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.

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.

An apparatus with rotor input detection includes: a first reactance element disposed at a rotor configured such that at least a part of the rotor rotates around a rotation axis, and disposed at the rotor such that reactance of the first reactance element varies depending on relative rotation between a first portion of the rotor and a second portion of the rotor; and a second reactance element disposed at the rotor such that reactance of the second reactance element varies depending on a contact or a force applied to a side surface of the rotor. The first and second reactance elements are configured to detect inputs of different areas of the rotor.

A method and apparatus for calibrating an impedance measurement device are provided. The impedance measurement device outputs a first AC signal to a phase-locked current generator. The phase-locked current generator generates a second AC signal having a phase that is locked to a phase of the first AC signal and having an amplitude that is representative of a presented impedance having a known impedance value. The phase-locked current generator outputs the second AC signal to the impedance measurement device. The impedance measurement device performs an impedance measurement based on the second AC signal to produce a measured impedance value associated with the presented impedance. The impedance measurement device is calibrated based on the measured impedance value and the known impedance value of the presented impedance.

A method and apparatus for calibrating an impedance measurement device are provided. The impedance measurement device outputs a first AC signal to a phase-locked current generator. The phase-locked current generator generates a second AC signal having a phase that is locked to a phase of the first AC signal and having an amplitude that is representative of a presented impedance having a known impedance value. The phase-locked current generator outputs the second AC signal to the impedance measurement device. The impedance measurement device performs an impedance measurement based on the second AC signal to produce a measured impedance value associated with the presented impedance. The impedance measurement device is calibrated based on the measured impedance value and the known impedance value of the presented impedance.

An encoder includes: a phase signal generator that generates and outputs first and second sinusoidal analog signals that are out of phase with each other by 90 degrees, according to a movement of a measurement target; a Lissajous angle calculator that determines a Lissajous angle from the first and second analog signals; and an amplitude adjustor that adjusts an amplitude of only the first analog signal output from the phase signal generator and outputs the adjusted amplitude to the Lissajous angle calculator.

An encoder includes: a phase signal generator that generates and outputs first and second sinusoidal analog signals that are out of phase with each other by 90 degrees, according to a movement of a measurement target; a Lissajous angle calculator that determines a Lissajous angle from the first and second analog signals; and an amplitude adjustor that adjusts an amplitude of only the first analog signal output from the phase signal generator and outputs the adjusted amplitude to the Lissajous angle calculator.

The invention provides a method of driving a vibrating sensor in which the drive signal is combined with an amplitude modulated high frequency carrier. The signal is demodulated at a position adjacent to the component to be driven. This method may be applied to reducing cross-talk between drive and pick-up wire pairs and also to passing both drive and pickup signals, and two drive signals, down the same wire pair.

The invention provides a method of driving a vibrating sensor in which the drive signal is combined with an amplitude modulated high frequency carrier. The signal is demodulated at a position adjacent to the component to be driven. This method may be applied to reducing cross-talk between drive and pick-up wire pairs and also to passing both drive and pickup signals, and two drive signals, down the same wire pair.

A rotation sensing apparatus includes a detected part, a sensor unit, and a rotation information calculation circuit. The sensor unit includes a first sensor disposed opposite to a first pattern portion, a second sensor disposed opposite to a second pattern portion, a third sensor disposed to be spaced apart from the first sensor in the rotation direction and opposite to the first pattern portion, and a fourth sensor disposed to be spaced apart from the second sensor in the rotation direction and opposite to the second pattern portion. The rotation information calculation circuit is configured to sense the rotation direction, in response to a differential signal, generated based on the first oscillation signal and the second oscillation signal, and an oscillation signal corresponding to maximum and minimum frequencies, from among the first oscillation signal, the second oscillation signal, the third oscillation signal, and the fourth oscillation signal.