Integrated circuit thermometer
US5513235A · kind A · utility
28Cited by
9References
13Claims
0Family size
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 24, 1994 |
| Grant date | Apr 30, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 24, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01K7/245
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An integrated circuit temperature detector (thermometer) uses a temperature dependent oscillator to count up to a fixed number and thereby generate a time interval indicative of the temperature (a temperature-to-time converter). The time-to-number converter provides a numeric temperature output. Counting oscillations of a relatively temperature independent oscillator for the time interval may digitize the temperature measurement. Calibration and successive approximation iterations permit simple hardware to achieve good accuracy.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.