DE102017125562A1 - A SIGNAL GENERATOR, A DECODER, A METHOD FOR GENERATING A SENDING SIGNAL AND A METHOD FOR DETERMINING SPEED DATA - Google Patents

Abstract

A signal generator comprises a signal provider and a signal processing unit. The signal provider is configured to provide a sensor signal indicative of a repeatedly detected event occurring within different time intervals. The signal processing unit is configured to generate a sensor signal based on the sensor signal. The transmit signal includes event information representing the timing of the event and additional information representing additional data. The event information includes pulses associated with the detected events, the pulses being separated in time within the transmit signal, according to the different time intervals of detected events, such that each time interval of the different time intervals has a pulse associated with a detected event. Furthermore, the additional data comprises at least one frame having a predefined number of additional data bits. The information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame is distributed over at least two time intervals of the different time intervals.

Description

TERRITORY

Embodiments relate to signal transmission concepts and in particular to a signal generator, a decoder, a method for generating a transmission signal and a method for determining velocity data.

BACKGROUND

There is a large variety of signal transmission concepts or protocols. Most of these concepts use constant time intervals to organize data to be transferred. However, there are applications where events occur repeatedly at different time intervals between two consecutive events. For these applications, mapping the timely occurrence of events within the transmit signal may be important to gather information about later timely behavior. For example, speed measurements of rotating or moving parts may be based on detecting recurring events that allow the velocity of the rotating or moving part to be determined.

For example, sensor interfaces of an antilock braking system (ABS) transmit a sequence of pulses that mark the edges of a magnetic encoder signal. This type of communication can be very effective for wheel speed measurements. However, it does not allow the transmission of other information that is internally available in the sensor. Nevertheless, it may be desirable to also transmit additional information along with the information necessary for the speed measurement.

SUMMARY

There may be a need to provide an improved concept for a signal generator, a decoder, and a method of generating a transmit signal.

Such a need can be met by the subject matter of one of the claims.

Some embodiments relate to a signal generator comprising a signal provider configured to provide a sensor signal indicative of a repeatedly detected event occurring within different time intervals; and a signal processing unit configured to generate a transmit signal based on the sensor signal, the transmit signal having event information representing the timing of the event, and additional information representing additional data, wherein the event information includes pulses that detect the detected event Associated with events, wherein the pulses are separated in time within the transmit signal, according to the different time intervals of detected events, such that each time interval of the different time intervals has a pulse associated with a detected event, the additional data having at least one frame comprising one predefined number of additional data bits, the information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame being distributed over at least two time intervals of the different time intervals.

Optionally, the signal processing unit is configured to generate the transmit signal such that the transmit signal has at least one on-live pulse within a long-term interval of the different time intervals when the long-term interval is longer than a predefined on-the-live notification time interval.

Again, optionally, the transmit signal includes a plurality of on-live pulses within the long-term interval if the long-term interval is greater than twice the predefined on-life notification time interval, with the on-life pulses of the plurality of on-live pulses are separated in time within the long-term interval so that each predefined on-live notification time interval has an on-live pulse.

Optionally, the signal processing unit is configured to map the information from at least a portion of the additional data bits of the at least one frame to the transmit signal by utilizing pulse width modulation of the on-life pulses at the predefined on-live notification time intervals within the long-term interval or by adding Manchester coded sequences to the predefined on-live notification time intervals within the long-term interval.

Again optionally, the information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame is distributed over at least two predefined on-live notification time intervals.

Optionally, each predefined on-live notification time interval includes predefined on-live notification time intervals within the long-term interval the same number of bits of the additional data bits of the at least one frame.

Again optionally, the additional data further comprises a separator preceding the at least one frame, the separator indicating a beginning of the at least one frame and having a predefined number of separator bits, the separator information being available via at least two predefined on-live notification messages. Time intervals are distributed.

Optionally, the predefined on-live notification time interval is longer than 50ms and shorter than 200ms.

Again optionally, the signal provider is a sensor unit and the signal generator further includes a signal generator output, the sensor unit being configured to repeatedly detect the event occurring within different time intervals, the signal generator output being adapted to provide the transmit signal.

Optionally, the sensor unit is configured to repeatedly detect the event that occurs within different time intervals caused by a moving or rotating part in the vicinity of the sensor unit, the lengths of the different time intervals between successively detected events of a movement speed or a speed Rotation speed of the moving or rotating part depends.

Again optionally, the sensor unit is adapted to additionally detect a direction of movement or a direction of rotation of the moving or rotating part and to provide this directional data.

Optionally, the signal processing unit is configured to generate the transmission data so that the additional data to be added to the transmission data has direction data indicative of the moving direction or the rotating direction of the moving or rotating member in addition to the at least one frame.

Again optionally, the directional data is represented by a data bit, where information of the directional data is included in each time interval of the different time intervals as long as the length of the time intervals is above a predefined limit.

Optionally, the additional data within a time interval includes directional data only if the length of the time interval is above the predefined limit.

Some embodiments relate to a signal generator comprising a signal provider for providing a sensor signal indicative of a repeatedly detected event occurring within different time intervals; and a signal processing unit configured to generate a transmit signal based on the sensor signal, the transmit signal having event information representing the timing of the event, and additional information representing additional data, wherein the event information includes pulses that detect the detected event Associated with events, wherein the pulses are separated in time within the transmit signal, according to the different time intervals of detected events, such that each time interval of the different time intervals comprises a pulse associated with a detected event, the signal processing unit being adapted to receive the transmit signal generate the transmit signal having a plurality of on-live pulses within a long-term interval of the different time intervals when the long-term interval is longer than twice a predefined on-the-live notification ungs time interval, wherein the on-life pulses of the plurality of on-life pulses are separated in time within the long-term interval so that each predefined on-life notification time interval within the long-term interval has an on-life pulse, wherein the additional data comprises at least one frame comprising a predefined number of additional data bits, the information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame being distributed over at least two predefined on-live notification time intervals.

Optionally, the information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame is distributed over at least two time intervals of the different time intervals.

Some embodiments relate to a decoder configured to determine velocity data and additional decoded data based on a received signal, wherein the decoder is configured to determine the velocity data based on repetitive and within different time intervals occurring pulses within the received signal, wherein each time interval of the different time intervals comprises a pulse, the receive signal having a plurality of on-live pulses within a long-term interval of the different time intervals when the long-term interval is longer than twice a predefined on-the-alive notification time interval, wherein the on-life pulses of the plurality of on-live pulses are separated in time within the long-term interval such that each predefined on-life notification time interval within the long-term interval has an on-life pulse, the decoder being configured. to determine at least one frame of additional decoded data, comprising a predefined number of additional data bits, based on information obtained from at least two predefined on-live notification time intervals within the received signal.

Some embodiments relate to a method of generating a transmit signal, the method comprising providing a sensor signal indicative of a repeatedly detected event occurring within different time intervals; and generating a transmit signal based on the sensor signal, the transmit signal having event information representing the timing of the event, and additional information representing additional data, the event information having pulses associated with the detected events, the pulses being timed within the transmit signal, according to the different time intervals of detected events, such that each time interval of the different time intervals has a pulse associated with a detected event, the transmit signal having a plurality of on-life pulses within a long-term interval of the different time intervals, if the long-term interval is longer than twice a predefined on-the-alive notification time interval, with the on-life pulses of the plurality of on-live pulses being temporally separated within the long-term interval, the s each predefined on-life notification time interval within the long-term interval has an on-life pulse, the additional data having at least one frame comprising a predefined number of additional data bits, the information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame being at least two predefined on-life notification time intervals are distributed.

A signal generator according to an embodiment comprises a signal provider and a signal processing unit. The signal provider is configured to provide a transmit signal indicative of a repeatedly detected event occurring within different time intervals. The signal processing unit is configured to generate a sensor signal based on the sensor signal. The transmit signal includes event information representing the timing of the event and additional information representing additional data. The event information includes pulses associated with the detected events, the pulses being separated in time within the transmit signal, according to the different time intervals of detected events, such that each time interval of the different time intervals has a pulse associated with a detected event. Furthermore, the additional data comprises at least one frame having a predefined number of additional data bits. The information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame is distributed over at least two time intervals of the different time intervals.

