Hall-Sensor

Abstract

Hall sensor (1) with a Hall sensor element (2) having several spaced-apart connection points (3A, 3B, 3C, 3D), with a current or voltage supply source (7) having a first and a second supply connection (6A, 6B) for outputting a supply current or a supply voltage, wherein the first supply connection (6A) for supplying a current to the Hall sensor element (2) is connected to a first connection point (3A) of the Hall sensor element (2) and the second supply connection (6B) is connected to a second connection point (3B) of the Hall sensor element (2), characterized in that the Hall sensor has a NAND gate (13) which is connected to a first input (14A) to the first connection point (3A) of the Hall sensor element (2) and to a second input (14B) to the second connection point (3B) of the Hall sensor element (2), and an output (17) for outputting a first error signal (Err1) has,which occurs during an impermissible first operating state in which a voltage corresponding to the logical value “1” is present at both the first and second terminals (3A, 3B) of the Hall sensor element (2) due to a short circuit of the second terminal (3B) with the first supply terminal (6A) or a line break at the second terminal (3B), and / or that the Hall sensor (1) has a NOR gate (18) connected to the third terminal (3C) via a first input terminal (19A) and to the fourth terminal (3D) via a second input terminal (19B), and has an output terminal (22) for outputting a second fault signal (Err2) caused by a short circuit to ground or a missing supply voltage at the first terminal (3A), which occurs during an impermissible second operating state in which a voltage corresponding to the logical value “1” is present at both the first and fourth terminals (3C,3D) of the Hall sensor element (2) a voltage is applied which is assigned the logical value “0”.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a Hall sensor with a Hall sensor element having a plurality of spaced-apart connection points, with a current or voltage supply source having a first and a second supply connection for outputting a supply current or a supply voltage, wherein the first supply connection for feeding a current into the Hall sensor element is connected or connectable to a first connection point of the Hall sensor element and the second supply connection is connected or connectable to a second connection point of the Hall sensor element.

[0002] Such a Hall sensor is known from DE 102 04 427 B4. It has a roughly plate-shaped Hall sensor element with several connection points spaced apart from one another in the circumferential direction at its edge. The connection points are offset at equal angular intervals relative to a center such that two connection points are diametrically opposite one another. When an excitation current is fed into the Hall sensor element by connecting two diametrically opposed connection points to the supply terminals of a current or voltage supply source, and a magnetic flux density passes through the Hall sensor element perpendicular to its plate plane, the Lorentz force acts on the moving electrons of the current, deflecting the electrons perpendicular to their direction of motion in the plate plane.This creates an electric field in the Hall sensor element perpendicular to the current flow, which can be tapped as an electrical voltage between the terminals 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 by an undesirable offset voltage. Hall sensor elements are typically manufactured as an integrated circuit, together with the power source and signal processing electronics, and mounted on a chip carrier and in a plastic housing. Due to production tolerances and during assembly, mechanical stresses can occur in the semiconductor crystal, which can cause the offset voltage.

[0004] To compensate for offset voltages, the Hall sensor known from DE 102 04 427 B4 uses the so-called spinning Hall principle. The excitation current is passed through the Hall sensor element in different directions, and the average value is calculated from the measured voltages.

[0005] Although the Hall sensor known from DE 102 04 427 B4 has proven itself in practice in a wide variety of applications, it still requires improvement. Due to the constantly growing number of Hall sensors installed in motor vehicles, for example, the requirements for the reliability of Hall sensors have increased. The failure of just a single Hall sensor can lead to a malfunction of the vehicle if the error is not detected and, if necessary, compensated for by appropriate measures.

[0006] The task is therefore to create a Hall sensor of the type mentioned above, which makes it possible to easily detect and display any errors that may occur during the operation of the Hall sensor.

[0007] This object is achieved with the features of claim 1. These provide that the Hall sensor has a NAND gate which is connected to a first input with the first connection point of the Hall sensor element and to a second input with the second connection point of the Hall sensor element and has an output for outputting a first error signal, and / or that the Hall sensor has a NOR gate which is connected to a first input terminal with the third connection point and to a second input terminal with the fourth connection point and has an output terminal for outputting a second error signal.

