Semiconductor device with thermal fault detection
AssigneeInfineon Technologies AG
InventorsAlberto Zanardi, Erich Scheikl, Robert Illing, Herbert Hopfgartner
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Abstract
A semiconductor device with a thermal fault detection is disclosed. According to one example of the invention such a semiconductor device includes a semiconductor chip including an active area. It further includes a temperature sensor arrangement that provides a measurement signal dependent on the temperature in or close to the active area, the measurement signal having a slope of a time-dependent steepness, and an evaluation circuit that is configured to provide an output signal that is representative of the steepness of the slope of the measurement signal and further configured to signal a steepness higher than a predefined threshold.
Claims16
A semiconductor device comprising:
- a semiconductor chip including an active area;
- a temperature sensor arrangement that provides a measurement signal dependent on a temperature in or close to the active area, the measurement signal having a slope of a time-dependent steepness;
- and
- an evaluation circuit configured to provide an output signal that is representative of the steepness of the slope of the measurement signal and further configured to signal a steepness higher than a predefined threshold.
A method for operating a semiconductor device that comprises a semiconductor chip including an active area, the method comprising:
- providing a measurement signal dependent on a temperature in or close to the active area, the measurement signal having a slope of a time-dependent steepness;
- evaluating the measurement signal to provide an output signal that is representative of the steepness of the slope of the measurement signal;
- and
- signaling a faulty state of operation of the semiconductor device if the steepness of the slope of the measurement signal is higher than a predefined threshold.
A semiconductor device comprising:
- a semiconductor chip including an active area;
- means for providing a measurement signal dependent on a temperature in or close to the active area, the measurement signal having a slope of a time-dependent steepness;
- and
- means for providing an output signal representative of the steepness of the slope of the measurement signal and for signaling a steepness higher than a predefined threshold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.