Solid state temperature measurement
US6008685A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 25, 1998 |
| Grant date | Dec 28, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 25, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01K7/01
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
In a temperature measuring circuit suitable for implementation on an integrated circuit (IC) a plurality, M, nominally unit value current sources are individually and collectively applied to a sensor such as a diode or transistor. The resulting individual V.sub.BE voltages are measured and used to form an average, V.sub.BE(AVG), of the individual voltages. The difference .DELTA.V.sub.BE between the voltage, V.sub.BE(TOT), resulting from application of all M current sources and V.sub.BE(AVG) is used to solve for temperature in a relationship that is independent of the current values used. An error-corrected version of a sigma-delta analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is used to convert the analog measurements into digital signals representative of temperature.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.