Reconfigurable sensor

Abstract

A reconfigurable sensor comprises a power supply module, a processor module, a peripheral interface module, a communication module, an external storage device and a sensor. The power module is used for supplying power; the peripheral interface module comprises a storage interface connected with an external storage device and a reconfigurable front end, and the reconfigurable front end comprises a conversion circuit, an ADC, an SPI and an IIC interface which are connected with the sensor; the storage interface reads and writes in external storage equipment, and a reconfigurable configuration library and a database are stored in the external storage equipment; a conversion circuit and an ADC interface in the reconfigurable front end are used for analog quantity signal acquisition; the SPI and IIC interface is used for collecting digital quantity signals; the processor module controls the reconfigurable front end to read sensor data, carries out data filtering processing on the sensor data, carries out decision making in combination with data of different sensors, and adjusts the measuring range, the frequency and the measurement physical quantity of the sensors; according to the invention, the measuring range and frequency can be changed according to the change of application requirements, and even the physical quantity can be measured.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a reconfigurable sensor and belongs to the field of signal measurement. Background Art

[0002] In modern warfare, decisions are driven by information, which can be in the form of thousands of sensors that provide information, monitoring and reconnaissance data. Information acquisition and processing capabilities play a vital role in future military combat systems. As an important carrier in the military field, spacecraft use a large number of various types of sensors. For example, the total number of sensors used by the US space shuttle and the Russian "Energy" carrier rocket during launch flights reached 3,500. These sensors cover multiple measurement parameters such as temperature, heat flow, noise, pressure, vibration, shock, overload, as well as multiple ranges and multiple frequency ranges.

[0003] Aerospace sensing needs are diversified, and the professional characteristics of small batches and multiple varieties have long existed. Intelligence, high performance, small size and low cost are the development trends. Reconfigurable sensor technology is an important development direction to solve the above problems and conform to the above trends. Aerospace reconfigurable sensor technology adopts the idea of ​​hardware reuse and software reconstruction to realize the reconfiguration of aerospace sensor measurement of physical quantity, range and frequency range. This technology can greatly improve the versatility and operability of sensors, reduce the production cost and use cost of sensors, and provide technical support for "smart aerospace".

[0004] At present, the research on reconfigurable technology for aerospace sensors at home and abroad is still blank. The research on sensor reconfiguration in other fields is only based on certain parameters and specific application scenarios. It is not universal and cannot give full play to the maximum advantages of reconfiguration. Summary of the invention

[0005] The technical problem solved by the present invention is: to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art, to provide a reconfigurable sensor, to design a universal reconfigurable sensor architecture, and to achieve the function of changing the range, frequency, and even measuring physical quantities according to changes in application requirements.

[0006] The technical solution of the present invention is:

[0007] A reconfigurable sensor comprises: a power module, a processor module, a peripheral interface module, a communication module, an external storage device and a sensor;

[0008] The power module implements the power management function, converting the total power into voltage and current to power each module and sensor;

[0009] The peripheral interface module includes a storage interface connected to an external storage device and a reconfigurable front end, and the reconfigurable front end includes a conversion circuit, ADC, SPI, and IIC interface connected to a sensor; the storage interface is used to read and write to the external storage device, and the external storage device stores a reconfigurable configuration library and a database; the conversion circuit and ADC interface in the reconfigurable front end are used for signal acquisition of analog output sensors; the SPI and IIC interfaces are used for signal acquisition of digital sensors;

[0010] The processor module is the core of the reconfigurable sensor. It controls the reconfigurable front end to read sensor data, filter the sensor data, make decisions based on the data from different sensors, and adjust the sensor range, frequency, and measured physical quantity.

[0011] The communication module outputs the sensor information processed by the processor module in digital form.

