Electronic equipment having integrated circuit device and temperature sensor

An electronic equipment such as a CPU body of a computer system includes a circuit board section, an abnormal temperature detecting section, a determining section, a refrigerant cooling system, and an alarm unit. The circuit board section for effecting preset signal processings includes a printed circuit board on which at least one PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient) thermistor built-in type integrated circuit device including a package, an integrated circuit chip disposed in the package, a PTC thermistor disposed between the package and the integrated circuit chip, and an electrical deriving member disposed in the package, for transferring a signal with respect to the integrated circuit chip and PTC thermistor, and electronic elements are mounted. The abnormal temperature detecting section outputs an abnormal temperature signal when an output of the PTC thermistor has exceeded a preset value. The determining section determines an abnormal state of the temperature sensing element built-in type integrated circuit device according to an output of the abnormal temperature detecting section. The refrigerant cooling system and alarm unit are controlled based on the result of determination by the determining section.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to an integrated circuit device and to electronic 
equipment such as a computer having the circuit device. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
The performance and reliability of integrated circuit devices are closely 
related to the temperatures of the circuit devices. Likewise, the 
performance and reliability of electronic equipment including a plurality 
of printed circuit boards each having a large number of integrated circuit 
devices of the above type mounted thereon is dependent on the temperature 
characteristics thereof. Such electronic equipment includes the CPU of a 
computer system, various terminal devices, and communication devices, for 
example. 
Conventionally, this type of electronic equipment includes a plurality of 
printed circuit boards arranged in a frame and each having a large number 
of integrated circuit devices mounted thereon. Further, in the frame, a 
forced cooling means is provided. The forced cooling means is used to 
control the temperatures of the integrated circuit devices in the 
electronic equipment (frame) within a limited temperature range. As the 
forced cooling means, a duct and fan are provided. For example, an air 
inlet duct is provided in the front surface portion of a casing and a fan 
is disposed on the upper portion of the casing to provide a casing 
structure which creates a forced air flow in the casing. Circuit boards 
having integrated circuits mounted thereon are placed in the forced air 
flow so as to attain forced air cooling for the circuit boards. 
Conventionally, the temperature control of the integrated circuit devices 
and electronic equipments includes a main factor of carrying away heat 
from the circuit board itself in the casing with high efficiency or 
carrying away heat from integrated circuit devices mounted on the circuit 
board with high efficiency. In a case where the performance of the 
electronic equipment is lowered or the electronic equipment is erroneously 
operated, it is difficult to determine that such an abnormal condition 
occurs because of abnormal temperature or abnormal power source voltage 
and thus detect the reason why such an abnormal condition occurs. For this 
reason, it is difficult to restore the equipment to the normal condition. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of this invention is to provide an integrated circuit device 
capable of controlling abnormal temperatures thereof. 
Another object of this invention is to provide an electronic equipment 
capable of rapidly determining whether or not an abnormal condition is 
caused by the abnormal temperature of an integrated circuit device when 
the abnormal condition such as deterioration in the performance of the 
equipment or erroneous operation thereof has occurred and effecting an 
adequate aftertreatment. 
The above object can be attained by an integrated circuit device comprising 
a package; an integrated circuit chip disposed in the package; a 
temperature sensor disposed in the package; and an electrical deriving 
member disposed in the package, for effecting signal transfer with respect 
to the integrated circuit chip. 
The above object can be attained by an electronic equipment comprising a 
circuit board section for effecting a preset signal process, and including 
a printed circuit board on which at least one temperature sensing element 
built-in type integrated circuit device including a package, an integrated 
circuit chip disposed in the package, a temperature sensing element 
disposed in the package, for outputting a signal in the form of a 
resistance change converted from a temperature change, and an electrical 
deriving member disposed in the package, for effecting signal transfer 
with respect to the integrated circuit chip and temperature sensing 
element, and electronic elements are mounted; temperature controlling 
means for controlling the temperature of the circuit board section; and 
control means for controlling at least one of the temperature controlling 
means and circuit board section according to an output of the temperature 
sensing element. 
