Temperature Sensor Transistor Mismatch Error Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing temperature measuring devices face challenges in accurately measuring temperature due to mismatches between transistors and resistors, which affect the accuracy of temperature measurement and hinder device miniaturization.
Innovation Solution
A temperature measuring device is designed with a transistor group and a selector that connects transistors and resistors in a way that minimizes mismatches, using a control unit to adjust connections and an amplifier to reduce errors in base-to-emitter voltages, thereby improving measurement accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If element size of transistors is increased to suppress mismatch effects, then measurement accuracy is improved, but device area increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the transistor group into multiple segments (first transistor group and second transistor group) with different connectivity configurations. By segmenting the transistors and selectively connecting them through the selector, the system can suppress mismatch effects without requiring uniformly large transistor sizes across all elements, thus reducing overall device area while maintaining measurement accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a selector that dynamically changes the connectivity configuration between transistors and semiconductor elements based on measurement requirements. This dynamic reconfiguration allows the system to adapt transistor connections to minimize mismatch effects for each measurement, eliminating the need for permanently oversized transistors and thereby reducing device area.
2Measurement precision
If element size of transistors is increased to suppress mismatch effects, then measurement accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the transistor group and selector to serve multiple functions: the same transistor group can be selectively connected to different semiconductor elements in different configurations. This multi-functionality allows a single set of transistors to suppress mismatch effects for multiple measurement scenarios without requiring separate dedicated transistor pairs for each configuration, thereby reducing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The selector automatically manages the connectivity configuration between transistors and semiconductor elements based on measurement requirements. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for complex external control circuits or manual configuration, allowing the device to autonomously optimize transistor connections for mismatch suppression while maintaining simple overall device structure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively suppresses errors caused by transistor and resistor mismatches, enhancing temperature measurement accuracy and enabling device downsizing, with an error reduction from 3% to 0.07% and improved digital calculation throughput.
Implementation Method 1
a sensor unit that produces a voltage proportional to an absolute temperature based on a current value
Data Source
AI summary
A temperature measuring device includes first and second semiconductor elements each of which has a p-n junction, a transistor group including a plurality of transistors of which respective sources are connected to a power source and of which respective gates are connected to each other, the plurality of transistors constituting a current source, the transistor group being configured to output a first current and a second current having a different magnitude from the first current to the first and second semiconductor elements, respectively, and a selector configured to select at least one first transistor and a plurality of second transistors different from the first transistor, from among the plurality of transistors.