Hall sensor

Abstract

The present invention relates to a Hall sensor, which has a Hall sensor element with a connection part and a current supply source or a voltage supply source, which has a first supply connection and a second supply connection. In order to feed current into the Hall sensor element, the first supply connection can be connected to the first connection part of the Hall sensor element and the second supply connection can be connected to the second connection part of the Hall sensor element. The Hall sensor has a NAND gate, which is connected to the first connection part of the Hall sensor element with a first input end and to the second connection part of the Hall sensor element with a second input end, and has an output end for outputting a first fault signal. As an alternative, the Hall sensor has a NOR gate, which is connected to the third connection part with a first input end connection and to the fourth connection part with a second input end connection, and has an output end connection for outputting a second fault signal.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a Hall sensor, which comprises: a Hall sensor element having a plurality of connection locations spaced apart from each other; a current supply source or a voltage supply source having a first supply connection and a second supply connection for outputting a supply current or a supply voltage, wherein, in order to feed current into the Hall sensor element, the first supply connection is or can be connected to the first connection location of the Hall sensor element and the second supply connection is or can be connected to the second connection location of the Hall sensor element. Background Art

[0002] Such a Hall sensor is known from DE 102 04 427 B4. The Hall sensor has a Hall sensor element that is roughly plate-shaped, and the Hall sensor element has a plurality of connection locations spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction on its edge. These connection locations are staggered with uniform angular spacing about the center, so that every two connection locations are radially opposite to each other. When an excitation current (Erregerstrom) is fed into the Hall sensor element by connecting two radially opposite connection locations to the supply terminals of a current supply source or a voltage supply source, and the Hall sensor element is penetrated by a magnetic flux transversely to its plate plane, the Lorentz magnetic force that deflects the electrons in the plate plane transversely to their direction of movement acts on the moving electrons of the current. As a result, an electric field is established in the Hall sensor element transversely to the current direction, and the electric field can be obtained as a voltage between the connection locations that are not connected to the supply terminals. This voltage is called the Hall voltage.

[0003] In practical applications of Hall sensors, however, the Hall voltage is superimposed with an undesired bias voltage. The Hall sensor element is usually manufactured as an integrated circuit together with a supply source and electronics for signal processing and mounted on a chip carrier and installed in a plastic housing. Due to production tolerances and during installation, mechanical stresses may occur in the semiconductor crystal, which may cause bias voltages.

[0004] In order to compensate for the offset voltage, the so-called spinning Hall principle is used in the Hall sensor known from DE 102 04 427 B4, in which an excitation current is conducted through the Hall sensor element in different directions and an average value is formed for the measured voltage.

[0005] Although the Hall sensor known from DE 102 04 427 B4 has proven itself in practice for many applications, it is still worth improving. As the number of Hall sensors installed in motor vehicles increases, the requirements on the reliability of the Hall sensors also increase. The failure of only one Hall sensor can naturally lead to a malfunction of the motor vehicle if the fault is not detected and, if necessary, compensated by appropriate measures. Summary of the invention

[0006] It is therefore an object of the present invention to specify a Hall sensor of the type mentioned in the introduction which makes it possible to detect possible faults occurring during the operation of the Hall sensor in a simple manner and to display them.

[0007] This object is achieved by the features of the invention, which provide that the Hall sensor has a NAND gate, which is connected with a first input to a first connection point of the Hall sensor element and with a second input to a second connection point of the Hall sensor element, and has an output for outputting a first fault signal, and / or the Hall sensor has a NOR gate, which is connected with a first input connection to a third connection point and with a second input connection to a fourth connection point, and has an output connection for outputting a second fault signal.

[0008] The input of the NAND gate is therefore connected to the connection of the Hall sensor element that is connected to the supply source. When the Hall sensor is operating as intended, one of the connection points must be connected to the supply source and the other to ground. However, if the first connection point and the second connection point are simultaneously at the potential of the supply source, a voltage associated with the logical value "1" is applied to each of the two inputs of the NAND gate. The NAND gate therefore applies a voltage corresponding to the logical value "0" to the output. This value indicates that an impermissible operating condition exists.

