| US 7,616,050 B2 | ||
| Power supply circuit for producing a reference current with a prescribable temperature dependence | ||
| Wolfgang Eckstein, Obersulm (Germany) | ||
| Assigned to Atmel Automotive GmbH, Heilbronn (Germany) | ||
| Filed on Dec. 14, 2005, as Appl. No. 11/302,228. | ||
| Claims priority of application No. 10 2004 062 357 (DE), filed on Dec. 14, 2004. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2006/0125462 A1, Jun. 15, 2006 | ||
| Int. Cl. H01J 19/82 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 327—538 [327/513] | 18 Claims |
| 1. A power supply circuit for producing a reference current with a prescribable temperature dependence, the power supply circuit
comprising:
a current mirror outputting a first current and a second current;
a resistor formed by at least two reference resistors having prescribable temperature coefficients that are different from
one another; and
two current sinks, each current sink having a terminal of a different size from the other sink, which at their respective
input receive the first current or the second current, and in which the current sinks at their respective outputs are connected
to a node having a reference potential, the output of at least one current sink being connected via the resistor to the node
having the reference potential, wherein a voltage across said resistor is a temperature dependent voltage which has a known
value at a reference temperature which known value is proportional to the respective different sizes of each of the terminals
of said current sinks wherein the total resistance of said resistor is set to a value at said reference temperature to produce
said reference current.
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