Increasing power supply noise rejection using linear voltage regulators in an on-chip temperature sensor
AssigneeSun Microsystems, Inc.
InventorsClaude Gauthier, Spencer Gold, Dean Liu, Kamran Zarrineh, Brian Amick, Pradeep Trivedi
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Abstract
An apparatus that uses a linear voltage regulator to reject power supply noise in a temperature sensor is provided. Further, a method for using a linear voltage regulator to reject power supply noise in a temperature sensor is provided. Further, a method and apparatus that uses a differential amplifier with a source-follower output stage as a linear voltage regulator for a temperature sensor is provided.
Claims13
An integrated circuit having a temperature sensor disposed thereon, the temperature sensor comprising:
- a voltage generator that outputs a voltage representative of a temperature on the integrated circuit;
- a voltage regulator that uses feedback to decouple power supply noise from the voltage;
- and
- a voltage-to-frequency converter that generates a frequency using the voltage as a control voltage for the voltage-to-frequency converter, wherein the frequency is representative of the temperature.
An apparatus for rejecting power supply noise on a voltage signal generated by a voltage generator, comprising:
- means for generating a differential voltage in relation to the voltage signal;
- means for generating an output voltage based on the differential voltage;
- and
- means for generating a buffered power supply voltage in relation to the output voltage.
A method for rejecting power supply noise on a voltage signal generated by a voltage generator, comprising:
- generating an output voltage based on a differential voltage, wherein the output voltage is generated by an output stage;
- and
- generating a buffered power supply voltage in relation to the output voltage, wherein the buffered power supply voltage is generated by the output stage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.