[0009] As an alternative to the NAND gate or in addition to the NAND gate, the Hall sensor can have a NOR gate, which is connected with its input to the connection point of the Hall sensor element that is not connected to the supply source. Because the Hall sensor element behaves approximately like a Wheatstone measuring bridge, when the Hall sensor element is symmetrically designed, when there is no Hall voltage and no bias voltage, half of the supply voltage applied between the first connection point and the second connection point is applied to the third connection point and the fourth connection point respectively. Therefore, when the Hall sensor works as required, a voltage assigned to the logical value "1" is applied to the third connection point and the fourth connection point respectively. Due to the inverting function of the NOR gate, a voltage corresponding to the logical value "0" is output at the output terminal of the NOR gate when the Hall sensor works as required. The value indicates that the NOR gate has not detected a fault state.

[0010] In actual operation, the voltage at the connection may deviate from the value due to the Hall voltage and the bias voltage. However, the deviation is so small that it does not affect the assignment of the voltage applied to the third and fourth connection points of the Hall sensor to the logical value "0" or "1".

[0011] If, due to a fault, no voltage or a voltage associated with a logical value "0" is applied to the third and fourth terminals of the Hall sensor, a voltage corresponding to a logical value "1" is output at the output terminal of the NOR gate. The second fault signal applied to the output terminal of the NOR gate can thus be used as a non-inverted fault signal.

[0012] In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the NAND gate has a third input which is connected to the third connection point of the Hall sensor element. The first fault signal then indicates when a potential, in particular a supply voltage, which is associated with the logical value "1" is applied to the first connection point, the second connection point and the third connection point of the Hall sensor element. This corresponds to an impermissible operating state of the Hall sensor.

[0013] In an extended embodiment of the invention, the NOR gate has a third input connection, which is connected to the first connection of the Hall sensor element. The third input can detect the absence of a supply voltage at the first connection and the absence of a ground voltage at the second connection and the fourth connection.

[0014] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the NAND gate has a fourth input, which is connected to a fourth connection point of the Hall sensor element. The first fault signal then indicates when a potential associated with the logical value "0", in particular a ground potential, is present at all four connection points of the Hall sensor element. This corresponds to an impermissible operating state of the Hall sensor.

[0015] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the Hall sensor has at least one multiplexer corresponding to the number of connection points of the Hall sensor elements, each multiplexer having a first multiplexer input connected to a first supply connection, a second multiplexer input connected to a second supply connection, and a multiplexer output connected to a connection point of the Hall sensor element assigned to the respective multiplexer, each multiplexer having a control input to which a control signal can be applied, according to which one of the multiplexer inputs can be connected to a multiplexer output of the respective multiplexer in order to pass an excitation current through the Hall sensor element, and the control inputs of the multiplexers are in control connection with the control device in such a way that the excitation current can be guided successively in different directions through the Hall sensor element. The Hall sensor can then be operated according to the spin Hall principle in order to compensate for an undesired offset voltage superimposed on the Hall voltage.

[0016] Advantageously, the Hall sensor has a multiplexer element having a first multiplexer input connected to a first connection location, a second multiplexer input connected to a second connection location, a third multiplexer input connected to a third connection location, a fourth multiplexer input connected to a fourth connection location, and a multiplexer output, the multiplexer element having a control input to which a control signal can be applied, according to which one of the multiplexer inputs can be connected to a multiplexer output of the multiplexer element, respectively, the multiplexer and the control inputs of the multiplexer element being in control connection with the control device in such a way that the multiplexer outputs of the multiplexer element are respectively connected to connection locations of the Hall sensor element that are not connected to supply terminals of a current supply source or a voltage supply source. Here, the multiplexer output can be used to output a third fault signal, which indicates when a fault occurs when the Hall sensor is operated according to the spin Hall principle, for example, when the control device does not output a control signal to the control input of the multiplexer or when the control signal does not continue to switch or does not continue to switch correctly between the individual power-on states.

[0017] Advantageously, the output of the NAND gate is connected to the inverted first input of the OR gate and the output of the NOR gate is connected to the non-inverted second input of the OR gate, and the OR gate has an output for outputting a fourth fault signal. The third fault signal is activated in this case when either a voltage associated with the logical value "0" (e.g., ground voltage) or a voltage associated with the logical value "1" (e.g., supply voltage) is applied to all connection points of the Hall sensor element.

[0018] If necessary, the multiplexer output of the multiplexer element is connected to the third input of the OR gate. Here, the third input can also be an inverted input, which is indirectly connected to the multiplexer output via an additional inverter. The fourth fault signal then also indicates a possible failure of the spin Hall operation of the Hall sensor.

