Patent ID: 6662136
Filing Date: 2003-12-09
Classification: G01K,G11C,H01L

Abstract:
A digital temperature sensor (DTS) system to monitor temperature in a memory subsystem, comprising:a memory subsystem package including a memory controller interface ASIC and a plurality of memory modules, each of said memory modules comprising separately manufactured memory chips which reside in said memory subsystem as a part of said memory subsystem package and which are accessed for read/write memory operations from said memory controller interface ASIC, said memory controller interface haying a serial communication Protocol port, and a serial communication protocol bus connected to said serial communication protocol port for passing bi-directional signals to and from said memory controller interface ASIC, a digital temperature sensor coupled to said memory controller interface ASIC for monitoring the temperature of said memory subsystem at one or more locations to verify that a memory subsystem package temperature specification is being met and for reporting temperature specification violations by a memory subsystem package error reporting operation to said memory controller interface ASIC and from said memory controller interface ASIC to said serial communication protocol bus connected to said serial communication protocol port, and a fan switch circuit over temperature indicator (OTI) circuit controlled by a signal initially supplied by said temperature sensor to said memory controller interface ASIC and over said serial communication interface to a analog-to-digital converter (ADC) providing a maximum allowed threshold temperature to be written to a register in said ADC, said ADC being configured to raise or lower the over temperature indicator output supplied to said ADC when said threshold temperature is exceeded to then cause the OTI circuit output to be used to complete a switch for starting a fan when the monitored temperature of said memory subsystem package exceeds said temperature threshold, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) for said memory subsystem package also coupled to said serial communication protocol bus of said memory subsystem package whose output proves an input to a variable speed fan connected for control by the output voltage of said DAC, said memory controller interface ASIC controlling the DAC so that its output voltage increases as the temperature increases to cause coupled controlled fans to run at higher rates as the temperature monitored by said digital temperature sensor increases, and wherein said memory controller interface ASIC constantly monitors the temperature at one or multiple locations using said Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) to provide a reference voltage to high frequency receiver/driver circuits for dynamic adjustment of pull-up and pull-down impedance of a memory controller interface ASIC's off-chip drivers, and said memory controller interface ASIC's off-chip drivers use said Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) to monitor the voltage supply Vddq to said plurality of memory modules and dynamically updates programmable Vref for said plurality of memory modules while verifying that the temperature specification is being met and to control said Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) so that its output voltage increases as the temperature increases.