IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,442,695
Granted Patent B2
US 12,442,695 · App. 17/979,743 · Granted Oct 14, 2025

Temperature sensing device

Inventors: Wei-Fan Chen (Taichung, TW); Kuo-Chi Tsai (Taoyuan, TW)
Assignee: LEAP Semiconductor Corp.
G01K7/18H01C10/16H01C13/02
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,442,695
App. No.
17/979,743
Granted
Oct 14, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A temperature sensing device includes a resistor string and a control circuitry. The resistor string includes a variable resistor, a first resistor, and a second resistor which are coupled in series with each other. The resistor string is coupled between a sensing end and a reference ground voltage. The first resistor and the second resistor are coupled to a monitoring end to provide a monitoring voltage. The control circuitry compares the monitoring voltage with a plurality of reference voltages to generate sensing temperature information, and generate adjustment information according to the sensing temperature information. The control circuitry adjusts a resistance provided by the variable resistor according to the adjustment information. The first resistor is a polysilicon resistor, and the second resistor is a silicon carbide diffusion resistor.

Claims (46)

1. A temperature sensing device comprising:

a resistor string comprising a variable resistor, a first resistor, and a second resistor which are coupled in series with each other, wherein the resistor string is coupled between a sensing end and a reference ground voltage, and the first resistor and the second resistor are coupled to a monitoring end to provide a monitoring voltage; and

a control circuitry which is coupled to the resistor string, receives the monitoring voltage, generates sensing temperature information by comparing the monitoring voltage with a plurality of reference voltages, and generates adjustment information according to the sensing temperature information,

wherein the control circuitry adjusts a resistance provided by the variable resistor according to the adjustment information, the first resistor is a polysilicon resistor, and the second resistor is a silicon carbide diffusion resistor,

wherein the variable resistor comprises:

N first fuses, N being a positive integer; and

N third resistors respectively forming a plurality of fuse-resistor strings with the first fuses, wherein the fuse-resistor strings are coupled in parallel with each other,

wherein the control circuitry determines whether to blow at least one of the first fuses according to the adjustment information to adjust the resistance provided by the variable resistor.

2. The temperature sensing device according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of resistances of the N third resistors form a geometric progression with a common ratio equal to 2.

3. The temperature sensing device according to claim 1 , wherein the variable resistor further comprises:

a second fuse coupled in parallel with the fuse-resistor strings.

4. A temperature sensing device comprising:

a resistor string comprising a variable resistor, a first resistor, and a second resistor which are coupled in series with each other, wherein the resistor string is coupled between a sensing end and a reference ground voltage, and the first resistor and the second resistor are coupled to a monitoring end to provide a monitoring voltage; and

a control circuitry which is coupled to the resistor string, receives the monitoring voltage, generates sensing temperature information by comparing the monitoring voltage with a plurality of reference voltages, and generates adjustment information according to the sensing temperature information,

wherein the control circuitry adjusts a resistance provided by the variable resistor according to the adjustment information, the first resistor is a polysilicon resistor, and the second resistor is a silicon carbide diffusion resistor, wherein the variable resistor comprises:

N third resistors, N being a positive integer; and

N first fuses respectively coupled in parallel with the N third resistors to form a plurality of fuse-resistor pairs, wherein the fuse-resistor pairs are coupled in series with each other,

wherein the control circuitry determines whether to blow at least one of the first fuses according to the adjustment information to adjust the resistance provided by the variable resistor.

5. The temperature sensing device according to claim 4 , wherein a plurality of resistances of the N third resistors form a geometric progression with a common ratio equal to 2.

6. The temperature sensing device according to claim 4 , wherein the control circuitry comprises a fuse resistance comparison table, and the control circuitry looks up the fuse resistance comparison table according to the monitoring voltage to adjust the resistance of the variable resistor.

