JP7108819B2 - sensor - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to sensors that detect physical quantities.

Conventionally, as a sensor for detecting a physical quantity, a sensor in which input signals are inputted from a plurality of detection elements to an analog multiplexer is known. (Patent Document 1)

Japanese Patent No. 4380813

However, the above-described conventional sensor has a problem that an increase in the number of detection elements results in an increase in the number of processing circuits and an increase in the size of the sensor.

An object of the present disclosure is to solve the above problems and to provide a sensor capable of increasing the number of detection elements without increasing the number of processing circuits.

In order to solve the above problems, the present disclosure processes the output signals of a plurality of detection elements having N detection units (N is an integer of 2 or more) that detects physical quantities, and the plurality of detection elements. a processing circuit having a multiplexer provided with N input sections connected to the N detection sections of the detection element, wherein the plurality of detection elements turn ON/OFF the N detection sections. and the processing circuit outputs a detection element selection signal for selecting a detection signal to output a signal to control the switch.

In the sensor of the present disclosure, since the processing circuit has N input portions connected to N detection portions of different detection elements, even if the number of detection elements is increased, the number of processing circuits is not increased. Since the processing circuit can process the output signals of the detection elements, the number of detection elements can be increased without increasing the size of the sensor.

1A and 1B are diagrams showing configurations of sensors according to embodiments; Cross-sectional view of the same sensor A diagram showing the arrangement of pixels in the first detection unit of the same sensor. The figure which shows the structure of the modification of a sensor.

(Embodiment 1)
A sensor according to the embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a sensor according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the same sensor. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the arrangement of pixels in the first detection section of the sensor. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a modification of the sensor.

The sensor 1 includes a detection element 3 provided on a substrate 2, a processing circuit 4 for processing an output signal of the detection element 3, a case 5 provided on the substrate 2 and covering the detection element 3 and the processing circuit 4, and It has a lens 6 covering the opening provided.

The case 5 is made of a metal material such as nickel-plated iron or SUS. Note that the case 5 may be made of a ceramic material. The opening is provided in front of the detection element 3 of the case 5 and covered with the lens 6 . Lens 6 is made of a semiconductor material such as silicon.

The detection element 3 has a first detection element 3A and a second detection element 3B, and the first detection element 3A and the second detection element 3B have the same configuration. Therefore, the first detection element 3A will be described as an example.

The first detection element 3A has N (N is an integer equal to or greater than 2) detection units 7 for detecting physical quantities. The first detection element 3A has a thermal infrared detector in which a temperature sensing part is embedded. is used. Further, the first detection element 3A has a pixel portion (non-contact infrared detection element) as a detection portion 7 for detecting infrared rays. A×b pixel portions are provided. The (N=a×b) pixel portion is a temperature sensing portion and a MOS transistor for extracting the output voltage of the temperature sensing portion, and is arranged in a two-dimensional array of a rows and b columns on one surface side of the semiconductor substrate. In the first detection element 3A, the pixel portion is configured in 8×8. Here, for convenience of explanation, numbers are assigned in order from the upper left to the lower right in FIG. Note that the pixel portions do not have to be arranged in a two-dimensional array of 8×8, and as long as two or more pixel portions are provided in the first detection element 3A, the effect of the sensor 1 of the present embodiment is can be obtained.

The first detection element 3A has N switches 8 for controlling ON/OFF of the detection section 7 . Of the N switches 8 , the M-th switch 8 (M is an integer satisfying 1≦M≦N) is connected to the M-th detector 7 . The order and numbers of the switches 8 are not limited, but for convenience of explanation, in FIG. Attach and explain.

The processing circuit 4 is an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit). The processing circuit 4 includes a multiplexer 9 (MUX) connected to the detection units 7 provided in the first detection element 3A and the second detection element 3B, and an amplifier circuit that amplifies the signal output from the multiplexer 9. A section 10 is provided. The processing circuit 4 is also provided with a first output section 11 , a second output section 12 and a third output section 13 . The processing circuit 4 has a function of generating and outputting a pixel selection signal for selecting a pixel and a detection element selection signal for selecting the detection element 3 . A signal amplified by the amplifier circuit section 10 is output from the first output section 11 .

The first output section 11 is connected to external electronic components (not shown). A processed signal of the processing circuit 4 is input from the first output section 11 to the electronic component. A pixel selection signal for selecting a pixel for outputting a signal is input to the switch 8 from the second output section 12 .

N second output sections 12 are provided, and the M-th second output section 12 is connected to the M-th switch 8 of the first detection element 3A and the second detection element 3B. Therefore, when the signal output from the M-th second output section 12 is input to the M-th switch 8 of the first detection element 3A and the second detection element 3B, the first detection element 3A and the Both Mth switches 8 of the second sensing element 3B are turned ON or OFF at the same time.

A detection element selection signal is input to the switch 8 from the third output section 13 . Two third output sections 13 are provided, one of which is connected to all of the switches 8 of the first detection element 3A and the other of which is connected to all of the switches 8 of the second detection element 3B. Accordingly, it is possible to select which of the first detection element 3A and the second detection element 3B outputs the signal from the detection section 7 according to the signal input from the third output section 13 to the switch 8 .

The multiplexer 9 has N inputs 14 and a fourth output 15 . The input section 14 is connected to the detection section 7 and the fourth output section 15 is connected to the amplifier circuit section 10 . A pad (not shown) is provided in the input section 14 of the multiplexer 9, and the signal output from the detection section 7 is input to the input section 14 via the pad. The input units 14 are not limited in order of arrangement and numbers, but for convenience of explanation, 1, . . . , M, . , N. The Mth detection section 7 of the first detection element 3A and the second detection element 3B is connected to the Mth input section 14 .

