Patent · US Active

Low power low cost temperature sensor

US9816872B2 · kind B2 · utility

7Cited by

15References

30Claims

0Family size

Assignee

QUALCOMM Incorporated · US

Inventors

Junmou Zhang · Los Angeles, US
Chuang Zhang · Fort Collins, US
Nan Chen · San Diego, US

Key dates

Filing date	Jun 9, 2014
Grant date	Nov 14, 2017
Priority date	—
Expiry date	Jan 23, 2036

Classification

Technology area (CPC G)Physics
CPC primaryG01K15/005
WIPO fieldMeasurement
WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

Systems and methods for sensing temperature on a chip are described herein. In one embodiment, a temperature sensor comprises a first transistor having a gate, a second transistor having a gate coupled to the gate of the first transistor, and a bias circuit configured to bias the gates of the first and second transistors such that the first and second transistors operate in a sub-threshold region, and to generate a current proportional to a difference between a gate-to-source voltage of the first transistor and a gate-to-source voltage of the second transistor. The temperature sensor also comprises an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) configured to convert the current into a digital temperature reading.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.