Patent ID: 7844411

Claim:
A semiconductor integrated circuit comprising: a temperature detecting circuit configured to generate a detection voltage corresponding to a chip temperature; a reference voltage generator configured to generate a plurality of threshold voltages including a first threshold voltage and a second threshold voltage corresponding to a first boundary temperature and a second boundary temperature respectively, the first boundary temperature is higher than the second boundary temperature; a plurality of differential amplifiers, each of the plurality of differential amplifiers configured to compare at least one of the plurality of threshold voltages with the detection voltage and to generate a comparison signal; and a circuit configured to receive the comparison signal and to generate a temperature detecting signal, wherein the temperature detecting signal changes from a second level to a first level only when the chip temperature exceeds the second boundary temperature and further exceeds the first boundary temperature, and the temperature detecting signal changes from the first level to the second level only when the chip temperature goes lower than the first boundary temperature and further goes lower than the second boundary temperature.