Temperature Sensor ICs Simplif

文章摘要：The system monitor (D) is the most complex IC of the four. In addition to the functions provided by the digital I/O type, this type of device commonly monitors the system supply voltages, providing an alarm when voltages rise above or sink below limits set via the I/O bus. Fan monitoring and/or cont

Temperature Sensor ICs Simplif,标签：计算机控制技术,工厂电气控制技术,http://www.88dzw.com

The system monitor (D) is the most complex IC of the four. In addition to the functions provided by the digital I/O type, this type of device commonly monitors the system supply voltages, providing an alarm when voltages rise above or sink below limits set via the I/O bus. Fan monitoring and/or control is sometimes included in this type of IC. In some cases, this class of device is used to determine whether or not a fan is working. More complex versions control the fan as a function of one or more measured temperatures. The system monitor sensor is not discussed here but is briefly mentioned to give a complete picture of the types of temperature sensors available.

Analog-Output Temperature Sensors

Thermistors and silicon temperature sensors are widely used forms of analog-output temperature sensors. Figure 2 clearly shows that when a linear relationship between voltage and temperature is needed, a silicon temperature sensor is a far better choice than a thermistor. Over a narrow temperature range, however, thermistors can provide reasonable linearity and good sensitivity. Many circuits originally constructed with thermistors have over time been updated using silicon temperature sensors.


Figure 2. The linearity of thermistors and silicon temperature sensors, two popular analog-output temperature detectors, is contrasted sharply.

Silicon temperature sensors come with different output scales and offsets. Some, for example, are available with output transfer functions that are proportional to K, others to °C or °F. Some of the °C parts provide an offset so that negative temperatures can be monitored using a single-ended supply.

In most applications, the output of these devices is fed into a comparator or an A/D converter to convert the temperature data into a digital format. Despite the need for these additional devices, thermistors and silicon temperature sensors continue to enjoy popularity due to low cost and convenience of use in many situations.

Digital I/O Temperature Sensors

About five years ago, a new type of temperature sensor was introduced. These devices include a digital interface that permits communication with a microcontroller. The interface is usually an I²C or SMBus serial bus, but other serial interfaces such as SPI are common. In addition to reporting temperature readings to the microcontroller, the interface also receives instructions from the microcontroller. Those instructions are often temperature limits, which, if exceeded, activate a digital signal on the temperature sensor IC that interrupts the microcontroller. The microcontroller is then able to adjust fan speed or back off the speed of a microprocessor, for example, to keep temperature under control.

This type of device is available with a wide variety of features, among them, remote temperature sensing. To enable remote sensing, most high-performance CPUs include an on-chip transistor that provides a voltage analog of the temperature. (Only one of the transistor's two p-n junctions is used.) Figure 3 shows a remote CPU being monitored using this technique. Other applications utilize a discrete transistor to perform the same function.

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