An apparatus for determining an item of position information relating to a position of a magnetic field transducer relative to a position sensor. The position sensor is designed to generate at least one periodic measurement signal when the magnetic field transducer moves relative to the position sensor. A processing unit of the apparatus is designed to determine the position information based on a respective measurement signal value of a respective periodic measurement signal using a calibration function assigned to the respective periodic measurement signal. The assigned calibration function represents the respective periodic measurement signal using a Fourier series having a respective plurality of Fourier coefficients which differ from zero and are of an order greater than zero. The processing unit is designed to at least approximately solve the assigned calibration function for the respective measurement signal value in order to determine the position information.

Disclosed are method and electronic components for: i) electronically extracting a sequence of values from a measurement signal corresponding to a position of a moving object, wherein the sequence of values indicates the position of the moving object at corresponding time increments; ii) electronically determining at least one of an estimate for a velocity of the moving object and an estimate for an acceleration of the moving the object based on a plurality of the values in the sequence of values; and iii) electronically correcting a value in the sequence of values to substantially reduce the effect of processing and signal delays based on one or both of the velocity and acceleration estimates.

A method including: calculating a value of an average phase offset between a first signal and a second signal, wherein: (i) the first signal is generated by one or more first magnetic field sensing elements in response to the magnetic field, (ii) the second signal is generated by one or more second magnetic field sensing elements in response to the magnetic field, and (iii) the magnetic field is associated with a rotating target; storing the value of the average phase offset between the first signal and the second signal at an address in a non-volatile memory of the sensor; when the sensor is restarted, copying the value of the average phase offset from the address in the non-volatile memory to a working memory of the sensor; and using the copy of the value of the average phase offset that is stored in the working memory of the sensor to generate an output signal, the output signal being generated further based on the first signal and the second signal.

A rotary encoder includes: a rotary disk with an angle code; a light source; a detector reading the angle code; and a processing unit acquiring a reading value. The light source includes at least two light-emitting elements spaced from each other. Every time the rotary disk is rotated by a predetermined angle, where an arbitrary angle from a rotation angle θ within a reading range on the detector is provided as φ, the processing unit acquires reading values f.sub.I(θ+φ) and f.sub.I(θ) with a first light-emitting element and a reading value f.sub.II(θ+φ) with a second light-emitting element, to calculate a reading value error due to deflection at an angle θ+φ based on the difference between the reading values f.sub.II(θ+φ) and f.sub.I(θ+φ), to obtain a difference g.sub.I(θ,φ) between the reading values f.sub.I(θ+φ) and f.sub.I(θ) such that the error is reflected, and to self-calibrate based on a change in the difference g.sub.I(θ,φ).

Disclosed is a camshaft or crankshaft sensor including a toothed target, a measuring cell adapted to supply a raw signal and a processor module having two modes of operation: 1) a measurement mode in which the processor module is adapted to supply an output port of the sensor a measurement signal representing the times of passage of the teeth of the target at the level of the measuring cell; and 2) a diagnostic mode in which the processor module is adapted to supply at the output port of the sensor a diagnostic signal different from the measurement signal and representing the amplitude of the raw signal. Also disclosed is a method and a module for diagnosing such a sensor.

An angle sensor includes first and second detection units and an angle detection unit. Each of the first and second detection units generates two detection signals. The first and second detection units are arranged in a positional relationship that establishes predetermined phase relationships among the detection signals they generate. The angle detection unit includes first and second computing circuits and an angle computing unit. The first and second computing circuits generate first and second signals in each of which an error component corresponding to a fifth harmonic contained in the detection signals is reduced. The angle computing unit calculates a detected angle value on the basis of the first and second signals. The angle computing unit performs correction processing for reducing an error occurring in the detected angle value due to an error component corresponding to a third harmonic contained in the detection signals.

Disclosed is a method for determining the angular position of a toothed target which is rotationally secured to a shaft of an internal combustion engine. The method is based on dynamically determining a ratio between the different periods measured between the teeth of the target. Comparing the ratio with a threshold value allows identification, where appropriate, of an angular reference zone around the periphery of the toothed target.

Embodiments, systems, and methods for error detection in crankshaft tooth encoding for a crank pulse wheel of a vehicle are provided. In some embodiments, a system for crankshaft tooth encoding includes a read module, a buffer module, an error module, and a position module. The read module identifies a tooth type for N number of teeth in a sliding buffer based on at least one tooth characteristic. The buffer module calculates a buffer value for the sliding buffer corresponding to a tooth represented in the sliding buffer. The error module detects an error associated with a tooth of the crank pulse wheel and calculates a revised buffer value based on the error. The position module determines an angular position of the crank pulse wheel based on the revised buffer value. The position module broadcasts the angular position to one or more vehicle systems of the vehicle.

A method of correcting a position reading from a position sensing arrangement. The position sensing arrangement is suitable for sensing the position of a revolute joint of an articulated structure, and comprises a disc having a magnetic ring with magnetic pole pairs and a magnetic sensor assembly comprising a magnetic sensor array for detecting the magnetic pole pairs of the magnetic ring. The method comprises: for each pole pair of the magnetic ring, taking a calibration pole pair position reading with the magnetic sensor array, and generating a pole pair correcting function by comparing the calibration pole pair position reading with a model pole pair position reading; averaging the pole pair correcting functions of the pole pairs of the magnetic ring to generate an average pole pair correcting function for the magnetic ring; taking a position reading with the magnetic sensor array, the position reading comprising a plurality of pole pair position readings; and generating a corrected position reading by deducting the average pole pair correcting function from each pole pair position reading.

A control system in which an encoder and a controller are connected by serial communication. The encoder includes a data transmission unit configured to: embed, in serial data, position information which is information related to a position of a detection object, and position information generation timing information that indicates a timing at which the position information is generated; and transmit to the controller the serial data. The controller includes a correction unit configured to correct, based on the position information and the position information generation timing information received from the encoder, the position information of the detection object.