[0008] The inputs of the NAND gate are connected to the connection points of the Hall sensor element, to which the power source is connected. For the Hall sensor to function properly, one of these connection points must be connected to the supply voltage and the other to ground. However, if the first and second connection points are simultaneously connected to the supply voltage potential, a voltage corresponding to the logical value "1" is present at both inputs of the NAND gate. Thus, a voltage corresponding to the logical value "0" is present at the output of the NAND gate. This value indicates an impermissible operating condition.

[0009] Alternatively or in addition to the NAND gate, the Hall sensor can have a NOR gate whose inputs are connected to the connection points of the Hall sensor element to which the power supply is not connected. Since the Hall sensor element behaves approximately like a Wheatstone bridge, with a symmetrical design of the Hall sensor element, half of the supply voltage applied between the first and second connection points is applied to ground at the third and fourth connection points when there is no Hall voltage and no offset voltages. Thus, when the Hall sensor is functioning properly, a voltage is applied to the third and fourth connection points that is assigned the logical value "1". Due to the inverting function of the NOR gate, a voltage corresponding to the logical value "0" is output at the output connection of the NOR gate when the Hall sensor is functioning properly.This value indicates that the NOR gate has not detected an error condition.

[0010] In practical operation, the voltages at these connection points may deviate slightly from these values ​​due to the Hall voltage and offset voltages. However, these deviations are so small that they do not affect the assignment of the voltages present at the third and fourth connection points of the Hall sensors to the logical values ​​"0" and "1," respectively.

[0011] If, due to an error, no voltage is present at either the third or fourth terminal of the Hall sensor, or a voltage corresponding to the logical value "0" is present, a voltage corresponding to the logical value "1" is output at the output terminal of the NOR gate. The second error signal present at the output terminal of the NOR gate can therefore be used as a non-inverting error signal.

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

[0013] In a further development of the invention, the NOR gate has a third input terminal connected to the first terminal of the Hall sensor element. The third input can be used to detect the absence of supply voltage at the first terminal if, at the same time, no voltage is applied to ground at the second and fourth terminals.

[0014] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the NAND gate has a fourth input connected to the fourth terminal of the Hall sensor element. The first error signal indicates when a potential corresponding to the logical

[0015] The value "0" is assigned, especially the ground potential. This corresponds to an impermissible operating state of the Hall sensor.

[0016] In a preferred development of the invention, it is provided that the Hall sensor has at least one number of multiplexers corresponding to the number of connection points of the Hall sensor element, that each multiplexer has a first multiplexer input connected to the first supply connection, a second multiplexer input connected to the second supply connection, and a multiplexer output connected to a connection point of the Hall sensor element assigned to the respective multiplexer, that each multiplexer has a control input to which a control signal can be applied, depending on which one of the multiplexer inputs can be connected to the multiplexer output of the respective multiplexer for flowing an excitation current through the Hall sensor element, and that the control inputs of the multiplexers are in control connection with a control device in such a way thatThe excitation current can be passed through the Hall sensor element in different directions one after the other. The Hall sensor can then be operated according to the spinning Hall principle to compensate for unwanted offset voltages superimposed on the Hall voltage.

[0017] It is advantageous if the Hall sensor has a multiplexer element which has a first multiplexer input connected to the first connection point, a second multiplexer input connected to the second connection point, a third multiplexer input connected to the third connection point, a fourth multiplexer input connected to the fourth connection point, and a multiplexer output, that the multiplexer element has a control input to which a control signal can be applied, depending on which one of the multiplexer inputs can be connected to the multiplexer output of the multiplexer element, that the control inputs of the multiplexers and the multiplexer element are in control connection with the control device in such a way that the multiplexer output of the multiplexer element is each connected to a connection point of the Hall sensor element,which is not connected to any supply terminal of the current or voltage supply source. The multiplexer output can be used to output a third error signal, which indicates if an error has occurred during operation of the Hall sensor according to the spinning Hall principle, for example, if the control device does not output a control signal to the control inputs of the multiplexer or if the control signal is not passed on or is not passed on correctly between the individual power supply phases.

