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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT 1

A New Autocalibration Procedure in Intelligent

Temperature Transducer
Wiesław Miczulski, Mariusz Krajewski, and Sergiusz Sienkowski

Abstract— In this paper, a concept of an intelligent temperature TABLE I

transducer (ITT) featuring a new autocalibration procedure C OMPARISON OF THE S OLUTIONS I MPROVING THE A CCURACY OF S IGNAL
cooperating with a platinum resistance temperature detec- P ROCESSING W ITH AN RTD P RESENTED IN P UBLICATIONS
tor (RTD) is presented. This procedure is based on the appli-
cation of resistors representing the standards of the measured
temperature. The effect of this procedure is the minimization
of linearity errors of the ITT processing characteristic, including
the RTD, and the minimization of the ITT offset and gain errors.
In the adopted ITT solution, the compensation of the RTD wires
resistance is applied. The simulation and experimental research
results, which confirm the high effectiveness of this procedure,
are presented. The uncertainty of temperature measurement by
means of the Monte Carlo method is evaluated and experimental
research results, confirming the possibility of measuring temper-
ature within a range of 0 °C–200 °C with a 0.03 °C uncertainty,
are presented.
Index Terms— Autocalibration, intelligent temperature
transducer (IIT), Monte Carlo (MC) method, platinum
resistive temperature detector (RTD), temperature measurement
accuracy.

I. I NTRODUCTION
N TEMPERATURE (T ) measurements, different solutions
I of sensors with the operating principle based on specific
physical phenomena are used. For example, in parametric
sensors with an electrical output signal, the influence of
temperature on the resistance of a conductor, of a semicon-
ductor, and on the voltage or the current of an n-p-junction
is used. In a group of parametric sensors, resistive temper-
ature detectors (RTD) are important, especially those made
of platinum (Pt). The T -to-resistance (Rs ) processing charac-
teristics of platinum RTDs and their classes of accuracy and
measurement ranges corresponding to them are defined by a
standard [1].
An RTD is connected with a temperature transducer (TT)
in a two-, three-, or four-wire way [2], [3]. In most cases,
TT output requires a digital signal whose value corre-
sponds with the measured value T . In TT input circuits, the divider [2]–[11]. Another solution is resistance-to-time (Rs /t)
RTD-resistance-to-voltage (Rs /V ) processing is applied by processing [12]–[14]. In a TT with Rs /V processing, an
means of an unbalanced Wheatstone bridge or a voltage amplifier (A), an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter, and a
Manuscript received March 1, 2018; revised July 2, 2018; accepted microprocessor (μP) are used. A TT with Rs /t processing
July 4, 2018. The Associate Editor coordinating the review process was comprises a voltage comparator, a counter, and a microproces-
Dr. Huang-Chen Lee. (Corresponding author: Sergiusz Sienkowski.) sor. In order to ensure high accuracy of the measurement of the
The authors are with the Institute of Metrology, Electronics, and Computer
Science, University of Zielona Góra, 65-246 Zielona Góra, Poland temperature T , appropriate hardware and software solutions
(e-mail: W.Miczulski@imei.uz.zgora.pl; M.Krajewski@imei.uz.zgora.pl; are applied to minimize processing errors of the measuring
S.Sienkowski@imei.uz.zgora.pl). signal. Table I presents various solutions in this regard. Some
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available
online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. of these solutions deal with intelligent temperature transducers
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIM.2018.2857901 (ITTs). The existing ITT solutions do not include autocali-
0018-9456 © 2018 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
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2 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT

R St j and the switches P j with the bridge (resistors R2 , R3 ,

and R4 ) is considered. In order to compensate for the effect of
the resistance of the wires connecting the RTD with the bridge,
a compensating loop connected to points 4–5, implemented in
accordance with the idea contained in [3], is applied.
The autocalibration procedure is realized in two stages.
In the procedure first stage, the RTD with the resistance R S
and the standard resistors R St j are one by one connected to
points 1–5 of the bridge by means of a microprocessor con-
trolled switch unit (SU). For a successively connected resistor,
the values of the bridge output voltage V1 are calculated,
respectively, by the following formulas.
Fig. 1. Diagram of the ITT. For the connected RTD (R S )
 
