A first sensor signal and a second sensor signal are provided by a sensor unit to an evaluation unit. The first sensor signal is dependent on the angular position and is associated with a first detection position, and the second sensor signal is associated with a second detection position lying about the rotational axis perpendicular to the first detection position. An orthogonal error is converted by the evaluation unit into an amplitude difference between respective amplitudes of the first and second sensor signals based on a coordinate transformation of the first and second sensor signals. Each of the first and second sensor signals are adjusted by the evaluation unit based on the amplitude difference. An angular position of a rotational component is determined by the evaluation unit based on output from an a tan 2-function that takes the adjusted first and second sensor signals as input.

Methods and apparatuses to obtain increased performance and differentiation for an inductive position sensor through improvements to the sense element and target design are disclosed. In a particular embodiment, a sense element includes a transmit coil, a first receive coil that includes a first plurality of arrayed loops, wherein two or more of the first plurality of arrayed loops are at least one of phase blended and amplitude arrayed, and a second receive coil that includes a second plurality of arrayed loops, wherein two or more of the second plurality of arrayed loops are at least one of phase blended and amplitude arrayed, and wherein the first receive coil and the second receive coil are phase shifted. The sense element coils are arrayed in several geometries and layouts, and the coil and target geometry are manipulated to compensate for inherent errors in the fundamental design of an inductive position sensor.

A system for magnetic field testing comprising a magnetic field generation device configured to generate a magnetic field in a rotor, a plurality of magnetic field measurement devices configured to measure a magnetic field at a predetermined position on the rotor, a drive mechanism configured to rotate the rotor and a test system configured to record the plurality of magnetic field measurements as a function of an angular position of the rotor.

A signal processing method includes receiving a signal that rises in response to a physical change and falls in response to an opposite physical change that is opposite to the physical change from a sensor that is a stretchable sensor and outputs the signal, and correcting a signal lag as either a rising of a received signal that has been received from the sensor lags with respect to a falling of the received signal, or the falling of the received signal lags with respect to the rising of the received signal.

A signal processing method includes receiving a signal that rises in response to a physical change and falls in response to an opposite physical change that is opposite to the physical change from a sensor that is a stretchable sensor and outputs the signal, and correcting a signal lag as either a rising of a received signal that has been received from the sensor lags with respect to a falling of the received signal, or the falling of the received signal lags with respect to the rising of the received signal.

A magnetic field sensor configured to sense a parameter associated with a rotatable target that affects a magnetic field includes at least one magnetic field sensing element that is arranged to generate a signal that is indicative of the magnetic field, a magnitude calculator responsive to the signal and configured to generate a magnitude signal indicative of a magnitude of the magnetic field, and a harmonic compensator responsive to the magnitude signal and configured to generate an estimate of a harmonic error of the signal and apply the estimate of the harmonic error of the signal to the signal to generate a corrected signal.

A position detection device includes a first positional sensor mounted on a reference portion, and a second positional sensor mounted on a detection target that is movable relative to the reference portion. A controller calculates a position of the detection target based on a detection value of the first positional sensor and a detection value of the second positional sensor. The position detection device may be applied to a steer-by-wire system for a vehicle. The reference portion may be a fixed portion of the vehicle, and the detection target may be a steering wheel or a vehicle wheel of the vehicle. The controller may calculate a steering angle of the steering wheel or a turning angle of the vehicle wheel as the position of the detection target.

A sensor device includes at least one sensor, a digital signal processor and an amplifier. The at least one sensor is configured to measure a variable physical quantity and provide a raw sensor signal at an output of the at least one sensor. The digital signal processor is configured to preprocess the raw sensor signal output by the at least one sensor into a sensor signal and to further process the sensor signal into a pulse-width-modulated output signal having a duty cycle that is dependent on the measured quantity using a plurality of device-specific correction parameters stored in a memory to convert the sensor signal into the pulse-width modulated output signal. The amplifier is configured to convert the pulse-width modulated output signal into an analog voltage or current signal.

Methods and apparatus for prosing a sensor IC package having first and second sets of magnetic field sensing elements and a third set of magnetic field sensing elements located between the first and second positions, wherein the first, second, and third sets of magnetic field sensing elements have a first axis of sensitivity and a second axis of sensitivity, wherein the first and second axes of sensitivity are orthogonal. The sensor IC package is positioned in relation to a target comprising a two-pole magnet and the first and second axes of sensitivity are perpendicular to an axis about which the target rotates. Differential signals are processed to determine an absolute position of the target. A first secondary angle position is generated from the first and third sets of magnetic field sensing elements.

An apparatus for linearizing an input signal includes a memory, in which an output value is stored for each of a plurality of linearization points. The linearization points divide a value range into a plurality of intervals. Each interval is delimited by a first linearization point with an assigned first output value and a second linearization point with an assigned second output value. The apparatus includes a computer device configured to determine the interval in which an input signal value of the input signal is located and to calculate a linearized output signal value for the input signal value by way of a linear interpolation using the input signal value, the first output value of this interval, and the second output value of this interval. At least two of the intervals have different interval lengths, which are formed by multiplication of an output interval length by an integer factor.