Bandgap Voltage Monitoring Circuit for Tolerance Deviation Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing voltage monitoring systems in electric devices and integrated circuits face challenges in accurately detecting deviations from tolerance ranges, leading to false alarms or undetected failures due to measurement uncertainties, which affects operational reliability and availability.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a dual verification circuit system that compares internal voltages derived from a power supply circuit, using bandgap voltage reference sub-circuits and comparators, to perform absolute and relative checks, generating output signals indicating deviations from predefined tolerance ranges, thereby enhancing accuracy and reliability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a single voltage monitoring method is used, then the device complexity is low, but the measurement precision deteriorates due to measurement uncertainties causing false alarms or undetected failures
Solution Approach 1:
The voltage monitoring function is segmented into two independent verification circuits. The first verification circuit derives internal voltages from the first supply voltage and compares them to detect deviations. The second verification circuit directly compares the first supply voltage with the second supply voltage. This segmentation allows each circuit to use different measurement approaches, improving overall measurement precision while managing complexity through functional division
Solution Approach 2:
The first verification circuit transforms the monitoring parameter by deriving internal voltages from the first supply voltage through voltage division or regulation. This parameter transformation enables the circuit to detect supply voltage deviations indirectly through comparisons, improving measurement accuracy by converting the measurement into a different voltage domain that is less susceptible to certain types of errors
2Reliability
If voltage tolerance ranges are strictly monitored, then the operational reliability is improved, but false alarms increase due to measurement uncertainties
Solution Approach 1:
The combination circuit receives feedback from both verification circuits and integrates their results to make the final determination about voltage deviations. The first verification circuit provides feedback on internal voltage comparisons, while the second verification circuit provides feedback on direct supply voltage comparisons. This multi-source feedback mechanism allows the system to cross-validate measurements and distinguish true deviations from measurement uncertainties, reducing false alarms while maintaining high reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs excessive verification by using two independent verification circuits instead of one. The first verification circuit performs indirect monitoring through internal voltage derivations, and the second verification circuit performs direct monitoring through supply voltage comparisons. This excessive action ensures that voltage deviations are detected with high confidence while filtering out false alarms caused by measurement uncertainties in any single circuit
Data Source
AI summary
An integrated circuit includes a first bandgap voltage reference sub-circuit configured to provide a first bandgap reference voltage; a second bandgap voltage reference sub-circuit configured to provide a second bandgap reference voltage; a voltage regulator sub-circuit configured to derive a first supply voltage using the first bandgap reference voltage and a second supply voltage using the second bandgap reference voltage; a bandgap comparator sub-circuit configured to derive a first internal voltage and a second internal voltage from the first supply voltage, wherein the first internal voltage decreases at a higher rate than the second internal voltage with respect to a decreasing first supply voltage, wherein the bandgap comparator sub-circuit is configured indicate which of the first and the second internal voltages is larger; and a comparator sub-circuit configured to indicate whether a difference between the first supply voltage and the second supply voltage is larger than a predefined threshold.