Patent Application
20050246114
When electric current flows through a conductor, a magnetic field is produced in the space around the conductor. Varying the electric current may cause the magnetic field to vary, which can produce an electric field. Thus, an electromagnetic field may be produced around a conductor by a varying current in the conductor. The electromagnetic field is the combination of the magnetic field caused by the current and the electric field caused by the changing magnetic field.
Conventionally, to measure current flowing through a conductor, devices like resistive shunts, current transformers, Hall-effect based sensors, and so on were employed. But shunts insert a voltage drop into a circuit being analyzed and are not isolated from the circuit being analyzed, current transformers work only for alternating current (AC) and circuits including Hall-effect based sensors may have limited usefulness based on their size, which may depend on a magnetic core element.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate various example systems, methods, and so on that illustrate various example embodiments of aspects of the invention. It will be appreciated that the illustrated element boundaries (e.g., boxes, groups of boxes, or other shapes) in the figures represent one example of the boundaries. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that one element may be designed as multiple elements or that multiple elements may be designed as one element. An element shown as an internal component of another element may be implemented as an external component and vice versa. Furthermore, elements may not be drawn to scale.
This application describes example systems, methods, and computer-readable mediums associated with an in-line field sensor detecting, measuring, analyzing, and/or responding to attributes of an electrical signal flowing through a conductor in a connector without changing the electrical signal. The attributes may include, for example, the current, voltage, and/or power associated with the electrical signal. In one example, the in-line field sensor may be a magneto-resistive field sensing device. A magneto-resistive field sensing device can measure a magnetic field produced by a current flowing in a conductor when the sensing device is positioned within the field. Magneto-resistive sensing devices may include anisotropic magneto-resistive (AMR) devices, giant magneto-resistive (GMR) devices, tunneling magneto-resistive (TMR) devices, and the like.
A magneto-resistive sensing device may include conductive materials whose resistance (R) changes in the presence of a magnetic field. Thus, a magneto-resistive sensing device can provide a value for R to facilitate analyzing the value of other attributes in equations like V=IR (V=voltage, I=current) and P=I2R, (P=power), which in turn facilitates analyzing attributes like current, current changes, power, power changes, and so on. Analyzing these attributes can facilitate, for example, configuring a feedback logic to generate a signal for controlling electric and/or electronic components that provide the electrical signal flowing through the conductor.
Many conducting materials exhibit some magnetoresistance. Permalloys like nickel-iron alloys and other ferromagnetic materials exhibit detectably alterable magneto-resistances that facilitate detecting and/or analyzing a magnetic field and thus analyzing a current that produced the magnetic field without changing the current. Thus, field sensors based on the magneto-resistive effect may include a permalloy sensing layer responsive to magnetic fields. The sensor layer may spontaneously magnetize itself parallel to its long axis. A fixed magnetic field may also be applied in the long axis direction to establish a single magnetic domain in the sensor layer. When there is no external (e.g., transverse) magnetic field impinging on the sensor layer, it may be harder for conduction electrons to flow the length of the sensor layer. This results in a relatively higher resistance for the sensor material. But when an external (e.g., transverse) magnetic field is present and impinges on the sensor layer, the magnetic orientation of the sensor layer can be rotated. This can make it easier for the conduction electrons to flow, which results in a relatively lower resistance for the sensor material. Thus, a detectably changeable resistance in field sensing devices based on the magneto-resistive effect can vary with respect to the presence and/or strength of a magnetic field that can be produced by current flowing, for example, through a conductor in a connector.
The following includes definitions of selected terms employed herein. The definitions include various examples and/or forms of components that fall within the scope of a term and that may be used for implementation. The examples are not intended to be limiting. Both singular and plural forms of terms may be within the definitions.
