DRAM temperature measurement system
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorSugato Mukherjee
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A converter comprising a comparator having a first input operable to receive a first signal, a second input operable to receive a second signal, and an output, a switch for sinking a portion of the first signal, wherein the switch is responsive to the output, and an integrator connected to the first input, wherein the first signal is a voltage developed by the integrator when a current proportional to the absolute temperature is applied thereto. A method for measuring temperature of a device using a comparator and converting the bitstream of the comparator to a digital output is also given. Because of the rules governing abstracts, this abstract should not be used to construe the claims.
Claims32
A converter, comprising:
- a comparator having a first input operable to receive a first signal, a second input operable to receive a second signal, and an output;
- a switch for sinking a portion of said first signal, wherein said switch is responsive to said output;
- and
- an integrator connected to said first input, wherein said first signal is a voltage developed by said integrator when a current proportional to the absolute temperature is applied thereto.
A temperature measurement system, comprising:
- a temperature sensor;
- a converter operable to receive one or more signals from said temperature sensor, said converter comprising:
- a comparator having a first input operable to receive a first signal, a second input operable to receive a second signal, and an output;
- a switch for sinking a portion of said first signal, wherein said switch is responsive to said output;
- and
- an integrator connected to said first input, wherein said first signal is a voltage developed by said integrator when a current proportional to the absolute temperature is applied thereto;
- a counter, responsive to said output, for producing an output signal.
A memory system, comprising:
- a memory module;
- a memory controller in communications with said memory module via a system bus;
- and
- a temperature measurement module, wherein said temperature measurement module comprises:
- a temperature sensor;
- a converter operable to receive one or more signals from said at least one temperature sensor, wherein said converter comprises:
- a comparator having a first input operable to receive a first signal, a second input operable to receive a second signal, and an output;
- a switch for sinking a portion of said first signal, wherein said switch is responsive to said output;
- and
- an integrator connected to said first input, wherein said first signal is a voltage developed by said integrator when a current proportional to the absolute temperature is applied thereto;
- a counter, responsive to said output, for producing an output signal.
A method for measuring temperature, comprising:
- comparing a first signal proportional to a sensed absolute temperature to a reference signal;
- and
- generating a bitstream in response to said comparison.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.