Telcom Semiconductor, Inc.

Microchip Technology Inc.

Amado A Caliboso

John P Tero

Ali Tasdighi

Quoi V Huynh

M Abid Hussain

S Fred Dabney, Jr

The output of a solid-state temperature sensor is the ratio of a voltage proportional to a reference voltage. The solid-state temperature sensor used diodes in its sensing and reference circuits, however, these diodes exhibit a second order behavior that causes the temperature sensor output response to deviate from an ideal straight line. This output response deviation has a characteristic error curve that is shaped like a parabola. An offset that varies opposite to that of the temperature sensor output response deviation may be determined and applied in the digital domain as offset compensation after the temperature has been conversed to a digital value with an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). By adding this offset compensation to the digital output of the ADC, digital representations of the measured temperatures will track more linearly.

Temperature sensor bow compensation

An apparatus for monitoring a thermal state of a system includes a thermal management integrated circuit (IC). The thermal management IC is coupled to receive a remote temperature signal. The remote temperature signal is indicative of a system temperature. The thermal management IC includes a software programmable temperature threshold setpoint, and a hardware programmable temperature critical threshold setpoint.

Independent hardware thermal sensing and monitoring

A charge pump circuit including two transfer capacitors, two reservoir capacitors and a plurality of switches. The transfer capacitors are charged to Vin when the charge pump circuit is in a first operating state, the transfer capacitors are connected in a first series arrangement to apply a +2 Vin charge to one of the reservoir capacitors when the charge pump circuit is in a second operating state, and the transfer capacitors are connected in a second series arrangement to apply a -2 Vin charge to the other of the reservoir capacitors when the charge pump circuit is in a third operating state. A control circuit is provided to control the plurality of switches such that the charge pump circuit enters the first through third operating states is a predetermined sequence.

Charge pump circuit having independent inverted and non-inverted

A capacitance measuring device incorporates the integrating analog-digital converter circuit of a handheld meter. The capacitance measuring device charges an unknown capacitance with a constant current until the voltage across the unknown capacitor reaches a predetermined voltage. At the same time, a reference voltage is applied to the input lead of an integrating circuit of the integrating analog-digital converter such that a corresponding proportional charge is stored in the feedback capacitor of the integrating circuit. The negative of the reference voltage is then applied to the integrating circuit so that charge is removed from the feedback capacitor at the same rate as the feedback capacitor was charged. A counter is used to determine the number of clock pulses it took to completely discharge the feedback capacitor and hence a reading of the unknown capacitance can be determined from the equation C.sub.X =I.sub.CHARGE *T.sub.2 /V.sub.TRIP.

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Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Amado A Caliboso