“Computer-readable medium”, as used herein, refers to a medium that participates in directly or indirectly providing signals, instructions and/or data. A computer-readable medium may take forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media may include, for example, optical or magnetic disks and so on. Volatile media may include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, dynamic memory and the like. Transmission media may include coaxial cables, copper wire, fiber optic cables, and the like. Transmission media can also take the form of electromagnetic radiation, like those generated during radio-wave and infra-red data communications, or take the form of one or more groups of signals. Common forms of a computer-readable medium include, but are not limited to, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a compact disc (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a programmable read only memory (PROM), an electronically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), a disk, a carrier wave, a memory stick, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape, other magnetic media, a CD-ROM, other optical media, punch cards, paper tape, other physical media with patterns of holes, an EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, or other memory chip or card, and other media from which a computer, a processor or other electronic device can read. Signals used to propagate instructions or other software over a network, like the Internet, can be considered a “computer-readable medium.”
“Logic”, as used herein, includes but is not limited to hardware, firmware, software and/or combinations of each to perform a function(s) or an action(s), and/or to cause a function or action from another component. For example, based on a desired application or needs, logic may include a software controlled microprocessor, discrete logic like an ASIC, a programmed logic device, a memory device containing instructions, or the like. Logic may also be fully embodied as software. Where multiple logical logics are described, it may be possible to incorporate the multiple logical logics into one physical logic. Similarly, where a single logical logic is described, it may be possible to distribute that single logical logic between multiple physical logics.
“Signal”, as used herein without a qualifier, includes, but is not limited to, one or more electrical or optical signals, analog or digital, one or more computer or processor instructions, messages, a bit or bit stream, or other means that can be received, transmitted and/or detected.
An “operable connection”, or a connection by which entities are “operably connected”, is one in which signals, physical communication flow, and/or logical communication flow may be sent and/or received directly and/or indirectly between entities like logics, processes, and so on. Typically, an operable connection includes a physical interface, an electrical interface, and/or a data interface, but it is to be noted that an operable connection may include differing combinations of these or other types of connections sufficient to allow operable control. For example, two entities can be operably connected by being able to communicate signals to each other directly or through one or more intermediate entities like a processor, operating system, a logic, software, or other entity. Logical and/or physical communication channels can be used to create an operable connection.
Some portions of the detailed descriptions that follow are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the art to convey the substance of their work to others. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a sequence of operations that produce a result. The operations may include physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, the physical quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated in a logic and the like.
It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. It should be borne in mind, however, that these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantifies and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise, it is appreciated that throughout the description, terms like processing, computing, calculating, determining, displaying, characterizing, or the like, refer to actions and processes of a computer system, logic, processor, or similar electronic device that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities.
In one example, the in-line field sensor 140 may be a two terminal device. The in-line field sensor 140 may be configured to detect a magnetic field produced by an electrical signal passing through the connector 110, where the electrical signal voltage is in the range of about −50 mV to about 50 mV. In another example, the in-line field sensor 140 may be configured to detect a magnetic field produced by an electrical signal whose voltage is in the range of about −15 V to about 15 V. While two ranges, −50 mV to 50 mV and −15 V to 15V are described, it is to be appreciated that example connectors can be configured with in-line field sensors configured to detect, measure, and/or analyze magnetic fields produced by electrical signals with various voltages.
In one example, the in-line field sensor 140 may be configured to detect a magnetic field produced by an electrical signal passing through the connector 110, where the electrical signal has a current in the range of about 0 A to about 50 mA while in another example the in-line field sensor 140 may be configured to detect fields produced by a current in the range of about 0 A to about 1A. Again, while two amperage ranges are described, it is to be appreciated that an in-line field sensor 140 can be configured to process magnetic fields produced by electrical signals with various amperages like −1A to +1A and so on.
The in-line field sensor 140 may be, for example, a magneto-resistive effect device. Thus, in one example, the in-line field sensor 140 may be an anisotropic magnetic-resistive (AMR) device. In other examples, the in-line field sensor 140 may be, for example, a giant magneto-resistive (GMR) device or a tunneling magneto-resistive (TMR) device. While AMR, GMR, and TMR devices are described, it is to be appreciated that the in-line field sensor 140 may be based on other magneto-resistive techniques. Since the in-line field sensor 140 may be a magneto-resistive effect device, in one example the in-line field sensor 140 may include a permalloy sensor layer.