[0019] It should also be mentioned that in the Hall sensor according to the invention, the Hall sensor element can be designed as a vertical Hall sensor element or as a horizontal Hall sensor element. A "vertical Hall sensor element" refers to a Hall sensor element that is sensitive to a magnetic flux arranged parallel to the chip surface of the semiconductor chip. A "horizontal or lateral Hall sensor element" refers to a Hall sensor element that is sensitive to a magnetic flux arranged at right angles to the chip surface of the semiconductor chip. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with the aid of the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

[0021] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a Hall sensor that works on the spin Hall principle;

[0022] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a monitoring device of a first embodiment of a Hall sensor;

[0023] Figure 3 A table is shown in which voltages at the connection points of the Hall sensor element and fault signals for different fault states of a first exemplary embodiment of the Hall sensor are listed;

[0024] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a monitoring device of a second embodiment of a Hall sensor; and

[0025] Figure 5 A table is shown in which the voltages at the connection points of the Hall sensor element and the error signals are listed for different error states of a second exemplary embodiment of the Hall sensor. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] exist Figure 1 The Hall sensor, which is designated as a whole by the reference numeral 1, has a semiconductor chip in which a plate-shaped Hall sensor element 2 is integrated. The Hall sensor element 2 comprises a semiconductor material, for example silicon, and has a plurality of connection locations 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D spaced apart from one another on the edge of the Hall sensor element, the connection locations being offset by 90° relative to an imaginary center axis arranged orthogonally to a plane defined by the Hall sensor element 2 and extending through a center of symmetry 4.

[0027] The connection parts 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D are connected to the switching device, and the switching device has a multiplexer 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D for each connection part 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D. The output terminal of each multiplexer 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D is connected to the connection part 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D assigned to the output terminal. Each multiplexer 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D has two input terminals connected to the supply terminals 6A, 6B of the current supply source or voltage supply source 7. The supply voltage V provided by the supply source 7 B Alternatively, the supply current provided by the supply source 7 is used to feed the excitation current into the Hall sensor element 2 .

[0028] In the first energized state, first supply connection 6A is connected to first connection point 3A of Hall sensor element 2 via first multiplexer 5A, and second supply connection 6B is connected to second connection point 3B of Hall sensor element 2 via second multiplexer 5B.

[0029] In the second energized state, second supply connection 6B is connected to third connection point 3C of Hall sensor element 2 via third multiplexer 5C, and first supply connection 6A is connected to fourth connection point 3D of Hall sensor element 2 via fourth multiplexer 5D.

[0030] In the third state of power supply, the first supply connection 6A is connected to the second connection point 3B of the Hall sensor element 2 via the second multiplexer 5B, and the second supply connection 6B is connected to the first connection point 3A of the Hall sensor element 2 via the first multiplexer 5A. The excitation current thus flows in the third state in the opposite direction to that in the first state.

[0031] In the fourth state of power supply, the first supply connection 6A is connected to the third connection point 3C of the Hall sensor element 2 via the third multiplexer 5C, and the second supply connection 6B is connected to the fourth connection point 3D of the Hall sensor element 2 via the fourth multiplexer 5D. The excitation current thus flows in the fourth state in the opposite direction to that in the second state.

[0032] The two other inputs of each multiplexer 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D are electrically connected to input connections of a measuring device 8, which is provided for measuring the voltage between two radially opposite connection points 3A, 3B or 3C, 3D. The measuring device 8 has an analog / digital converter (not shown in detail in the figure) for digitizing the measured voltage, which is connected to a data memory 9 for storing the measured values. The data memory 9 is connected to an evaluation device 10, in which the measured voltage values ​​are processed in order to compensate for the bias voltage contained therein and superimposed on the Hall voltage in a manner known per se. During the measurement of the Hall voltage, the Hall sensor element 2 is penetrated transversely to its extension plane by a magnetic flux, which is not shown in detail in the figure and can, for example, flow into the Hall sensor element 2. Figure 1 in the drawing plane.

[0033] The multiplexers 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D each have a control input 11A, 11B, 11C, 11D, which are in control connection with a common control device 12. By sending corresponding control signals to the control inputs 11A, 11B, 11C, 11D, the respective multiplexers 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D can be configured in such a way that the connection points 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D connected to the output terminals of the multiplexers 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D are selectively or alternately electrically connected to or disconnected from one of the inputs of the multiplexers 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D. The multiplexers 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D are synchronized in such a way that in each current-on state, two connection points 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D that are diametrically opposite to each other are connected to the supply source 7 and the other two connection points 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D are connected to the measuring device 8.

