The present invention relates to a field-sensor device comprising a reference field sensor providing a reference sensor signal in response to a field, a calibrated field sensor providing a calibrated sensor signal in response to the field, a reference circuit connected to the reference field sensor and adapted to receive a reference signal, and an adjustable circuit connected to the calibrated field sensor and adapted to receive a calibrated signal. When the adjustable circuit is adjusted with the calibrated signal, said calibrated signal being different from the reference signal, the calibrated field sensor provides a calibrated sensor signal substantially equal to the reference sensor signal. The field sensor device is arranged to be exposed, when in a calibration mode, to a uniform calibration field and, when in operational mode, to an operational field being a field gradient.

A magnetic field sensor for detecting a direction of a magnetic field comprises an xMR sensor designed to produce an xMR sine signal and an xMR cosine signal based on the magnetic field, and an AMR sensor designed to produce an AMR sine signal and/or an AMR cosine signal based on the magnetic field. A processing circuit is designed to determine the direction of the magnetic field using the xMR sine signal, the xMR cosine signal, a first phase difference between the xMR sine signal and the AMR sine signal or the AMR cosine signal, and a second phase difference between the xMR cosine signal and the AMR sine signal or the AMR cosine signal.

A system includes a multiturn counter that can store a magnetic state associated with a number of accumulated turns of a magnetic field. The multiturn counter includes a plurality of magnetoresistive elements electrically coupled in series with each other and a reference element. The plurality of magnetoresistive elements are formed in a magnetic strip. The reference element is separate from the magnetic strip. A strip width of the magnetic strip and a strip width of the reference element are similar. The plurality of magnetoresistive elements and the reference element can be coupled to a matrix of electrical connections.

A surgical instrument comprising an end effector, a firing member, a motor, and a control circuit is disclosed. The end effector comprises a first jaw, a second jaw movable relative to the first jaw to grasp tissue therebetween, a staple cartridge comprising staples, a first sensor at a first position of the end effector, and a second sensor at a second position of the end effector. The firing member is movable in a firing motion to deploy the staples. The motor is configured to cause the firing motion. The control circuit is configured to receive a first output of the first sensor, receive a second output of the second sensor, and cause the motor to adjust the firing motion based on the first and second outputs. The first output is indicative of a tissue property and the second output is indicative of the tissue property.

An end effector for use with a surgical stapling instrument is disclosed. The end effector comprises a first jaw, a second jaw movable relative to the first jaw to grasp tissue therebetween, and a staple cartridge. The staple cartridge comprises staples deployable into the tissue. The end effector further comprises a magnetic sensor configured to measure a parameter indicative of an identifying characteristic of the staple cartridge, an impedance sensor configured to measure a parameter indicative of an impedance of the tissue, and a processing unit in communication with the impedance sensor. The processing unit is configured to determine a property of the tissue based on an output of the impedance sensor.

A sensor including: a substrate having a first region and a second region; a first series of first magnetoresistive (MR) elements formed on the substrate, the first series of first MR elements including at least two first MR elements; and a second series of second MR elements that is coupled in parallel with the first series of first MR elements to form a bridge circuit, the second series of second MR elements being formed on the substrate, the second series of second MR elements including at least two second MR elements, each of the at least two second MR elements having a different pinning direction than each of the at least two first MR elements, wherein one of the at least two first MR elements and one of the at least two second MR elements are formed in the first region of the substrate and have different pinning directions.

An integrated Hall sensor device for measuring a magnetic field is provided. The integrated Hall sensor device includes: a semiconductor chip; a first Hall sensor for generating a first magnetic field measurement signal dependent on a first component; a second Hall sensor for generating a second magnetic field measurement signal dependent on a second component of the magnetic field; a first stress sensor for generating a shear stress measurement signal dependent on mechanical stresses in the semiconductor chip; and an evaluation device for determining one or more properties of the magnetic field depending on the first magnetic field measurement signal, the second magnetic field measurement signal. and the first shear stress measurement signal.

A sensor device comprises an electrically conductive chip carrier, wherein the chip carrier comprises an auxiliary structure, wherein the auxiliary structure comprises a first precalibration current terminal and a second precalibration current terminal, a magnetic field sensor chip arranged on a mounting surface of the chip carrier, wherein the magnetic field sensor chip comprises a sensor element, wherein the shape of the auxiliary structure is embodied such that an electrical precalibration current flowing from the first precalibration current terminal to the second precalibration current terminal through the auxiliary structure induces a predefined precalibration magnetic field at the location of the sensor element, wherein during measurement operation of the precalibrated sensor device, no precalibration current flows between the first precalibration current terminal and the second precalibration current terminal.

A magnetic field sensor is provided with improved stress compensation accounting for temperature. The magnetic field sensor includes a stress sensing, element, a temperature sensing element, a magnetic field sensing element, a memory, and an electronic circuitry. The memory is configured to store a first table. The first table identities a plurality of stress-to-sensitivity coefficients. Each of the plurality of stress-to-sensitivity coefficients is mapped to a different temperature value. The electronic circuitry is configured to use a temperature reading and a stress reading to calculate a stress difference between an expected stress and the stress reading. The electronic circuitry is further configured to obtain a stress-to-sensitivity coefficient that corresponds to the temperature reading by using the first table, calculate a gain adjustment coefficient based an the stress-to-sensitivity coefficient, and adjust a gain of a signal that is generated by the magnetic field sensing element based on the grain adjustment coefficient.

In one aspect, a magnetic-field sensor includes main coil circuitry configured to generate a first magnetic field signal at a first frequency. A reflected signal is generated from a target caused by the first signal generated by the main coil circuitry. The magnetic field sensor also includes magnetoresistance circuitry configured to receive an error signal. The error signal is formed from a combination of the reflected signal and a second magnetic field signal. The magnetic-field sensor further includes analog circuitry configured to receive an output signal from the magnetoresistance circuitry, digital circuitry configured to receive an output signal from the analog circuitry, feedback circuitry configured to receive a feedback signal from one of the digital circuitry or the analog circuitry, and secondary coil circuitry configured to receive a driver signal from the feedback circuitry causing the secondary coil circuitry to generate the second magnetic field signal at the first frequency.