LM94021,LM94022

Temperature sensor solutions for low-voltage systems

Literature Number: SNIA011

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Vol. III, Issue 6

ANALOG edge
DESIGN idea: Temp Sensor Solutions



Featured products
Super-small 1.8V rail-to-rail input/output
operational amplifier
The LMV931 is a low-voltage, low-power operational amplifier.
It is guaranteed to operate from a 1.8V supply voltage and have
rail-to-rail input and output. The input common-mode voltage of
the LMV931 extends 200 mV beyond the supplies, which enables
user-enhanced functionality beyond the supply voltage range. The
output can swing rail-to-rail unloaded and within 80 mV from the
rail with 600Ω load. The LMV931 is optimized to work at 1.8V,
which makes it ideal for portable two-cell, battery-powered systems
First precision analog temperature sensors and single-cell, Li-Ion systems.
with four user-selectable gains and operation The LMV931 exhibits an excellent speed-power ratio, achieving
down to 1.5V 1.4 MHz gain bandwidth product at 1.8V supply voltage with very
The LM94021 and LM94022 are precision analog output CMOS low supply current.
integrated-circuit temperature sensors that operate at supply
voltages as low as 1.5V and as high as 5.5V. Operating over a
wide temperature range of -50°C to +150°C, the LM94021/22
deliver an output voltage that is inversely proportional to measured
temperature. The low supply current of the LM94021/22 make
them ideal for battery-powered systems as well as general
temperature-sensing applications.
The LM94022 can be connected directly to any ADC without a
need for any external components.
Features
Features

Guaranteed 1.8V supply operation

Low 1.5V operation

Output swing

Four selectable gains
° with 600Ω load – 80 mV from rail

Very accurate over wide temperature range of
° with 2 kΩ load – 30 mV from rail
-50°C to +150°C
V
CM 200 mV beyond rails

Low quiescent current

Supply current (per channel) 100 µA

Output is short-circuit protected

Maximum V
OS 4.0 mV

Supply voltage 1.5V to 5.5V

Very accurate over temperature range -40°C to +125°C

Supply current 9 µA (typ)
The LMV931 is offered in tiny SC70-5 and SOT23-5 packaging and
The LM94021/22 are available in space-saving SC70-5 packaging
is ideal for space-constrained PC boards, portable electronics
and are ideal for use in cell phones, wireless transceivers, battery
such as cellular phones, PDAs, and MP3 players, and supply current-
management, automotive, disk drives, games, and appliances.
and battery-monitoring applications.
www.national.com/tempsensors
amplifiers.national.com
www.national.com/pf/LM/LM94021.html
www.national.com/pf/LM/LMV931.html
www.national.com/pf/LM/LM94022.html

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DESIGN idea
Zaryab Hamavand
Technical Marketing Manager
National Semiconductor