Further, the above object can be attained by an electronic equipment 
comprising a circuit board section for effecting a preset signal process, 
and including a printed circuit board on which at least one abnormal 
temperature detector built-in type integrated circuit device including a 
package, an integrated circuit chip disposed in the package, a temperature 
sensing element disposed in the package, for outputting a signal in the 
form of a resistance change converted from a temperature change, an 
abnormal temperature detecting chip for outputting an abnormal temperature 
signal when an output of the temperature sensing element has exceeded a 
preset value, and an electrical deriving member disposed in the package, 
for effecting signal transfer with respect to the integrated circuit chip, 
temperature sensing element and abnormal temperature detecting chip, and 
electronic elements are mounted; temperature controlling means for 
controlling the temperature of the circuit board section; and determining 
means for determining at least one of the abnormal temperature state in 
the circuit board section and the abnormal temperature state of the 
abnormal temperature detector built-in type integrated circuit device 
according to an output of the abnormal temperature detecting chip and 
controlling at least one of the temperature controlling means and the 
circuit board section based one the result of determination. 
Further, the above object can be attained by an electronic equipment 
comprising a circuit board section for effecting a preset signal process, 
and including a printed circuit board on which at least one PTC (Positive 
Temperature Coefficient) thermistor built-in type integrated circuit 
device including a package, an integrated circuit chip disposed in the 
package, a PTC thermistor disposed between the package and the integrated 
circuit chip, and an electrical deriving member disposed in the package, 
for transferring a signal with respect to the integrated circuit chip and 
PTC thermistor, and electronic elements are mounted; an abnormal 
temperature detecting section for outputting an abnormal temperature 
signal when an output of the PTC thermistor has exceeded a preset value; 
determining means for determining an abnormal state of the temperature 
sensing element built-in type integrated circuit device according to an 
output of the abnormal temperature detecting section; a refrigerant 
cooling system including a refrigerant inlet duct, a refrigerant flowing 
path, and a forced exhaust fan mechanism controlled based on the result of 
determination by the determining section; and an alarm unit controlled 
based on the result of determination by the determining section. 
With the above construction, since the temperature sensing element mounted 
in the package together with the element chip exhibits a large change in 
its resistance when it detects a temperature higher than the preset 
temperature, an abnormal temperature can be determined when such a large 
resistance change has occurred, and therefore, the abnormal temperature 
state of the element can be controlled. 
Further, since at least one of a plurality of integrated circuit elements 
of the electronic equipment is constructed such that the temperature 
sensing element which exhibits a large change in its resistance when 
sensing a temperature higher than the preset temperature is mounted in the 
package together with the element chip, an adequate process is effected to 
cope with the abnormal temperature state of the integrated circuit element 
when the integrated circuit element senses a temperature higher than the 
preset temperature and exhibits a large resistance. Thus, when the 
performance of the equipment is degraded and the equipment is erroneously 
operated, whether the abnormal condition is caused by the abnormal 
temperature of the integrated circuit element or not can be rapidly 
determined and an adequate after-treatment can be effected. 
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the 
description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the 
description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects 
and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of 
the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the 
appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
There will now be described an integrated circuit device according to one 
embodiment of this invention with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. As shown in 
FIG. 1, the integrated circuit device to which this invention is applied 
is a so-called dual-in-line type 16-pin semiconductor integrated circuit 
device 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the semiconductor integrated circuit device 
10 includes a package body 11 on which a chip disposing portion 11a and a 
temperature sensing element disposing portion 11b are formed, an 
integrated circuit chip 12, a lead terminal bodies 13 (13.sub.1, - - - , 
13.sub.16) having a large number of (16, in this embodiment) lead 
terminals, a temperature sensing element 14, a large number of (16, in 
this embodiment) connection lines 15, a sealing material 16, and a lid 17. 
The package body 11, sealing material 16 and lid 17 constitute a package. 
The lead terminal bodies 13 and .connection lines 15 constitute an 
electrical deriving member. The positional relation on a plane between the 
integrated circuit chip 12, lead terminals 13 and temperature sensing 
element 14 on the package body 11 can be easily understood by referring to 
FIG. 3. The integrated circuit chip 12 is connected to the lead terminal 
bodies 13.sub.1, 13.sub.2, 13.sub.3, 13.sub.4, 13.sub.5, 13.sub.6, 
13.sub.7, 13.sub.8, 13.sub.11, 13.sub.12, 13.sub.13, 13.sub.14, 13.sub.15, 
13.sub.16 via the connection lines 15, respectively. The temperature 
sensing element 14 is connected to the lead terminal bodies 13.sub.9, 
13.sub.10 via the two connection lines 15, respectively. 
