Patent ID: 8854120

Claim:
A method for determining a temperature-independent bandgap reference voltage that is compensated for process variations, comprising: applying a first forward base-emitter current I be1 to a p-n junction diode and measuring a resulting voltage drop V be1 across the pn junction diode; applying a second forward base-emitter current I be2 to a p-n junction diode and measuring a resulting voltage drop V be2 across the p-n junction diode, wherein I be2 equals αI be1 , where α is greater than 1; applying a third forward base-emitter current I be3 to a p-n junction diode and measuring a resulting voltage drop V be3 across the pn junction diode, wherein I be3 equals αI be2 ; determining a process-correcting quantity (V be3 −V be2 )−(V be2 −V be1 ); and determining the temperature-independent bandgap reference voltage compensated for process variations using the process-correcting quantity.