R S + Rl_S R2
V1_S = − V. (1)
bration of Rs /V input circuits, while in Rs /t input circuits, R S + Rl_S + R4 R2 + R3
autocalibration is partly used.
For the connected j th standard resistor R St j
This paper presents a concept of an ITT with a new auto-
 
calibration procedure cooperating with a platinum resistance R St j + Rl_St j R2
temperature detector (RTD) [20]. The ITT implements all the V1_St j = − V (2)
R St j + Rl_St j + R4 R2 + R3
functionalities indicated in Table I, including the input circuit
autocalibration. The RTD is connected in a two-wire way with where
a bridge, applying a loop (wire) compensating [3] the RTD V bridge supply voltage;
wires resistance. The main feature of this novel procedure Rl_S sum of resistances of the lines between
is the representation of the standard temperature values by points 1–2 and 3 − 5, including the resis-
standard resistors. These resistors are appropriately connected tance of the turned on PS switch connecting
to the same bridge arm as the RTD. In a measurement the RTD (R S ) with the bridge circuit;
cycle, the actual processing characteristics of the whole ITT Rl_St j sum of resistances of the lines between
measuring chain, including the RTD, are determined. The points 1–4 and 4–5 (compensating loop),
effect of this procedure is the minimization of linearity errors including the resistance of the turned on
of the processing characteristics of the ITT, including the RTD, P j switch and the additional resistance RC
and the minimization of the ITT offset and gain errors. Bridge connecting a given resistor R St j with the
errors resulting from the deviation of the bridge resistor values bridge circuit.
from the nominal value, the influence of external factors on
the values of these resistors, and the bridge supply voltage For proper functioning of the ITT, the following condition
fluctuations are also minimized. should be fulfilled:
In Section II, a way of realizing the autocalibration proce-
Rl_S = Rl_St j . (3)
dure, as well as its operating effectiveness is presented, and
the requirements which the measurement channel components The voltages V1_S and V1_St j are amplified in the
should fulfill are defined. In Section III, the accuracy of amplifier (A) and in the A/D converted into the digital form
temperature measurement by means of the Monte Carlo (MC) N. The results N S and N St0 , N St1 , N St2 , . . . , N St J successively
method is evaluated, and the experimental research results of obtained from the A/D are read into the μP memory.
the designed ITT circuit are presented. In the procedure second stage, based on the system of
equations
II. AUTOCALIBRATION P ROCEDURE
A. Method of the Implementation of the Procedure a0 + a1 TSt 0 + a2 TSt2 0 + · · · + a J TStJ 0 = N St 0
The diagram of the ITT circuit realizing the new a0 + a1 TSt 1 + a2 TSt2 1 + · · · + a J TStJ 1 = N St 1
autocalibration procedure is shown in Fig. 1. In this circuit, the a0 + a1 TSt 2 + a2 TSt2 2 + · · · + a J TStJ 2 = N St 2
standard resistors R St j ( j = 0 . . . J ) are applied whose values a0 + a1 TSt J + a2 TSt2 J + · · · + a J TStJ J = N St J (4)
correspond with the standard temperatures TSt j at fixed values
from the measurement range of the measured quantity T . They with the known values of the standard temperatures TSt j and
are calculated on the basis of the conversion characteristics the obtained resultsN St j , the values of the coefficients a0 , a1 ,
of the platinum temperature sensor R S = f (T ) specified by a2 , . . . , a J of the polynomial describing the actual combined
the norm [1]. The number of the standard resistors depends nonlinear processing characteristic of the RTD and ITT. The
on the assumed polynomial order J describing the processing course of this characteristic depends on the actual values of
characteristic of the whole ITT measurement channel (Fig. 1). the parameters of the components applied in the whole ITT
In this paper, a case of a two-wire connection of the RTD processing channel, resulting, among other things, from the
(R S ) and the switch PS , as well as of the standard resistors effect of external factors (e.g., temperature) on the changes in
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MICZULSKI et al.: NEW AUTOCALIBRATION PROCEDURE IN ITT 3