[0012] Further, a physical quantity measurement module, a filter reconstruction module and a range reconstruction module;

[0013] The physical quantity measurement module is used to control the reconfigurable front end and select different methods to read the physical quantity data measured by the sensor according to the sensor type; for sensors with analog output, the corresponding conversion circuit is connected, the reconfigurable configuration library and database are called, the analog signal is collected and the physical quantity data is calculated; for sensors with digital output, the corresponding digital interface is connected, the communication parameters are configured, and the physical quantity data is read according to the communication protocol specified by the sensor;

[0014] The filter reconstruction module is used to perform digital filtering on the measured physical quantity data, set different cutoff frequencies according to the characteristics of the sensor, filter out high-frequency clutter, and obtain useful data in the specified frequency band;

[0015] The range reconstruction module is used for switching the range of the sensor. It determines whether the sensor exceeds the upper and lower limits of the current range based on the filtered data. If it does not exceed, the filtered data is directly output. If it exceeds, the range is changed and the configuration file with the correct range is selected to re-measure.

[0016] Furthermore, the physical quantity measurement module controls the reconfigurable front end to read sensor data, specifically including:

[0017] (1) First, determine the sensor type. If it is an analog output sensor, proceed to step (2); if it is a digital output sensor, proceed to step (4);

[0018] (2) Select and connect the corresponding conversion circuit according to the sensor type to convert the capacitance, resistance, charge, and voltage analog signals output by the sensor into voltage signals of a uniform range;

[0019] (3) The user sends an instruction to call the reconfigurable configuration library and database to the processor module through the communication module. The physical quantity measurement module in the processor module uses the called reconfigurable configuration library to control the reconfigurable front end to power the sensor and collect data, and uses the called reconfigurable database to process the collected sensor data. The processing flow includes data correction and physical quantity calculation.

[0020] (4) For sensors with digital output, connect to the SPI or IIC digital interface according to the characteristics of the sensor interface, configure the communication parameters, and read the measured physical quantity data according to the communication protocol specified by the sensor.

[0021] Furthermore, the data correction refers to performing temperature compensation on the original data using the temperature drift coefficient in the database; the physical quantity calculation refers to obtaining the measured physical quantity data by calculation using a graduation table or a formula.

[0022] Furthermore, the reconfigurable configuration library stores the configuration information of the sensor, which is used to configure the power supply strategy and acquisition strategy of the sensor; the database stores the calibration data of the sensor.

[0023] Furthermore, the filter reconstruction module uses digital filtering to achieve the reconfiguration of filter parameters; the analog signal is converted into a digital signal after band-limited filtering and A / D conversion, and enters the digital filter to perform digital filtering.

[0024] Furthermore, the sensor is pre-divided into several ranges, each range corresponds to a set of configuration strategies, and the range is switched by changing the configuration.

[0025] Furthermore, after starting the measurement, the measurement is attempted from the middle range. When the measurement result exceeds the upper limit of the current range, the measurement is switched to the next range. When the measurement result is lower than the lower limit of the current range, the measurement is switched to the next range. When the measurement result is within the current range, the measurement is performed according to the configuration file of the current range.

[0026] The beneficial effects of the present invention compared with the prior art are:

[0027] (1) The present invention designs a universal reconfigurable sensor architecture, which can realize the reconfiguration of measurement parameters, range, and frequency;

[0028] (2) The present invention proposes a reconfigurable mechanism from three aspects: reconfigurable front end, reconfigurable filtering and reconfigurable range, to achieve online reconstruction and improve product production efficiency and ease of use. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the reconfigurable sensor architecture of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 2 System block diagram for the processor module

[0031] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the working mechanism of the reconfigurable front end;

[0032] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the working mechanism of the reconfigurable filter;

[0033] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the reconfigurable range working mechanism. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] The specific embodiments of the present invention are further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0035] The reconfigurable sensor proposed in this invention has the function of changing the range, frequency, and even measuring physical quantities according to changes in application requirements. Adopting the idea of ​​"software defines hardware", the functions of the system are defined by software, and the hardware is empowered by software to realize the modularization and universalization of the sensor hardware architecture. The main innovations of the reconfigurable sensor proposed in this invention include the following three aspects:

[0036] (1) Reconfigurable front end

[0037] According to the sensor type, the analog output sensor selects and connects to the corresponding conversion circuit, and then sends instructions to the processor to call the reconfigurable configuration library and database. The configuration library stores the configuration information of the sensor, which is used to configure the power supply strategy and acquisition strategy of the sensor. The database stores the calibration data of the sensor and processes the sensor data. The digital output sensor selects and connects to the corresponding digital interface, configures the communication parameters, and reads the measured physical quantity data according to the communication protocol specified by the sensor.

[0038] (2) Reconfigurable filtering

[0039] The digital filtering method is used to realize the reconfigurable function of the filtering parameters, which is more flexible and versatile than the traditional method;

[0040] (3) Reconfigurable range

[0041] The sensor is pre-divided into several ranges, each of which corresponds to a set of configuration strategies, and the range is switched by changing the configuration. After starting the measurement, the test is attempted from the middle range. When the test value exceeds the upper limit of the current range, it switches to the next range. When the test value is lower than the lower limit of the current range, it switches to the next range. When the test value is within the current range, it is tested according to the configuration file of the current range. The entire judgment and switching process is completed within 1ms to ensure the continuity of the measurement.

[0042] Specifically,

[0043] like Figure 1As shown, the present invention provides a reconfigurable sensor architecture, including a power module, a processor module, a peripheral interface module, a communication module, an external storage device and a sensor.

[0044] The power module implements the power management function, converting the total power into voltage and current to power each module and sensor;

[0045] The peripheral interface module includes a storage interface connected to an external storage device and a reconfigurable front end, and the reconfigurable front end includes a conversion circuit, ADC, SPI, and IIC interface connected to a sensor; the storage interface is used to read and write to the external storage device, and the external storage device stores a reconfigurable configuration library and a database; the conversion circuit and ADC interface in the reconfigurable front end are used for signal acquisition of analog output sensors; the SPI and IIC interfaces are used for signal acquisition of digital sensors;

[0046] The processor module is the core of the reconfigurable sensor. It controls the reconfigurable front end to read sensor data, filter the sensor data, make decisions based on the data from different sensors, and adjust the sensor range, frequency, and measured physical quantity.

[0047] The communication module outputs the sensor information processed by the processor module in digital form.

[0048] Among them, the processor module control system block diagram is as follows Figure 2 As shown:

[0049] The physical quantity measurement module is used to control the reconfigurable front end and select different methods to read the physical quantity data measured by the sensor according to the sensor type; for sensors with analog output, the corresponding conversion circuit is connected, the reconfigurable configuration library and database are called, the analog signal is collected and the physical quantity data is calculated; for sensors with digital output, the corresponding digital interface is connected, the communication parameters are configured, and the physical quantity data is read according to the communication protocol specified by the sensor;

[0050] The filter reconstruction module is used to perform digital filtering on the measured physical quantity data. Different cutoff frequencies can be set according to the characteristics of the sensor to filter out useless signals such as high-frequency clutter and obtain useful data in the specified frequency band.

[0051] The range reconstruction module is used for the range switching of the sensor. It determines whether the sensor exceeds the upper and lower limits of the current range based on the filtered data. If it does not exceed, it will be directly output. If it exceeds, the range will be changed and the configuration file with the correct range will be selected to re-measure.

[0052] Under the reconfigurable architecture, the reconfigurable front end, reconfigurable filtering algorithm and reconfigurable range are combined to achieve the reconfiguration of the measured physical quantity, frequency and range.

