Many parameters of electronic devices, such as sensors that measure environment variables, are temperature dependent. For example, bandgap voltage references have up to 50 ppm/° C. temperature dependence, operational amplifier input offset voltages drift may be up to 20 μV/° C., and quartz frequency references may have 10-20 ppm/° C. frequency drift. In most cases, the temperature dependence or drifting due to temperature is not linear.
To improve initial accuracy of electronic devices, a single-temperature trim or adjustment of at least one parameter is performed at room temperature, such as 27° C.
A technique employed to eliminate the first-order (linear part) of the temperature drift is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,614,305. By this method, the output parameter is trimmed at a first temperature, for example, 100° C., to a target level using a variety of techniques such as laser resistor trimming or link cut. In addition, a temperature-dependent variable, such as the difference between current that is proportional to absolute temperature (PTAT) and current that is complementary to absolute temperature (CTAT) is trimmed to zero.
At a second temperature, for example, 20° C., the temperature-dependent variable is used to trim a parameter of interest to a target specification. This trimming does not change the output at the first temperature because this variable was previously trimmed to zero. As a result, the linear temperature dependence of the parameter of interest is eliminated or reduced.
These temperature compensation methods do not compensate for nonlinear fluctuations due to temperature. These nonlinear fluctuations become significant as more precise output parameters are required.
Methods and circuits for adjusting the output parameter of a device wherein the output parameter is temperature dependent are disclosed herein. An example of a method includes: adjusting the output parameter to a target level at a first temperature; adjusting a linear temperature-dependent variable related to the output parameter to zero at the first temperature; adjusting a nonlinear temperature-dependent variable related to the output parameter to zero at the first temperature; adjusting the output parameter to the target level at a second temperature using the linear-dependent variable; adjusting the nonlinear temperature-dependent variable to zero at the second temperature; and adjusting the output parameter to the target level at a third temperature by adjusting the nonlinear variable. The third temperature may be between the first temperature and the second temperature.
In some examples, the output parameter is output voltage. An example of the linear temperature-dependent variable includes a current. Another example includes the difference between a current that is proportional to absolute temperature and a current that is complementary to absolute temperature. In some examples, the nonlinear temperature-dependent variable mimics the temperature behavior of the output parameter. Examples of the nonlinear temperature-dependent variable include a Taylor polynomial approximation of the output parameter, an exponential function, and a Bessel approximation.
In some embodiments, the adjusting includes adjusting the output to input ratio of at least one digital to analog converter (DAC) and storing the value of the ratio in a memory device.
In some examples, the adjustments are preformed at more temperatures by: adjusting the output parameter to the target level at a fourth temperature using the linear-dependent variable; adjusting the nonlinear temperature-dependent variable to zero at the fourth temperature; and adjusting the output parameter to the target level at a fifth temperature by adjusting the nonlinear variable. The fourth temperature may be lower than the first temperature and the fifth temperature may be between the fourth temperature and the first temperature.
Another example method is for adjusting the output voltage of a voltage source, which includes: adjusting the output voltage to a target voltage at a first temperature; adjusting a linear temperature-dependent variable to zero at the first temperature; adjusting a nonlinear temperature-dependent variable to zero at the first temperature; adjusting the output voltage to the target voltage at a second temperature by adjusting the linear-dependent variable; adjusting the nonlinear temperature-dependent variable to zero at high temperature; and adjusting the output voltage to the target voltage at a third temperature by adjusting the nonlinear variable.
This example may further include: adjusting the output parameter to the target level at a fourth temperature using the linear-dependent variable; adjusting the nonlinear temperature-dependent variable to zero at the fourth temperature; and adjusting the output voltage to the target voltage at a fifth temperature by adjusting the nonlinear variable. An example of the linear temperature-dependent variable is the difference between a current that is proportional to absolute temperature and a current that is complementary to absolute temperature.
In some examples, the nonlinear temperature-dependent variable mimics the temperature behavior of the output voltage and may include an exponential function.
The adjusting may include adjusting the output to input ratio of at least one digital to analog converter (DAC) and storing the value of the ratio in a memory device.
An example of the circuitry for generating an output parameter and maintaining the output parameter substantially constant over temperature variations includes: a bandgap core for generating the output parameter, the bandgap core wherein the bandgap core has an input for trimming the output parameter and an output for outputting a temperature dependent signal representative of the output parameter; circuitry for generating a nonlinear component of the output parameter as a function of temperature; and circuitry for generating a signal for the input, the signal for trimming the output parameter at least partially based the nonlinear components of the output parameter as a function of temperature. In some examples the output parameter is voltage.
Circuits and methods for trimming output parameters are disclosed herein. The trimming circuits and methods presented herein may be described in terms of various functional components and various processing steps. It should be appreciated that such circuits and methods may be realized by any number of hardware or structural components configured to perform the specified functions. For example, the present circuits may employ various integrated components such as voltage and current references, current mirrors, digital to analog converters, and the like that include various electrical devices whose values may be suitably configured for various intended purposes. In addition, the exemplary circuits and methods may be practiced in a plurality of applications. However, for purposes of illustration only, exemplary embodiments of the circuits and methods are described herein in connection with the trimming of a voltage reference circuit.