In
The in-line field sensor 140 may sense, monitor, detect, analyze and so on the magnetic field using various techniques. In one example, the in-line field sensor 140 may monitor the magnetic field using frequency synthesis, coding synthesis, and/or other similar techniques.
The first conductor 120 and the second conductor 130 may carry an electrical signal from a source to a destination. For example, the electrical signal may be provided to destinations including, but not limited to, a microprocessor, a dual in-line memory module (DIMM), an ASIC, an integrated circuit, a bus, and so on.
The in-line field sensor 140 may be positioned in various locations and orientations with respect to the connector 110 and/or the magnetic field produced by the electrical signal flowing through the connector 110. In one example, the in-line field sensor 140 is positioned so that the easy axis of the in-line field sensor 140 is orthogonal to the magnetic field.
Connectors like connector 110 that are configured with an in-line field sensor like in-line field sensor 140 may be embedded in, utilized in, attached to, located in, and so on in devices like computers, image forming devices, printers, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, embedded systems, and so on.
Connector 200 includes a first in-line field sensor 240 that is positioned to detect, measure, and/or analyze a magnetic field produced by an electrical signal associated with a VCC portion 242 of communication port connector 200. The voltage supplied through the VCC portion 242 of the connector 200 may be carried from a first conductor 220 to a second conductor 230 via the connector 200. A control circuit associated with the telecommunication component being supplied the VCC voltage may be configured to monitor and/or react to the condition of the voltage being supplied. Thus, the in-line field sensor 240 may be positioned and configured to facilitate analyzing the VCC signal.
The communication port connector 200 may transmit several electrical signals associated with telecommunications. For example, the connector 200 may include a conductor for a received data signal 244, various communication status signals (e.g., RTS 246, CTS 248, RI 250, DTR 252, DSR 254). Additionally, the communication port connector 200 may pass a transmitted data (TXD) 256 signal through the connector 200. A data communications monitor may be configured to determine when data is being transmitted. Thus, an in-line field sensor 258 may be positioned and configured to monitor a magnetic field produced when a transmitted data signal is passed from conductor 260 through connector 200 by the TXD portion 256 to conductor 270. While a connector 200 associated with data communications is illustrated, it is to be appreciated that connectors associated with other applications like bus control, power supply control, memory management, and so on can be configured with in-line field sensors.
Thus, in one example, means for analyzing an attribute(s) of an electrical signal flowing through a conductor in connector 200 without affecting the electrical signal can include, but are not limited to, a magneto-resistive field sensing device, a logic for analyzing a signal(s) produced by the magneto-resistive field sensing device, and so on. Similarly, means for selectively controlling the electrical signal based on the attribute(s) can include, but are not limited to, a feedback logic.
The feedback logic 350, may, for example, be tasked with controlling devices (e.g., devices 360 through 368) that are involved in providing the electrical signal to the first conductor 320 and thus through the connector 310 to the second conductor 330 and a destination(s). Thus, the feedback logic 350 may provide a signal to the devices (e.g., devices 360 through 368) to increase, decrease, maintain, and so on various attributes associated with the electrical signal being provided to conductor 320. In this way, for example, a conditioned electrical signal that satisfies desired characteristics (e.g., amperage range, voltage range) may be maintained. Additionally, and/or alternatively, the feedback logic 350 may be configured to track (e.g., log) attributes associated with the electrical signal.
Example methods may be better appreciated with reference to the flow diagrams of
In the flow diagrams, blocks denote “processing blocks” that may be implemented, for example, in software. Additionally and/or alternatively, the processing blocks may represent functions and/or actions performed by functionally equivalent circuits like a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, and the like.
