Location:Training / Testing and Measurement / Application of high-accuracy temperature monitor products in instrumentation / Application of high-accuracy temperature monitor products in instrumentation

Thermal management is a critical part of system design. FPAGs and processors often require heat sinks and fans, and can even be damaged when certain failure conditions occur (fan stalls or heat sink becomes blocked). These devices often have a pin connected to an on-chip diode temperature sensor. Knowing the temperature elsewhere on the circuit board is also useful for monitoring the health of the system.

Linear Technology's temperature monitor product family addresses the needs of these applications by allowing a general-purpose transistor connected to a diode to be used as a temperature sensor with an accuracy of 1°C. Furthermore, this level of accuracy opens up instrumentation applications such as cold junction compensation for large thermocouple arrays, HVAC and environmental monitoring.