Measurement of temperature distribution using a three-wire system of sensors based on thermistors

Improving the reliability and increasing the avionics resource is associated with possibility of continuous control of temperature fields of printed circuit boards. This problem can be solved only with the use of a large number of temperature sensors. It raises the problem of connecting the measuring elements and recording equipment. Several methods with their own advantages and disadvantages are proposed. One of the implemented and patented methods is using a set of resistive diode sensors installed in series on a threewire line. The temperature sensors are pairs of counter - connected diodes with a sequential survey when applying sawtooth voltage. The system is simple and easy to implement, but its main drawback is the method of determining the temperature by measuring the amplitude of the total reverse currents of diode pairs. It determines the large measurement errors, especially in the temperature range less than 20°C. The article deals with a similar design of a three-wire circuit, but with a fundamentally different approach to temperature measurement. The temperature sensor here is not diode pairs, but thermistors with a well-known dependence of resistance on temperature and high accuracy, and diode pairs record only the moment of coincidence of the sawtooth voltage with the voltage on the thermistors. This approach allows using mathematical methods of signal processing to accurately determine the voltage drop on the thermistor, and this ensures the accuracy of the resistance/temperature and the expansion of the temperature range. Given the fact that thermistors are increasingly used to measure temperature, simplifying their inclusion in a large number will allow to register the temperature field of electronic units, which is extremely important for spacecraft. The proposed version of a three-wire circuit for connecting temperature sensors at several points was tested experimentally, including at negative temperatures.