Embodiments may be based on the insight that an arbitrary amount of additional data may be added to the information relating to a repetitive event occurring at different times by distributing the additional data over two or more of the different time intervals between times, to which the event occurs. By distributing the additional data over the different time intervals, not only the transmission of additional data, which generally accompanies the event information, but also the addition of a high or any amount of additional data can be enabled.

In some embodiments, the signal generator is configured to generate the transmit signal such that information of a number of bits of the additional data bits of the at least one frame included in a time interval of the different time intervals varies depending on the length of the different time intervals. In this way, the amount of additional data assigned to a time interval of the different time intervals may be adjusted to the available data capacity of the time interval. Time intervals of greater length may have a larger data capacity than time intervals of shorter length. In this way, the data capacity (e.g., the maximum amount of data that can be transferred during a time interval) can be efficiently used so that a high data rate can be obtained by the transmission signal.

Some embodiments relate to a signal generator comprising a sensor unit having a signal provider. The sensor unit may be configured to detect the repetitive event occurring within different time intervals. In this way, a sensor system can be realized by the signal generator, which is able to provide information of the repeatedly detected event and a high or any amount of additional data, for example.

Further, some embodiments relate to a wheel speed sensor, a transmission speed sensor, a cam rotation speed sensor, a crankshaft rotation speed sensor, a rotation speed sensor or a position sensor with a signal generator according to the described concept.

list of figures

• 1 ein Blockdiagramm eines Signalgenerators zeigt;
• 2 eine schematische Darstellung eines Sendesignals bei niedriger Geschwindigkeit und bei hoher Geschwindigkeit zeigt;
• 3 eine schematische Darstellung eines Sendesignals basierend auf einer Pulsweitenmodulation und eines Sendesignals basierend auf Manchester-Codierung zeigt;
• 4 eine schematische Darstellung eines Sendesignals zeigt;
• 5 eine schematische Darstellung einer Datentransportschicht zeigt;
• 6 eine schematische Darstellung einer anderen Datentransportschicht zeigt;
• 7 eine schematische Darstellung einer anderen Datentransportschicht zeigt;
• 8 ein Blockdiagramm eines Signalgenerators zeigt;
• 9 eine schematische Darstellung der Erzeugung eines magnetischen Signals durch ein Zahnrad oder ein Polrad zeigt;
• 10 ein Blockdiagramm eines Decodierers zeigt;
• 11 eine schematische Darstellung eines Radgeschwindigkeitssensorsystems zeigt;
• 12 eine schematische Darstellung eines magnetischen Signals und eines resultierenden Sensorsignals zeigt;
• 13 ein Flussdiagramm eines Verfahrens zum Erzeugen eines Sendesignals zeigt;
• 14 ein Flussdiagramm eines Verfahrens zum Bestimmen von Geschwindigkeitsdaten zeigt;
• 15 ein Blockdiagramm eines Signalgenerators zeigt;
• 16 eine schematische Darstellung eines Sendesignals basierend auf einer Pulsweitenmodulation und eines Sendesignals basierend auf Manchester-Codierung umfassend Am-Leben-Pulse zeigt;
• 17 eine schematische Darstellung eines anderen Sendesignals basierend auf Manchester-Codierung umfassend Am-Leben-Pulse zeigt;
• 18 eine schematische Darstellung eines anderen Sendesignals basierend auf Manchester-Codierung umfassend Am-Leben-Pulse zeigt;
• 19 eine schematische Darstellung eines anderen Sendesignals basierend auf Manchester-Codierung umfassend Am-Leben-Pulse zeigt; und
• 20 eine schematische Darstellung eines anderen Sendesignals basierend auf Pulsweitenmodulation zeigt.

Some embodiments of apparatuses and / or methods will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

• 1 shows a block diagram of a signal generator;
• 2 shows a schematic representation of a transmission signal at low speed and at high speed;
• 3 shows a schematic representation of a transmission signal based on a pulse width modulation and a transmission signal based on Manchester coding;
• 4 shows a schematic representation of a transmission signal;
• 5 shows a schematic representation of a data transport layer;
• 6 a schematic representation of another data transport layer shows;
• 7 a schematic representation of another data transport layer shows;
• 8th shows a block diagram of a signal generator;
• 9 a schematic representation of the generation of a magnetic signal by a gear or a pole wheel shows;
• 10 shows a block diagram of a decoder;
• 11 a schematic representation of a Radgeschwindigkeitssensorsystems shows;
• 12 a schematic representation of a magnetic signal and a resulting sensor signal shows;
• 13 a flowchart of a method for generating a transmission signal shows;
• 14 a flowchart of a method for determining velocity data shows;
• 15 shows a block diagram of a signal generator;
• 16 shows a schematic representation of a transmission signal based on a pulse width modulation and a transmission signal based on Manchester encoding comprising on-life pulses;
• 17 shows a schematic representation of another transmit signal based on Manchester coding comprising on-life pulses;
• 18 shows a schematic representation of another transmit signal based on Manchester coding comprising on-life pulses;
• 19 shows a schematic representation of another transmit signal based on Manchester coding comprising on-life pulses; and
• 20 a schematic representation of another transmission signal based on pulse width modulation shows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Various exemplary embodiments will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some example embodiments are illustrated. In the figures, the strengths of lines, layers and / or regions may be exaggerated for clarity.

While modifications and alternative forms of embodiments are possible, embodiments thereof are accordingly shown by way of example in the figures and described in detail herein. It should be understood, however, that the exemplary embodiments are not limited to the particular forms disclosed herein, but on the contrary, exemplary embodiments are intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives that fall within the scope of the invention. Throughout the description of the figures, like numerals refer to like elements.

It should be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "coupled" to another element, the element may be directly connected or coupled to the other element, or intermediate elements may be present. Conversely, when an element is referred to as being "directly" connected to another element, "connected" or "coupled," there are no intermediate elements. Other terms used to describe the relationship between elements shall be construed in a similar manner (eg, "between" versus "directly between," "adjacent" versus "directly adjacent," etc.).

The terminology used to describe certain embodiments is not intended to be limiting of exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "one, one" and "the" are intended to include plural forms unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It is further understood that the terms "comprising,""comprising,""having," and / or "comprising" in use, but not the specification, specify the presence of the specified features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components thereof Exclude presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or a group thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which exemplary embodiments belong. Furthermore, it is understood that terms, for. For example, those defined in commonly-used dictionaries should be construed as having a meaning that is commensurate with their meaning in the context of the pertinent technique and are not to be construed in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

1 shows a block diagram of a signal generator 100 according to an embodiment. The signal generator 100 includes a signal provider 110 that with a signal processing unit 120 connected is. The signal provider 110 represents a sensor signal 112 ready, that a repeatedly detected event 112 indicating that occurs within different time intervals. The signal processing unit 120 generates a transmission signal 122 based on the sensor signal 112 so that the transmission signal 122 Has event information representing the chronological or chronological occurrence of the event and additional information representing additional data. The event information includes pulses associated with the detected events, the pulses being separated in time within the transmit signal, according to the different time intervals of detected events, such that each time interval of the different time intervals has a pulse associated with a detected event. Furthermore, the additional data comprises at least one frame having a predefined number of additional data bits. The information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame is distributed over at least two time intervals of the different time intervals.

Due to the distribution of additional data over multiple time intervals, a high or arbitrary amount of additional data may be provided, along with temporal or chronological information about a recurring event by the same transmit signal 122 , Therefore, not only additional data in general but also a high or arbitrary amount of additional data can be provided.

