Device and method for determining a temperature or a temperature- dependent value usable for determining the temperature, temperature sensor, pressure sensor and combination sensor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12379258-B2
Application number	US-202117391280-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 2, 2021
Priority date	Mar 3, 2017
Publication date	Aug 5, 2025
Grant date	Aug 5, 2025

Abstract

In accordance with an embodiment, a device includes an interface configured for obtaining at least one measurement signal from a temperature sensor. In a first time interval the at least one measurement signal comprises information about a temperature-dependent voltage difference between a first temperature-dependent voltage at a first diode of the temperature sensor and a second temperature-dependent voltage at a second diode of the temperature sensor. In a second time interval the at least one measurement signal comprises information about a measurement value of a temperature-dependent voltage at a temperature-dependent electrical component of the temperature sensor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A temperature sensor, comprising:
a first diode;
a second diode;
a control circuit, configured for providing at least one measurement signal to an interface of a device for determining a temperature or a temperature-dependent value usable for determining the temperature, wherein the control circuit is configured to:
control a generation of the at least one measurement signal, such that in a first time interval the at least one measurement signal comprises information about a temperature-dependent voltage difference between a first temperature-dependent voltage at the first diode and a second temperature-dependent voltage at the second diode, and
control the generation of the at least one measurement signal, such that in a second time interval the at least one measurement signal comprises information about a measurement value of a temperature-dependent voltage at a temperature-dependent electrical component of the temperature sensor; and

the device for determining the temperature or the temperature-dependent value usable for determining the temperature, wherein the device is configured for determining the temperature or the temperature-dependent value based on:
a first calibration measurement value based on the information about a value of the temperature-dependent voltage at a first calibration temperature,
a second calibration measurement value based on the information about a value of temperature-dependent voltage at a second calibration temperature different from the first calibration temperature,
a first calibration voltage value at the temperature-dependent electrical component at the first calibration temperature,
a second calibration voltage value at the temperature-dependent electrical component at the second calibration temperature, and
a measured voltage value at the temperature-dependent electrical component at a temperature to be measured.

2. The temperature sensor as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the temperature-dependent electrical component is the first diode or the second diode.

3. The temperature sensor as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the temperature sensor is designed such that the first diode is operated with a first, greater predefined current flow and the second diode is operated with a second, lower predefined current flow in order to generate the at least one measurement signal in the first time interval, wherein the second diode is the temperature-dependent electrical component.

4. The temperature sensor as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the temperature-dependent electrical component is a further diode or a thermistor of the temperature sensor.

5. The temperature sensor as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first diode and the second diode are implemented by transistor structures.

6. The temperature sensor as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the transistor structures comprise diode connected bipolar junction transistors.

7. The temperature sensor as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the control circuit comprises an analog to digital converter circuit, wherein the analog to digital converter circuit is configured to provide the at least one measurement signal as at least one digital measurement signal to the interface.

8. The temperature sensor as claimed in claim 7 , further comprising a switching network configured to:
couple the first diode to a first input of the analog to digital converter circuit, and couple the second diode to a second input of the analog to digital converter circuit during the first time interval; and
couple the first diode or the second diode to the first input or the second input of the analog to digital converter circuit during the second time interval.

9. The temperature sensor as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the information about the temperature-dependent voltage difference between the first temperature-dependent voltage at the first diode and the second temperature-dependent voltage at the second diode in the first time interval in the at least one digital measurement signal is based on a first number of measurement samples, and wherein the information about the measurement value of the temperature-dependent voltage at the temperature-dependent electrical component in the second time interval in the at least one digital measurement signal is based on a second number of measurement samples, wherein the second number of measurement samples is less than 20% of the first number of measurement samples.

10. The temperature sensor as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first diode, the second diode, the control circuit and the device for determining the temperature or the temperature-dependent value usable for determining the temperature are implemented on a same semiconductor substrate.

11. The temperature sensor as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising one or more current sources coupled to the first diode and the second diode.

12. A sensor comprising:
a temperature sensor comprising:
a first diode;
a second diode; and
a control circuit, configured for providing at least one measurement signal to a device for determining a temperature or a temperature-dependent value usable for determining the temperature, wherein the control circuit is configured to control a generation of the at least one measurement signal, such that in a first time interval the at least one measurement signal comprises information about a temperature-dependent voltage difference between a first temperature-dependent voltage at the first diode and a second temperature-dependent voltage at the second diode,
and wherein the control circuit is configured to control the generation of the at least one measurement signal, such that in a second time interval the at least one measurement signal comprises information about a measurement value of a temperature-dependent voltage at a temperature-dependent electrical component of the temperature sensor;

the device for determining the temperature or the temperature-dependent value usable for determining the temperature comprising
an interface configured for obtaining the at least one measurement signal from the temperature sensor, wherein in the first time interval the at least one measurement signal comprises information about the temperature-dependent voltage difference between the first temperature-dependent voltage at the first diode of the temperature sensor and the second temperature-dependent voltage at the second diode of the temperature sensor, and wherein in the second time interval the at least one measurement signal comprises information about the measurement value of the temperature-dependent voltage at the temperature-dependent electrical component of the temperature sensor; and
a calculation circuit configured for
determining at least one first calibration measurement value at a first calibration temperature and a second calibration measurement value at a second calibration temperature in the first time interval on the basis of the information about the temperature-dependent voltage difference,
determining at least one first calibration voltage value at the temperature-dependent electrical component at the first calibration temperature and a second calibration voltage value at the temperature-dependent electrical component at the second calibration temperature in the first time interval, and
determining the temperature or the temperature-dependent value usable for determining the temperature in the second time interval on the basis of the information about the measurement value of the temperature-dependent voltage at the temperature-dependent electrical component and on the basis of at least the first calibration voltage value or the second calibration voltage value; and

a pre

Assignees

• Infineon Technologies Ag

Inventors

• Jenkner Christian
• Neumaier Daniel

Classifications

• H04R1/04

  Structural association of microphone with electric circuitry therefor (in electric hearing aids H04R25/00) · CPC title

• H03F3/45085

  Long tailed pairs (H03F3/45112, H03F3/45139 take precedence) · CPC title

• G01K1/20

  Compensating for effects of temperature changes other than those to be measured, e.g. changes in ambient temperature · CPC title

• G01K15/005

  Calibration · CPC title

• G01L11/02

  by optical means · CPC title