[0018] It is advantageous if the output of the NAND gate is connected to an inverting first input of an OR gate, and the output terminal of the NOR gate is connected to a non-inverting second input of the OR gate, and if the OR gate has an output for outputting a fourth error signal. In this case, the third error signal is active if either a voltage associated with the logical value "0" (e.g., ground potential) or a voltage associated with the logical value "1" (e.g., the supply voltage) is present at all connection points of the Hall sensor element.

[0019] If necessary, the multiplexer output of the multiplexer element can be connected to a third input of the OR gate. The third input can also be an inverting input, indirectly connected to the multiplexer output via an additional inverter. The fourth error signal then also indicates a possible failure of the spinning Hall sensor's operation.

[0020] It should also be mentioned that in the Hall sensor according to the invention, the Hall sensor element can be configured as a vertical Hall sensor element or as a horizontal Hall sensor element. A vertical Hall sensor element is understood to be a Hall sensor element that is sensitive to magnetic flux densities arranged parallel to the chip surface of the semiconductor chip. A horizontal or lateral Hall sensor element is understood to be a Hall sensor element that is sensitive to magnetic flux densities arranged perpendicular to the chip surface of the semiconductor chip.

[0021] Exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing. It shows: Fig. 1 a block diagram of a Hall sensor operating according to the spinning Hall principle, Fig. 2 a schematic representation of a monitoring device of a first embodiment of the Hall sensor, Fig. 3 a table listing the electrical voltages at the connection points of a Hall sensor element and error signals for various error states of the first embodiment of the Hall sensor, Fig. 4 a schematic representation of a monitoring device of a second embodiment of the Hall sensor, and Fig. 5 a table in which the electrical voltages at the connection points of a Hall sensor element and error signals for various error states of the second embodiment of the Hall sensor are listed.

[0022] One in Fig. A Hall sensor, designated as a whole by 1, comprises a semiconductor chip into which a plate-shaped Hall sensor element 2 is integrated. The Hall sensor element 2 consists of a semiconductor material, such as silicon, and has at its edge several spaced-apart connection points 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, which are offset by 90° from one another with respect to an imaginary central axis arranged orthogonally to the plane spanned by the Hall sensor element 2 and passing through a center of symmetry 4.

[0023] The connection points 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D are connected to a switching device, which has a multiplexer 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D for each connection point 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D. An output terminal of each multiplexer 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D is connected to a connection point 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D assigned to it. Each multiplexer 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D has two inputs, which are connected to supply terminals 6A, 6B of a current or voltage supply source 7. This supply voltage V provided by the supply source 7 B or this supply current provided by the supply source 7 serves to feed an excitation current into the Hall sensor element 2.

[0024] In a first phase of the current supply, a first supply connection 6A is connected via a first multiplexer 5A to the first connection point 3A of the Hall sensor element 2 and the second supply connection 6B is connected via a second multiplexer 5B to a second connection point 3B of the Hall sensor element 2.

[0025] In a second phase of the current supply, the second supply connection 6B is connected via a third multiplexer 5C to a third connection point 3C of the Hall sensor element 2 and the first supply connection 6A is connected via a fourth multiplexer 5D to a fourth connection point 3D of the Hall sensor element 2.

[0026] In a third phase of the current supply, the first supply terminal 6A is connected to the second connection point 3B of the Hall sensor element 2 via the second multiplexer 5B, and the second supply terminal 6B is connected to the first connection point 3A of the Hall sensor element 2 via the first multiplexer 5A. Thus, in the third phase, the excitation current flows in the opposite direction to that in the first phase.

[0027] In a fourth phase of the current supply, the first supply terminal 6A is connected via the third multiplexer 5C to the third connection point 3C of the Hall sensor element 2, and the second supply terminal 6B is connected via the fourth multiplexer 5D to a fourth connection point 3D of the Hall sensor element 2. The excitation current thus flows in the opposite direction in the fourth phase as in the second phase.

