CMOS Temperature Sensors: From Module Design to System Design

In a smart complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) temperature sensor, the temperature information is converted to an electrical signal, such as voltage, current, or time delay, and then it is digitized by an analog-to-digital converter. Instead of categorizing sensors according to their sensing elements, this work introduces different CMOS temperature sensors based on their signal processing domains of the readout circuits. To design a suitable sensor for a specific application, two general design methodologies are also introduced with state-of-the-art examples. Depending on the applications, the corresponding types of the sensor and design methodology can be chosen to optimize the performance.