[0053] The physical quantity measurement module controls the reconfigurable front end to read sensor data, including:

[0054] (1) First, determine the sensor type. If it is an analog output sensor, proceed to step (2); if it is a digital output sensor, proceed to step (4);

[0055] (2) Select and connect the corresponding conversion circuit according to the sensor type to convert the capacitance, resistance, charge, and voltage analog signals output by the sensor into voltage signals of a uniform range;

[0056] (3) The user sends an instruction to call the reconfigurable configuration library and database to the processor module through the communication module. The physical quantity measurement module in the processor module uses the called reconfigurable configuration library to control the reconfigurable front end to power the sensor and collect data, and uses the called reconfigurable database to process the collected sensor data. The processing flow includes data correction and physical quantity calculation.

[0057] Data correction refers to temperature compensation of original data using the temperature drift coefficient in the database; the physical quantity calculation refers to obtaining measured physical quantity data by calculation using a graduation table or formula.

[0058] The reconfigurable configuration library stores the configuration information of the sensor, which is used to configure the power supply strategy and acquisition strategy of the sensor; the database stores the calibration data of the sensor.

[0059] (4) For sensors with digital output, connect to the SPI or IIC digital interface according to the characteristics of the sensor interface, configure the communication parameters, and read the measured physical quantity data according to the communication protocol specified by the sensor.

[0060] The filter reconstruction module uses digital filtering to achieve the reconfiguration of filter parameters; the analog signal is converted into a digital signal after band-limited filtering and A / D conversion, and enters the digital filter to perform digital filtering.

[0061] The sensor is pre-divided into several ranges, each of which corresponds to a set of configuration strategies, and the range is switched by changing the configuration. After starting the measurement, try to measure from the middle range. When the measurement result exceeds the upper limit of the current range, switch to the next range. When the measurement result is lower than the lower limit of the current range, switch to the next range. When the measurement result is within the current range, measure according to the configuration file of the current range.

[0062] Example:

[0063] Taking temperature sensors as an example, temperature sensors in spacecraft are mainly divided into three categories according to the temperature measurement principle: thermistors, thermocouples, and platinum resistors. They are also subdivided into several small categories according to the temperature measurement range, such as three-wire PT100, two-wire PT100, K-type thermocouple, etc. The processing circuits and calculation methods of various types of temperature sensors are different.

[0064] The working mechanism of the processor and reconfigurable front end is as follows Figure 3 As shown. First, determine the sensor type. For sensors with analog output, select and connect the corresponding conversion circuit according to the sensor type, and then send instructions to the processor to call the reconfigurable configuration library and database. The configuration library stores the configuration information of the sensor, which is used to configure the power supply strategy, acquisition strategy, etc. of the sensor. The database stores the calibration data of the sensor and processes the sensor data. For sensors with digital output, select and connect the corresponding digital interface, configure the communication parameters, and read the measured physical quantity data according to the communication protocol specified by the sensor.

[0065] Reconfigurable sensors use digital filtering to achieve the reconfiguration of filter parameters, which is more flexible and versatile than traditional methods. Figure 4 As shown, the analog signal becomes a digital signal after band-limited filtering and A / D conversion, and the digital filtering algorithm is mainly executed in the MCU.

[0066] The working mechanism of reconfigurable range is as follows Figure 5 As shown in the figure, the sensor is pre-divided into several ranges, each range corresponds to a set of configuration strategies, and the range is switched by changing the configuration. After starting the measurement, the temperature measurement is attempted from the middle range. When the temperature exceeds the upper limit of the current range, it starts to switch to the next range. When the temperature is lower than the lower limit of the current range, it switches to the next range. When the temperature is within the current range, the temperature is measured according to the configuration file of the current range. The entire judgment and switching process is completed within 1ms to ensure the continuity of temperature measurement.

