Threshold-Based Temperature-Dependent Power/Thermal Management with Temperature Sensor Calibration

An integrated circuit comprising:

• at least one temperature sensing unit;
• a storage unit including a plurality of fuses;
• and
• a power management unit coupled to the at least one temperature sensing unit and the storage unit, wherein during a temperature calibration routine performed in at least a first iteration at a first known temperature, respectively, the power management unit is configured to:
• receive, from the temperature sensing unit, a first temperature value during the first iteration;
• compute a first difference between the first temperature value and the first known temperature;
• and
• record the first difference by blowing one or more fuses in the storage unit.

A method comprising:

• performing a plurality of tests of an integrated circuit, wherein each of the plurality of tests is performed at one of a plurality of known temperature values;
• reading, during each of the plurality of tests, one of a plurality of detected temperature values output by a temperature sensing unit;
• determining a plurality of offset values, wherein each of the plurality of offset values corresponds to a calculated difference between one of the known temperature values and a corresponding one of the plurality of detected temperature values;
• and
• storing each of the plurality of offset values.

An apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of temperature sensing units implemented on an integrated circuit;
• a power management unit implemented on the integrated circuit, wherein the power management unit is coupled to receive temperature readings from each of the plurality temperature sensing units, wherein the power management unit is configured to, during a calibration routine:
• determine a respective first offset for each of the plurality of temperature sensing units, wherein the first offset for a given one of the plurality of temperature sensing units is a difference between a first temperature at which a first iteration of the calibration routine is conducted and a first temperature reading provided by the given one of the plurality of temperature sensing units;
• and
• determine a respective second offset for each of the plurality of temperature sensing units, wherein the second offset for a given one of the plurality of temperature sensing units is a difference between a second temperature at which a second iteration of the calibration routine is conducted and a second temperature reading provided by the given one of the plurality of temperature sensing units;
• and
• a memory, wherein the power management unit is configured to write the respective first and second offsets for each of the plurality of temperature sensing units to the memory.

A system comprising:

• a power supply;
• and
• an integrated circuit coupled to receive a supply voltage from the power supply,
• wherein the integrated circuit includes:
• a temperature sensing unit;
• a fuse unit having a plurality of fuses;
• and
• a power management unit coupled to the temperature sensing unit and the fuse unit, wherein during a temperature calibration routine performed in first and second iterations at first and second known temperatures, respectively, the power management unit is configured to:
• receive, from the temperature sensing unit, a first temperature value during the first iteration and a second temperature value during the second iteration;
• compute a first offset by calculating a difference between the first temperature value and the first known temperature;
• compute a second offset by calculating a difference between the second temperature value and the second known temperature;
• and
• record the first and second offsets by blowing one or more fuses in the fuse unit.