The Single Edge Nibble Transmission encoding scheme, SENT, SAE J2716, is intended for use in applications where high resolution sensor data needs to be communicated from a sensor to an Engine Control Unit (ECU). It is intended as a replacement for the lower resolution methods of 10 bit A/D's and PWM and a simpler low cost alternative to CAN or LIN. The implementation assumes that the sensor is a smart sensor containing a microprocessor or dedicated logic device (ASIC) to create the signal.
SENT is a unidirectional communications scheme from sensor / transmitting device to controller / receiving device which does not include a coordination signal from the controller / receiving device. The sensor signal is transmitted as a series of pulses with data encoded as falling to falling edge periods.