Compact Thermal Sensors for

Processor Applications
SEMINAR ABSTRACT AND REFERENCES

ANCIL CLEETUS
ROLL NO: 2
M.Tech VLSI AND EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
MODEL ENGINEERING COLLEGE
THRIKKAKARA

ABSTRACT
Thermal sensors are utilized in high-performance microprocessors for thermal and power management. The thermal sensors can provide temperature
information which prevents the chip from overheating and can also detect
strong lateral thermal gradients across the chip. As the technologies scale,
there are a greater amount of transistors per unit area on the chip, which
causes the power density to increase with every generation. Compact thermal
sensors can directly affect the processors performance and power management. Several sensors developed for processor applications are reviewed and
their evolution over different process generations up to the latest 14 nm process technology is explained. The design trade-offs and system requirements
for these sensors are also discussed.

References
[1] Takao Oshita, Joseph Shor, David E. Duarte and Avner Kornfeld,
Compact BJT-Based Thermal Sensor for Processor Applications in a 14
nm tri-Gate CMOS Process, in IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits,
Vol. 50, No. 3, March 2015.
[2] U. Sonmez, R. Quan, F. Sebastiano, and K. A. A. Makinwa, A 0.008mm area-optimized thermal-diffusivity-based temperature sensor in 160nm CMOS for SoC thermal monitoring, in Proc. ESSCIRC, 2014.
[3] Joseph Shor and Kosta Luria, Evolution of Thermal Sensors in Intel
Processors from 90nm to 22nm, in IEEE 27th Convention of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers in Israel, 2012.
[4] J. Shor, K. Luria, and D. Zilberman, Ratiometric BJT-based thermal
sensor in 32 nm and 22 nm technologies, in IEEE ISSCC Dig. Tech.
Papers, 2012.
[5] M.
Berktold
and
T.
Tian,
CPU
Monitoring
With
DTS/PECI,
White
paper
from
Intel
Corp.,
Sep.
2010
[Online].
Available:
http://www.intel.ph/content/
dam/www/public/us/en/documents/white-papers/cpu-monitoringdts-peci-paper.pdf
[6] Robert Patrick Fisk, Accurate thermal sensing with modern CMOS
integrated circuits, PhD thesis, Massey University, Auckland, New
Zealand, 2010.
[7] Jieyi Long, Seda Ogrenci Memik, Gokhan Memik, and Rajarshi Mukherjee, Thermal Monitoring Mechanisms for Chip Multiprocessors, in
ACM Transactions on Architecture and Code Optimization, Vol. 5, No.
2, Article 9, August 2008.

[8] Michiel A. P. Pertijs, Gerard C. M. Meijer and Johan H. Huijsing, Precision Temperature Measurement Using CMOS Substrate PNP Transistors, in IEEE Sensors Journal, Vol. 4, No. 3, June 2004.
[9] Fabiano Fruett, Guijie Wang, and Gerard C.M. Meijer, The piezojunction effect in NPN and PNP vertical transistors and its influence
on silicon temperature sensors, in Elsevier Sensors and Actuators 85
(2000).
[10] Guijie Wang and Gerard C.M. Meijer, The temperature characteristics of bipolar transistors fabricated in CMOS technology, in Elsevier
Sensors and Actuators 87 (2000).
[11] Anton Bakker, High Accuracy CMOS Smart Temperature Sensors,
Thesis, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, 2000.