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US 7,626,799 B2Granted
Microelectronic device equipped with a thermal protection circuit and thermal protection method for a microelectronic device
AssigneeSTMicroelectronics Design and Application S.R.O.
InventorsTomas Jahelka, Jaromir Schindler
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A microelectronic device includes a first circuit and a second circuit, coupled to the first circuit for selectively preventing operation of the first circuit when a device temperature is higher than a temperature threshold. The second circuit is provided with a temperature responsive element, thermally coupled to the first circuit for providing a shutdown signal correlated to the device temperature. The temperature responsive element includes a reverse-biased junction element and the shutdown signal is correlated to a reverse leakage current of the reverse-biased junction element.
Claims19
A microelectronic device comprising:
- a first circuit;
- and
- a second circuit, coupled to the first circuit for selectively preventing operation of the first circuit in response to a device temperature rising above a shutdown threshold, wherein the second circuit includes a temperature responsive element, thermally coupled to the first circuit for providing a shutdown signal correlated to the device temperature;
- wherein the temperature responsive element comprises a reverse-biased junction element and the shutdown signal is correlated to a reverse leakage current of the reverse-biased junction element, further comprising a hysteresis circuit configured such that, when the first circuit is prevented from operating, the hysteresis circuit causes restoring operation of the first circuit being permitted conditional to the device temperature decreasing below a restore threshold, lower than the shutdown threshold, wherein the hysteresis circuit comprises an auxiliary current source feeding in parallel to the reverse-biased junction element and selectively activatable when the first circuit is prevented from operating.
1 more element
A thermal protection method for a microelectronic device comprising the steps of:
- sensing a temperature of a circuit;
- providing a shutdown signal correlated to the temperature, for selectively preventing operation of the circuit in response to the temperature rising above a shutdown threshold;
- wherein the step of sensing comprises
- reverse biasing a junction element and the step of providing comprises generating the shutdown signal based on a reverse leakage current of the junction element;
- restoring operation of the circuit, using a hysteresis circuit, in response to the temperature of the circuit decreasing below a restore threshold that is lower than the shutdown threshold;
- and
- at least partially turning the hysteresis circuit off when the circuit is in normal operation.
4 more elements
A microelectronic device comprising:
- a first circuit;
- and
- a second circuit, including a temperature responsive element thermally coupled to the first circuit, for providing a shutdown signal to prevent operation of the first circuit in response to the temperature of the first circuit rising above a shutdown threshold, the temperature responsive element comprising a reverse-biased junction element and the shutdown signal being based on a reverse leakage current of the reverse-biased junction element, the second circuit further including a hysteresis circuit configured to restore operation of the first circuit in response to the temperature of the first circuit decreasing below a restore threshold that is lower than the shutdown threshold, the hysteresis circuit being at least partially turned off when the first circuit is in normal operation.
A microelectronic device comprising;
- a first circuit;
- and
- a second circuit, including a temperature responsive element thermally coupled to the first circuit, for providing a shutdown signal to prevent operation of the first circuit in response to the temperature of the first circuit rising above a shutdown threshold, the temperature responsive element comprising a reverse-biased junction element and the shutdown signal being based on a reverse leakage current of the reverse-biased junction, wherein the first circuit comprises a driver circuit and a bias current source to supply bias current through the driver circuit and wherein the second circuit provides the shutdown signal as a shutdown current through the bias current source of the first circuit, the shutdown current through the bias current source being sufficient to prevent operation of the driver circuit.
A microelectronic device comprising:
- a first circuit;
- and
- a second circuit, including a temperature responsive element thermally coupled to the first circuit, for providing a shutdown signal to prevent operation of the first circuit in response to the temperature of the first circuit rising above a shutdown threshold, the second circuit further including a hysteresis circuit configured to restore operation of the first circuit in response to the temperature of the first circuit decreasing below a restore threshold that is lower than the shutdown threshold, the hysteresis circuit being at least partially turned off when the first circuit is in normal operation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.