A flow diagram does not depict syntax for any particular programming language, methodology, or style (e.g., procedural, object-oriented). Rather, a flow diagram illustrates functional information one skilled in the art may employ to fabricate a logic to perform the illustrated processing. It will be appreciated that in some examples, program elements like temporary variables, routine loops, and so on are not shown. It will be further appreciated that electronic and software applications may involve dynamic and flexible processes so that the illustrated blocks can be performed in other sequences that are different from those shown and/or that blocks may be combined or separated into multiple components. It will be appreciated that the processes may be implemented using various programming approaches like machine language, procedural, object oriented and/or artificial intelligence techniques.
The method 400 may also include, at 420, characterizing an attribute(s) of the electrical signal based, at least in part, on the received signal. For example, if the received signal reports a measurement for the variable resistance in a magneto-resistive device then the electrical signal may be characterized based on that variable resistance measurement. Similarly, if the received signal reports a field strength for the magnetic field, then the electrical signal may be characterized based on that field strength.
The method 400 may also produce a second signal based, at least in part, on the characterization. For example, the second signal may be employed to condition (e.g., increase, decrease, maintain) the electrical signal, to report on the electrical signal, to initiate and/or terminate a process, to open a switch, and so on. Characterizing the electrical signal can include, for example, producing a current measurement, producing a current change measurement, producing a power measurement, producing a power change measurement, producing a voltage measurement, producing a voltage change measurement and so on.
While
In one example, a computer-readable medium may store processor executable instructions operable to perform a method for characterizing an electrical signal flowing through a connector. The method may include, for example, receiving a signal from a magneto-resistive sensing device positioned at least partially within a magnetic field. The magnetic field may be produced, for example, by the electrical signal flowing through a connector. The signal may be related to a variable resistance in the magneto-resistive sensing device, where the variable resistance is determined, at least in part, by the magnetic field. The method includes receiving the signal without altering the electrical signal. Additionally, the method may include characterizing the electrical signal based on the received signal and selectively producing a second signal based on the characterization. While one method is described, it is to be appreciated that other computer-readable mediums could store other example methods described herein.
In one example, the method 500 may also include configuring the magneto-resistive sensing device to generate a signal. The signal may communicate, for example, information concerning the magneto-resistive sensing device resistance. This signal may be employed by additional logics to perform actions like recording information about the electrical signal, the magnetic field it produces, and so on. Therefore, in one example, the method 500 may also include operably connecting a feedback logic to the magneto-resistive sensing device. With the signal available from the magneto-resistive sensing device to the feedback logic, the method 500 may also include configuring the feedback logic to condition the current based, at least in part, on the signal.
While
The processor 602 can be a variety of various processors including dual microprocessor and other multi-processor architectures. The memory 604 can include volatile memory and/or non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can include, but is not limited to, read only memory (ROM), programmable read only memory (PROM), electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), and the like. Volatile memory can include, for example, random access memory (RAM), synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), and direct RAM bus RAM (DRRAM).
A disk 606 may be operably connected to the computer 600 via, for example, an input/output interface (e.g., card, device) 618 and an input/output port 610. The disk 606 can include, but is not limited to, devices like a magnetic disk drive, a solid state disk drive, a floppy disk drive, a tape drive, a Zip drive, a flash memory card, and/or a memory stick. Furthermore, the disk 606 can include optical drives like a compact disc ROM (CD-ROM), a CD recordable drive (CD-R drive), a CD rewriteable drive (CD-RW drive), and/or a digital video ROM drive (DVD ROM). The memory 604 can store processes 614 and/or data 616, for example. The disk 606 and/or memory 604 can store an operating system that controls and allocates resources of the computer 600. In one example, the memory 604 may be configured to switch to a battery backup if a current and/or power with desired characteristics (e.g., voltage, voltage variance, amperage, amperage variance) is not maintained. Thus connectors through which power and/or current are provided to memory 604 may be configured with an in-line field sensor to facilitate producing a signal that the switch to battery backup should occur.
