DS18B20
bus is virtually unlimited. The 1-Wire bus protocol, including detailed explanations of the commands and
“time slots,” is covered in the
1-Wire Bus System
section.
Another feature of the DS18B20 is the ability to operate without an external power supply. Power is
instead supplied through the 1-Wire pullup resistor via the DQ pin when the bus is high. The high bus
signal also charges an internal capacitor (C
PP
), which then supplies power to the device when the bus is
low. This method of deriving power from the 1-Wire bus is referred to as “parasite power.” As an
alternative, the DS18B20 may also be powered by an external supply on V
DD
.
Figure 1. DS18B20 Block Diagram
V
PU
4.7k
PARASITE POWER
CIRCUIT
MEMORY CONTROL
LOGIC
DS18B20
TEMPERATURE SENSOR
DQ
INTERNAL V
DD
64-BIT ROM
AND
1-Wire PORT
GND
C
PP
SCRATCHPAD
ALARM HIGH TRIGGER (T
H
)
REGISTER (EEPROM)
ALARM LOW TRIGGER (T
L
)
REGISTER (EEPROM)
V
DD
POWER-
SUPPLY
SENSE
CONFIGURATION REGISTER
(EEPROM)
8-BIT CRC GENERATOR
OPERATION—MEASURING TEMPERATURE
The core functionality of the DS18B20 is its direct-to-digital temperature sensor. The resolution of the
temperature sensor is user-configurable to 9, 10, 11, or 12 bits, corresponding to increments of 0.5°C,
0.25°C, 0.125°C, and 0.0625°C, respectively. The default resolution at power-up is 12-bit. The DS18B20
powers up in a low-power idle state. To initiate a temperature measurement and A-to-D conversion, the
master must issue a Convert T [44h] command. Following the conversion, the resulting thermal data is
stored in the 2-byte temperature register in the scratchpad memory and the DS18B20 returns to its idle
state. If the DS18B20 is powered by an external supply, the master can issue “read time slots” (see the
1-Wire Bus System
section) after the Convert T command and the DS18B20 will respond by transmitting
0 while the temperature conversion is in progress and 1 when the conversion is done. If the DS18B20 is
powered with parasite power, this notification technique cannot be used since the bus must be pulled high
by a strong pullup during the entire temperature conversion. The bus requirements for parasite power are
explained in detail in the
Powering the DS18B20
section.
The DS18B20 output temperature data is calibrated in degrees Celsius; for Fahrenheit applications, a
lookup table or conversion routine must be used. The temperature data is stored as a 16-bit sign-extended
two’s complement number in the temperature register (see Figure 2). The sign bits (S) indicate if the
temperature is positive or negative: for positive numbers S = 0 and for negative numbers S = 1. If the
DS18B20 is configured for 12-bit resolution, all bits in the temperature register will contain valid data.
For 11-bit resolution, bit 0 is undefined. For 10-bit resolution, bits 1 and 0 are undefined, and for 9-bit
resolution bits 2, 1, and 0 are undefined. Table 1 gives examples of digital output data and the
corresponding temperature reading for 12-bit resolution conversions.
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DALLAS [ DALLAS SEMICONDUCTOR ]
