Voltage Sensing via Communication Signal Timing Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current voltage monitoring solutions for intelligent systems, such as digital lighting, require dedicated hardware and are costly and complex, making them unsuitable for small form factor systems and lacking in flexibility.
Innovation Solution
A voltage sensing device that analyzes existing communications signals to determine operating voltage by measuring timing changes, using a communications interface, timer, and processor to derive a data metric from the signal, without the need for additional hardware modifications or local sensors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a dedicated voltage measurement module is provided in the circuit, then voltage monitoring accuracy is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses existing communication signals as an intermediary to indirectly measure voltage. Instead of directly measuring voltage with dedicated hardware, the system measures timing characteristics of communication signals that are already present in the system, thereby inferring voltage levels without additional voltage sensing components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/electrical voltage measurement system with a signal processing approach. By analyzing timing characteristics of digital communication signals through software processing, the system substitutes traditional analog voltage measurement hardware with a digital signal analysis method.
2Measurement precision
If a dedicated voltage measurement module is provided in the circuit, then voltage monitoring accuracy is improved, but package size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the existing communication interface multi-functional by enabling it to perform both its original communication function and voltage monitoring function simultaneously. The same communication bus and timing infrastructure are used for both data communication and voltage sensing, eliminating the need for separate voltage measurement hardware.
Solution Approach 2:
The communication signals serve as an intermediary that carries both data and voltage information. By extracting voltage information from the timing characteristics of these existing signals, the system avoids adding separate voltage sensing hardware that would increase package size.
3Device complexity
If existing communication signals are analyzed for voltage detection, then device complexity is reduced, but measurement precision may be affected
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces analog voltage measurement with digital signal timing analysis. By using high-resolution timing measurements of communication signal edges and transitions, the system achieves accurate voltage detection through digital processing rather than analog measurement, maintaining precision while reducing hardware complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary calibration to establish the relationship between communication signal timing characteristics and voltage levels. By pre-characterizing how timing parameters vary with voltage, the system can accurately infer voltage from timing measurements without requiring complex real-time analysis, thereby maintaining measurement precision.
Data Source
AI summary
A sensing device is for sensing an operating voltage of a remote device. A communications interface receives communications signals originating from the remote device over a communications bus. A data sampler takes data readings of a communications signal at a predetermined set of timing instants defined by the sensing device. A data metric (such as a duty cycle of high and low states) is obtained from the data readings and from this 5 an operating voltage of the remote device is obtained, based on a relationship between the voltage and the data metric. The invention is based on detecting timing changes which result from voltage changes. In particular, the slope of rising and falling edges of the communications signal are influenced by the voltage level, and this in turn influences the timing of high states (1s) and low states (0s).