[0034] As in Figure 2 As can be seen in FIG. 1 , the evaluation device 10 has a connected NAND gate 13, which is connected with a first input 14A to a first connection point 3A of the Hall sensor element 2, with a second input 14B to a second connection point 3B of the Hall sensor element 2, with a third input 14C to a third connection point 3C of the Hall sensor element 2, and with a fourth input 14D to a fourth connection point 3D of the Hall sensor element 2. The output of the NAND gate 13 is used to output a first fault signal / Err1.

[0035] As in Figure 2As can be further seen in FIG. 1 , the NAND gate 13 has four N-channel field effect transistors 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, which are connected in series with their source-drain sections and a pull-up resistor element 16. A first input terminal 14A of the NAND gate 13 is connected to the gate contact of the first N-channel field effect transistor 15A, a second input terminal 14B of the NAND gate 13 is connected to the gate contact of the second N-channel field effect transistor 15B, a third input terminal 14C of the NAND gate 13 is connected to the gate contact of the third N-channel field effect transistor 15C, and a fourth input terminal 14D of the NAND gate 13 is connected to the gate contact of the fourth N-channel field effect transistor 15D.

[0036] The drain contact of the third field effect transistor 15C is connected to a first terminal of the pull-up resistor element 16, and a second terminal of the pull-up resistor element 16 is connected to the boot supply voltage V B The drain contact of the third field effect transistor 15C is also connected to the output terminal 17 of the NAND gate 13. The source contact of the third field effect transistor 15C is connected to the drain contact of the second field effect transistor 15B, the source contact of the second field effect transistor 15B is connected to the drain contact of the fourth field effect transistor 15D, and the source contact of the fourth field effect transistor 15D is connected to the drain contact of the first field effect transistor 15A. The source contact of the first field effect transistor 15A is connected to the ground connection.

[0037] When a voltage corresponding to a logic value "1" is applied to all input terminals 14A, 14B, 14C and 14D of the NAND gate 13, all field effect transistors 15A, 15B, 15C and 15D are turned on. Current then flows through the pull-up resistor element 16, causing a voltage drop across the pull-up resistor element 16, which causes the potential at the output terminal 17 of the NAND gate to drop to a value corresponding to a logic value "0". The value indicates that there is a fault in the Hall sensor 1 ( Figure 3 ).

[0038] When a voltage corresponding to a logical value "0" is applied to at least one input terminal 14A, 14B, 14C, and 14D of the NAND gate 13, at least one field effect transistor 15A, 15B, 15C, and 15D is turned off and the current flowing through the pull-up resistor element 16 is interrupted. The potential at the output terminal 17 of the NAND gate is then at a value corresponding to a logical value "1". This value indicates that the NAND gate 13 has not detected a fault in the Hall sensor 1.

[0039] As in Figure 2As can be seen further in the figure, the evaluation device 10 also has a connected NOR gate 18, which is connected with a first input terminal 19A to the third terminal 3C of the Hall sensor 2, with a second input terminal 19B to the fourth terminal 3D of the Hall sensor 2, with a third input terminal 19C to the first terminal 3A of the Hall sensor 2, and with a fourth input terminal 19D to the second terminal 3B of the Hall sensor 2. The output terminal 22 of the NOR gate 18 is used to output the second fault signal Err2.

[0040] As in Figure 2 As can be seen in the figure, the NOR gate 18 has four P-channel field effect transistors 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, which are connected in series with their source-drain sections and a pull-down resistor element 21. A first input terminal 19A of the NOR gate 18 is connected to the gate contact of the first P-channel field effect transistor 20A, a second input terminal 19B of the NOR gate 18 is connected to the gate contact of the second P-channel field effect transistor 20B, a third input terminal 19C of the NOR gate 18 is connected to the gate contact of the third P-channel field effect transistor 20C, and a fourth input terminal 19D of the NOR gate 18 is connected to the gate contact of the fourth P-channel field effect transistor 20D.

[0041] The drain contact of the third P-channel field effect transistor 20C is connected to the boot supply voltage V B The source contact of the third P-channel field effect transistor 20C is connected to the drain contact of the second P-channel field effect transistor 20B, the source contact of the second P-channel field effect transistor 20B is connected to the drain contact of the fourth P-channel field effect transistor 20D, and the source contact of the fourth field effect transistor 20D is connected to the drain contact of the first P-channel field effect transistor 20A. The source contact of the first P-channel field effect transistor 20A is connected to the first connection of the pull-down resistor element 21, and the second connection of the pull-down resistor element 21 is connected to the ground connection. The source contact of the first P-channel field effect transistor 20A is also connected to the output terminal connection 22 of the NOR gate 18.

