Patent ID: 7129698

Claim:
A method for preparing an analog sensor signal of a position sensor having a scale with a first mechanical period for output to an evaluation unit, the analog sensor signal having a first period which depends on the first mechanical period, comprising the following steps: receiving the analog sensor signal from the position sensor; translating the analog sensor signal into a translated analog signal, the translated analog signal having a second period corresponding to a second mechanical period; and issuing the translated analog signal to the evaluation unit, wherein the analog sensor signal indicates a position on the scale relative to a first instantaneous period section, the one containing the position, of a sequence of period sections constituting the scale of the position sensor, and the translated analog signal indicates the position on the scale relative to a second instantaneous period section, the one containing the position, of a second sequence of period sections determined by the second mechanical period, and wherein the step of translating the analog sensor signal comprises the following substeps: determining from the analog sensor signal a digital absolute position value which determines the position on the scale relative to a section of the scale comprising at least the first instantaneous period section and the second instantaneous period section; and generating the translated analog signal from the digital absolute position value, and wherein the section of the scale relative to which the digital absolute position value determines the position on the scale corresponds to a number of period sections of the second sequence of period sections, the number being equal to k, where k is a whole number, and the digital absolute position value is a digital value with a plurality of bits and the step of generating the translated analog signal comprises the following steps: calculating the result of multiplying by k the remainder of the digital absolute position value divided by k to obtain a calculated digital value; and converting the calculated digital value into the translated analog signal.