As described above, the two detection elements 3 (the first detection element 3A and the second detection element 3B) have the switch 8 for receiving the detection element selection signal, and the processing circuit 4 outputs the detection element selection signal. A detection element selection signal is output from the third output section 13 of the processing circuit 4 . As a result, two detection elements 3 can be connected to one processing circuit 4 for signal processing. The number of processing circuits 4 to be mounted on the sensor 1 can be reduced compared to . Also, the M-th detectors 7 of the two detectors 3 are connected to the same M-th input 14 of the multiplexer 9 . As a result, unless the detection element selection signal output from the third output section 13 is turned ON, the selection signal of the detection section 7 of the detection element 3 connected to the third detection section 13 is not turned ON. ing. As a result, the number of pads in the processing circuit 4 can be reduced, so that the chip area of the processing circuit 4 can be reduced compared to the case where the number of detection elements is increased in the conventional example. Moreover, since the chip area of the processing circuit 4 can be reduced, an increase in the price of the processing circuit 4 can be suppressed. With such a configuration, even if the number of detection elements 3 is increased, the size of the sensor 1 can be suppressed.

Although the first detection element 3A and the second detection element 3B have the same configuration, the configuration is not limited to this, and the first detection element 3A and the second detection element 3B may have different configurations. . For example, the pixel portion of the first detection element 3A may be 8×8, and the pixel portion of the second detection element 3B may be 16×4.

(Modification)
In the embodiment, the sensor 1 having two detection elements 3 is used as an example to demonstrate that even if the number of detection elements 3 is increased, the increase in size of the sensor can be suppressed. However, the effect of the embodiment can be obtained. For this reason, FIG. 4 shows an example in which the number of detection elements is further increased. A sensor with an increased number of detection elements will be described as a modified sensor 21 .

In the sensor 21 of the modified example, the detection element 23 is composed of a first detection element 23A, a second detection element 23B and a third detection element 23C. 3 detection element 23C has the same configuration. The first detection element 23A, the second detection element 23B, and the third detection element 23C have N detection units 7 and N switches 8 for controlling the detection units 7 . The processing circuit 4 has a multiplexer 9 , an amplifier circuit section 10 , a first output section 11 , a second output section 12 and a third output section 13 . Multiplexer 9 has N inputs 14 . The Mth input section 14 is connected to the Mth detection section 7 of the first detection element 23A, the second detection element 23B, and the third detection element 23C. A first output 11 of the processing circuit 4 is connected to external electronic components. The second output unit 12 is connected to N switches 8 and inputs pixel selection signals to the switches 8 . The third output section 13 is connected to N switches 8 and inputs the detection element selection signal to the switches 8 .

With the above configuration, even if the third detection element 23C is newly provided, the number of processing circuits 4 is not increased. , the output signal of the detection element 23C can be signal-processed. Further, since the M-th detection section 7 of the first detection element 23A, the second detection element 23B, and the third detection element 23C is connected to the same M-th input section 14 of the multiplexer 9, the pad is Different detection elements 3 can be shared, and the third detection element 23C can be provided without increasing the number of pads.

In this manner, the third detection element 23C can be added without increasing the number of processing circuits 4 and the number of pads of the multiplexer 9. Therefore, the number of detection elements can be increased compared to the conventional example. Also, an increase in the size of the sensor 21 can be suppressed.

Although the sensor 21 shown in FIG. 4 has been described as having three detection elements, even if the number of detection elements increases to four or five, if the same configuration as the sensors 1 and 21 is used, the size of the sensor can be increased. The number of detection elements 3 can be increased while suppressing.

Although the detection element 3 is an infrared detection element and the detection unit 7 is a pixel unit, the sensor 1 is not limited to this. , the effect of this embodiment can be obtained even if it is not an infrared sensor. In addition to infrared sensors, for example, it can also be applied to temperature sensors, angular velocity sensors, acceleration sensors, and the like. For example, in the case of an inertial force sensor such as an angular velocity sensor or an acceleration sensor, it is necessary to increase the number of detecting elements 3 each time the direction of the inertial force to be detected increases. It is possible to increase the direction of the inertial force to be detected while suppressing an increase in the size of the sensor.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present disclosure is useful for infrared sensors, temperature sensors, inertial force sensors, and the like because it is possible to increase the number of detection elements while suppressing an increase in sensor size.

Reference Signs List 1, 21 sensor 2 substrate 3, 23 detection element 3A, 23A first detection element 3B, 23B second detection element 4 processing circuit 5 case 6 lens 7 detection unit 8 switch 9 multiplexer 10 amplification circuit unit 11 first output Part 12 Second output part 13 Third output part 14 Input part 15 Fourth output part 23C Third detection element

Claims (1)

A plurality of detection elements having N detection units (N is an integer of 2 or more) for detecting physical quantities;
a processing circuit for processing the output signals of a plurality of said detector elements and comprising a multiplexer provided with N inputs connected to said N detector parts of different said detector elements;
The plurality of detection elements have N switches for selecting ON/OFF of the N detection units,
The processing circuit outputs a detection element selection signal that selects a detection signal to output a signal, controls the switch,
said processing circuitry having N outputs connected to said N switches;
signals from the M-th (M is an integer satisfying 1≦M≦N) detection units of the plurality of detection elements are input to the same M-th input units of the multiplexer;
A sensor in which the N switches of the plurality of sensing elements are controlled by control signals output from the N output units .

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