the parameters of these components, and also depends on the

nonfulfillment of (3).
Based on the calculated values of the coefficients a0 to a J
and on the measured value N S , the value of the measured
temperature T  is calculated in inverse processing (realization
of linearization) by means of solving the nonlinear equation
a0 + a1 T  + a2 T 2 + · · · + a J T J = N S . (5)
In general, it can be stated that
T = T  ± T (6)
Fig. 2. Error of ITT temperature measurement in nominal conditions for
where T is the error of determining the measured tempera- J = 4.
ture T , which mainly depends on the degree of the polynomial
interpolating the RTD and ITT combined processing character-
istic, on the accuracy of the standard resistors R St j and on the and the negative values T occurred for the values of T close
influence of the external factors (e.g., temperature) on them, to the top end value of the measurement range (ca 180 °C).
on the discrepancy between the values of the resistances Rl_S For further simulation research, a polynomial value J = 4 was
and Rl_St j , as well as on the A/D accuracy. The measurement assumed. The realization of the assumed polynomial degree is
result can also be affected by noise [7], [9], [21]. ensured by standard resistors (R St0 to R St J ) of the following
resistance values and by the corresponding with standard
B. Effectiveness of the Procedure temperatures (TSt0 to TSt J ):
In order to present the effectiveness of the proposed auto- 1) R St0 = 1020  → TSt0 = 5.121 °C;
calibration procedure, simulation research has been carried out 2) R St1 = 1200  → TSt1 = 51.566 °C;
on the ITT circuit (Fig. 1), for an example, measurement range 3) R St2 = 1380  → TSt2 = 98.667 °C;
of 0 °C–200 °C, cooperating with a platinum RTD (Pt1000) 4) R St3 = 1580  → TSt3 = 151.807 °C;
having the resistance described by the following formula [1]: 5) R St4 = 1760  → TSt4 = 200.392 °C.
R S = 1000(1 + aT + bT 2 ) (7) In Fig. 2, the results of the calculations of the error
T = f (T ) for nominal conditions and for J = 4 are
where a = 3.9083 × 10−3 and b = −5.774 × 10−7 . presented.
Simulation tests were performed in the MathCAD Determining the operational effectiveness of the designed
mathematical program applying formulas from (1) to (7), autocalibration procedure, in relation to the initial assump-
respectively. In the simulation process, the values of the tions, consisted in determining the errors T when this pro-
temperature T were set at a step of 0.1 °C. The research was cedure was and was not employed in the following six example
carried out for the following assumptions. situations.
1) In the bridge circuit, resistors of nominal values of 1) The values of the bridge resistors R2 , R3 , and R4 with
R2 = R3 = R4 = 1000  were applied. the coefficients TCR = 200 ppm/°C changed under the
2) The bridge nominal supply voltage V = 2 V. influence of a change in the ambient temperature Ta
3) The amplifier (A) nominal gain G = 36 V/V. from a nominal value of 25 °C–35 °C and 75 °C.
4) The ambient temperature of the standard resistors 2) The value of the bridge supply voltage V changed by
(Ta(R St j )) and of the remaining part of the ITT circuit −0.5% relative to the nominal value.
(Ta ) in nominal conditions is 25 °C. 3) The gain G changed by −1% relative to the nominal
5) The condition described by (3) is fulfilled. value.
In the first place, the degree of the polynomial J describing 4) The influence of the amplifier imbalance voltage with
the processing characteristic of the ITT for nominal conditions an assumed value of V0 = −80 mV.
was selected. It has a crucial influence on the temperature 5) The value of the bridge resistance R2 changed from its
measurement error (T ). The course of the characteristic nominal value to 910 .
T = f (T ) also depends on the selection of the values 6) The values of the bridge resistances R3 and R4
of the resistors R St j . For the analyzed polynomial degrees, changed from their nominal values to 900 and 1100 ,
the error T for the assumed measurement range falls within respectively.
the intervals: In the case of not applying the autocalibration procedure,
1) for J = 2T ∈ (−1.06 ÷ 0.86) °C; the calculation of the value of the measured temperature T was
2) for J = 3T ∈ (−0.066 ÷ 0.079) °C; conducted with constant coefficient values a0 to a J determined
3) for J = 4T ∈ (−0.011 ÷ 0.007) °C. for nominal conditions based on the system of (4). In this