[0028] Two further inputs of each multiplexer 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D are electrically connected to input terminals 11, 12 of a measuring device 8, which is provided for measuring the voltages between two diametrically opposed connection points 3A, 3B and 3C, 3D, respectively. The measuring device 8 has a digital / analog converter (not shown in detail in the drawing) for digitizing the measured voltages, which is connected to a data storage device 9 for storing measured values. The data storage device 9 is connected to an evaluation device 10, in which the measured voltage values ​​are processed in order to compensate, in a manner known per se, for offset voltages contained therein, which are superimposed on the Hall voltages. During the measurement of the Hall voltage, the Hall sensor element 2 is permeated transversely to its plane of extension by a magnetic flux density, which is not shown in detail in the drawing and, for example, is in the plane of the drawing of Fig. 1 can flow in.

[0029] The multiplexers 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D each have a control input 11A, 11B, 11C, 11D, which is connected to a common control device 12. By sending a corresponding control signal to the control inputs 11A, 11B, 11C, 11D, the respective multiplexer 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D can be configured such that the connection point 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D connected to the output terminal of the multiplexer 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D is electrically connected to or disconnected from one of the inputs of the first multiplexer 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D. The multiplexers 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D are synchronized such that in each power supply phase, two diametrically opposite connection points 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D are connected to the power source 7 and the other two connection points 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D are connected to the measuring device 8.

[0030] As in Fig. As can be seen in Figure 2, the evaluation device 10 has a wired NAND gate 13, which is connected to a first input 14A with the first connection point 3A, to a second input 14B with a second connection point 3B, to a third input 14C with the third connection point 3C, and to a fourth input 14D with the fourth connection point 3D of the Hall sensor element 2. An output of the NAND gate 13 serves to output a first error signal / Err1.

[0031] As in Fig. 2, the NAND gate 13 has four N-channel field-effect transistors 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, which are connected in series with their source-drain paths and a pull-up resistor element 16. The first input 14A of the NAND gate 13 is connected to the gate contact of a first N-channel field-effect transistor 15A, the second input 14B of the NAND gate 13 is connected to the gate contact of a second N-channel field-effect transistor 15B, the third input 14C of the NAND gate 13 is connected to the gate contact of a third N-channel field-effect transistor 15C, and the fourth input 14D of the NAND gate 13 is connected to the gate contact of a fourth N-channel field-effect transistor 15D.

[0032] The drain contact of the third field-effect transistor 15C is connected to a first terminal of the pull-up resistance element 16 and the second terminal of the pull-up resistance element 16 is connected to the supply voltage V Bleading first supply terminal 6A of supply source 7. The drain contact of third field-effect transistor 15C is also connected to an output 17 of NAND gate 13. The source contact of third field-effect transistor 15C is connected to the drain contact of second field-effect transistor 15B, the source contact of second field-effect transistor 15B is connected to the drain contact of fourth field-effect transistor 15D, and the source contact of fourth field-effect transistor 15D is connected to the drain contact of first field-effect transistor 15A. The source contact of first field-effect transistor 15A is connected to a ground terminal.

[0033] When a voltage corresponding to the logical value "1" is applied to all inputs 14A, 14B, 14C, and 14D of the NAND gate 13, all field-effect transistors 15A, 15B, 15C, and 15D are switched on. A current then flows through the pull-up resistor element 16, causing a voltage drop across the pull-up resistor element 16, which lowers the potential at the output 17 of the NAND gate to a value corresponding to the logical value "0." This value indicates that there is a fault in the Hall sensor 1 ( Fig. 3).

[0034] If a voltage corresponding to the logical value "0" is present at at least one input 14A, 14B, 14C, and 14D of NAND gate 13, at least one field-effect transistor 15A, 15B, 15C, and 15D is blocked, and the current flow through pull-up resistor element 16 is interrupted. The potential at output 17 of the NAND gate is then at a value corresponding to the logical value "1." This value indicates that NAND gate 13 has not detected a fault in Hall sensor 1.

[0035] As in Fig. 2, the evaluation device 10 also has a wired NOR gate 18, which is connected to a first input terminal 19A with the third connection point 3C, to a second input terminal 19B with the fourth connection point 3D, to a third input terminal 19C with the first connection point 3A, and to a fourth input terminal 19D with the second connection point 3B of the Hall sensor element 2. An output terminal 22 of the NOR gate 18 serves to output a second error signal Err2.

