Ratiometric BJT-based thermal sensor in 32nm and 22nm technologies

Shor, Joseph; Luria, Kosta; Zilberman, Dror

doi:10.1109/isscc.2012.6176979

Cited by 39 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…This is because over the course of the product lifetime, Vt and μ change since the process is "sped up" to increase performance. In [7] the present authors demonstrated the frequency-based digital thermal sensor (FDTS), using a BJT-based bandgap and frequency integration, thus incorporating the goodness of both the DTS and probe architectures.…”

Section: /S͘ Andzyhezͳ ^ /'/D > Dzd > ^E^kz ;Andd^ϳmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of thermal sensors in Intel processors from 90nm to 22nm

Shor

Luria

2012

2012 IEEE 27th Convention of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in Israel

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Thermal sensors are used in Intel processors in order to measure and regulate the chip's temperature. This is useful to insure that the temperature does not exceed the reliability limit and also to optimize processor performance. Several sensors developed in Intel processes are reviewed and their evolution over different process generations is explained. The design tradeoffs and system requirements for these sensors are discussed. /͘ /EdZKhd/KEThermal sensors are utilized in Intel Processors in order to provide information for the maximum temperature of operation and fan regulation at temperatures down to 50 o C. When the IC temperature exceeds the reliability limit the chip throttles (reduces) the frequency to allow it to cool down. There is also a catastrophic mechanism which shuts down the system completely if the chip temperature is a predetermined amount above the maximum allowed.Today's microprocessors are thermally limited in many applications, so reasonably accurate temperature readings are essential in order to maximize performance. There are fairly large thermal gradients across the core, which vary for different instructions, so it is necessary to position thermal sensors near hot-spots. In addition, the locations of the hot-spots may not be predictable during the design phase. Thus it is necessary for hot-spot sensors to be small enough to be moved late in the design cycle or even after first Silicon.In addition, in advanced processes, the chip frequency at a lower voltage exhibits an inverse temperature dependence (ITD). The temperature measurements enable the chip to raise the voltage under these conditions in order to maintain performance. Thus it is also important to position sensors near cold spots as well as hot spots.In this paper, several published sensors used in the Intel Israel design site are reviewed. We will focus on how the sensing technology evolved over several generations of processes from 90nm to 22nm. Architecture and analog circuit innovations were implemented which allowed the sensor's area and power to be scaled by large factors (3-10X) between processes, without losing performance. This is despite the fact that analog circuits in generally do not scale or even reverse scale between different process technologies.Several authors have recently demonstrated high accuracy (0.2 o C ) BJT-based sensors [1, 2]. However, these sensors are limited for multiple hot-spot measurement because of their size (0.1 -0.26 mm2). In microprocessors, it is sufficient to measure temperature at somewhat lower accuracy (+-3 o C at throttle; +-5 o C at 50C), but the sensor has to be compact enough to be positioned in multiple locations per core. Additionally, the sensor needs to be quick enough to capture temperature gradients, which in a processor are ~ 1ms, as will be shown later.Most sensors in the published literature have sampling speeds < 10S/sec, which is not fast enough for processor applications. In addition, speed/latency can be utilized to lower the power, by powering down the sensor between...

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Section: /S͘ Andzyhezͳ ^ /'/D > Dzd > ^E^kz ;Andd^ϳmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of thermal sensors in Intel processors from 90nm to 22nm

Shor

Luria

2012

2012 IEEE 27th Convention of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in Israel

Self Cite

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“…For BJT-based sensors, the systematic errors caused by the non-idealities in the readout circuitry are designed negligible. Hence, the random errors caused by process spread are the main errors and a costly calibration is needed to achieve high accuracy [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An auto-calibration technique for BJT-based CMOS temperature sensors

Kong

2017

IEICE Electron. Express

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To obtain high accuracy, CMOS temperature sensors need to be calibrated. The current available calibration techniques are manual ones. They are time-consuming and expensive. They are not suitable for chip mass production. To solve the problem, we present an individual and automatic calibration technique for BJT-based CMOS temperature sensors. It is an automatic voltage calibration using the trimming circuit based on the successive-approximation algorithm. Experimental results show that after a 2-second auto-calibration, the sensor can achieve an accuracy of −1°C∼ 1.5°C from −40°C to 100°C.

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“…For BJT-based CMOS temperature sensors, the state-of-the-art design methodology guaranteeing high precision has been demonstrated to be effective for different processes and power supplies [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. By applying this methodology, the systematic errors caused by the non-idealities in the readout circuitry can be reduced negligibly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of the residual error due to mechanical stress in BJT-based CMOS temperature sensors

Kong

2017

IEICE Electron. Express

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It is widely known that the inaccuracy of BJT-based CMOS temperature sensors is higher at high temperature range, which greatly limits their application. In this paper, the characteristic of the error after calibration is analyzed. Through the experiments, we discover that the cause of this problem is not circuit related, instead it is process related, which is the mechanical stress generated during manufacturing and packaging. Experimental results show that an accuracy of −0.5∼2°C can be obtained for the calibrated non-epoxy sensors from −40°C to 120°C.

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Ratiometric BJT-based thermal sensor in 32nm and 22nm technologies

Cited by 39 publications

References 7 publications

Evolution of thermal sensors in Intel processors from 90nm to 22nm

Evolution of thermal sensors in Intel processors from 90nm to 22nm

An auto-calibration technique for BJT-based CMOS temperature sensors

Analysis of the residual error due to mechanical stress in BJT-based CMOS temperature sensors

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