The sensor signal 112 may contain information about the repeatedly detected event detected within different time intervals in such a way that the signal processing unit 120 determine the timing of the event and generate pulses within the transmit signal that represent this temporal behavior. For example, the pulses of successive time intervals are separated in time by the length of the time interval between two consecutive events (eg the rising or falling edge of the pulses) or proportional to the length of the time interval between two consecutive events. The pulse of a time interval may be arranged at the beginning or at the end of the time interval such that the pulse indicates the beginning or the end of the time interval, for example. If the pulse is at the beginning of the associated time interval, the pulse of the subsequent time interval may also indicate the end of the previous time interval, for example. In other words, the time interval between two consecutive pulses within the transmit signal represents 122 a time interval between two successive events within the sensor signal 112 and one of these pulses is assigned to this time interval, depending on whether a pulse is defined to represent an end or a beginning of a time interval. However, only one pulse can be assigned to each time interval.

The repeated and occurring within different time intervals event can represent a wide variety of sizes. For example, an event may be a maximum, minimum, or zero crossing of a magnetic or electric field, a maximum, a minimum, or a zero crossing of a light intensity or similar repetitive quantities. The event may occur at different time intervals since the occurrence of the event may depend on a moving speed or a rotating speed of a moving or rotating part, the magnetic or electric field or the varying light intensity or deflection of the magnetic or electric field or the varying one Causes light, for example. When the movement speed or the Rotation speed is high, the time intervals between two consecutive times at which the event occurs, may be shorter than when the movement speed or the rotation speed is low.

Different time intervals may mean that at least two time intervals of the different time intervals have a different temporal length. For example, if the speed of occurrence of the event increases, the time intervals may become proportionally shorter, and vice versa.

The signal provider 110 may be a sensor unit, which is the sensor signal 112 generated based on the detection of the event, or a memory unit containing the sensor signal 112 stores and provides, for example.

The signal processing unit 120 generates the transmission signal 122 comprising pulses separated from each other by the different time intervals or proportional to the different time intervals, so that the timing of the event by analyzing the time distribution of the pulses within the transmission signal 122 can be reconstructed, for example.

For example, the transmission signal 122 that through the signal generator 120 is generated, a current signal so that a pulse may be represented by an increased current, or a transmission signal 122 may be a voltage signal so that the pulse may be represented by an increased voltage. A pulse indicating an event that has occurred may have a predefined pulse length. The pulse length may be much shorter (eg <50%, 30%, 10%, 5%, 1% of a minimum time interval) than a minimum time interval of the different time intervals.

A frame includes a predefined number of additional data bits and can set up an amount of data that belongs together. For example, the additional data bits of the at least one frame may be interpreted together by a decoder during the reconstruction of the additional data based on the transmit signal.

The information of an additional data bit may be added, assigned or assigned to a time interval in various ways. For example, the pulse of a time interval may be modulated in width or encoded sequences (eg, Manchester encoded) may be added to the time interval before or after the pulse of the time interval. In other words, the signal generator may apply the information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame to the transmission signal 122 by using pulse width modulation of the pulses associated with the detected events included in the at least two time intervals, or by adding Manchester encoded sequences at the at least two time intervals, for example. Alternatively, an amplitude of the pulses of the at least two time intervals may be modulated according to the information of the additional data bits, for example. In this way, the information of the additional data bits on the transmission signal 112 be mapped with little effort or complexity.

The at least two time intervals, which contain information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame, can be (direct) successive time intervals, so that the information from at least one frame can be transmitted within a short time. Alternatively, the information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame may be distributed over non-consecutive time intervals to reduce the likelihood of the bits of the entire frame due to disturbances during transmission of the transmission data 122 to reduce.

An example of the distribution of a frame comprising eight additional data bits for long time intervals (the events occur at low speed) and for short time intervals (the events occur at high speed) is in 2 shown. If the event occurs at a low speed, a transmission signal may occur 200 Pulse 210 with great time distance from each other (corresponding to the length of the time intervals). Between these pulses 210 can add extra data bits 220 be added. For example, the transmission signal includes 200 between every two successive pulses 210 three data bits 220 , One bit of the three bits represents directional information (DIR) and two bits (BIT 1 to BIT 8th ) represent two bits of the additional data bits of the at least one frame. When the events occur at high speed, there may not be enough space between two consecutive pulses 210 within the transmission signal 250 present to add three bits of additional data. Therefore, the information can only be one bit 220 are added at each time interval so that the at least one frame can be distributed over eight time intervals.

As already mentioned, the signal processing unit 120 Using pulse width modulation or Manchester coding to add or associate the information of the additional data bits at the different time intervals; for example. An example of a pulse width modulated transmit signal 310 and a Manchester encoded transmission signal 320 is in 3 shown. In other words, the pulses of the transmission signal 310 Have pulses of different lengths, which are modulated according to a pulse width modulation (PWM) protocol. In this connection, more bits (eg, three bits) of additional information may be modulated at each time interval when the low speed event occurs. Otherwise, if the event occurs at a higher speed, fewer additional bits of data may be modulated at a time interval (eg, 1 bit). The examples of the transmission signals 310 . 320 , in the 3 are shown with respect to a plot of current I versus time t.

Alternatively, the information about the additional data bits on the transmission signal 320 be modulated by using a Manchester protocol. In this way, data bits may be included between directly consecutive pulses. Similar to the description above, more bits per time interval can be added (eg, three bits) when the low speed event occurs, and fewer bits per time interval can be added (eg, one bit) when the high speed event occurs.

As already in 2 and 3 has been shown, the number of bits of the additional data bits added or assigned at the different time intervals may optionally be varied depending on the length of the different time intervals. In other words, the signal processing unit 120 optionally the transmission signal 122 so that information of a number of bits of the additional data bits of the at least one frame included in a time interval of the different time intervals varies depending on the length of the different time intervals.

An example of a transmission signal 410 with time intervals of different length of time (eg, time intervals representing events that occur at low speed and time intervals that represent events that occur at high speed) is in 4 shown. In this example, time intervals are short-length 420 less information about additional data accompanying the pulse associated with the time interval than long-term time intervals 430 , For example, a time interval of great length 430 Information about a direction of rotation (DIR) and two bits of additional data bits of the at least one frame (BIT 1 , BIT 2 ). In contrast, a short time interval 420 only information about one bit of the additional data bits of the at least one frame (eg BIT 3 ) contain. In this example, the frame includes eight additional bits of data (BIT 1 to BIT 8th ) and is distributed over six consecutive time intervals of varying length according to the timing of the event.

In other words, at least a first time interval of the different time intervals comprises a first length and a second time interval of the different time intervals comprises a second length and the first length is greater than the second length. In this case, the signal processing unit 120 the transmission signal 122 such that the first time interval comprises information about a first number of bits of the additional data bits of the at least one frame, and the second time interval has information about a second number of bits of the additional data bits of the at least one frame while the first number is higher than that second number.

In this way, the number of bits for which a time interval contains the information can be dynamically adjusted to the length of the corresponding time interval of the different time intervals. Thus, the amount of transferable data per time can be increased.

Optionally, the additional data may further include a separator preceding (or following) the at least one frame. This separator may indicate a beginning (or an end) of the at least one frame and includes a predefined number of separator bits. In other words, to signal the beginning of a frame or the at least one frame, a separator comprising a predefined bit sequence may be added or assigned to the transmit signal 122 (eg, also distributed over two or more time intervals). This predefined bit sequence can be identified by a decoder so that the decoder knows where the at least one frame starts. In this way, an efficient signaling of the beginning of the at least one frame can be realized and / or a simple decoding of the transmission signal 122 can be enabled.

An example of a sequence of separators 510 and frame 520 and an example of a sequence of separator bits 530 (eg with a predefined number of separator bits of 6) and a sequence of additional data bits 540 (eg with a predefined number of additional data bits of 6) is in 5 shown. For example, a separator represents 510 together with a frame 520 a block of additional data, which as additional information with the transmission signal 122 to be transferred.

For example, the separator comprises 520 a unique bit sequence (eg 000000) and the frame 520 may include all bit sequences without the separator's unique bit sequence (eg, 1 followed by 5 arbitrary bits X).

The edge between a separator and a frame may be independent with respect to the location of the pulses within the transmit signal 122 be positioned. Therefore, it may be possible for information from one or more bits of the separator and one or more bits of the additional data bits of the frame to be added, allocated, or assigned to the same time interval. In other words, the signal processing unit 120 the transmission signal 122 generate such that the information of at least one bit of the separator bits and at least one bit of the additional data bits of the at least one frame are included in the same time interval.