Temperature sensor solutions for low-voltage systems

To follow Moore’s law and provide But it presents the challenge of selecting component because their resistance
higher performance and expanded components to interface with these will change based on the temperature.
features at lower cost, processor manu- low-voltage processors. Let’s assume Therefore, by pushing the current and
facturers have moved to lower geometry that a 90 nm microcontroller has been monitoring the voltage, it will provide
or deep sub-micron processes. One of selected. This microcontroller has a the temperature information. Usually,
the characteristics of smaller geometry maximum supply voltage requirement the output of the analog sensor is con-
processes is a drop in supply voltage. of 1.8V. Also, the threshold of the serial nected to an analog-to-digital convert-
The supply voltage requirements vary interface to this part (SPI or I2C) has a er (ADC) to provide the temperature
based on process design. A drop in the maximum voltage requirement of information in the digital domain.
supply voltage can be delayed but it can- 1.8V. By choosing this microcontroller, This ADC can be discrete or integrated
not be prevented as the geometry size is all of the components communicating in the microcontroller or other devices.
reduced. For example, a 0.35 micron with this microcontroller will be A local digital temperature sensor can
process has sufficient oxide isolation required to have a maximum of 1.8V be considered as an analog tempera-
to accept a maximum supply voltage of serial interfaces. ture sensor with integrated ADC. The
5V. However for 0.13 micron and 90 nm To discuss the low-voltage system temperature information will be pro-
processes, the maximum supply voltage requirement and challenges that vided digitally. These components are
is 3.3V and 1.8V, respectively. designers face in detail, let’s examine accessed by using an available serial
A drop in supply voltage provides the temperature sensor design and interface on the parts. The common
advantages and challenges to portable selection in such a system. serial interfaces are 2-wire interfaces
system designers. Since portable systems (I2C or SMBus), 3-wire interfaces (SPI
Possible temp sensor solutions
are battery operated, a drop in supply or MICROWIRE), and a 4-wire inter-
voltage requirement will increase the One of the most common components face (SPI). Most microcontrollers have
battery life. Battery life is one of the used in a system is a temperature sensor. built in one or more of the serial inter-
important characteristics of portable Temperature sensors are usually used faces mentioned above.
devices. Therefore, portable system for system protection or temperature
Let’s again consider a system with a
designers would like to take advantage compensation. A temperature sensor
90 nm microcontroller. If an ADC
of this reduction in the supply voltage can be simply used to change the fan
channel is available, either discrete or
requirement and reduce the number of speed or shut down the system in the
integrated in the microcontroller, the
higher power supply regulators in their case of thermal runaway. The most
designer has a choice of using a digital
systems. Eliminating higher supply common temperature sensor used in
or analog temperature sensor. If the
voltage regulators creates new challenges. different applications is a local tempera-
only voltage available in the system is
One of the challenges is component ture sensor. Local temperature sensors
the microcontroller supply voltage,
selection since designers need to provide their die temperature in either
there is no other choice but to use a
choose all of the components in their analog or digital format.
true 1.8V analog or digital tempera-
system to be operational in low voltage. Outputs of analog temperature sensors ture sensor. If other supply voltages are
A system designer has a choice in are voltage or current, which change available, then there is an option to use
maintaining the higher voltage regulators depending on the die temperature. any analog temperature sensor as long
in their system. This will help in the Besides silicon analog temperature as its outputs do not exceed 1.8V. For
selection of some of the components. sensors, thermistors are a possible a digital temperature sensor, the

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 AD_3023_AnalogEdgeV3_Issue6.qxd 5/10/05 3:30 PM Page 3

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Zaryab Hamavand designer can choose either a true 1.8V

al Marketing Manager temperature sensor or add a pull-up Output voltage vs temperature
tional Semiconductor level shifter to raise the 1.8V interface
to the suitable level of the target digital 3.5
temperature sensor. Since ADCs with
1.8V supplies are not common, true 3.0
1.8V or 1.8V serial-interface digital -13.6 mV/°C
2.5
Output voltage (V)

temp sensors are becoming more popular.

Another option is to use a low-voltage
2.0
analog temperature sensor. Using an -10.9 mV/°C
analog temperature sensor in low-voltage 1.5
systems has its own criteria, which will be
described in the next section. 1.0
Issues with analog temp sensors -5.5 mV/°C
0.5
The output voltage of an analog temper- -8.2 mV/°C
ature sensor cannot exceed the input 0.0
supply voltage. Let’s consider a supply -50 -25 0 25 50 75 100 125 150
voltage of 1.8V. The normal tempera-
ture range for a temp sensor is -50°C to Temperature (°C)
+150°C (mil spec). Based on the above
requirement, the highest gain an analog
sensor can have is:
National’s analog temperature and LM94022 can be used at 1.5V
solution supply voltage in combination with
National has introduced two low- low resolution ADCs. When the part is
voltage analog temperature sensors, the monitoring cold temperature, the lowest
However this is an ideal case and is also LM94021 and LM94022. These analog gain can be used. As the temperature
impossible: the analog temperature sensors are the industry’s first analog increases, the microcontroller can
sensor requires head room and 1.8V is sensors that operate down to 1.5V change the polarity of gain-selection
a nominal voltage and the regulator supply and cover -50°C to +150°C. pins, increase the transfer function gain,
tolerance can cause a voltage output of Also, these devices have user-selectable and raise the sensitivity of temperature
1.6V or lower. Therefore, to monitor a gains. Two logic inputs select the gain read-out by using the same ADCs.
location by using an analog temperature of the temperature-to-voltage output The difference between the LM94021
sensor from -50°C to +150°C with a transfer function (see above). In the and LM94022 is the output drive,
supply voltage of 1.8V nominal, the lowest gain configuration, the LM94021 supply noise rejection, and quiescent
maximum gain that analog sensor can and LM94022 can operate with a 1.5V current. The LM94021 has a current
have is 6 mV/°C. To handle this gain supply while measuring temperature source output whereas the LM94022
and monitor the temperature accurately, from -50°C to +150°C. The gain-select has a push-pull output. The LM94021
a high-resolution ADC needs to be used. inputs can be tied directly to VDD or has a lower drive capability with great
This requirement will add to the system GND without any pull-up or pull-down power supply rejection ratio (PSRR).
cost since usually the integrated ADCs resistors. These inputs can also be driven The LM94022 has high drive capability
are not high resolution and the designer by a logic signal, allowing the system to and lower quiescent current.
would be required to use discrete ADCs. optimize the gain during operation.
The other option for a designer is to The LM94021 and LM94022 are ideal
use an amplifier, which will introduce If the resolution of the temperature analog temperature sensors for low-voltage
other errors and reduce the accuracy of read-out at cold is not important for and portable designs.

