Active power monitoring using externally located current sensors

A method of detecting the power of an electrical, semiconductor device under test (DUT), comprising:

• detecting current drawn by the DUT from a power source with at least one magneto-resistive current sensor provided external to, and between the DUT and the power source, the current sensor providing a detection signal proportional to the current drawn by the DUT from the power source;
• and
• calculating the instantaneous power of the DUT based on the detection signal from the magneto-resistive current sensor and a signal representative of voltage supplied to the DUT from the power source.

A system for controlling the temperature of an electronic device comprising:

• an active power measuring circuit comprised of at least one magneto-resistive current sensor provided external to, and between the electronic device and a power source, the current sensor providing a detection signal proportional to the current drawn by the electronic device from the power source, which detection signal is multiplied by a signal representative of voltage supplied to the electronic device from the power source to obtain a signal representative of the power of the electronic device;
• a heat exchanger operatively coupled to regulate the temperature of the electronic device;
• a control circuit that operates the heat exchanger to adjust the temperature of the electronic device based on the signal representative of the power of the electronic device.