On chip noise tolerant temperature sensing circuit
First Claim
1. An on-chip temperature sensing circuit for semiconductor devices, comprising:
- a differential voltage source (DVS) having first and second branches,each of said branches having thermal sensitive transistor means therein connected in series with a current source,said thermal sensitive transistor means in said first and second branches comprising a base-collector transistor in said first branch of said DVS and a base-emitter transistor in said second branch of said DVS having different voltage output rates of change with temperature at their branch output nodes,amplifier means coupled to the output nodes of said first and second branches of said DVS,means for generating an on-chip voltage signal at an output electrode of said chip which is tolerant to switching noise and provides a voltage signal indicative of the temperature of said chip.
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Abstract
A novel on-chip temperature sensing circuit includes a differential voltage source which comprises a plurality of branches each of which is provided with temperature sensitive transistor means. The differential output from the differential voltage source is coupled to the inputs of a high gain differential amplifier and the outputs from the high gain differential amplifier are connected to a second stage differential amplifer and one of the branches of the second stage differential amplifier is coupled to a high gain transistor amplifier which is connected to an output pin on the semiconductor chip so that the signal at the output pin is a noise tolerant voltage indication of the temperature of said semiconductor chip which may be monitored during actual online operations. A hysteresis feedback may be coupled between one of the outputs of the differential amplifiers to provide a hysteresis feedback loop and rapid switching of the second differential amplifier.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. An on-chip temperature sensing circuit for semiconductor devices, comprising:
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a differential voltage source (DVS) having first and second branches, each of said branches having thermal sensitive transistor means therein connected in series with a current source, said thermal sensitive transistor means in said first and second branches comprising a base-collector transistor in said first branch of said DVS and a base-emitter transistor in said second branch of said DVS having different voltage output rates of change with temperature at their branch output nodes, amplifier means coupled to the output nodes of said first and second branches of said DVS, means for generating an on-chip voltage signal at an output electrode of said chip which is tolerant to switching noise and provides a voltage signal indicative of the temperature of said chip. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 10)
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2. An on-chip temperature sensing circuit for semiconductor devices, comprising:
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a differential voltage source (DVS) having first and second branches, each of said branches having thermal sensitive transistor means therein connected in series with a current source, said thermal sensitive transistor means in said first and second branches having different voltage output rates of change with temperature at their branch output nodes, amplifier means coupled to the output nodes of said first and second branches of said DVS, said amplifier means comprises a first and a second differential amplifier connected in series, each said differential amplifier having a first and a second output branch coupled in series with a current source, said second differential amplifier having one of its output branches coupled to provide a high gain output, means for generating an on-chip voltage signal at an output electrode of said chip which is tolerant to switching noise and provides a voltage signal indicative of the temperature of said chip. - View Dependent Claims (3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12)
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13. An on-chip temperature sensing circuit for semiconductor devices, comprising:
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a differential voltage source (DVS) comprising a plurality of branches, each of said branches of said DVS having thermal transistor means therein which provide different voltage rate of change outputs with temperature, a first stage differential amplifier coupled to the output of said DVS branches and providing a differential voltage output, a second stage differential amplifier coupled to the output of said first stage differential amplifier for providing an output signal which is tolerant to switching noise and is indicative of the temperature of said semiconductor device, and each of said branches of said DVS being provided with a plurality of transistors, said output of said plurality of transistors in said branches being coupled to the input of said first stage differential amplifier to provide said output proportional to changes in temperature of said semiconductor device, said first stage and said second stage differential amplifier each having two branches and at least one of the output branches of said first stage differential amplifier being coupled to an input of said second stage amplifier means to provide hysteresis feedback. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification