SEMICONDUCTOR TEMPERATURE SENSORS

摘要

A temperature sensing device for an integrated circuit comprises an oscillator (2) having a characteristic frequency dependent on the temperature and a digital counter (16) arranged to count a number of pulses generated by the oscillator (2) in a given time interval, or the time taken for the oscillator to generate a given number of pulses. Either of these gives a measured value. The device is configured to use a difference between the measured value and a stored reference value in a linearisation algorithm to estimate a temperature.

主权项

1. A temperature sensing device for an integrated circuit comprising a temperature-dependent oscillator having a characteristic frequency dependent on temperature, said temperature-dependent oscillator comprising a plurality of inverters connected together in a ring so that an output of a first inverter in the ring is an input to an adjacent inverter in the ring, and a digital counter arranged to count a number of pulses generated by the temperature-dependent oscillator in a given time interval, or a time taken for the temperature-dependent oscillator to generate a given number of pulses to give, in either case, a measured value, wherein said device is configured to use a difference between the measured value and a stored reference value in a linearisation algorithm to estimate a temperature; and wherein said device further comprises a voltage reference which supplies said inverters, said voltage reference comprising an inverter having an input and an output with its input and output connected together and a voltage buffer.