Oscillator with reduced temperature sensitivity

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11799422-B2
Application number	US-202217681945-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 28, 2022
Priority date	Feb 28, 2022
Publication date	Oct 24, 2023
Grant date	Oct 24, 2023

Abstract

An oscillator circuit includes a comparator having first and second inputs, the first input configured to be coupled to a reference voltage. The oscillator circuit also includes a capacitor and a first current source. The capacitor is coupled between the second input and ground. The first current source is coupled between a supply voltage terminal and the capacitor. The first current source is configured to generate a current to the capacitor that is proportional to absolute temperature.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An integrated circuit (IC), comprising:
a temperature sensing circuit having one or more temperature sensing circuit outputs, wherein the temperature sensing circuit is configured to provide temperature signals on the one or more temperature sensing circuit outputs, the temperature signals indicative of a temperature of the IC;
a non-volatile storage configured to store a trim code and an offset value, the trim code corresponding to a first temperature, and the offset value corresponding to a second temperature, the non-volatile storage having a storage output;
an oscillator having a control input and an oscillator output; and
a digital control circuit having a temperature sensing circuit input, a clock input, and an adaptive trim code output, wherein the temperature sensing circuit input is coupled to the temperature sensing circuit outputs, the clock input is coupled to the oscillator output, the adaptive trim code output is coupled to the control input, and the digital control circuit is configured to cause the trim code from the non-volatile storage to be provided to the control input, the digital control circuit is configured to modify the trim code responsive to the temperature signals from the temperature sensing circuit and the offset value to produce an adjusted trim code, and to provide the adjusted trim code to the control input.

2. The IC of claim 1 , wherein the trim code is an m-bit value, and the offset value is an n-bit value, wherein m is larger than n.

3. The IC of claim 1 , wherein the digital control circuit is configured to implement a look-up table (LUT) having multiple rows, each row corresponding to a respective different offset value.

4. The IC of claim 3 , wherein each respective row of the multiple rows stores:
a first offset value corresponding to a third temperature; and
a second offset value corresponding to a fourth temperature, wherein at least one of the third or fourth temperatures is between the first and second temperatures.

5. The IC of claim 4 , wherein each respective row of the multiple rows further stores a third offset value corresponding to the second temperature, and the third offset value is equal to the offset value from the non-volatile storage.

6. The IC of claim 5 , wherein at least one row of the multiple rows has a non-linear relationship among the first, second and third offset values with respect to temperature.

7. The IC of claim 1 , wherein the oscillator is a ring oscillator.

8. An integrated circuit (IC), comprising:
a temperature sensing circuit having one or more temperature sensing circuit outputs, the temperature sensing circuit configured to provide temperature signals on the one or more temperature sensing circuit outputs, the temperature signals indicative of a temperature of the IC;
an oscillator circuit having a control input and an oscillator output; and

a digital control circuit having a temperature sensing circuit input, a clock input, and an adaptive trim code output, wherein the temperature sensing circuit input is coupled to the temperature sensing circuit outputs, the clock input is coupled to the oscillator output, and the adaptive trim code output is coupled to the control input, the digital control circuit is configured to modify a trim code responsive to the temperature signals from the temperature sensing circuit and an offset value to produce an adjusted trim code, and configured to provide the adjusted trim code to the control input.

9. The IC of claim 8 , further comprising a non-volatile storage having a storage output, wherein the non-volatile storage is configured to store a first trim code and the offset value, the first trim code corresponding to a first temperature, and the offset value corresponding to a second temperature.

10. The IC of claim 9 , wherein the digital control circuit is configured to cause the first trim code to be provided to the control input responsive to a power-on or reset event of the IC.

11. The IC of claim 8 , wherein the trim code is an m-bit value, and the offset value is an n-bit value, wherein m is larger than n.

12. The IC of claim 9 , wherein the digital control circuit is configured to implement a look-up table (LUT) having multiple rows, each row corresponding to a respective different offset value.

13. The IC of claim 12 , wherein each respective row of the multiple rows stores:
a first offset value corresponding to a third temperature; and
a second offset value corresponding to a fourth temperature, wherein at least one of the third or fourth temperatures is between the first and second temperatures.

14. The IC of claim 13 , wherein each respective row of the multiple rows further stores a third offset value corresponding to the second temperature, wherein the third offset value is equal to the offset value from the non-volatile storage.

15. The IC of claim 14 , wherein at least one row of the multiple rows has a non-linear relationship among the first, second, and third offset values with respect to temperature.

16. An oscillator circuit, comprising:
a first comparator having first and second comparator inputs and a first comparator output, wherein the first comparator input is coupled to a reference voltage terminal;
a switch coupled between the second comparator input and a ground terminal and having a control terminal;
a one-shot circuit coupled between the first comparator output and the control terminal;
a first capacitor coupled between the second comparator input and the ground terminal; and
a first current source coupled between a supply voltage terminal and the first capacitor, wherein the first current source is configured to provide a current to the first capacitor that is proportional to absolute temperature;
a second comparator having third and fourth comparator inputs and a second comparator output, wherein the third comparator input is coupled to the reference voltage terminal;
a second capacitor coupled between the fourth comparator input and the ground terminal;
a second current source coupled between the supply voltage terminal and the second capacitor, wherein the second current source is configured to provide a current to the second capacitor that is proportional to absolute temperature; and
a flip-flop having first and second flip-flop inputs, wherein the first flip-flop input is coupled to the first comparator output, and the second flip-flop input is coupled to the second comparator output.

17. The oscillator circuit of claim 16 , wherein the first capacitor has a capacitance that is complementary to absolute temperature.

18. The oscillator circuit of claim 16 , further including a third current source coupled in parallel with the first current source.

19. The oscillator circuit of claim 16 , wherein the second capacitor has a capacitance that is complementary to absolute temperature.

Assignees

• Texas Instruments Inc

Inventors

• Al-Khalidi Muawiya Ali
• Pereira Angelo William
• Korkmaz Pinar
• Curtis Paul David

Classifications

• H03B5/04 Primary

  Modifications of generator to compensate for variations in physical values, e.g. power supply, load, temperature · CPC title

• H03K3/0315

  Ring oscillators · CPC title

• H03K5/24 Primary

  the characteristic being amplitude · CPC title

• H03K3/011 Primary

  Modifications of generator to compensate for variations in physical values, e.g. voltage, temperature {(to maintain energy constant H03K3/015)} · CPC title

• H03K3/023

  by the use of differential amplifiers or comparators, with internal or external positive feedback · CPC title