[0042] When a voltage corresponding to the logical value "0" is applied to all input terminals 19A, 19B, 19C, 19D of the NOR gate 18, all P-channel field effect transistors 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D are turned on. Current then flows through the pull-down resistor element 21, which causes a voltage drop across the pull-down resistor element 21, which causes the potential at the output terminal 22 of the NOR gate to be at a value corresponding to the logical value "1". The value indicates that there is a fault in the Hall sensor 1 ( Figure 3 ).

[0043] When a voltage that does not correspond to the logical value "0" is applied to at least one input terminal 19A, 19B, 19C, 19D of the NOR gate 18, at least one P-channel field effect transistor 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D is switched off and the current flowing through the pull-down resistor element 21 is interrupted. The potential at the output terminal 22 of the NOR gate 18 is then at a value that corresponds to the logical value "0". This value indicates that the NOR gate 18 has not detected a fault in the Hall sensor 1.

[0044] As in Figure 2 As can be seen in FIG. 1 , the output terminal 17 of the NAND gate 13 is connected to the inverted first input terminal 23 of the OR gate 24. The output terminal connection 22 of the NOR gate 18 is connected to the non-inverted second input terminal 25 of the OR gate 24. When the NAND gate and / or the NOR gate detects a fault in the Hall sensor 1 ( Figure 3 ), the fault signal Err applied to the output terminal 33 of the OR gate 24 is activated.

[0045] exist Figure 4 The embodiment depicted in FIG. Figure 2 The evaluation device 10 has for this purpose a multiplexer element 28, which has a first multiplexer input 27A connected to the first connection point 3A, a second multiplexer input 27B connected to the second connection point 3B, a third multiplexer input 27C connected to the third connection point 3C, a fourth multiplexer input 27D connected to the fourth connection point 3D, and a multiplexer output 28.

[0046] The multiplexer output 28 is connected to the gate of a switching element 29 designed as an N-channel field effect transistor, which is connected with its drain connection to a first connection of a pull-up resistor 30 and an inverted third input 31 of the OR gate 24. The third fault signal Err3 is applied to the third input 31 of the OR gate 24 via the drain connection. The second connection of the pull-up resistor 30 is connected to the pilot supply voltage V B The source terminal of the transistor element 29 is connected to the ground terminal.

[0047] The multiplexer element 26 also has a control input 31 connected to the control device 12, to which a control signal can be applied, according to which one of the multiplexer inputs 27A, 27B, 27C, 27D can be connected to the multiplexer output 28. The control input 32 of the multiplexer element 26 and the control inputs 11A, 11B, 11C, 11D of the multiplexers 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D are in control connection with the control device 12 so that the excitation current can be conducted through the Hall sensor element 2 in different directions in each current-carrying state, and the multiplexer output 28 of the multiplexer element 26 is respectively connected to the connection points 3C, 3D of the Hall sensor element 2, which are not connected to the supply connections 6A, 6B of the supply source 7.

[0048] Depend on Figure 5 It can be seen that when the connection points 3C, 3D of the Hall sensor element 2 that are not connected to the supply terminals 6A, 6B of the supply source have a potential assigned to the logical value "0", the third fault signal Err3 has a logical value "1". Therefore, when the relevant connection point of the Hall sensor element 2 is grounded, that is, when a spin fault exists, the third fault signal Err3 is active. A spin fault may occur, for example, when the control device 12 does not output a control signal to the control input terminals 11A, 11B, 11C, 11D or the control signal does not continue to switch between the various power-on states or does not continue to switch correctly.

[0049] Depend on Figure 5 It is clear that the Hall sensor 1 can also be disturbed in the following way, that is, the supply voltage V is applied to the connection points 3C, 3D of the Hall sensor element 2 that are not connected to the supply connections 6A, 6B of the supply source due to the short circuit with the first supply connection 6A of the supply source 7 B In the case of Hall sensors in which the measured Hall voltage is digitized by means of an analog / digital converter, the fault can be detected by comparing the analog voltage and / or the digital signal obtained therefrom with a value range provided for this purpose and generating a fault signal if the corresponding signal is outside of this value range.

