Proportional to absolute temperature circuit

摘要

A proportional to absolute temperature, PTAT, circuit is provided. By judiciously combining circuit elements it is possible to generate a voltage at an output node of the circuit that is temperature dependent. Such a PTAT circuit can be used as a temperature sensor or can be combined with other temperature dependent circuits to provide a voltage reference.

主权项

1. A proportional to absolute temperature, PTAT, circuit, the circuit comprising:
a bias current; a plurality of bipolar transistors arranged in first, second and third arms of the circuit and configured to generate a proportional to absolute temperature voltage at an output of the circuit that is dependent on individual ones of the plurality of bipolar transistors, wherein:
each of the arms includes a bipolar transistor that corresponds to a bipolar transistor of another one of the arms,each of the first arm, second arm and third arms are coupled to the same bias current such that the bias current is divided into respective currents flowing through each of the arms, andthe bipolar transistors are configured such that each of the arms compensates for current variations in the currents flowing through the other arms, the variations caused by mismatches between the corresponding bipolar transistors.