Die temperature sensor circuit

• US 8,378,735 B2
• Filed: 11/29/2010
• Issued: 02/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NXP USA, Inc. (NXP Semiconductors NV)
• Original Assignee: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. (NXP Semiconductors NV)
• Inventors: Coimbra, Ricardo Pureza, Pereira Da Silva, Edevaldo Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): HOUSTON, ADAM D
• Application Number:
  US12/955,598
• Publication Number:
  US 20120133422A1
• Time in Patent Office: 813 Days
• Field of Search: 327/512
• US Class Current: 327/512
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 7/01 using semiconducting elements having PN junctions G01K7/02, G01K7/16, G01K7/30 take precedence

Abstract

A die temperature sensor circuit (200) includes an amplifier (203) that has first and second stages of amplification and that has bipolar transistors (201 and 202) as an input differential pair. The bipolar transistors have different current densities. A difference between base-emitter voltages of the bipolar transistors is proportional to absolute temperature of the bipolar transistors. The bipolar transistors also provide amplification for the first stage of amplification. Multiple feedback loops maintain a same ratio between the current densities of the bipolar transistors over temperature by changing collector currents that bias the bipolar transistors. A feedback loop includes a second stage of amplification and such feedback loop cancels effect that base currents of the bipolar transistors have on an output signal of the die temperature sensor circuit.

Claims

1. A temperature sensor, comprising:

an amplifier, the amplifier including a first bipolar transistor and a second bipolar transistor configured as an input differential pair of the amplifier, the first bipolar transistor having a first collector current density, and the second bipolar transistor having a second collector current density different from the first collector current density of the first bipolar transistor, wherein the amplifier is configured such that, when the first and second bipolar transistor having a same temperature, an input offset voltage is equal to a voltage difference between a base-to-emitter voltage of the first bipolar transistor and a base-to-emitter voltage of the second bipolar transistor, such voltage difference being proportional to absolute temperature; and

an output stage for amplifying such voltage difference, the output stage including

an output transistor having a control electrode coupled to the amplifier, a first current electrode coupled to a first power supply voltage terminal, and a second current electrode, and

a resistance divider comprising resistive element R₁, resistive element R₂ and resistive element R₃, respectively, connected in series, with one end of the series coupled the second current electrode of the output transistor and with another end of the series coupled to a second power supply voltage terminal, wherein the temperature sensor generates, at an output terminal, a voltage V_OUT that varies proportionally with temperature of the temperature sensor.

2. The temperature sensor of claim 1, in which output voltage V_OUT varies proportionally to the absolute temperature of a base-emitter junction temperature of the first and second bipolar transistors.

3. The temperature sensor of claim 1, in which the input differential pair of the amplifier has an input offset voltage that is proportional to absolute temperature.

4. The temperature sensor of claim 1, including a first feedback loop coupled to the first bipolar transistor, and a second feedback loop coupled to the second bipolar transistor, wherein the first and second feedback loops maintain a ratio between collector current densities of the first and second bipolar transistors constant regardless of temperature.

5. The temperature sensor of claim 4, in which the first and second bipolar transistors are biased by a same collector current and in which an emitter area of the second bipolar transistor is larger than another emitter area of the first bipolar transistor.

6. The temperature sensor of claim 4, in which the first and second bipolar transistors have a same emitter area ratio and in which a collector current that biases the first bipolar transistor is larger than another collector current that biases the second bipolar transistor.

7. The temperature sensor of claim 4, wherein the first and second bipolar transistors are biased through their collector terminals, and wherein the first and second feedback loops compare collector currents of the first and second bipolar transistors, respectively, with a current source I_BIAS, and, in response to such comparison, set the collector current of the first bipolar transistor to N₁I_BIAS and set the collector current of the second bipolar transistor to N₂I_BIAS, where N₁ and N₂ are current mirror ratios of current minors in the feedback loops, respectively.

8. The temperature sensor of claim 1, in which the first and second bipolar transistors are of an NPN conductivity type that are biased through their collector terminals, and in which the temperature sensor circuit directly controls the collector currents of bipolar transistors such that a ratio between current densities of the first and second bipolar transistors remains constant regardless of temperature.