Since the assignment of the bits of the separator and the frame is independent of the position of the pulses, the bits of the separator and the frame can be very flexible at the time intervals of the transmission signal 122 be assigned to. Furthermore, the achievable data rate can be increased.

Optionally, the additional data includes a predefined number of frames that follow (or precede) the separator so that the ratio of separator bits and additional data bits is improved. An example of a sequence of separators 610 and frame 620 and an example of a sequence of separator bits 630 (eg with a predefined number of separator bits of 6) and a sequence of additional data bits 640 (eg with a predefined number of additional data bits of 6) is in 5 shown. In this case, three frames 620 every separator 610 consequences. In addition, the explanations in connection with 5 were given, also for 6 ,

For example, a 16 bit separator and a 1 start bit and 15 data bit frame may be used. For example, the separator may be "0000 0000 0000 0000" (or any other bit sequence that is not used for a frame of additional data bits) and the additional data bits may start with a start bit "1". Furthermore, the additional data bits of the frame 3 Bit Description (eg, velocity amplitude, dir (direction) amplitude, temperature information, error information), 7-bit information (eg, velocity / direction amplitude with 7-bit amplitude information or temperature, for example -40 ... 200 ° C with 7 Bits at 1.9 ° C resolution), 1 bit directional information as redundancy and 4 bit parity for 11 data bits, for example.

Further shows 7 an example of using a code alphabet for mapping the additional data to the transmission signal 122 , In this example, a Manchester code can be used to construct a separator 710 (eg with two bits = 00) and a frame 720 (eg with 11 bits = laabbccddee). In this case, a data bit X can be mapped to a bit sequence of additional data bits aa (eg X = 1 -> aa = 01 or X = 0 -> aa = 10). In addition, the explanations in connection with 5 or 6 were given, also for 7 ,

In summary, optionally, the event information and the additional information may be part of a physical layer of the transmission protocol. Furthermore, the at least one frame may be part of a data transport layer of the transmission protocol. In this case, frames of additional data bits may be organized independently of the physical layer so that additional data may be distributed over multiple time intervals of the different time intervals and reconstructed by a decoder after transmission.

8th shows a block diagram of a signal generator 800 according to an embodiment. This signal generator 800 is similar to the signal generator used in 1 is shown. Therefore, the explanations in connection with 1 to 7 were given, also for 8th , However, the signal provider is a sensor unit 810 and the signal generator 800 further includes a signal generator output 830 , The sensor unit 810 repeatedly detects the event that occurs within the different time intervals. Furthermore, the signal processing unit 120 the transmission signal 122 generate and the signal generator output 830, the transmission signal 122 (eg to a receiver or decoder).

The sensor unit 830 may be a magnetic field sensor (eg, a Hall sensor), an electric field sensor, a light sensor, or any other sensor for detecting an event occurring repeatedly and within different time intervals. Accordingly, the event occurring repeatedly and within different time intervals may represent a maximum, minimum, or zero crossing of a magnetic or an electric field, a maximum, a minimum, or a zero crossing of a light intensity or similar repetitive quantities.

The signal processing unit 120 can the transmission signal 122 through the signal generator output 830 by wireless or wireline transmission to a receiver or decoder, for example. For example, it may be possible that the signal generator 800 receives its power supply through a wireline connection from an electronic control unit. In this case, the signal processing unit 120 the transmission signal 122 through the signal generator output 830 to the power supply wireline connection (eg two-wire connection).

For some applications, the signal generator may be 800 used to gather information to determine a speed of a rotating or moving part as well as additional information. Therefore, the sensor unit 810 optionally repeatedly detect the event that occurs within the different time intervals caused by a moving or rotating part in the vicinity (eg, sufficiently close to reliably detect the event) of the sensor unit 810 is caused. Further, the different time intervals of successively detected events correspond to a moving speed or a rotating speed of the moving or rotating part. For example, the moving or rotating part comprises a gear for deflecting a magnetic field or a magnetic flywheel and the sensor unit is a magnetic sensor for detecting a maximum, minimum or zero crossing of the magnetic field. An example of a gear 910 that has a magnetic field 920 near a sensor unit 810 deflects, and a magnetic flywheel 930 near a sensor unit 810 is in 9 shown.

In this way, the speed of the moving or rotating part can be determined based on the detected events. Furthermore, additional information about the transmission signal 122 be added based on the concept described.

Optionally, the sensor unit 810 additionally detect a direction of movement or a direction of rotation of the moving or rotating part. This directional information may be related to the transmission signal 122 be added as additional information, so that the receiver of the transmission signal 122 get more information about the moving or rotating part.

Regardless of whether the sensor unit 810 the direction data is detected or determined or the signal processing unit 120 determines the direction data, the processing unit may optionally generate the transmission data so that the additional data has direction data indicative of the moving direction or the rotating direction of the moving or rotating member in addition to the at least one frame. In this way, a large amount of additional data can be provided.

The directional data can be coded in different ways. For example, the direction data is represented by a data bit. Furthermore, the direction data may be included in each time interval of the different time intervals as long as the length of the time intervals is above a predefined limit. In particular, at low speed, information about the direction of rotation (e.g., the direction of rotation of the wheel) or the direction of movement of a moving or rotating part may be important because the direction of rotation can be easily changed.

Thus, in some applications, the higher velocity direction information of the moving or rotating part is less important (resulting in shorter time intervals). Therefore, optionally, the additional data within a time interval includes directional data only when the length of the time interval is below the predefined limit. Consequently, more data capacity is available above the predefined limit for the additional data bits of the at least one frame, as well as additional frames of additional data.

Some embodiments relate to a signal generator configured to generate a transmit signal based on a sensor signal indicative of a repeatedly detected event occurring within different time intervals. The transmit signal includes pulses representing the timing of the event and additional information representing additional data. Furthermore, the additional data comprises at least one frame having a predefined number of additional data bits. In addition, the signal generator is designed to generate the transmission signal such that the information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame within the transmission signal is interrupted by at least one pulse.

Further, the signal generator may include one or more additional optional features that implement one or more aspects of the above-described concept.

Some embodiments relate to a signal generator comprising means for providing a sensor signal indicative of a repeatedly detected event occurring within different time intervals, and means for generating a transmission signal based on the sensor signal. The transmit signal includes event information representing the timing of the event and additional information representing additional data. Further, the event information includes pulses associated with the detected events, the pulses being separated in time within the transmit signal, in accordance with FIG the different time intervals of detected events so that each time interval of the different time intervals has a pulse associated with a detected event. Furthermore, the additional data comprises at least one frame having a predefined number of additional data bits. The information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame is distributed over at least two time intervals of the different time intervals.

Further, the signal generator may include one or more additional optional features that implement one or more aspects of the above-described concept.

Some embodiments relate to a wheel speed sensor, a transmission speed sensor, a cam rotation speed sensor, a crankshaft rotation speed sensor, a rotation speed sensor or a position sensor with a signal generator according to the concept or one of the embodiments described above.

10 shows a block diagram of a decoder 1000 according to an embodiment. The decoder 1000 can speed data 1012 and additional decoded data 1014 based on a received signal 1002 determine. The decoder 1000 can the speed data 1012 based on repetitive and within different time intervals occurring pulses within the received signal 1002 determine. Each time interval of the different time intervals comprises one pulse. Further, the decoder 1000 may include at least one frame of additional decoded data 1014 determining, comprising a predefined number of additional data bits, based on information obtained from at least two different time intervals of the different time intervals.

The decoder 1000 is able to speed data 1012 and a high or arbitrary amount of additional data from a receive signal 1002 with irregularly distributed pulses that represent information about a speed of occurring events, since the information about the additional data can be distributed over more than one time interval between two pulses. For example, the speed data indicates a rotational or moving speed of a moving or rotating part.

The decoder 1000 may optionally include a wireline or wireless receiver configured to receive the receive signal. Furthermore, the decoder 1000 optionally having a data output for providing the speed data 1012 and the additional decoded data 1014 is trained.

The decoder 1000 may have additional optional features that correspond to one or more of the aspects described in connection with the concept or an embodiment described above.

For example, optionally, a number of bits of the additional data bits of the frame provided by the decoder 1000 are obtained from the same time interval, depending on a length of the different time intervals vary. In this way, a high data rate can be made possible because the time intervals can be used more efficiently.

Again optional, the decoder 1000 Determine direction data indicating a direction of movement or rotation based on information obtained from a single time interval, for example. Directional data may require little data capacity for transmission (eg, only one bit) so that they can be transmitted within a single time interval. However, they can be transmitted repeatedly within different time intervals.

Some embodiments relate to a wheel speed sensor system comprising a wheel speed sensor 1100 and a decoder 1110 as shown schematically in 11 shown, for example. The signal generator may include a signal generator according to the described concept or an embodiment described above. Furthermore, the decoder may be implemented according to the described concept or an embodiment described above.

The decoder 1110 can be a receiver 1112 which is connected to a microcontroller 1114. The wheel speed sensor 1100 provides a current signal (transmit / receive signal) to the receiver through a wireline connection 1112 of the decoder 1110, for example. The recipient 1112 can convert the current signal into a voltage signal (eg using a shunt resistor with R _{M =} 100Ω) and supply the voltage signal to the microcontroller 1114 ready (eg the electronic control unit or an onboard vehicle computer of a car). The microcontroller 1114 may include the speed data (eg, a rotational speed of the wheel) and the additional decoded data (eg, rotational direction, status of the wheel speed sensor, or other additional data). The power supply of the wheel speed sensor 1100 can through the decoder 1110 be realized by the wireline connection. For example, the sensor unit of the wheel speed sensor may be a magnetic field sensor that detects a magnetic field B of a pole wheel and provides a current signal I indicating zero crossings of the magnetic field, as in FIG 12 is shown. This current signal (sensor signal) can by the signal processing unit of the wheel speed sensor 1100 used to generate the transmission signal.

The signal provider 110 , the signal processing unit 120 , the signal generator output 830 , the decoder 1010 and / or other optional units may be independent hardware units or part of a computer, a digital signal processor, or a microcontroller, or may be a computer program or software product configured to run on, for example, a computer, a digital signal processor, or a microcontroller. The signal provider 110 , the signal processing unit 120 , the signal generator output 830 and / or other optional components may be implemented independently of each other, or may be implemented at least partially together (eg, on the same chip or by the same computer program).

Some embodiments relate to a nested protocol layer wheel speed sensor protocol. This may extend an airbag protocol to allow the transmission of additional data distributed over multiple periods of the speed signal, for example. For this purpose, a magnetic signal can be generated either by the gear that deflects the field of a backbias magnet through a sensor device, or by a pole wheel having alternating magnetic poles. In the event that the field is below its average value, the sensor may consume a supply current of 7mA, for example, in the event that the field is above average, it may double the supply current. On the side of the electronic control unit (ECU), the sensor supply current can be converted to a voltage and the edge (representing an event occurring) can be detected by the microcontroller. Alternatively, this may be done by the signal processing unit of the proposed signal generator and additional data may be added.

The (additional) information can be an indication of the rolling direction of a tire, a measure of the strength of the magnetic field or sensor information about sensor-internal processes. By using the described concept, the amount of information transmitted with increasing speed need not be reduced, although the available time between two speed pulses is reciprocal to the speed of the car, for example. However, some information may no longer be needed at higher speed, for example, the direction of rotation may not immediately change from a high forward speed to a high reverse speed without passing through a zero speed. Consequently, it may not be a loss of information if the direction information can not be transmitted at high wheel speed. As soon as the amount of information to be transferred from the sensor to the electronic control unit (ECU) increases, as may be the case when additional measurements are introduced, the data volume would exceed the few bits that can be added to a single time interval can.

The described concept may allow for an increased transferable data volume by distributing the information over several wheel speed pulses. As already for example in 2 is shown, the message (in the example only 8 bits) is distributed over four low-speed pulses which have the ability to carry three bits per pulse, one of which is occupied by the direction of rotation, or the same message can be distributed over eight high-speed pulses, which may, for example, have only a single attached bit.

Even if the wheel speed changes during transmission, the message can be filled into the available bit slots, as in 4 was shown. The separation of the message can later be handled on the data transport layer of the protocol, for example.

The examples may assume that the data included in an earlier protocol may be partially or completely moved into the data stream. This may be the case in particular for information that can change only slowly, such as the magnetic field strength. In the example, the rotation direction (DIR) bit has been excluded from this assumption since it can be used, for example, for the hill start function of the car and should therefore be available with any information about the movement when the speed is low. This partitioning between an earlier log content and the use of general capacity is only an example and may vary depending on application requirements. It can be exemplified by the use of the entire channel capacity of an ABS protocol (Antilock Braking System) for the data stream range, where only one bit can be used at each speed pulse, even at low speed, or the data stream can only be transmitted in a limited range of wheel speeds. This could be the case, for example, for a tire resonant frequency analysis application for tire pressure monitoring systems (TMPS) because there can be no significant resonance oscillation in the case of low speed due to the low mechanical stimulation. Further, it may also make sense to limit resonant analysis to medium speed as higher speeds cause additional higher order tire resonances that can interfere with the measurement and reduce reliability. Apart from or instead of the indirect TMPS resonance data, the transmitted data stream could also include other information extracted in terms of or such as the actual threshold level, actual noise level, calibration settings or any kind of status information and background test results that may be important for functional safety reasons , The described concept can increase the communication flexibility of anti-lock system sensors (or other sensors) by orders of magnitude and can provide the ability to use additional functionality that can be implemented with new silicon technologies that provide high signal processing capability. Furthermore, the described concept may be applicable to anti-lock braking systems, but not limited to this application. It can also be used in any other sensor application, such as transmission speed sensors, cam or crankshaft rotation speed and / or position sensors.

To allow detection of the message, a data link layer (data transport layer) may be introduced, for example. All information to be transferred can be arranged into a data frame. The transmitted data stream may be constructed away from the data frames and separators that allow the recognition of the beginning of a new frame. The separator can be a sequence that can not appear in the data frame. As already mentioned, there 5 a simple construction example of a data stream. Each frame includes a start bit which may always be 1 followed by N bits (in the example N = 5) data load. In this case, a separator of N + 1 allows the recognition that a 1 to N + 1 consecutive zeros can mark the beginning of a new frame. This example may be of low efficiency of N / (2N + 2) of data transfer.

The efficiency of the protocol can be improved by increasing the number of frames that are grouped and separated by a single separator, as described in 6 was shown, for example.

Another option may be the use of a code alphabet that indicates the number of adjacent equal states in a symbol 2M limited. In this case, the required separator may have a length of 2M + 1. A simple example may be the Manchester code, as in 7 was shown, for example. It uses a symbol 01 (falling edge) for a high and a 10 (rising edge) for a low. In this case the length M = 1 and the required separator would have a length of 2M + 1 = 3. The efficiency of this Manchester coded frame would be N / (2 * N + 3) and may also be bad, given two bits for the transmission of a single data bit can be used. However, it introduces redundancy and allows the detection of a transmission error when there is an unexpected group of more than two equal bits in a message before the frame length is reached and the next separator is expected.

Manchester code is just one example to illustrate the proposed concept of using code alphabets, but may be developed for physical-level channel coding, where a timing of the transmitter can be reconstructed to separate transmitted information. Thus, other choices of frame constructions and channel codes can be selected without limiting the physical layer, for example. The communication system theory and its applications in wireline and wireless communication systems can provide a wide range of protocols and coding schemes at any complexity level, which can also be used in combination with the described concept.

The introduction of a data transport layer may allow the transmission of additional information distributed over multiple pulses or messages from a wheel speed sensor.

