Publications

Precision circuit calculations in hostile environments

Hembree, Charles E.; Keiter, Eric R.

Sensing and calculating electronic systems with stringent accuracy requirements use internal standard voltages for references. Conceptually, this is related to using some unit measurement for counting any quantity. The high precision electronic components used in systems in the nation’s stockpile also make use of these standard voltages. The need for stable voltage references has been long-standing in the overall electronics industry. For many applications, the most pressing need is for stability of a reference voltage as the circuit temperature varies. Typical circuit components have temperature coefficients for their operational characteristics that are given in some delta per degree centigrade and these coefficients can be either positive or negative. Thus, it is natural to consider building a circuit out of components that have complementary temperature coefficients so that the operating characteristics of the circuit have a net zero temperature coefficient. This is the fundamental basis of precision voltage reference (PVR) circuit operation and it is straightforward to extend this type of stabilization to reduce shifts caused by hostile environment radiation.