The obtained maximum positive values of the error T case, the characteristic T = f (T ) for nominal conditions
occurred in all the cases for the measured temperatures T close and without applying the autocalibration procedure is identical
to the low end value of the measurement range (ca 20 °C), with the one in Fig. 2.
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4 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT
Fig. 3. Error of temperature measurement (T ) for an ITT with no
autocalibration procedure and with the influence of the ambient temperature
(at values Ta = 35 °C and Ta = 75 °C) on the values of the bridge resistors
(R2 , R3 , and R4 ), changes in the supply voltage V by −0.5% and in the gain
G by −0.1%, the amplifier imbalance voltage V0 = −80 mV.
In Fig. 3, results of the error T calculations without
applying the autocalibration procedure for the first four cases
are presented. The error T assumes values ranging from
fractions of 1 °C to a few °C.
For the last two cases, the values of the errors
T = f (T ) are decidedly greater and change within the whole
measurement range:
1) 25.41 °C to 52.31 °C for R2 = 910 ;
2) −46.6 °C to −87.5 °C for R3 = 900  and
R4 = 1100 .
A significant effect on the values of the error T is exerted
by the bridge imbalance, resulting from new values of the
resistors R2 , R3 , and R4 . For case 5, with T = 0 °C, the
voltage V1 = 47.18 mV, and for case 6, V1 = −100.19 mV.
The application of the autocalibration procedure causes
a considerable decrease in the values of the errors T for
all six of the analyzed cases. They are close to the values
of the errors obtained in nominal conditions (Fig. 2). The
greatest difference of the error values occurs between the char-
acteristic describing the influence of the ambient temperature
(Ta = 75 °C) and the characteristic of the error in nominal
conditions and amounts to 0.18 × 10−3 °C, whereas for the
characteristic describing the influence of the ambient tempera-
ture (Ta = 35 °C), this difference amounts to 0.036×10−3 °C.
For the remaining characteristics, the differences are at a level
of 2 × 10−10 °C. These results attest to a very high effec-
tiveness of the autocalibration procedure, whose purpose is
to determine the actual characteristic of the whole processing
channel.
C. Requirements for ITT Measurement Channel Components
Obtaining such a high effectiveness of the autocalibration
procedure requires ensuring a reasonably short time of its real-
ization in individual steps of the first stage of its functioning
so that the changes in the influence of the environment factors
on the whole measurement channel are negligible. With this
condition fulfilled and for the assumed degree of the polyno-
mial J , the main sources of error of temperature measurement
by means of the ITT (Fig. 1) are the manufacturing accuracy
of the standard resistors R St j and their dependence on the
Fig. 4. Uncertainty intervals of temperature measurement (UT ) for a 99%
confidence level as a function of the measured temperature as condition (3)
is not fulfilled due to the resistance scatter l_St j,S (0.01, 0.03, and 0.05 ).
changes in the ambient temperature Ta(R St j ), nonfulfillment
of condition (3), as well as the accuracy of the A/D converter
resulting from the number of bits B and noise. The evaluation
of the influence for each of the above listed sources of error,
apart from the influence of the ambient temperature on the
standard resistors, was carried out independently employing
the MC simulation method. This method in accordance with
the guidelines in [22] makes it possible to determine measure-
ment uncertainty [23]. Employing this method of uncertainty
determination resulted from a complex process of temperature
calculation in the autocalibration process. Determining the
uncertainty of the temperature T measurement by means of
the MC method was also realized in the MathCAD program,
according to the following assumptions.
1) The number of the random experiments M was 106 .
2) Sources of uncertainty were defined for the standard
resistors (δ R St j ), for the scatter of values of the resis-
tance Rl_S and Rl_St j (l_St j,S ), the A/D converter
(A/D), and noise noise as the measurement input
quantities whose values were generated randomly (for
i = 1 . . . M) according to their probability distribution