13 shows a flowchart of a method 1300 for generating a transmission signal according to an embodiment. The method includes providing 1310 a sensor signal indicating a repeatedly detected event occurring within different time intervals, and generating 1320 a transmission signal based on the sensor signal. The transmit signal includes event information representing the timing of the event and additional information representing additional data. Further The event information includes pulses associated with detected events. These pulses are separated in time within the transmit signal, according to the different time intervals of detected events, such that each time interval of the different time intervals has one pulse. The additional data includes at least one frame having a predefined number of additional data bits. Furthermore, the information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame is distributed over at least two time intervals of the different time intervals.

The procedure 1300 may include one or more additional optional steps that implement one or more aspects of the concept described above.

14 shows a flowchart of a method 1400 for determining speed data and additional decoded data are based on a received signal according to an embodiment. The method includes determining 1410 the velocity data based on repetitive and within different time intervals occurring pulses within the received signal. Each time interval of the different time intervals comprises one pulse. Furthermore, the method comprises 1400 the determining 1420 at least one frame of additional decoded data, comprising a predefined number of additional data bits, based on information obtained from at least two different time intervals of the different time intervals.

The procedure 1400 may include one or more additional optional steps that implement one or more aspects of the concept described above.

15 shows a block diagram of a signal generator 1500 according to an embodiment. The signal generator 1500 includes a signal provider 110 which is adapted to receive a sensor signal 112 which indicates a repeatedly detected event occurring within different time intervals. Furthermore, the signal generator comprises 1500 a signal processing unit 120 , which is designed to generate a transmission signal 122 based on the sensor signal 112 , The transmission signal 122 includes event information representing the timing of the event and additional information representing additional data and the event information includes (event) pulses associated with the detected events. Furthermore, the (event) pulses are temporally within the transmission signal 122 separated, according to the different time intervals of detected events, so that each time interval of the different time intervals has a pulse associated with a detected event. In addition, the signal processing unit 120 trained to transmit the signal 122 to generate so that the transmission signal 122 a plurality of on-live pulses within a long-term interval of the different time intervals 122 when the long-term interval is longer than twice a predefined on-the-life notification time interval. Further, the on-life pulses of the plurality of on-live pulses are timed within the long-term interval such that each predefined on-life notification time interval within the long-term interval has an on-live pulse. The additional data comprises at least one frame having a predefined number of additional data bits, and the information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame is distributed over at least two predefined on-live notification time intervals.

By adding information from additional data bits at the predefined on-live notification time intervals, additional information may be transmitted even at very low event occurrence rates, or even at a standstill condition.

The signal generator 1500 may begin sending Am-life pulses if a time interval between two consecutively detected events is longer than a (constant) pre-defined on-the-live notification time interval. The on-live pulses may signal or notify a device that receives the transmit signal that the signal generator 1500 is still working, although no or only rarely pulses of the detected event (eg, event pulses or velocity pulses) are being transmitted because of a slow occurrence of the event to be detected. For example, the signal processing unit 120 the transmission signal 122 so generate that the transmission signal 122 has at least one on-live pulse within a long-term interval of the different time intervals when the long-term interval is longer than a predefined on-the-alive notification time interval. The predefined on-live notification time interval may be longer than 50ms (or longer than 80ms) and / or shorter than 200ms (or shorter than 150ms or shorter than 120ms), for example.

The signal generator 1500 may repeatedly transmit on-live pulses when a time interval (eg the long-term interval) between two consecutively detected events becomes very long or when no event is detected. For example, the transmit signal may include a plurality of on-live Have pulses within the long-term interval if the long-term interval is longer than twice the predefined on-live notification time interval. Further, the on-life pulses of the plurality of on-live pulses may be timed within the long-term interval such that each predefined on-the-live notification time interval has an on-live pulse. For example, an on-live pulse may be sent after each predefined on-live notification time interval following a last (event) pulse caused by a detected event until the next event is detected.

In addition, the information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame may be distributed over at least two predefined on-live notification time intervals such that a frame may have more data bits than a maximum number of bits in a single predefined on-live time frame. Notification time interval could be transmitted. For example, each predefined on-live notification time interval of the predefined on-the-alive notification time intervals within the long-term interval may include information of the same number of bits of the additional data bits of the at least one frame.

Optionally, the additional data may further include a separator preceding the at least one frame. The separator may indicate a beginning of the at least one frame and may include a predefined number of separator bits. Examples of separator bits of a separator and the additional data bits of each frame of a plurality of frames are shown in FIG 5 . 6 and 7 shown. Further, the information of the separator may be distributed over at least two predefined on-live notification time intervals.

For example, the signal processing unit 120 the information of at least part of the additional data bits of the at least one frame on the transmission signal 120 map, by using a pulse width modulation of the on-life pulses that occur in the predefined on-live notification time intervals within the long-term interval (eg 16 ) or by adding Manchester coded sequences to the predefined on-live notification time intervals within the long-term interval (eg 16 and 17 ). Alternatively, the signal processing unit 120 the information of at least part of the additional data bits of the at least one frame on the transmission signal 120 by modulating the current or voltage of the on-live pulses (and / or the event pulses).

In addition, the information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame may be distributed over at least two time intervals of the different time intervals. For example, if the event begins to occur more rapidly and the different time intervals of the detected events become shorter, the additional data bits may be distributed over not only several predefined on-live notification time intervals within a single long-term interval but also over multiple time intervals of the different time intervals ,

Further details and aspects are mentioned in connection with the embodiments described above or below. This in 15 The illustrated embodiment may include one or more optional additional features that correspond to one or more aspects that may be used in conjunction with the proposed concept or one or more of the above (e. 1 - 14 ) or below ( 16 - 17 ) are mentioned.

16 shows a schematic representation of a transmission signal based on a pulse width modulation and a transmission signal based on Manchester encoding comprising on-life pulses 1610 (or standstill pulses). For example, additional data bits at high speed may be added at the time intervals of the different time intervals. At high speeds, no on-life pulses or standstill pulses may be added to the time intervals of the different time intervals since the next event pulse 1602 (Pulse triggered by the detected event) is transmitted before the expiration of the predefined on-live notification time interval (eg 100ms). As the speed becomes lower, the time intervals of the different time intervals become longer and at a certain speed, the time intervals are longer than the pre-defined on-the-alive notification time interval and one or more on-the-life pulses (eg at very low speed or at a standstill) 1610 are transmitted. At low speed, the extra data bits may not only go to or in conjunction with the event pulse 1602 but also after or in connection with the on-life pulses 1610 , For example, a pulse width modulation of the on-life pulse 1610 implemented to transmit one or more additional data bits with the on-live pulse, as in the upper transmit signal 1680 from 16 is displayed. Alternatively, additional data bits may be added after each on-live pulse 1610 for example, based on a Manchester protocol, as transmitted by the lower transmit signal 1690 from 16 is shown. Only one bit of the additional data bits may be connected to or in connection with an am- Life Pulse 1610 can be added or several additional data bits to or in connection with an on-life pulse 1610 be transferred as in 17 for another transmission signal 1700 based on Manchester coding is shown.

In the examples that are in 16 and 17 shown, the standstill log (eg output of standstill or on-live pulse) can always be applied after a constant time after the last speed pulse. Alternatively, an internal timer may generate a monitor window of predefined length. The predefined length of the watch window may be longer than 50ms (or longer than 80ms, for example 100ms) and / or shorter than 200ms (or shorter than 150ms or shorter than 120ms). When a speed pulse is output within the monitoring window, no stall or on-live pulse is output (eg at the end of the watch window), for example. However, if no speed pulse is output within the monitor window, a stall or on-live pulse is output at the end (or beginning) of the next 100ms window, for example.

18 shows an example of a schematic representation of a transmission signal 1800 with asynchronous standstill protocol. In this example, 100ms windows are generated by a system clock (eg, triggering an internal timer) of the signal generator, which does not depend on the input frequency (eg frequency of the event pulses or speed pulses). As an example, there are three 100ms windows in 18 displayed. In the first 100 ms window, the speed protocol (eg executed by the signal processing unit) outputs at least one event / speed pulse 1602 off (eg triggered by a detected event), so that no standstill protocol (eg executed by the signal processing unit) is applied to the output of a standstill / on-live pulse. In the second and third 100ms windows, no speed log is applied to issue an event / speed pulse so that the standstill log is applied to a stall / on-live pulse 1610 at the end of the third window.

