Patent 7461536 was granted and assigned to Bosch on December, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A circuit configuration for operating a gas sensor is described, including a reference gas space in which an electrode is situated which is supplied with a reference gas pump current to maintain the concentration of the reference gas. A diagnostic system determines a concentration change of the reference gas via a change in the reference pump current and a time-based evaluation of the sensor signal of the gas sensor.