Claims

1. A Hall sensor (1), comprising: A Hall sensor element (2), the Hall sensor element having a first connection point, a second connection point, a third connection point and a fourth connection point which are spaced apart from each other, the first connection point and the second connection point being radially opposite to each other, and the third connection point and the fourth connection point being radially opposite to each other; a current supply source or a voltage supply source (7), the current supply source having a first supply connection (6A) and a second supply connection (6B) for outputting a supply current or a supply voltage, wherein, in order to feed current into the Hall sensor element (2), the first supply connection (6A) is connected to the first connection point (3A) of the Hall sensor element (2) and the second supply connection (6B) is connected to the second connection point (3B) of the Hall sensor element (2), characterized in that the Hall sensor element The device comprises a NAND gate (13), the NAND gate being connected with a first input terminal (14A) to a first connection point (3A) of a Hall sensor element (2) and with a second input terminal (14B) to a second connection point (3B) of the Hall sensor element (2), and having an output terminal (17) for outputting a first fault signal ( / Err1) indicating a fault of the Hall sensor (1), and the Hall sensor (1) comprises a NOR gate (18), the NOR gate being connected with a first input terminal connection (19A) to a third connection point (3C) and with a second input terminal connection (19B) to a fourth connection point (3D), and having an output terminal connection (22) for outputting a second fault signal (Err2) indicating a fault of the Hall sensor (1).

2. The Hall sensor (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that The NAND gate (13) has a third input terminal (14C) connected to the third connection point (3C) of the Hall sensor element (2).

3. The Hall sensor (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The NOR gate (18) has a third input terminal (19C) connected to the first terminal (3A) of the Hall sensor element (2).

4. The Hall sensor (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The NAND gate (13) has a fourth input terminal (14D) connected to a fourth connection point (3D) of the Hall sensor element (2).

5. The Hall sensor (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The NOR gate (18) has a fourth input terminal (19D) connected to the second terminal point (3B) of the Hall sensor element (2).

6. The Hall sensor (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The Hall sensor (1) has at least one multiplexer (5A, 5B, 5C, 5D), the number of the multiplexers corresponds to the number of connection points of the Hall sensor element (2), each multiplexer (5A, 5B, 5C, 5D) has a first multiplexer input connected to the first supply terminal (6A), a second multiplexer input connected to the second supply terminal (6B), and a multiplexer output, the multiplexer output is connected to the connection point of the Hall sensor element (2) assigned to the relevant multiplexer, and each multiplexer (5A, 5B, 5C, 5D) has a first multiplexer input connected to the first supply terminal (6A), a second multiplexer input connected to the second supply terminal (6B), and a multiplexer output. , 5D) respectively have control input terminals (11A, 11B, 11C, 11D), to which control signals can be applied, according to which one of the multiplexer input terminals can be connected to the multiplexer output terminals of the relevant multiplexers (5A, 5B, 5C, 5D) in order to pass an excitation current through the Hall sensor element (2), and the control input terminals of the multiplexers (5A, 5B, 5C, 5D) are in control connection with a control device (12), so that the excitation current can be guided through the Hall sensor element (2) in succession in different directions.

7. The Hall sensor (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that The Hall sensor (1) has a multiplexer element (26), the multiplexer element having a first multiplexer input (27A) connected to the first connection portion (3A), a second multiplexer input (27B) connected to the second connection portion (3B), a third multiplexer input (27C) connected to the third connection portion (3C), a fourth multiplexer input (27D) connected to the fourth connection portion (3D), and a multiplexer output (28), the multiplexer element (26) having a control input (32), to which a control input can be applied. A control signal, according to which one of the multiplexer input terminals can be connected to the multiplexer output terminal (28) of the multiplexer element (26), and the control input terminals of the multiplexers (5A, 5B, 5C, 5D) and the control input terminals of the multiplexer element (26) are in control connection with the control device (12), so that the multiplexer output terminal (28) of the multiplexer element (26) is respectively connected to the connection parts of the Hall sensor element (2) that are not connected to the first supply terminal and the second supply terminal of the current supply source or the voltage supply source (7).

8. The Hall sensor (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that The output (17) of the NAND gate (13) is connected to the inverted first input (23) of the OR gate (24), and the output terminal (22) of the NOR gate (18) is connected to the non-inverted second input (25) of the OR gate (24), and the OR gate (24) has an output (33) for outputting a fourth error signal (Err).

9. The Hall sensor (1) according to claim 8, characterized in that The multiplexer output terminal (28) of the multiplexer element (26) is connected to the third input terminal (31) of the OR gate (24).

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