Granted Patent B2

US 8,093,890 · App. 12/355,042 · Granted Jan 10, 2012

Abstract

Claims (39)

1. A hall-effect switching system comprising:

a hall-effect switch that enables and disables current flow between an input of said hall-effect switch and an output of said hall-effect switch;

a voltage comparison module that compares a supply voltage and a reference voltage; and

a resistance bypass module that selectively adjusts a voltage at said input of said hall-effect switch based on said comparison,

wherein said resistance bypass module includes a transistor and a resistance in parallel, wherein said transistor switches states based on said comparison.

2. The hall-effect switching system of claim 1 wherein said voltage comparison module determines when said supply voltage is less than or equal to said reference voltage, and adjusts said voltage at said input based on said determination.

3. The hall-effect switching system of claim 1 wherein said reference voltage is adjusted based on said comparison.

4. The hall-effect switching system of claim 3 wherein said voltage comparison module determines when said supply voltage is greater than or equal to said adjusted reference voltage, and adjusts said voltage at said input based on said determination.

5. The hall-effect switching system of claim 1 wherein said resistance bypass module increases said voltage at said input based on said comparison.

6. The hall-effect switching system of claim 1 wherein said resistance bypass module includes a second transistor, wherein said second transistor selectively biases said transistor based on said comparison.

7. The hall-effect switching system of claim 6 wherein said voltage comparison module includes an operational amplifier that selectively biases said second transistor based on said comparison.

8. A hall-effect switching method comprising:

comparing a supply voltage and a reference voltage; and

selectively adjusting a voltage at an input of a hall-effect switch based on said comparison,

wherein said hall-effect switch enables and disables current flow between said input of said hall-effect switch and an output of said hall-effect switch, and

wherein said adjusting said voltage at said input comprises switching states of a transistor that is connected in parallel with a resistance based on said comparison.

9. The hall-effect switching method of claim 8 further comprising:

determining when said supply voltage is less than or equal to said reference voltage; and

adjusting said voltage at said input based on said determination.

10. The hall-effect switching method of claim 8 further comprising:

adjusting said reference voltage based on said comparison.

11. The hall-effect switching method of claim 10 further comprising:

determining when said supply voltage is greater than or equal to said adjusted reference voltage; and

adjusting said voltage at said input based on said determination.

12. The hall-effect switching method of claim 8 further comprising:

increasing said voltage at said input based on said comparison.

13. The hall-effect switching method of claim 8 further comprising:

selectively biasing said transistor by switching states of a second transistor based on said comparison.

14. The hall-effect switching method of claim 13 further comprising:

adjusting an output of an operational amplifier based on said comparison; and

selectively biasing said second transistor based on said output of said operational amplifier.

15. A hall-effect switching system comprising:

a hall-effect switch;

a voltage comparison module that compares a supply voltage and a reference voltage; and

a resistance bypass module that selectively adjusts a voltage output to said hall-effect switch based on said comparison,

wherein said resistance bypass module includes a transistor and a resistance in parallel, and

wherein said transistor switches states based on said comparison.

16. The hall-effect switching system of claim 15 wherein said resistance bypass module includes a second transistor, wherein said second transistor selectively biases said transistor based on said comparison.

17. The hall-effect switching system of claim 16 wherein said voltage comparison module includes an operational amplifier that selectively biases said second transistor based on said comparison.

Assignments (8)