A novel sensing technique based on a sensor array

A novel sensing approach based on a sensor array has been described. The pr oposed system employs an array of temperature sensors. The output from each sensor is converted to a one-bit binary signal through a comparator. By an alyzing the number of "ones" or "zeros" at the outputs of the comparator, t he sensor output is estimated. By further successively reducing the referen ce voltage range applied to the comparators, the true value of the sensor o utput can be accurately determined within several iterations. The system ha s shown a certain degree of redundancy as the measurement does not rely on a particular sensor. Initial experiment using 30 sensors has shown that the relative errors for temperature measurement are between 0.2% and 1.4%. Alt hough the experiment is performed on temperature measurement, the principle of the proposed approach is generic and can be applied to other sensing sy stems. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.