Temperature trimming techniques for electronic devices, such as an integrated electronic device, are limited in that they eliminate only the linear component of temperature drift. The nonlinear component of temperature drift (sometimes referred to as “curvature compensation”) is typically compensated for by guessing or estimating. However, the nonlinear component of the temperature drift significantly affects operation of the electronic devices. For example, the nonlinear temperature drift may limit the accuracy of some voltage references in the electronic devices to approximately 5 ppm/° C., and more often to 8-10 ppm/° C.
Circuits and methods that compensate for temperature are disclosed herein. The temperature compensation includes trimming parameters at three or more temperatures, which enables independent adjustments of the output parameter by trimming not only linear drift, but also the nonlinear portion of drift resulting from temperature variations.
A current generator 110 generates at least one current IAT based on the temperature-dependent signal from the output 106 of the bandgap core 104, wherein the current IAT is dependent on absolute temperature. In some examples the current generator 110 is a voltage to current convertor that includes at least one current mirror as described further below. The current generator 110 or portions of the current generator 110 may be located in the bandgap core 104. The current generator 110 outputs several equal currents IAT1, IAT2, and IAT3 (collectively referred to as IAT) in response to the voltage V(T). The currents IAT are output to trim digital-to-analog converters (DACs) 116 that receive digital signals and process the currents IAT based on signals from memory 118. The trim DACs 116 generate a trim current IT that is received at an input 120 of the bandgap core 104. The current IT causes the bandgap core 104 to change the output voltage VOUT so that it remains constant irrespective of temperature changes.
The DACs 116 described herein serve as multiplication DACs wherein their outputs are proportional to their inputs. More specifically, the outputs are multiples of their inputs. A signal, such as a digital signal from the memory 118, determines the gain of the individual DACs. For example, a DAC may receive a signal from the memory 118 that causes the output to be one half of the input. Accordingly, the DAC reduces the input current it receives in half. In other examples, the DAC may double the input current.
The bandgap core 204 generates the voltage V(T). The voltage V(T) is output to a current generator 210, which is similar to the current generator 110 of
The current IPTAT is input to a second DAC, DAC2, where it is processed, such as increased or decreased depending on a signal received by the DAC2 from memory 118. The output of DAC2 and the current INTC are input to a summer 218 where the current INTC is subtracted from the output of DAC2 to yield a current IAT that is based on temperature. The current IAT is a linear temperature-dependent variable. The current IAT is input to a current mirror 220 that outputs several currents IAT1, IAT2, and IAT3 that are equal to the current IAT to different processing circuits described below.
A first current IAT1 is output from the current mirror 220 to a third DAC, DAC3, that trims the output voltage VOUT at high temperatures in response from an input from the memory 118. The function of DAC3 is described in greater detail below. A second current IAT2 is output from the current mirror 220 to a fourth DAC, DAC4, which trims the current IAT at high temperature. More specifically, DAC4 trims a nonlinear temperature-dependent variable, which in the example of
A third current IAT3 is output from the current mirror 220 to a processor 224 that generates a nonlinear temperature-dependent function that may be based on the magnitude and sign of the current IAT3. The purpose of the processor 224 is to generate a nonlinear current as a function of temperature, which can be achieved by digital circuitry or analog circuitry. In some examples, the processor 224 generates a current that is proportional to an exponential of temperature and in other examples the processor 224 generates a current that is proportional to the temperature squared. In the example of
The output of DAC4 and the output of the processor 224 are input to a summer 230, which outputs a signal ICURV wherein ICURV is a current representative of the nonlinear function of the current IAT. The signal ICURV is input to a DAC, DAC5. The output of DAC5 and the output of DAC3 are coupled to inputs of a summer 234, wherein the output of the summer 234 is the signal IT that changes the output voltage VOUT based on temperature. More specifically, the signal IT changes the output voltage VOUT based on linear and nonlinear temperature variations of the bandgap core 204.
The current that flows though the collector of the transistor Q4 is the output current referred to as IeT. The circuit 400 is an exemplary circuit that generates the current IeT. Other circuits that generate nonlinear representations of the current IAT3 may be substituted for the circuit 400.
Having described the bandgap generator 200, processes for trimming the bandgap generator 200 to achieve a specific output voltage VOUT over a wide temperature range will now be described. The trimming procedure involves trimming the bandgap generator 200 at high, medium, and low temperatures. In the examples described herein, the trimming commences with trimming at first temperature, which may be a low temperature.
In
The next trimming occurs at a second temperature, such as a high temperature. Examples of high temperatures are temperatures between 90° C. and 125° C.
The nonlinear component is set to zero at high temperature as shown by the curve 702 of
As shown in
The above described operation of trimming an output parameter is shown by the flowchart 900 of
The methods have been described above as being performed at three temperatures. In other examples, two more trimming are performed at temperatures below VLOW. Different trim coefficients are used depending whether the device temperature is above or below TLOW. For example, a comparator can determine the sign of IAT to determine whether the temperature is above or below TLOW. The processes of
While some examples of voltage generators and trimming methods have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations except insofar as limited by the prior art.
This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application 62/020,094 filed on Jul. 2, 2014 for TRIMMING METHODOLOGY FOR SENSORS WITH NONLINEAR TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE of Vadim V. Ivanov.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20160004269 A1 | Jan 2016 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62020094 | Jul 2014 | US |