A chip mounting portion 11a which is a concave portion is formed in 
substantially the central portion of the package body 11. A temperature 
sensing element mounting portion 11b which is a concave portion is formed 
in substantially the central portion of the chip mounting portion 11a. The 
temperature sensing element is bonded to the concave portion of the 
temperature sensing element mounting portion 11b by a preset bonding 
method. Further, the integrated circuit chip 12 is bonded to the chip 
mounting portion 11a by a preset bonding method. Therefore, in the package 
body 11, the temperature sensing element 14 is disposed between the 
integrated circuit chip 12 and the package body 11. Further, the 
temperature sensing element 14 is disposed near the integrated circuit 
chip 12. If necessary, an electrically insulating material may be disposed 
between the integrated circuit chip 12 and the temperature sensing element 
14. 
The lead terminal bodies 13 are disposed on the package body 11. The 
integrated circuit chip 12 and the temperature sensing element 14 are 
connected to the respective lead terminals of the lead terminal bodies 13 
via the connection lines 15. The upper portion of the package body 11 is 
sealed by the lid 17 with the sealing material 16 disposed therebetween. 
As the temperature sensing element 14 in this embodiment, a PTC (Positive 
Temperature Coefficient) thermistor having such characteristics as shown 
by samples 1, 2, 3 in FIG. 4, for example, is used. A thermistor which is 
a semiconductor temperature sensing element formed of metal oxide includes 
an NTC (Negative Temperature Coefficient) thermistor in addition to the 
PTC thermistor used in this embodiment. 
The PTC thermistor used in this embodiment contains BaTiO.sub.3 as a main 
component, exhibits such a characteristic that the electrical resistance 
thereof exponentially increases with a rise in temperature, and more 
specifically, it is a positive temperature characteristic element having 
such a characteristic that it exhibits a low resistance (not larger than 
R.sub.1) at temperatures lower than a preset temperature (T.sub.1) in the 
case of sample 2, the resistance thereof exponentially rises with a rise 
in temperature higher than the preset temperature, and the resistance 
thereof reaches an upper limit value (R.sub.2) at a temperature (T.sub.2). 
The NTC (Negative Temperature Coefficient) thermistor is a negative 
temperature characteristic element containing NiO, CoO, MnO as a main 
component. 
According to the integrated circuit element 10 of this embodiment with the 
above construction, since the temperature sensing element 14 is connected 
to the lead terminal bodies 13.sub.9, 13.sub.10 via the two connection 
lines 15, a variation in the resistance of the temperature sensing element 
14 can be read via the lead terminal bodies 13.sub.9, 13.sub.10. More 
specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, an abnormal temperature detecting 
section 20 including the temperature sensing element 14 is constructed. 
That is, the lead terminal body 13.sub.9 which is connected to the 
temperature sensing element 14 is connected to one end of a fixed resistor 
18 and one end of an inverter gate 19 and the lead terminal body 13.sub.10 
which is connected to the temperature sensing element 14 is grounded. The 
other end of the fixed resistor 18 is connected to a power source V.sub.CC 
(not shown). The other end of the inverter gate 19 is used as an output 
terminal of the abnormal temperature detecting section 20. A gate output 
is derived from the output terminal. It is also possible to solve noise 
problems caused by fluctuation in the power source voltage by using an 
inverter gate having a hysteresis characteristic as the inverter gate 19. 
Next, the operation of the abnormal temperature detecting section 20 with 
the above construction is explained. That is, the integrated circuit 
element 10 of this embodiment is mounted on a printed circuit board (not 
shown) and driven in a preset manner. The driven integrated circuit device 
10 generates heat. In this case, since the temperature sensing element 14 
is disposed near the integrated circuit chip 12 which is a heat generating 
body, heat generated from the integrated circuit chip 12 influences on the 
temperature sensing element 14. As shown in FIG. 5, since the temperature 
sensing element 14 is connected to the power source V.sub.CC, a current 
defined by the resistance of the temperature sensing element 14 flows in a 
series circuit of the power source V.sub.CC, temperature sensing element 
14 and the ground. 
In this case, since the temperature sensing element 14 mounted on the 
integrated circuit device 10 is disposed near the integrated circuit chip 
12 which is a heat generating body, it is influenced by heat generated 
from the integrated circuit chip 12. Assume that the temperature sensing 
element has a temperature characteristic indicated by a numeral 30 in FIG. 
6, for example, and the resistance of the temperature sensing element 14 
has a resistance characteristic indicated by a numeral 31 in FIG. 6, for 
example. In the temperature characteristic indicated by the numeral 30, 
the temperature is low before the time reaches t.sub.0 and the temperature 
is high when and after the time has reached t.sub.0. The temperature T at 
time t.sub.1 is determined as a set temperature value. In FIG. 6, a 
numeral 32 indicates the potential characteristic of the lead terminal 
body 13.sub.9 and a numeral 33 indicates an output potential 
characteristic of the inverter gate 19. 
