A Self-Referenced Resistor-Based Temperature Sensor

Abstract

This paper presents a high-resolution resistor-based temperature sensor that can be implemented through self-clock generation. The proposed temperature sensor senses the temperature with two resistors with different temperature coefficients, and the frequency changes according to the temperature change through the RC oscillator. Frequency information is configured to output in digital code through a frequency-to-digital converter(FDC). FDC is composed counter-based, so it occupies a small area and can be synthesized. This sensor has a small area of 0.008mm^2 and does not require the need of a reference/external clock. Through a wide temperature range using a resistor, it is suitable for various applications. The sensor has a high resolution of 0.0195℃ and a low relative accuracy of 0.6℃. It is operable at a supply voltage of 0.9V and fabricated at a 28-nm process.