An On-Chip Temperature Sensor Based on RC Oscillator

Abstract

The invention discloses an on-chip temperature sensor based on an RC oscillator, and a temperature detection method of the on-chip temperature sensor. The temperature sensor comprises the RC oscillator, a counter, a CPU, and a storage unit, wherein the RC oscillator is used for generating a clock signal, and the output frequency of the clock signal changes with temperature. The counter is used for counting the number of pulses of the clock signal in a certain gate time period, and calculates the frequency of the clock signal outputted by the RC oscillator. The storage unit is used for storing a frequency-temperature look-up table in advance. The CPU is used for obtaining the temperature value corresponding to a current clock signal frequency according to the obtained clock signal frequency through a table look-up method. Compared with the prior art, the temperature sensor enables the temperature change to be reflected by the change of the frequency of the clock signal outputted by the oscillator through the working temperature characteristics of the RC oscillator, and the CPU can obtain the current temperature of the core of a chip through reading the frequency count value. Therefore, there is no need to set an additional chip in the temperature sensor, thereby greatly reducing the chip area occupied by the temperature sensor. Meanwhile, the temperature sensor can meet the various types of clock control application demands.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention belongs to the field of temperature sensors, in particular to an RC oscillator-based on-chip temperature sensor and a temperature detection method thereof. Background technique [0002] With the development of integrated circuit technology and the continuous improvement of temperature sensor performance requirements in applications, it has become an important trend to design integrated circuit temperature sensors with high integration, low power consumption and low cost. On the other hand, due to the continuous shrinking of the feature size of the integrated circuit process and the continuous improvement of the integration level of the integrated circuit, the problem of heat dissipation of the chip is becoming more and more serious. Real-time temperature monitoring of the chip and overheating protection become particularly important. How to design the integrated circuit temperature sensor according to the application needs has become a r...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Although the existing technology can realize a temperature sensor with excellent performance, the integrated CMOS temperature sensor on the chip in the prior art has the problems of complex implementation, high power consumption and large chip area occupation.

With the further development of integrated circuit technology, the size of the chip is getting smaller and higher, and the integration level is getting higher and higher. In the prior art, the on-chip temperature sensor needs to occupy the chip area, which is not compatible with the development direction of the integrated chip.

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