Systems and methods for peak junction temperature sensing and thermal safe operating area protection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10036670-B2
Application number	US-201615162325-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 23, 2016
Priority date	Aug 17, 2011
Publication date	Jul 31, 2018
Grant date	Jul 31, 2018

Abstract

A peak junction temperature monitoring system for a semiconductor device includes a peak power dissipation sensor for sensing the peak power dissipation in the device. A temperature sensor senses an average temperature of the device, and a peak junction temperature computation circuit generates a signal representative of a peak junction temperature based on input from the peak power dissipation sensor and the temperature sensor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A thermal safe operating area violation detection system for a semiconductor device, the system comprising:
a peak power dissipation sensor configured to sense a peak power dissipation in a device and output a signal representative of said peak power dissipation;
a temperature sensor configured to sense an average temperature of the device and output a signal representative of said average temperature;
a maximum allowable peak power dissipation determining circuit configured to determine a maximum allowable peak power dissipation based at least in part on said signal representative of said average temperature, and to output a signal representative of the maximum allowable peak power dissipation, wherein said maximum allowable peak power dissipation determining circuit comprises:
a difference element configured to receive a signal representative of a maximum allowable peak junction temperature, and said signal representative of said average temperature, and to output a signal representative of a difference between said received signals; and
a multiplication element configured to multiply the difference signal with a signal representative of the reciprocal of the slope of a line which correlates the difference between peak junction temperature and average temperature with peak power dissipation; and

a comparator configured to compare said signal representative of said peak power dissipation with said signal representative of the maximum allowable peak power dissipation, and to output a signal indicative of a thermal safe operating area violation if the peak power dissipation exceeds the maximum allowable peak power dissipation.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the signal representative of a maximum allowable peak junction temperature is selectively adjustable.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the maximum allowable peak power dissipation determining circuit determines the maximum allowable peak power dissipation in real-time.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of peak power dissipation sensors, each configured to sense the peak power dissipation in a respective device; and
a maximum power dissipation determining circuit, configured to receive from each of said plurality of peak power dissipation sensors a signal representative of said peak power dissipation, and to output to said comparator the signal representative of the largest sensed peak power dissipation.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the temperature sensor is a non-embedded sensor.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the device comprises a driver device for an audio amplifier.

7. A method of detecting a thermal safe operating area violation in a semiconductor device, the method comprising:
sensing a peak power dissipation in the device;
comparing the sensed peak power dissipation with a signal representative of a maximum allowable peak power dissipation, wherein said signal is generated by:
computing a difference between a signal representative of a maximum allowable peak junction temperature and the sensed average temperature; and
multiplying the difference with a signal representative of the reciprocal of the slope of a line which correlates the difference between peak junction temperature and average temperature with peak power dissipation; and

generating a signal indicative of a thermal safe operating area violation if the peak power dissipation exceeds the maximum allowable peak power dissipation.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
sensing an average temperature of the device; and
generating the signal representative of a maximum allowable peak power dissipation based at least in part on a sensed average temperature.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the signal representative of a maximum allowable peak junction temperature is selectively adjustable.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the average temperature is sensed by a non-embedded sensor.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the device comprises a driver device for an audio amplifier.

Assignees

• Cirrus Logic Inc

Inventors

• Bhattacharya Anindya
• Green Tim
• Bai Jing

Classifications

• G01K3/02

  giving means values; giving integrated values · CPC title

• G01K3/10 Primary

  in respect of time, e.g. reacting only to a quick change of temperature · CPC title

• G01K7/427

  Temperature calculation based on spatial modeling, e.g. spatial inter- or extrapolation · CPC title