7. A temperature sensing device comprising:

a resistor string comprising a variable resistor, a first resistor, and a second resistor which are coupled in series with each other, wherein the resistor string is coupled between a sensing end and a reference ground voltage, and the first resistor and the second resistor are coupled to a monitoring end to provide a monitoring voltage; and

a control circuitry which is coupled to the resistor string, receives the monitoring voltage, generates sensing temperature information by comparing the monitoring voltage with a plurality of reference voltages, and generates adjustment information according to the sensing temperature information,

wherein the control circuitry adjusts a resistance provided by the variable resistor according to the adjustment information, the first resistor is a polysilicon resistor, and the second resistor is a silicon carbide diffusion resistor, wherein the control circuitry comprises:

a plurality of comparators which respectively receive the reference voltages and commonly receive the monitoring voltage, wherein each of the comparators compares the monitoring voltage with the corresponding reference voltage to generate a comparison result; and

a plurality of logic operators, wherein each of the logic operators performs a logic operation on two of the comparison results, and the logic operators respectively generate a plurality of bits of the sensing temperature information.

8. The temperature sensing device according to claim 7 , wherein each of the logic operators is an exclusive-OR gate or an XNOR gate.

9. The temperature sensing device according to claim 7 , wherein the reference voltages comprise a first reference voltage to an M-th reference voltage arranged in order of magnitude, the comparators comprise a first comparator to an M-th comparator respectively corresponding to the first reference voltage to the M-th reference voltage, and the comparators respectively generate a first comparison result to an M-th comparison result,

wherein each of the logic operators receives an i-th comparison result and an (i+1)-th comparison result and generates an i-th bit of the sensing temperature information, wherein M is a positive integer greater than 1, and i is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than M.

10. The temperature sensing device according to claim 7 , wherein the control circuitry further comprises:

a reference voltage generator which generates the reference voltages.

11. The temperature sensing device according to claim 10 , wherein the reference voltage generator comprises:

a voltage divider circuit having a first terminal that receives a second voltage and a second terminal that receives a third voltage, wherein the voltage divider circuit generates the reference voltages by dividing a difference between the second voltage and the third voltage, and the voltage divider circuit comprises:

a plurality of third resistors sequentially coupled in series between the second voltage and the third voltage, wherein the third resistors generate the reference voltages by dividing the difference between the second voltage and the third voltage, and the third resistors are polysilicon resistors.

12. The temperature sensing device according to claim 10 , wherein the reference voltage generator comprises:

a plurality of voltage divider circuits which respectively generate the reference voltages, each of the voltage divider circuits comprising:

a third resistor and a fourth resistor which are coupled in series with each other between a second voltage and a third voltage to divide a voltage difference between the second voltage and the third voltage to generate the corresponding reference voltages, wherein the third resistor and the fourth resistor are polysilicon resistors.

13. The temperature sensing device according to claim 1 , wherein the first resistor and the second resistor are sequentially coupled between the sensing end and the reference ground voltage.

14. The temperature sensing device according to claim 1 , wherein the second resistor and the first resistor are sequentially coupled between the sensing end and the reference ground voltage.

15. The temperature sensing device according to claim 1 , wherein the second resistor is an N-type silicon carbide diffusion resistor or a P-type silicon carbide diffusion resistor.

16. The temperature sensing device according to claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry adjusts the resistance provided by the variable resistor so that the monitoring voltage is equal to a predetermined voltage value.

17. The temperature sensing device according to claim 1 , wherein the sensing end is a control terminal of a power transistor, and the power transistor is integrally provided in a same integrated circuit with the first resistor, the second resistor, and the variable resistor.

18. The temperature sensing device according to claim 17 , wherein the second resistor is a P-type silicon carbide diffusion resistor and comprises:

a P-type diffusion region provided in a drift region of the integrated circuit.

19. The temperature sensing device according to claim 17 , wherein the second resistor is an N-type silicon carbide diffusion resistor and comprises:

an N-type diffusion region provided in a well region, the well region being provided in a drift region of the integrated circuit.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 10, 2022
From: CHEN, WEI-FAN; TSAI, KUO-CHI
To: LEAP SEMICONDUCTOR CORP.
Reel/Frame 061726/0307 →
Priority Claims (1)
TW 111136365 · Sep 26, 2022 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20240102869A1 · Mar 28, 2024
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