temperature measurement. the system design, then the LM94021

Visit edge.national.com for the Analog Edge, an online technical journal, for
an archive of design ideas, application briefs, and other informative links.

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Featured products
12-bit Micropower digital-to-analog converter
with rail-to-rail output
The DAC121S101 is a full-featured, general-purpose 12-bit voltage-
output DAC that can operate from a single 2.7V to 5.5V supply
and consumes just 177 µA of current at 3.6V. The on-chip output
amplifier allows rail-to-rail output swing. The 3-wire serial interface
operates at clock rates up to 30 MHz over the specified supply
voltage range and is compatible with standard SPI, QSPI,
MICROWIRE, and DSP interfaces.
The supply voltage for the DAC121S101 serves as its voltage
reference, providing the widest possible output dynamic range. A
power-on reset circuit ensures that the DAC output powers up to 1 MSPS, 12-bit analog-to-digital converter in a
zero volts and remains there until there is a valid write to the SOT-23 package
device. A power-down feature reduces power consumption to
The ADC121S101 is a low-power, monolithic CMOS 12-bit analog-
less than a microwatt. The low power consumption and small
to-digital converter that operates at 1 MSPS. It is based on a
packages of the DAC121S101 make it an excellent choice for use
successive approximation register architecture with internal
in battery-operated equipment.
track-and-hold. The serial interface is compatible with several
standards, such as SPI, QSPI, MICROWIRE, and many common
DSP serial interfaces.
The ADC121S101 uses the supply voltage as a reference. This
enables the device to operate with a full-scale input range of 0 to
VDD. The conversion rate is determined from the serial clock (SCLK)
speed. The device offers a shutdown mode, which can be used to
trade throughput for power consumption. The ADC121S101 is
operated with a single supply that can range from 2.7V to 5.25V.
Features
Features (typical)
Single 2.7V to 5.25V supply operation

Resolution 12 bits
DNL +0.5, -0.3 LSB (typ)

DNL ±0.25 LSB
INL ± 0.4 LSB (typ)

Output settling time 8 µs
Power consumption

Zero code error 4 mV

° 3V Supply 2 mW (typ)

Full-scale error -0.15% FS
° 5V Supply 10 mW (typ)

Power consumption The ADC121S101 is designed for operation over the industrial
temperature range of -40°C to +125°C and is available in a
° Normal mode 0.64 mW (3.6V)/1.43 mW (5.5V) typ
SOT23-6 package, which provides an extremely small footprint for
° Power-down mode 0.17 µW (3.6V)/0.39 µW (5.5V) typ
applications where space is a critical consideration. It is ideal for
The DAC121S101 operates over the extended industrial use in automotive navigation, FA/ATM equipment, portable systems,
temperature range of -40°C to +105°C. It is housed in SOT23-6 medical instruments, mobile communications, and instrumentation
and MSOP-8 packaging and is ideal for use in battery-powered and control systems.
instruments, digital gain and offset adjustment, programmable
www.national.com/ADC
voltage and current sources, and programmable attenuators.
www.national.com/pf/DC/ADC121S101.html
www.national.com/ADC
www.national.com/pf/DA/DAC121S101.html

© National Semiconductor Corporation, 2005. National Semiconductor and are registered trademarks of National Semiconductor Corporation.
All other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

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