a respective sensor element of said first set of sensor elements, a first access switch of said first set of access switches being connected to a first sensor element that is a member of said first set of sensor elements; a multiplicity of sets of matrix switches, each of said sets of matrix switches selectively connecting a respective sensor element of said multiplicity of sensor elements to a respective set of adjacent sensor elements, a first matrix switch of said multiplicity of sets of matrix switches being connected to said first sensor element and to a second sensor element that is not a member of said first set of sensor elements; and control circuitry that controls said multiplexer switches, said access switches and said matrix switches in accordance with a selected switching configuration such that said first sensor element is connected to a first system channel via a first multiplexer switch of said multiplicity of multiplexer switches that is connected to said first bus line, via said first bus line, and via said first access switch, while at the same time said second sensor element is connected to said first access switch via said first matrix switch.