[0036] As in Fig. As can be seen in Figure 2, the NOR gate 18 has four P-channel field-effect transistors 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, which are connected in series with their source-drain paths and a pull-down resistor element 21. The first input terminal 19A of the NOR gate 18 is connected to the gate contact of a first P-channel field-effect transistor 20A, the second input terminal 19B of the NOR gate 18 is connected to the gate contact of a second P-channel field-effect transistor 20B, the third input 19C of the NOR gate 18 is connected to the gate contact of a third P-channel field-effect transistor 20C, and the fourth input 19D of the NOR gate 18 is connected to the gate contact of a fourth P-channel field-effect transistor 20D.

[0037] The drain contact of the third P-channel field effect transistor 20C is connected to the supply voltage V Bleading first supply terminal 6A of the supply source 7. 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 a first terminal of the pull-down resistance element 21, and the second terminal of the pull-down resistance element 21 is connected to the ground terminal. The source contact of the first P-channel field-effect transistor 20A is also connected to the output terminal 22 of the NOR gate 18.

[0038] 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. A current then flows through the pull-down resistor element 21, causing a voltage drop across the pull-down resistor element 21, which sets the potential at the output terminal 22 of the NOR gate to a value corresponding to the logical value "1." This value indicates that a fault exists in the Hall sensor 1 ( Fig. 3).

[0039] If a voltage other than 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 blocked, and the current flow 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 corresponding to the logical value "0." This value indicates that the NOR gate 18 has not detected an error in the Hall sensor 1.

[0040] As in Fig. As can be seen in Figure 2, the output 17 of the NAND gate 13 is connected to an inverting first input 23 of an OR gate 24. The output terminal 22 of the NOR gate 18 is connected to a non-inverting second input 25 of an OR gate 24. An error signal Err present at the output 33 of the OR gate 24 is active when the NAND gate and / or the NOR gate has detected an error in the Hall sensor 1 ( Fig. 3).

[0041] The Fig. 4 illustrated embodiment corresponds to the embodiment from Fig. 2, but additionally has a device for detecting a spinning error. For this purpose, the evaluation device 10 has 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.

[0042] 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 by its drain terminal to a first terminal of a pull-up resistor 30 and an inverting third input 31 of the OR gate 24. A third error signal Err3 is applied via the drain terminal to the third input 31 of the OR gate 24. A second terminal of the pull-up resistor 30 is connected to the supply voltage V B leading first supply terminal 6A of the supply source 7. The source terminal of the transistor element 29 is connected to the ground terminal.

[0043] The multiplexer element 26 further has a control input 31 connected to the control device 12, to which a control signal can be applied, depending on 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 such that the excitation current can be conducted through the Hall sensor element 2 in different directions during the individual energization phases and the multiplexer output 28 of the multiplexer element 26 is each connected to a connection point 3C, 3D of the Hall sensor element 2 which is not connected to any supply connection 6A, 6B of the supply source 7.

[0044] As can be seen from Fig. As can be seen from Figure 5, the third error signal Err3 has the logical value "1" if a connection point 3C, 3D of the Hall sensor element 2, which is not connected to a supply connection 6A, 6B of the power source, has a potential assigned to the logical value "0". Thus, the third error signal Err3 is active if the relevant connection point of the Hall sensor element 2 is connected to ground, i.e., a spinning error is present. A spinning error can occur, for example, if the control device 12 does not output a control signal to the control inputs 11A, 11B, 11C, 11D, or if the control signal is not passed on or is not passed on correctly between the individual power supply phases.

[0045] How the Fig.5, the Hall sensor 1 can also be disturbed by the fact that at a connection point 3C, 3D of the Hall sensor element 2 which is not connected to a supply connection 6A, 6B of the supply source, the supply voltage V B In a Hall sensor, where the measured Hall voltage is digitized using an analog / digital converter, this error can be detected by comparing the analog voltage and / or the resulting digital signal with a specified value range and generating an error signal if the corresponding signal lies outside the value range.