[0067] Parts of the present invention that are not described in detail belong to common knowledge among those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A reconfigurable sensor, characterized in that include: Power module, processor module, peripheral interface module, communication module, external storage device and sensor; The power module implements the power management function, converting the total power into voltage and current to power each module and sensor; The peripheral interface module includes a storage interface connected to an external storage device and a reconfigurable front end, and the reconfigurable front end includes a conversion circuit, ADC, SPI, and IIC interface connected to a sensor; The storage interface is used to read and write to the external storage device, which stores the reconfigurable configuration library and database; the conversion circuit and ADC interface in the reconfigurable front end are used for signal acquisition of analog output sensors; the SPI and IIC interfaces are used for signal acquisition of digital sensors; The processor module is the core of the reconfigurable sensor. It controls the reconfigurable front end to read sensor data, filter the sensor data, make decisions based on the data from different sensors, and adjust the sensor range, frequency, and measured physical quantity. The communication module outputs the sensor information processed by the processor module in digital form.

2. A reconfigurable sensor according to claim 1, characterized in that: The processor module includes: a physical quantity measurement module, a filtering reconstruction module and a range reconstruction module; The physical quantity measurement module is used to control the reconfigurable front end and select different methods to read the physical quantity data measured by the sensor according to the sensor type; for sensors with analog output, the corresponding conversion circuit is connected, the reconfigurable configuration library and database are called, the analog signal is collected and the physical quantity data is calculated; for sensors with digital output, the corresponding digital interface is connected, the communication parameters are configured, and the physical quantity data is read according to the communication protocol specified by the sensor; The filter reconstruction module is used to perform digital filtering on the measured physical quantity data, set different cutoff frequencies according to the characteristics of the sensor, filter out high-frequency clutter, and obtain useful data in the specified frequency band; The range reconstruction module is used for switching the range of the sensor. It determines whether the sensor exceeds the upper and lower limits of the current range based on the filtered data. If it does not exceed, the filtered data is directly output. If it exceeds, the range is changed and the configuration file with the correct range is selected to re-measure.

3. A reconfigurable sensor according to claim 2, characterized in that: The processor module includes: a physical quantity measurement module controls the reconfigurable front end to read sensor data, specifically including: (1) First, determine the sensor type. If it is an analog output sensor, proceed to step (2); if it is a digital output sensor, proceed to step (4); (2) Select and connect the corresponding conversion circuit according to the sensor type to convert the capacitance, resistance, charge, and voltage analog signals output by the sensor into voltage signals of a uniform range; (3) The user sends an instruction to call the reconfigurable configuration library and database to the processor module through the communication module. The physical quantity measurement module in the processor module uses the called reconfigurable configuration library to control the reconfigurable front end to power the sensor and collect data, and uses the called reconfigurable database to process the collected sensor data. The processing flow includes data correction and physical quantity calculation. (4) For sensors with digital output, connect to the SPI or IIC digital interface according to the characteristics of the sensor interface, configure the communication parameters, and read the measured physical quantity data according to the communication protocol specified by the sensor.

4. A reconfigurable sensor according to claim 3, characterized in that: The processor module includes: the data correction refers to temperature compensation of the original data by using the temperature drift coefficient in the database; the physical quantity calculation refers to obtaining the measured physical quantity data by using a graduation table or a formula.

5. The reconfigurable sensor according to claim 3, characterized in that: The processor module includes: a reconfigurable configuration library storing configuration information of the sensor for configuring the power supply strategy and acquisition strategy of the sensor; and a database storing calibration data of the sensor.

6. The reconfigurable sensor according to claim 2, characterized in that: The processor module includes: the filter reconstruction module adopts digital filtering to realize the reconfiguration of filter parameters; the analog signal is converted into a digital signal after band-limited filtering and A / D conversion, and enters the digital filter to perform digital filtering.

7. The reconfigurable sensor according to claim 2, characterized in that: The processor module includes: the sensor is pre-divided into several ranges, each range corresponds to a set of configuration strategies, and the range switching is performed by changing the configuration.

8. The reconfigurable sensor according to claim 7, characterized in that: The processor module includes: after starting the measurement, trying to measure from the middle range, when the measurement result exceeds the upper limit of the current range, starting to switch to the next range, when the measurement result is lower than the lower limit of the current range, switching to the next range, and when the measurement result is within the current range, measuring according to the configuration file of the current range.

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