Parallel Digital Filter Controller for Narrowband Sensor Signals
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current data communication systems face challenges in efficiently processing and interpreting signals from various sensors across different applications, particularly in accurately converting physical conditions into digital signals for computing devices, which affects the reliability and precision of data processing.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a communication system that includes drive-sense circuits and processing modules capable of generating and interpreting power signals representative of sensor conditions, enabling effective data collection and processing across diverse sensor types and applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If narrow bandpass digital filtering is implemented for very narrow bandwidths, then measurement precision of sensor signals is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional filtering stages and processing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The filtering operation is divided into multiple sequential stages: first a wider bandpass filter is applied, then a narrower bandpass filter is applied to the already-filtered signal. This segmentation allows each filter stage to handle a less extreme filtering task, reducing the complexity burden on any single filter while achieving the overall very narrow bandwidth filtering goal
Solution Approach 2:
The wider bandpass filter is applied as a preliminary action before the narrower bandpass filter. This preliminary filtering removes out-of-band noise and interference early in the processing chain, which reduces the burden on the subsequent narrower filter and improves overall system performance without requiring the second filter to be excessively complex
2Measurement precision
If very narrow bandwidth digital filtering is applied to sensor signals, then data processing accuracy is improved, but processing time increases due to extended filtering operations
Solution Approach 1:
The filtering process is segmented into two stages with different bandwidths. The first stage uses a wider bandwidth filter that processes signals faster with fewer computational requirements, while the second stage applies a narrower bandwidth filter to the already-preprocessed signal. This segmentation reduces the total processing time compared to applying a single very narrow bandwidth filter directly to the raw signal
3Reliability
If multiple filtering stages are used for very narrow bandwidth filtering, then reliability of signal processing is improved, but computational resources required increase
Solution Approach 1:
The wider bandpass filter serves as a preliminary action that prepares the signal for the narrower bandpass filter by removing obvious out-of-band interference. This preliminary processing improves the signal-to-noise ratio early in the chain, which allows the subsequent narrower filter to operate more effectively with fewer computational iterations or adjustments, thereby improving reliability while managing computational resource consumption
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes converting, by n analog to digital converter circuits, n analog signals into n first digital signals having a first data rate frequency; converting, by n digital decimation filtering circuits, the n first digital signals into n second digital signals having a second data rate frequency; and converting, by n digital bandpass filter (BPF) circuits, the n second digital signals into a plurality of outbound digital signals having a third data rate frequency. The coefficients for the taps of a digital BPF circuit is set to produce a bandpass region approximately centered at the oscillation frequency of the analog signal and having a bandwidth tuned for filtering a pure tone component of the analog signal. The first data rate frequency is a first integer multiple of the third data rate frequency. The second data rate frequency is a second integer multiple of the third data rate frequency.