19 shows a schematic representation of another transmission signal 1900 similar to the example of 18 , 19 shows four 100ms windows. In the first and third 100ms windows, the speed log gives at least one event / speed pulse 1602 so no standstill log is applied to issue a stall / on-live pulse. In the second and fourth 100ms windows, no speed log is applied to issue an event / speed pulse so that the standstill log is applied to a stall / on-live pulse 1610 at the end of each window.

Some embodiments relate to a decoder configured to determine velocity data and additional decoded data based on a received signal. Further, the decoder is configured to determine the velocity data based on repetitive and within different time intervals occurring pulses within the received signal. Each time interval of the different time intervals includes a pulse and the receive signal includes a plurality of on-live pulses within a long-term interval of the different time intervals when the long-term interval is longer than twice a predefined on-the-alive notification time interval. In addition, the on-life pulses of the plurality of on-live pulses are time-separated within the long-term interval such that each predefined on-life notification time interval within the long-term interval has an on-live pulse. Further, the decoder is configured to determine at least one frame of additional decoded data, comprising a predefined number of additional data bits, based on information obtained from at least two predefined on-the-live notification time intervals within the received signal.

Further details and aspects are mentioned in connection with the embodiments described above or below. The decoder may have one or more optional additional features that correspond to one or more aspects associated with the proposed concept or one or more of the above (e.g. 1 to 17 ) or examples described below.

Some embodiments relate to a method for generating a transmission signal. The method includes providing a sensor signal indicative of a repeatedly detected event occurring within different time intervals, and generating a transmit signal based on the sensor signal. The transmit signal includes event information representing the timing of the event and additional information representing additional data. The event information includes pulses associated with the detected events, and the pulses are separated in time within the transmit signal, according to the different time intervals of detected events, such that each time interval of the different time intervals has a pulse associated with a detected event. Furthermore, this includes Transmit signal a plurality of on-live pulses within a long-term interval of the different time intervals when the long-term interval is longer than twice a predefined on-the-alive notification time interval. The on-life pulses of the plurality of on-life pulses are time separated within the long-term interval such that each predefined on-life notification time interval within the long-term interval has an on-life pulse. Additionally, the additional data includes at least one frame having a predefined number of additional data bits, and the information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame is distributed over at least two predefined on-live notification time intervals.

Further details and aspects are mentioned in connection with the embodiments described above or below. The method for generating a transmit signal may include one or more optional additional features that correspond to one or more aspects associated with the proposed concept or one or more of the above (e.g. 1 to 17 ) or examples described below.

Some embodiments relate to an extended PWM protocol. The protocol (e.g., for the transmission application) can transmit not only speed and direction of rotation of the wheel but also security relevant information, e.g. Error bit, error description, signal amplitude, etc.

Other protocols may transmit the speed information using 21mA current pulses, the direction information and additional information may be transmitted using 14mA pulses (typically a 14mA current is consumed in this context), for example. By using such protocols, the extra bits can only be transmitted to a limited rate. For example, bit 8th only be transmitted up to a frequency of 1.8kHz, bit 0 can be transmitted up to 6,6kHz. The protocol could thus only display an error up to 6.6kHz and only transmit more detailed information up to 1.8kHz, for example. For example, such protocols are not applicable in this form since the transmission application should also allow the use of frequencies up to 16kHz. Although higher data rates could theoretically also be used, the current length of the 21 mA speed pulse of 50μs may already be the time resolution of such implementations of TCUs (Transmission Control Units).

In one aspect, the PWM protocol may be extended from a broadcast application. A PWM protocol can transmit during each zero crossing and can use 2 pulse lengths (eg a pulse of 30μs indicates that the wheel is turning clockwise and a pulse of 60μs indicates that the wheel is rotating counterclockwise), Example. The proposed extended protocol can use four different pulse lengths, 2 for each rotation direction (eg a 15μs or 30μs pulse indicates that the wheel is turning clockwise and a 45μs or 60μs pulse indicates that the wheel is rotating counterclockwise) , Now, a data bit may also be transmitted during each zero crossing in addition to the directional information (e.g., a 15μs or 45μs pulse represents a '0' and a 30μs or 60μs pulse represents a '1').

20 shows the pulse pattern 2000 (Transmit signal) which can be emitted during a clockwise rotation and can transmit a different bit pattern. For example, an initialization sequence (eg separator) may be transmitted after every 20 pulses. Further, data may be transmitted by pulse width modulation of the velocity pulses (eg zero crossing of the detected magnetic field, which may represent the event to be detected) and / or on-life pulses (not shown).

This can be extended by defining the protocol, for example a 33 bit sequence to be transmitted (eg 33 signal periods may be required to fully transmit a protocol frequency, protocol sequence or protocol frame). This sequence may consist of, for example, 13 + 8 bit data communication, 7 bit temperature (-40 ... 200 ° C being 7 bits 1 , 9 ° resolution result), 1 bit error bit (suggestion also to add start information), 3 bit error description (speed too low, direction too low, jitter too high), optional 1 bit direction information as redundancy, 4 bit parity (eg Hamming 15,11), 1 bit additional parity and 8 + 1 start bits.

Furthermore, the protocol can also be extended by a standstill pulse (on-live pulse). Here also 2 pulse lengths can be used (e.g., a 75μs pulse for a standstill pulse with the information '0' and a 90μs pulse for a standstill pulse with the information '1'). For example, the protocol can also be used without (or with slower) wheel rotation.

According to one aspect directional information can be transmitted up to a maximum rotation frequency (16kHz), additional information (error information) can be transmitted from 0Hz to 16kHz, at 0Hz a 33rd can be transmitted Bit sequence at the standstill pulse can be transmitted within 3.2s (eg the transmission can go faster during a rotation movement), the emission energy of the protocol (EMC) can be comparable to other transmission PWM protocols and / or TCUs can be used to Decode protocol (eg only one software change and no hardware change (eg 21 mA current level) may be required).

The advanced PWM protocol can transmit directional information as well as additional information. The protocol may be optimized for a transmission application (in a vehicle, e.g., a car).

Alternatively, different current levels and / or voltage levels may be used instead of different pulse lengths.

The proposed approach can also be combined with other protocols. For example, the error bit of other protocols may be extended based on the proposed concept so that more information may be transferable up to higher rotational speeds.

Embodiments may further provide a computer program having program code for performing one of the above methods when the computer program is executed on a computer or processor. One skilled in the art would readily appreciate that steps of various methods described above may be performed by programmed computers. Herein, some embodiments are also intended to cover program storage devices, e.g. digital data storage media that are machine or computer readable and that encode machine-executable or computer-executable programs of instructions, the instructions performing some or all of the steps of the methods described above. The program memory devices may, for. As digital storage, magnetic storage media such as magnetic disks and magnetic tapes, hard disk drives or optically readable digital data storage media. The embodiments are also intended to include computers programmed to perform the steps of the methods described above, or (field) programmable logic arrays ((F) PLAs = (Field) Programmable Logic Arrays) or (field) programmable gate arrays ( (F) cover PGA = (Field) Programmable Gate Arrays) programmed to perform the steps of the methods described above.

The description and drawings illustrate only the principles of the invention. It is therefore to be understood that one skilled in the art can derive various arrangements which, while not expressly described or illustrated herein, embody the principles of the invention and are included in their spirit and scope. In addition, all examples herein are expressly intended to be instructive only to assist the reader in understanding the principles of the invention and the inventions contributed to advancing the art, and are intended to serve as limitations on such specific examples and conditions be understood. Furthermore, all statements herein regarding principles, aspects and embodiments of the invention as well as concrete examples thereof are intended to encompass their equivalents.

Function blocks referred to as "means for ..." (execution of a certain function) are to be understood as function blocks comprising circuits which are each adapted to perform a specific function. Thus, a "means for something" can also be understood as a "means that is adapted or suitable for something". Therefore, a means adapted to perform some function does not mean that such a means necessarily performs the function (at a given time).