Claims

[1] Hall sensor (1) with a Hall sensor element (2) having a plurality of spaced-apart connection points (3A, 3B, 3C, 3D), with a current or voltage supply source (7) having a first and a second supply connection (6A, 6B) for outputting a supply current or a supply voltage, wherein the first supply connection (6A) for feeding a current into the Hall sensor element (2) is connected to a first connection point (3A) of the Hall sensor element (2) and the second supply connection (6B) is connected to a second connection point (3B) of the Hall sensor element (2), characterized bythat the Hall sensor has a NAND gate (13) which is connected to a first input (14A) with the first connection point (3A) of the Hall sensor element (2) and to a second input (14B) with the second connection point (3B) of the Hall sensor element (2), and has an output (17) for outputting a first error signal (Err1) which occurs in an impermissible first operating state in which a voltage is applied to the first and second connection points (3A, 3B) of the Hall sensor element (2) due to a short circuit of the second connection point (3B) with the first supply connection (6A) or a line break at the second connection point (3B), which voltage is assigned to the logical value "1", and / or that the Hall sensor (1) has a NOR gate (18),which is connected to the third connection point (3C) by a first input terminal (19A) and to the fourth connection point (3D) by a second input terminal (19B), and has an output terminal (22) for outputting a second error signal (Err2) caused by a ground fault or a missing supply voltage at the first connection point (3A), which occurs in an impermissible second operating state in which a voltage is applied to the third and fourth connection points (3C, 3D) of the Hall sensor element (2) which is assigned the logical value "0". [2] Hall sensor (1) according to claim 1, characterized by that the NAND gate (13) has a third input (14C) which is connected to the third connection point (3C) of the Hall sensor element (2). [3] Hall sensor (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized bythat the NOR gate (18) has a third input terminal (19C) which is connected to the first terminal (3A) of the Hall sensor element (2). [4] Hall sensor (1) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by that the NAND gate (13) has a fourth input (14D) which is connected to the fourth connection point (3D) of the Hall sensor element (2). [5] Hall sensor (1) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by that the NOR gate (18) has a fourth input terminal (19D) which is connected to the second connection point (3B) of the Hall sensor element (2). [6] Hall sensor (1) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized bythat the Hall sensor (1) has at least one number of multiplexers (5A, 5B, 5C, 5D) corresponding to the number of connection points (3A, 3B, 3C, 3D) of the Hall sensor element (2), that each multiplexer (5A, 5B, 5C, 5D) has a first multiplexer input connected to the first supply connection (6A), a second multiplexer input connected to the second supply connection (6B), and a multiplexer output connected to a connection point (3A, 3B, 3C, 3D) of the Hall sensor element (2) assigned to the respective multiplexer (3A, 3B, 3C, 3D), that each multiplexer (3A, 3B, 3C, 3D) has a control input (11A, 11B, 11C, 11D) to which a control signal can be applied, depending on which one of the multiplexer inputs for flowing through the Hall sensor element (2) with an excitation current can be connected to the multiplexer output of the respective multiplexer (5A, 5B, 5C, 5D),and that the control inputs of the multiplexers (5A, 5B, 5C, 5D) are connected to a control device (12) in such a way that the excitation current can be passed through the Hall sensor element (2) in different directions one after the other. [7] Hall sensor (1) according to claim 6, characterized bythat the Hall sensor (1) has a multiplexer element (26) 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), that the multiplexer element (26) has a control input (32) to which a control signal can be applied, depending on which one of the multiplexer inputs (27A, 27B, 27C, 27D) can be connected to the multiplexer output (28) of the multiplexer element (26), that the control inputs of the multiplexers (5A, 5B, 5C, 5D) and the multiplexer element (28) are in control connection with the control device (12) in such a way that the multiplexer output (28) of the multiplexer element (26) is each connected to a connection point (3C,3D) of the Hall sensor element (2), which is not connected to any supply terminal (6A, 6B) of the current or voltage supply source (7). [8] Hall sensor (1) according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized by that the output (17) of the NAND gate (13) is connected to an inverting first input (23) of an OR gate (24) and the output terminal (22) of the NOR gate (18) is connected to a non-inverting second input (25) of the OR gate (24), and that the OR gate (24) has an output (33) for outputting a fourth error signal (Err). [9] Hall sensor (1) according to claim 7 or 8, characterized by that the multiplexer output (28) of the multiplexer element (26) is connected to a third input (31) of the OR gate (24).

Images