System and method for providing temperature data from a memory device having a temperature sensor
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorsJeff W. Janzen, Jeffrey P. Wright, Todd D. Farrell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A circuit and method for providing temperature data indicative of a temperature measured by a temperature sensor. The circuit is coupled to the temperature sensor and configured to identify for a coarse temperature range one of a plurality of fine temperature ranges corresponding to the temperature measured by the temperature sensor and generate temperature data that is provided on an asynchronous output data path.
Claims29
A memory device, comprising:
- an address bus;
- a control bus;
- a data bus;
- a plurality of output terminals;
- an address decoder coupled to the address bus;
- a read/write circuit coupled to the data bus;
- a control circuit coupled to the control bus;
- a memory-cell array coupled to the address decoder, control circuit, and read/write circuit;
- an output buffer coupled to the data bus and to the plurality of output terminals;
- a temperature sensor for measuring a temperature of the memory device;
- and
- a temperature data output circuit coupled to the output buffer and further coupled to the temperature sensor, the temperature data output circuit configured to convert a measured temperature of the temperature sensor into temperature data that identifies for a current coarse temperature range one of a plurality of fine temperature ranges corresponding to the measured temperature.
A processor-based system, comprising:
- a data input device;
- a data output device;
- a processor coupled to the data input and output devices;
- and
- a memory device coupled to the processor, the memory device comprising,
- an address bus;
- a control bus;
- a data bus;
- a plurality of output terminals;
- an address decoder coupled to the address bus;
- a read/write circuit coupled to the data bus;
- a control circuit coupled to the control bus;
- a memory-cell array coupled to the address decoder, control circuit, and read/write circuit;
- an output buffer coupled to the data bus and to the plurality of output terminals;
- a temperature sensor for measuring a temperature of the memory device;
- and
- a temperature data output circuit coupled to the output buffer and further coupled to the temperature sensor, the temperature data output circuit configured to convert a measured temperature of the temperature sensor into temperature data that identifies for a current coarse temperature range one of a plurality of fine temperature ranges corresponding to the measured temperature.
A method for providing temperature data indicative of a temperature measured by a temperature sensor integrated with a semiconductor circuit, the method comprising:
- identifying one of a plurality of temperature ranges corresponding to the temperature measured by the temperature sensor;
- generating temperature data indicative of the identified temperature range, the temperature data having a plurality of binary digits;
- and
- coupling the binary digits of the temperature data to a respective one of a plurality of output terminals.
A method of monitoring a temperature measured by a temperature sensor integrated with a semiconductor circuit, the method comprising:
- setting a current coarse temperature range to a minimum coarse temperature range;
- receiving temperature data from the semiconductor circuit, the temperature data identifying one of a plurality of fine temperature ranges corresponding to the temperature measured by the temperature sensor;
- in response to the temperature data identifying a fine temperature range corresponding to a range overflow condition of the current coarse temperature range, switching the current coarse temperature range to a higher coarse temperature range;
- in response to the temperature data representing a fine temperature range corresponding to a range underflow condition of the current coarse temperature range, switching the current coarse temperature range to a lower coarse temperature range;
- and
- identifying the fine temperature range corresponding to the temperature measured by the temperature sensor based on the current coarse temperature range and the temperature data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.