New Architecture for Intelligent Pressure Sensors with Analog and Digital Outputs

This article proposes a new architecture for intelligent pressure sensors based on the interconnection of a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) and a microcontroller. This configuration allows to obtain a highly accurate output using a reduced number of electronic components. Additionally, very low response times are obtained and different protocols for digital communication are implemented. This paper also discusses the compensation algorithm used to correct the sensitivity and offset dependence on temperature, as well as non-linearity of the pressure sensor response. Hardware and tests performed to verify the proposed architecture operation are described. The total error band obtained in the digital output was 0.07% of full scale output for a relative pressure sensor in a temperature range of 0 to 50 °C. The obtained results demonstrate the advantages of the new architecture proposed.