| US 7,519,498 B2 | ||
| Thermal sensing method and apparatus using existing ESD devices | ||
| David W. Boerstler, Round Rock, Tex. (US); Eskinder Hailu, Austin, Tex. (US); Kazuhiko Miki, Round Rock, Tex. (US); and Jieming Qi, Austin, Tex. (US) | ||
| Assigned to International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y. (US) | ||
| Filed on Oct. 04, 2005, as Appl. No. 11/242,675. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2007/0075370 A1, Apr. 05, 2007 | ||
| Int. Cl. G06F 3/00 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 702—130 [702/132; 702/179; 702/183] | 14 Claims |
| 1. A method for measuring the temperature of a microprocessor through the use of existing electro-static discharge (“ESD”)
circuitry, wherein the ESD circuitry is coupled to at least one component and is configured to protect at least one component,
comprising:
connecting at least one current measuring device to an input/output (I/O) pad of an existing ESD circuit of the microprocessor,
wherein the at least one current measuring device is at least configured to measure a current through a diode within the existing
ESD circuit;
disabling the at least one component that is protected by the existing ESD circuit;
applying a predetermined voltage to the existing ESD circuit, wherein the predetermined voltage creates a reverse saturation
current through the diode within the existing ESD circuit;
measuring with the current measuring device a reverse saturation current through the diode within the existing ESD circuit;
determining the temperature of the microprocessor at the existing ESD circuit based upon the reverse saturation current measurement;
and
generating a thermal map of the microprocessor based on reverse saturation current measurements at a plurality of existing
ESDs of the microprocessor by performing the connecting, disabling, applying, and measuring operations on the plurality of
existing ESDs of the microprocessor.
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