The bus 608 can be a single internal bus interconnect architecture and/or other bus or mesh architectures. The bus 608 can be of a variety of types including, but not limited to, a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus or external bus, a crossbar switch, and/or a local bus. The local bus can be of varieties including, but not limited to, an industrial standard architecture (ISA) bus, a microchannel architecture (MSA) bus, an extended ISA (EISA) bus, a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus, a universal serial (USB) bus, and a small computer systems interface (SCSI) bus.
The computer 600 may interact with input/output devices via i/o interfaces 618 and input/output ports 610. Input/output devices can include, but are not limited to, a keyboard, a microphone, a pointing and selection device, cameras, video cards, displays, disk 606, network devices 620, and the like. The input/output ports 610 can include but are not limited to, serial ports, parallel ports, and USB ports.
The computer 600 can operate in a network environment and thus may be connected to network devices 620 via the i/o devices 618, and/or the i/o ports 610. Through the network devices 620, the computer 600 may interact with a network. Through the network, the computer 600 may be logically connected to remote computers. The networks with which the computer 600 may interact include, but are not limited to, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), and other networks. The network devices 620 can connect to LAN technologies including, but not limited to, fiber distributed data interface (FDDI), copper distributed data interface (CDDI), Ethernet (IEEE 802.3), token ring (IEEE 802.5), wireless computer communication (IEEE 802.11), Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15.1), and the like. Similarly, the network devices 620 can connect to WAN technologies including, but not limited to, point to point links, circuit switching networks like integrated services digital networks (ISDN), packet switching networks, and digital subscriber lines (DSL).
The image forming device 700 may receive print data to be rendered. Thus, the image forming device 700 may include a rendering logic 730 configured to generate a printer-ready image from print data. Rendering varies based on the format of the data involved and the type of imaging device. In general, the rendering logic 730 converts high-level data into a graphical image for display or printing (e.g., the print-ready image). For example, one form is ray-tracing that takes a mathematical model of a three-dimensional object or scene and converts it into a bitmap image. Another example is the process of converting HTML into an image for display/printing. It is to be appreciated that the image forming device 700 may receive printer-ready data that does not need to be rendered and thus the rendering logic 730 may not appear in some image forming devices.
The image forming device 700 may also include an image forming mechanism 740 configured to generate an image onto print media from the print-ready image. The image forming mechanism 740 may vary based on the type of the imaging device 700 and may include a laser imaging mechanism, other toner-based imaging mechanisms, an ink jet mechanism, digital imaging mechanism, or other imaging reproduction engine. The image forming mechanism 740 may desire to be kept at a constant “ready temperature”, which may require that power within pre-determined tolerances be available. Thus, a connector through which current flows to the image forming mechanism 740 may be configured with an in-line field sensor that is configured to monitor the current and/or power being supplied to the image forming mechanism 740 and to provide inputs to a circuit controlling the current and/or power supplied to the image forming mechanism 740.
A processor 750 may be included that is implemented with logic to control the operation of the image-forming device 700. In one example, the processor 750 includes logic that is capable of executing Java instructions. Other components of the image forming device 700 are not described herein but may include media handling and storage mechanisms, sensors, controllers, and other components involved in the imaging process.
While the systems, methods, and so on have been illustrated by describing examples, and while the examples have been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention of the applicants to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the systems, methods, and so on described herein. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention, in its broader aspects, is not limited to the specific details, the representative apparatus, and illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departing from the spirit or scope of the applicants' general inventive concept. Thus, this application is intended to embrace alterations, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, the preceding description is not meant to limit the scope of the invention. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
To the extent that the term “includes” or “including” is employed in the detailed description or the claims, it is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as that term is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “or” is employed in the claims (e.g., A or B) it is intended to mean “A or B or both”. When the applicants intend to indicate “only A or B but not both” then the term “only A or B but not both” will be employed. Thus, use of the term “or” herein is the inclusive, and not the exclusive use. See, Bryan A. Garner, A Dictionary of Modem Legal Usage 624 (2d. Ed. 1995).