As shown in FIG. 6, when the temperature of the temperature sensing element 
14 becomes T, an output of the abnormal temperature detecting section 20 
which is an output potential of the inverter gate 19 is changed from a 
high potential (ON) to a low potential (OFF) and thus the abnormal 
temperature state of the integrated circuit device 10 can be detected 
based on the OFF output of the abnormal temperature detecting section 20. 
As described above, according to this invention, since the temperature 
sensing element 14 mounted on the package body 11 together with the 
integrated circuit chip 12 exhibits a large variation in its resistance 
when sensing temperatures higher than a preset temperature, it becomes 
possible to determine that an abnormal temperature state has occurred when 
the large resistance variation is indicated, and as a result, an abnormal 
temperature state of the integrated circuit device 10 can be controlled. 
Of course, when a large number of integrated circuit devices 10 are used, 
the abnormal temperature state of each integrated circuit device can be 
controlled. 
In the above embodiment, the positional relation between the integrated 
circuit chip 12 and the temperature sensing element 14 mounted on the 
package body 11 is set such that the temperature sensing element 14 is 
arranged directly below the integrated circuit chip 12, but it is not 
limited to this structure, and various other structures in which the 
temperature sensing element 14 may be influenced by heat generated from 
the integrated circuit chip 12, for example, a structure in which the 
temperature sensing element 14 is disposed on the side portion of the 
integrated circuit chip 12 or a structure in which the temperature sensing 
element 14 is disposed on the edge portion of the integrated circuit chip 
12 can be used. 
Further, an integrated circuit device to which this invention is applied is 
not limited to the dual-in-line type, but various package types of 
semiconductor devices (integrated circuit devices and discrete devices) 
can be used. 
The temperature sensing element 14 is not limited to the PTC thermistor and 
other small-sized sensors which can be disposed in a package and exhibit a 
large resistance variation when sensing temperatures higher than a preset 
temperature can be used. 
Further, an output of the abnormal temperature detecting section 20 is 
derived in the form of negative logic output in which an output is 
indicated by OFF, but it is also possible to construct a circuit which 
produces a positive logic output in which an output is indicated by ON. Of 
course, the abnormal temperature detecting section 20 is not limited to 
the circuit shown in FIG. 5. 
In the above embodiment, the temperature sensing element 14 which is one of 
the elements constituting the abnormal temperature detecting section 20 is 
mounted in the package of the integrated circuit device 10, and the other 
elements are not mounted in the integrated circuit device 10. However, it 
is also possible to mount all of the elements including the temperature 
sensing element 14 in the package of the integrated circuit device 10. In 
this case, the power source V.sub.CC and the ground may be connected to 
corresponding terminals in the integrated circuit chip 12. An integrated 
circuit device 40 with the above construction is explained with reference 
to FIG. 7. An abnormal temperature signal output chip 41 is disposed in an 
available space in a package body 11. The abnormal temperature signal 
output chip 41 is a chip including the resistor 18 and the gate circuit 19 
shown in FIG. 5. Assume that the power source V.sub.CC is a terminal 
13.sub.1, the abnormal temperature signal output terminal is a terminal 
13.sub.9, and the ground terminal is a terminal 13.sub.10. The chip 41 is 
connected to the terminals 13.sub.1, 13.sub.9, 13.sub.10 via connection 
lines 42. Therefore, the integrated circuit device 40 is formed as a 
device which contains the abnormal temperature detecting section 20 
including the temperature sensing element 14 together with the integrated 
circuit chip 12 in the package. 
According to the above integrated circuit device 40, the same operation as 
that of the integrated circuit device 10 is effected and it is compact. 
Next, an electronic equipment having a plurality of integrated circuit 
devices 10 according to one embodiment of this invention mounted thereon 
and effecting a preset signal processing by use of the plurality of 
integrated circuit devices 10 is explained with reference to FIG. 8. As 
shown in FIG. 8, one or more circuit boards are disposed in a casing (not 
shown) and a large number of integrated circuit devices are mounted on 
each circuit board. Integrated circuit devices of n among the large number 
of integrated circuit devices are integrated circuit devices 10 having 
temperature sensing elements 14. Abnormal temperature detecting sections 
20 (20-1, 20-2, - - - , 20-n) of n are provided for the respective n 
integrated circuit devices 10 (10-1, 10-2, - - - , 10-n). Outputs of the 
abnormal temperature detecting sections 20 (20-1, 20-2, - - - , 20-n) are 
supplied to a determining section 21. The determining section 21 has one 
or more determining conditions and processes outputs from the abnormal 
temperature detecting sections 20 (20-1, 20-2, - - - , 20-n) according to 
the determining conditions. 