9. An integrated circuit, comprising:

a circuit-supporting substrate, the circuit-supporting substrate including;

a differential pair stage including a first bipolar transistor and a second bipolar transistor, the first and second bipolar transistor disposed near each other on the circuit-supporting substrate so that they have nearly a same temperature, the first and second bipolar transistors having different current densities, the differential pair stage for generating a signal proportional to absolute temperature (PTAT), the signal being a voltage difference between base-to-emitter voltage of the first bipolar transistor and base-to-emitter voltage of the second bipolar transistor;

a first feedback loop, coupled to the differential pair stage, to maintain a value for collector current through of the first bipolar transistor;

a second feedback loop, coupled to the differential pair stage, to maintain a value for collector current of the second bipolar transistor, the second feedback loop including;

an output stage for amplifying a PTAT signal from the differential pair stage and for providing an output signal proportional to absolute temperature at an output terminal, the output stage including

an output transistor having a control electrode coupled to the differential pair stage, a first current electrode coupled to a first power supply voltage terminal, and a second current electrode, and

a resistance divider comprising resistive element R₁, resistive element R₂ and resistive element R₃, respectively, connected in series, with one end of the series coupled the second current electrode of the output transistor and with another end of the series coupled to a second power supply voltage terminal,

wherein the first and second feedback loops maintain a ratio between current densities of the first and second bipolar transistors regardless of temperature; and

an output terminal for providing an output signal that is representative of temperature of the integrated circuit.

10. The integrated circuit of claim 9, wherein the first and second bipolar transistors are biased through their collector terminals, and where the first and second feedback loops compare collector currents of the first and second bipolar transistors, respectively, with a current I _BIAS, and, in response to such comparison, set the collector current of the first bipolar transistor to N₁I_BIAS and set the collector current of the second bipolar transistor to N₂I_BIAS, where N₁ and N₂ are current mirror ratios of current minors in the feedback loops, respectively.

11. The integrated circuit of claim 10, wherein the second feedback loop also controls an amplification factor for the output signal.

12. The integrated circuit of claim 10, the first feedback loop also controls a combined tail current of the first and second bipolar transistors.

20. The integrated circuit of claim 9, wherein the second feedback loop cancels any effect that base currents of the first and second bipolar transistors have on the signal at the output terminal.

13. A temperature sensor circuit, comprising:

a first amplification stage including an input differential pair, the input differential pair including a first bipolar transistor having a base-to-emitter voltage and a second bipolar transistor having a base-to-emitter voltage, the first amplification stage configured so that the first and second bipolar transistors can have a same temperature when operating, the input differential pair for generating a signal proportional to absolute temperature (PTAT) and for amplifying a differential input signal;

a first feedback loop, coupled to the differential pair, for controlling a collector current of the first bipolar transistor; and

a second feedback loop, coupled to the differential pair, for controlling a collector current of the second bipolar transistor, the second feedback loop including;

a second amplification stage for amplifying a PTAT signal from the first amplification stage and for providing an output signal proportional to absolute temperature at an output terminal, the second amplification stage including

an output transistor having a control electrode coupled to the first amplification stage, a first current electrode coupled to a first power supply voltage terminal, and a second current electrode,

a resistance divider comprising resistive element R₁, resistive element R₂ and resistive element R₃, respectively, connected in series, with one end of the series coupled the second current electrode of the output transistor and with another end of the series coupled to a second power supply voltage terminal, and

an output terminal at the second current electrode for providing a signal representative of absolute temperature of the temperature sensor circuit,

wherein the first and second feedback loops maintain a constant ratio between collector current densities of the first and second bipolar transistors, regardless of temperature.

14. The temperature sensor circuit of claim 13, wherein each end of resistive element R₂ is coupled to the first amplification stage such that a difference between the base-to-emitter voltage of the first bipolar transistor and the base-to-emitter voltage of the second bipolar transistor appears across resistive element R₂.

15. The temperature sensor circuit of claim 14, wherein resistance values of resistive element R₁, resistive element R₂ and resistive element R₃ are selected to compensate for presence, in the second amplification stage, of a base current of the first bipolar transistor and of another base current of the second bipolar transistor.

16. The temperature sensor circuit of claim 13, wherein the first and second bipolar transistors are biased through their collector terminals, and where the first and second feedback loops compare currents through the collector terminals of the first and second bipolar transistors, respectively, with a current source I_BIAS, and, in response to such comparison, set the collector current of the first bipolar transistor to N₁I_BIAS and set the collector current of the second bipolar transistor to N₂I_BIAS, where N₁ and N₂ are current mirror ratios of current mirrors in the feedback loops, respectively.

17. The temperature sensor circuit of claim 13, wherein a difference between the base-to-emitter voltage of the first bipolar transistor and the base-to-emitter voltage of the second bipolar transistor is an input offset voltage of the amplifier.

18. The temperature sensor circuit of claim 13, wherein the first and second bipolar transistors have different collector current densities.

19. The temperature sensor circuit of claim 14, in which the collector current density of the first bipolar transistor is greater than the collector current density of the second bipolar transistor.