May 31, 2012 -- Analog Bits, Inc. today announced the immediate availability of a fully integrated sensor macro product line to monitor both on-chip temperature variation and voltage supply.

Temperature variation is a particularly acute problem below 65-nm process lithography as increased power density and ever-thinning wires induce electro-migration, product life, and reliability issues to the point of potentially causing system-on-chip (SOC) field failures.

Large die are especially susceptible to temperature and voltage variation, often requiring close, careful monitoring. Sensor IP enables SOCs to not only monitor, but also scale the workload and operating voltage to maintain chip temperature within a narrowly pre-defined range.

Analog Bits' Sensor IP is a highly integrated macro providing excellent precision in a fully integrated and easy-to-instantiate form-factor for any SOC. It consumes very little operational power and shows leakage power only when it completes temperature and voltage measurement.

The block includes all analog functions internally, leaving only a simple-to-use digital interface that works with standard power supplies. It uses regular transistors and requires no extra mask steps. The Sensor IP block is very compact, so it can be scattered or arrayed across the die with little area cost and can monitor die temperature variation on speed- and power-critical blocks such as integrated microprocessors.

Analog Bits will be at DAC Booth #2830