The electronic equipment according to this invention is constructed as 
shown in FIG. 9. That is, a circuit board section 101 is disposed inside a 
frame 100. An air inlet duct 102 is formed in a front panel (not shown) 
which is attached to the frame 100. A fan mechanism 103 (24) is mounted on 
a rear panel (not shown) which is attached to the frame 100. In the frame 
100, an air flow path 104 is formed between the air inlet duct 102 and the 
fan mechanism 103. The air flow path 104 passes through the circuit board 
section 101. Further, a controller 105 (21) and an alarm unit 106 (22) are 
arranged in the frame 100. 
The circuit board section 101 includes printed wiring boards 101-1, 101-2, 
101-3, 101-4. Of course, the number of printed wiring boards is not 
limited to four, but may be set to one or more than four. Further, the 
circuit board section 101 includes a large number of electronic elements 
(not shown). At least one of the integrated circuit elements 107 (10 or 
40) shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 is mounted on at least one of the printed wiring 
boards 101-1, 101-2, 101-3, 101-4. The air flow path 104 includes a 
plurality of flow passages 104-1, 104-2, 104-3 as shown in FIG. 9. The fan 
mechanism 103 is provided according to the number of flow passages of the 
air flow path 104. For example, the fan mechanism 103 has fans 103-1, 
103-2, 103-3 as shown in FIG. 9. Therefore, the magnitudes of the 
respective flow passages of the air flow path 104 can be freely controlled 
by the fans 103-1, 103-2, 103-3. 
The controller 105 (21) controls the abnormal temperature detecting section 
20 and determining section 21 shown in FIG. 8 as a main component. The 
alarm unit 106 generates an alarm sound and/or alarm display. 
For example, a first example of the determining condition in the 
determining section 21 is that a command is output only to the alarm unit 
22 when it is determined that the temperature of one of the n integrated 
circuit devices 10 (10-1, 10-2, - - - , 10-n) has reached an abnormal 
temperature based on outputs from the abnormal temperature detecting 
sections 20 (20-1, 20-2, - - - , 20-n) and one of the integrated circuit 
devices 10 whose temperature has reached the abnormal temperature is 
specified to display the fact that the abnormal temperature is reached. By 
this alarm display, the operator can take necessary actions such as 
interruption of the device, study of the cause of occurrence of the 
abnormal state, or calling of an external service man. 
For example, a second example of the determining condition is that a 
command is output to the alarm unit 22 and fan controller 23 when it is 
determined that the temperatures of two or more of the n integrated 
circuit devices 10 (10-1, 10-2, - - - , 10-n) have reached an abnormal 
temperature based on outputs from the abnormal temperature detecting 
sections 20 (20-1, 20-2, - - - , 20-n) and corresponding ones of the 
integrated circuit devices 10 whose temperatures have reached the abnormal 
temperature are specified to display the fact that the abnormal 
temperature is reached and at the same time the rotation speed of the fan 
24 is increased to enhance the cooling ability. 
For example, a third example of the determining condition is that a command 
is output to the alarm unit 22 and fan controllers 23 when it is 
determined that the temperature of at least one important device among the 
n integrated circuit devices 10 (10-1, 10-2, - - - , 10-n) has reached an 
abnormal temperature based on outputs from the abnormal temperature 
detecting sections 20 (20-1, 20-2, - - - , 20-n) and the same process as 
those effected in the first and second examples is effected and the 
operation clock frequency for the CPU 25 is lowered. In this case, it is 
possible to effect only reduction in the operation clock frequency for the 
CPU 25 without effecting the process by the alarm unit 22 and fan 
controller 23. 
A specific circuit for attaining the third example of the determining 
condition will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 10 to 12. 
FIG. 10 is a detailed circuit diagram of the CPU depicted in FIG. 8, FIG. 
11 is a detailed circuit diagram of the clock distributor depicted in FIG. 
10, and FIG. 12 is a timing chart showing the signals in the circuit shown 
in FIG. 10. 