Functions of various elements shown in the figures, including any functional blocks referred to as "means", "means for providing a sensor signal", "means for generating a transmit signal", etc., may be provided by the use of dedicated hardware, e.g. B "of a signal provider", "a signal processing unit", "a processor", "a controller", etc. as well as hardware capable of executing software in conjunction with associated software. Further, an entity described herein as "means" may be "one or more modules," "one or more devices," "one or more entities," etc., or implemented as such. When provided by a processor, the functions may be provided by a single dedicated processor, by a single, shared processor, or by a plurality of individual processors, some of which may be shared. Furthermore, explicit use of the term "processor" or "controller" is not intended to be construed as solely hardware executable hardware, and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, network processor, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), read only memory (ROM) for storing software, Random Access Memory (RAM), and non-volatile memory storage (ROM). Other hardware, conventional and / or custom, may also be included.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that all of the block diagrams herein are conceptual views of exemplary circuits embodying the principles of the invention. Similarly, it should be understood that all flowcharts, flowcharts, state transition diagrams, pseudocode, and the like represent various processes that may be substantially embodied in computer-readable medium and so executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor expressly so is shown.

Furthermore, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, where each claim may stand alone as a separate embodiment. While each claim may stand on its own as a separate embodiment, it is to be understood that while a dependent claim may refer to a particular combination with one or more other claims in the claims, other embodiments also contemplate combining the dependent claim with the subject matter of each other dependent claim. Such combinations are suggested herein unless it is stated that a particular combination is not intended. Furthermore, features of a claim shall be included for each other independent claim, even if this claim is not made directly dependent on the independent claim.

It should be further understood that methods disclosed in the specification or claims may be implemented by a device having means for performing each of the respective steps of these methods.

It should also be understood that the disclosure of several acts or functions disclosed in the specification or claims is not to be construed as being in any particular order. Therefore, by disclosing multiple steps or functions, they are not limited to any particular order unless such steps or functions are not interchangeable for technical reasons. Further, in some embodiments, a single step may include multiple substeps or may be divided into multiple substeps. Such sub-steps may be included and part of the disclosure of this single step unless they are expressly excluded.

Claims (18)

A signal generator comprising: a signal provider configured to provide a sensor signal indicative of a repeatedly detected event occurring within different time intervals; and a signal processing unit configured to generate a transmit signal based on the sensor signal, the transmit signal having event information representing the timing of the event, and additional information representing additional data, wherein the event information includes pulses representing the detected events wherein the pulses are separated in time within the transmit signal according to the different time intervals of detected events such that each time interval of the different time intervals has a pulse associated with a detected event, the additional data having at least one frame comprising a predefined number additional data bits, the information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame being distributed over at least two time intervals of the different time intervals. The signal generator according to Claim 1 wherein the signal processing unit is configured to generate the transmit signal such that the transmit signal has at least one on-live pulse within a long-term interval of the different time intervals when the long-term interval is longer than a predefined on-the-live notification time interval. The signal generator according to Claim 2 wherein the transmit signal comprises a plurality of on-live pulses within the long-term interval if the long-term interval is greater than twice the predefined on-life notification time interval, the on-live pulses of the plurality of on-live pulses are separated in time within the long-term interval so that each predefined on-live notification time interval has an on-live pulse. The signal generator according to Claim 3 wherein the signal processing unit is configured to map the information of at least a portion of the additional data bits of the at least one frame to the transmit signal by using pulse width modulation of the on-life pulses that occur within the predefined on-live notification time intervals within the Long-term interval are included, or by adding Manchester coded sequences to the predefined on-life notification time intervals within the long-term interval. The signal generator according to Claim 3 or 4 wherein the information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame is distributed over at least two predefined on-live notification time intervals. The signal generator according to Claim 5 wherein each predefined on-live notification time interval of the predefined on-live notification time intervals within the long-term interval comprises information of the same number of bits of the additional data bits of the at least one frame. The signal generator according to one of Claims 3 to 6 wherein the additional data further comprises a separator preceding the at least one frame, the separator indicating a beginning of the at least one frame and having a predefined number of separator bits, the separator information being available via at least two predefined on-live notification messages; Time intervals are distributed. The signal generator according to one of Claims 2 to 7 where the predefined on-live notification time interval is longer than 50ms and shorter than 200ms. The signal generator of claim 1, wherein the signal provider is a sensor unit and the signal generator further comprises a signal generator output, the sensor unit being configured to repeatedly detect the event occurring within different time intervals, the signal generator output configured to receive the transmit signal provide. The signal generator according to Claim 9 wherein the sensor unit is configured to repeatedly detect the event occurring within different time intervals caused by a moving or rotating part in the vicinity of the sensor unit, the lengths of the different time intervals between successively detected events from a speed of movement or depend on a rotational speed of the moving or rotating part. The signal generator according to Claim 10 wherein the sensor unit is configured to additionally detect a direction of movement or a direction of rotation of the moving or rotating part and to provide this directional data. The signal generator according to claim 1, wherein the signal processing unit is configured to generate the transmission data so that the additional data to be added to the transmission data has direction data indicative of the moving direction or the rotation direction of the moving or rotating member show the at least one frame. The signal generator according to Claim 12 wherein the direction data is represented by a data bit, wherein information about the direction data is included in each time interval of the different time intervals as long as the length of the time intervals is over a predefined limit. The signal generator according to Claim 13 wherein the additional data within a time interval only includes directional data if the length of the time interval is above the predefined limit. A signal generator comprising: a signal provider configured to provide a sensor signal indicative of a repeatedly detected event occurring within different time intervals; and a signal processing unit configured to generate a transmit signal based on the sensor signal, the transmit signal having event information representing the timing of the event and additional information representing additional data, the event information having pulses associated with the detected events wherein the pulses are separated in time within the transmission signal according to the different time intervals of detected events such that each time interval of the different time intervals has a pulse associated with a detected event, wherein the signal processing unit is configured to generate the transmission signal so that the transmission signal has a plurality of on-life pulses within a long-term interval of the different time intervals when the long-term interval is longer than twice a predefined on-the-life notification time interval, wherein the on-life pulses of the plurality of on-live pulses are separated in time within the long-term interval such that each predefined on-life notification time interval within the long-term interval has an on-life pulse, wherein the additional data comprises at least one frame having a predefined number of additional data bits, the information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame being distributed over at least two predefined on-live notification time intervals. The signal generator according to Claim 15 wherein the information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame is at least two Time intervals of the different time intervals are distributed. A decoder configured to determine velocity data and additional decoded data based on a received signal, the decoder configured to determine the velocity data based on repetitive and within different time intervals occurring pulses within the received signal, each time interval of the different ones Time intervals has a pulse, wherein the receive signal has at least one on-live pulse within a long-term interval of the different time intervals when the long-term interval is longer than twice a predefined on-the-alive notification time interval, the on-live pulses of the plurality of on-live pulses. Pulses are separated in time within the long-term interval such that each predefined on-live notification time interval within the long-term interval has an on-live pulse, wherein the decoder is configured to determine at least one frame of additional decoded data comprising a predefined number of additional data bits based on information obtained from at least two predefined on-live notification time intervals within the received signal. A method of generating a transmission signal, the method comprising: Providing a sensor signal indicative of a repeatedly detected event occurring within different time intervals; and Generating a transmit signal based on the sensor signal, wherein the transmit signal comprises event information representing the timing of the event, and additional information representing additional data, wherein the event information includes pulses associated with the detected events, the pulses being timed within the time frame Transmission signal are separated according to the different time intervals of detected events, so that each time interval of the different time intervals has a pulse associated with a detected event, wherein the transmit signal comprises a plurality of on-live pulses within a long-term interval of the different time intervals when the long-term interval is longer than two times the pre-defined on-the-life notification time interval, the a-live pulses of the plurality of on-live pulses. Pulses are separated in time within the long-term interval such that each predefined on-live notification time interval within the long-term interval has an on-live pulse, wherein the additional data comprises at least one frame having a predefined number of additional data bits, the information of the additional data bits of the at least one frame being distributed over at least two predefined on-live notification time intervals.

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