Patent ID: 7891865

Claim:
A system comprising: a machine readable non-transitory medium storing an initial design structure for an on-chip temperature sensing circuit; and a computer comprising a design application, said computer accessing said initial design structure, receiving additional inputs, and executing said design application so as to generate, based on said initial design structure and said additional inputs, a final design structure required to produce said on-chip temperature sensing circuit such that said on-chip temperature sensing circuit comprises: a single chip; a comparator on said chip; a first temperature sensor at a specific location on said chip, said first temperature sensor being electrically connected to said comparator, producing a first output that is temperature-sensitive and transmitting said first output to said comparator; a second temperature sensor on said chip, said second temperature sensor being electrically connected to said comparator, producing a second output that is temperature-sensitive and transmitting said second output to said comparator; a heater on said chip, said heater being thermally coupled to said second temperature sensor and comprising at least one diffused semiconductor layer and said second temperature sensor being embedded within said at least one diffused semiconductor layer; and a register, said comparator comparing said first output to said second output, outputting a current, and driving said heater with said current until said second output equals said first output, and said register recording an amount of said current required to drive said heater until said second output equals said first output, said amount being indicative of a temperature at said specific location on said chip.