As shown in FIG. 10, a CPU 25 comprises: a clock switching device 52 which 
operates on the basis of control signals 50 and 51 supplied from the 
decision unit 21; a clock generator 53 (e.g., a quartz oscillator) for 
generating clocks 55 used in a normal state of operation; and a clock 
generator 54 (e.g., a quartz oscillator) for generating clocks 56 used in 
an abnormal state of operation. Control signal 50 is a signal indicating 
whether the system is in a normal-frequency mode, a changing mode, or a 
low-frequency mode. Control signal 50 indicates that the system is in 
operation when it is "LOW", and indicates that the clock frequencies are 
being switched from one to another when it is "HIGH". Control signal 51 is 
a signal for switching the system from one operation mode to another. The 
normal-frequency mode is selected when control signal 51 is "LOW", and the 
low-frequency mode is selected when control signal 51 is "HIGH". The 
frequency F2 of the clocks 56 generated by clock generator 54 and the 
frequency F1 of the clocks 55 generated by clock generator 53 are 
determined in such a manner as to satisfy the relationship F1&gt;F2. From the 
clock switching device 52, the operating clocks 57-1, 57-2, - - - 57-n of 
frequency F1 or F2 are supplied to devices 10-1, 10-2, - - - , 10-n, 
respectively. 
As shown in FIG. 11, the clock switching device 52 comprises synchronizing 
flip-flops 52A, 52B, 52C and 52D, AND gates 52E and 52F, OR gates 52G and 
52H, a multiplexer (MUX) 52I, frequency-dividing flip-flop 52J, and a 
plurality of drivers 52K. 
The operations of the circuits shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 will be described 
with reference to FIG. 12. When control signal 50 changes from "LOW" to 
"HIGH", the system is switched from the normal-frequency mode to the 
changing mode. Then, control signal 51 changes from "LOW" to "HIGH", and 
the frequency of the operating clocks 57-1, 57-2, - - - , 57-n changes 
from F1 to F2. As a result, the system is set in the low-frequency mode. 
The timing chart in FIG. 12 illustrates the case where the clock frequency 
F2 used in the low-frequency mode of the system is obtained by frequency 
division and is 1/2 of clock frequency F1. 
The determining conditions described above are only examples, and various 
different determining conditions for alarm, cooling ability, operation 
frequency, interruption of the operation of the device can be set 
according to the number of integrated circuit devices 10 whose 
temperatures reach the abnormal temperature, the type and the position 
thereof. 
Next, an electronic equipment of this invention different from that of FIG. 
8 is explained with reference to FIG. 13. The determining section 21 in 
the electronic equipment of this invention shown in FIG. 8 determines a 
plurality of determining conditions based on only outputs of the abnormal 
temperature detecting sections 20. A determining section 21 in the 
electronic equipment of this invention shown in FIG. 13 determines a 
plurality of determining conditions based on outputs of the abnormal 
temperature detecting sections 20 and data stored in a memory 26. Data 
stored in the memory 26 includes schedule data indicating the schedule of 
signal processings effected by the electronic equipment, and specification 
data indicating the software specification and hardware specification of 
the electronic equipment. Thus, the determining section 21 can attain 
various temperature control operations by determining a plurality of 
determining conditions based on outputs of the abnormal temperature 
detecting sections 20 and data stored in the memory 26. 
As described above, according to the electronic equipment of this 
invention, when the temperature sensing element 14 senses temperatures 
higher than a preset temperature and exhibits a large resistance 
variation, a measure is taken to cope with the abnormal temperature state 
for a corresponding one of the integrated circuit devices 10. Therefore, 
in a case where the performance of the device is degraded or it is 
erroneously operated, whether or not the above abnormal condition is 
caused by the abnormal temperature of the integrated circuit element can 
be rapidly determined and an adequate after-treatment can be effected. 
Generally, in the above-described electronic equipment, highly heat 
generating elements and non-highly heat generating elements are arranged 
together, and in such a case, it is generally required to effect the 
temperature control with the highly heat generating elements treated as 
main objects. When the highly heat generating element is constructed as 
the integrated circuit device 10 using the temperature sensing element 14 
according to this invention and it is detected that the temperature of the 
highly heat generating element becomes abnormal temperature, only a fan 
that is disposed near the element can be controlled. As a result, the 
non-highly heat generating elements and the elements whose temperature 
does not reach the abnormal temperature can be prevented from being 
excessively cooled and the fans can be efficiently driven, thus enhancing 
energy saving. 
Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled 
in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited 
to the specific details, and representative devices shown and described 
herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing 
from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by 
the appended claims and their equivalents.