Temperature sensing circuit and sensing method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11536613-B2
Application number	US-202016836914-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 1, 2020
Priority date	Apr 1, 2020
Publication date	Dec 27, 2022
Grant date	Dec 27, 2022

Abstract

A temperature sensing circuit adapted for a memory device and including an oscillator, a count circuit, a control circuit, a sense circuit and a select circuit is provided. The oscillator provides an oscillation signal. The count circuit counts the oscillation signal to generate a first count signal, and generates a second count signal. The count circuit performs a logic operation on the second count signal to generate an enable signal and a sensing adjustment signal. The sense circuit generates a reference temperature voltage by dividing a reference voltage according to the sensing adjustment signal, and compares the reference temperature voltage and a monitor voltage according to the enable signal to generate a determination signal. The select circuit dynamically selects one of the oscillation signal and the first count signal according to the determination signal, and generates a pulse of a refresh request signal according to the dynamically selected one of the oscillation signal and the first count signal.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A temperature sensing circuit adapted for a memory device, comprising:
an oscillator, configured to provide an oscillation signal;
a count circuit, coupled to the oscillator, configured to count the oscillation signal to generate a first count signal, and configured to generate a second count signal;
a control circuit, coupled to the count circuit, and configured to perform a logic operation on the second count signal to generate an enable signal and a sensing adjustment signal;
a sense circuit, coupled to the control circuit, generating a reference temperature voltage by dividing a reference voltage according to the sensing adjustment signal, and comparing the reference temperature voltage and a monitor voltage according to the enable signal to generate a determination signal; and
a select circuit, coupled to the oscillator, the count circuit and the sense circuit, the select circuit dynamically selecting one of the oscillation signal and the first count signal according to the determination signal, and generating a pulse of a refresh request signal according to the dynamically selected one of the oscillation signal and the frst count signal.

2. The temperature sensing circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the count circuit comprises:
a first counter, coupled to the oscillator, and configured to receive the oscillation signal and count a pulse count of the oscillation signal to generate a third count signal;
a second counter, coupled between the first counter and the select circuit, and configured to receive the third count signal and count a pulse count of the third count signal to generate the first count signal; and
a third counter, configured to receive the oscillation signal and count the pulse count of the oscillation signal to generate the second count signal.

3. The temperature sensing circuit according to claim 1 , wherein each time when the control circuit detects that the pulse count of the oscillation signal is equal to a first preset number according to the second count signal, the control circuit enables the enable signal.

4. The temperature sensing circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the control circuit performs a logic conversion on the second count signal according to a preset conversion table to generate the sensing adjustment signal, wherein a logic value of the sensing adjustment signal corresponds to a plurality of preset temperature voltages of the memory device.

5. The temperature sensing circuit according to claim 4 , wherein steps between the preset temperature voltages are adjusted such that an average refresh interval of the refresh request signal have a different resolution under a different temperature.

6. The temperature sensing circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the sense circuit comprises:
a voltage division circuit, having a plurality of divider resistors coupled in series, the divider resistors coupled in series being coupled to the reference voltage and generating a plurality of preset temperature voltages by dividing the reference voltage;
a switch train, coupled to the control circuit and the voltage division circuit, and having a plurality of switches, a first end of each of the switches separately receiving one of the preset temperature voltages, second ends of all the switches being coupled to each other, the switch train turning on one of the switches according to sensing adjustment signal to generate the reference temperature voltage;
a monitor voltage generating circuit, configured to provide the monitor voltage;
a comparator, coupled to the switch train and the monitor voltage generating circuit, and configured to determine, according to the enable signal, whether to compare the reference temperature voltage and the monitor voltage to generate a compared voltage; and
a latch, coupled to the comparator, and configured to determine, according to the enable signal, whether to latch the compared voltage to generate the determination signal.

7. The temperature sensing circuit according to claim 6 , wherein the monitor voltage generating circuit comprises:
a constant current source, configured to provide a constant current; and
a diode, coupled to the constant current source, and configured to generate the monitor voltage according to the constant current.

8. The temperature sensing circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the select circuit comprises:
a first selector, coupled between the oscillator and the sense circuit; and
a second selector, coupled between the count circuit and the sense circuit,
wherein the first selector and the second selector are alternately activated according to a logic level of the determination signal to jointly generate the refresh request signal.

9. The temperature sensing circuit according to claim 8 , wherein the first selector outputs a pulse of the oscillation signal and the second selector does not output signals when the determination signal is enabled, and the second selector outputs a pulse of the first count signal and the first selector does not output signals when the determination signal is disabled, so as to jointly generate the refresh request signal.

10. The temperature sensing circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the count circuit comprises:
a first counter, coupled to the oscillator, and configured to receive the oscillation signal and count a pulse count of the oscillation signal to generate a third count signal;
a second counter, coupled between the first counter and the select circuit, and configured to receive the third count signal and count a pulse count of the third count signal to generate the first count signal; and
a third counter, configured to receive the refresh request signal and count a pulse count of the refresh request signal to generate the second count signal.

11. A sensing method adapted for a memory device, the memory device having a temperature sensing circuit, the temperature sensing circuit having an oscillator, a count circuit, a control circuit, a sense circuit and a select circuit, the sensing method comprising:
providing an oscillation signal;
counting the oscillation signal to generate a first count signal, and generating a second count signal;
performing a logic operation on the second count signal to generate an enable signal and a sensing adjustment signal;
generating a reference temperature voltage by dividing a reference voltage according to the sensing adjustment signal, and comparing the reference temperature voltage and a monitor voltage according to the enable signal to generate a determination signal; and
dynamically selecting one of the oscillation signal and the first count signal according to the determination signal, and generating a pulse of a refresh request signal according to the dynamically selected one of the oscillation signal and the first count signal.

12. The sensing method according to claim 11 , wherein the step of counting the oscillation signal to generate the first count signal, and generating the second count signal comprises:
receiving the oscillation signal and counting a pulse count of the oscillation signal to generate a third count signal;
receiving the third count signal and counting a pulse count of the third count signal to generate the first count signal; and
receiving the oscillation signal and counting the pulse count of the oscillation signal to generate the second count signal.

13. The sensing method according to claim 11 , wherein each time when the control circuit detects that the pulse count of the oscillation signal is equal to a first preset number according to the second count signal, the control circuit enables the enable s

Assignees

• Winbond Electronics Corp

Inventors

• Sato Takahiko

Classifications

• G11C11/406

  Management or control of the refreshing or charge-regeneration cycles · CPC title

• G01K7/00 Primary

  Measuring temperature based on the use of electric or magnetic elements directly sensitive to heat (giving results other than momentary value of temperature G01K3/00) {; Power supply therefor, e.g. using thermoelectric elements} · CPC title

• G11C7/222

  Clock generating, synchronizing or distributing circuits within memory device · CPC title

• G01K3/08

  giving differences of values (using thermoelectric elements G01K7/02); giving differentiated values · CPC title

• G11C11/40626 Primary

  Temperature related aspects of refresh operations · CPC title