(δ R St j (i ), l_St j,S (i ), A/D (i )—uniform distribution,
and noise(i )—Gaussian distribution).
3) The output quantity was defined as a temperature mea-
surement error whose values were determined from the
following formula:
T (i ) = TMC (i ) − T (8)
where TMC (i ) is a simulation determined tempera-
ture measured according to the procedure described
by (1)–(5) taking into account the above defined sources
of uncertainty.
The fulfillment of the condition described by (3) is a very
significant condition ensuring proper functioning of the auto-
calibration procedure. Uncertainty intervals of the measure-
ment of T following from the assumed values of the resistance
scatter l_St j,S are shown in Fig. 4. Ensuring the uncertainty
of the measurement of T below 0.02 °C requires ensuring
that the scatter l_St j,S is not greater than 0.01 . A similar
character of the change in the characteristics UT = f (T ) will
occur along with changes in the temperature Ta affecting the
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MICZULSKI et al.: NEW AUTOCALIBRATION PROCEDURE IN ITT
Fig. 5. Uncertainty intervals of temperature measurement (UT ) for a
99% confidence level as a function of the measured temperature for the
assumed standard resistors manufacturing accuracies δ RSt j (0.001%, 0.002%,
and 0.005%).
Fig. 6. Error of temperature measurement (T ) with the influence of the
ambient temperature (Ta(RSt j ) = 35 °C and Ta(RSt j ) = 75 °C) on the values
of the standard resistors (R St0 to R St J ) with two values of the temperature
coefficients TCR RSt j = 2.5 and 5 ppm/°C.
resistances Rl_S and Rl_St j , only in the case of nonfulfillment
of condition (3).
In the case of applying an autocalibration procedure,
the uncertainty of temperature measurement also depends on
the manufacturing accuracy of the standard resistors R St j
which influences the accuracy of determining the standard
temperatures TSt j . The simulation research results presented
in Fig. 5 show unequivocally that achieving small values
of the uncertainties UT requires applying precision resistors.
Ensuring the uncertainty of the measurement of T at a value
level of 0.03 °C requires applying standard resistors with
accuracies not lower than 0.002%.
Changes in the ambient temperature Ta(R St j ) of the standard
resistors R R St j will considerably affect the error of tempera-
ture measurement. Fig. 6 shows the results of the simulation
research describing the influence of the ambient temperature
Ta(R St j ) at 35 °C and 75 °C for two assumed values, equal to
2.5 and 5 ppm/°C, of the coefficient TCR R St j of the standard
resistors on the temperature measurement error. The presented
research results indicate a need for applying precision standard
resistors of very small TCR R St j values.
In order to reduce the error value T caused by the changes
in the standard resistors ambient temperature (Ta(R St j )),
an extension to the autocalibration procedure was proposed
involving the use of the additional temperature measurement
Ta(R St j ) of an independent sensor with its digital output
connected directly to the microprocessor circuit. The research
5
Fig. 7. Error of temperature measurement (T ) for the ambient temperature
of the standard resistors Ta(RSt j ) = 75 °C and for two values of the coefficient
TCR RSt j = 2.5 and 5 ppm/°C with an error of the ambient temperature
measurement (T a(RSt j ) ) equal to ±0.5 °C and ±1 °C.
Fig. 8. Uncertainty intervals of temperature measurement (UT ) for a 99%
confidence level as a function of the measured temperature for the assumed
numbers of the A/D converter bit B (16, 18, and 21 bit).
results for such a solution for two values of the coefficient
TCR R St j (2.5 and 5 ppm/°C) and for the assumed value of
the ambient temperature of the standard resistors Ta(R St j ) =
75 °C determined with the error T a(R St j ) = ±0.5 °C and
T a(R St j ) = ±1 °C are presented in Fig. 7. The proposed
solution reduces the error T tenfold in relation to the case
when the ambient temperature of the standard resistors is not
measured. The values of the error T (Fig. 7) are close to the
values of the errors for nominal conditions (Fig. 2).
Fig. 8 presents the results of simulation research on deter-
mining the uncertainty intervals of temperature measurement
by means of the MC method for the assumed numbers of bits
of the A/D converter. The research indicates a necessity to
employ A/D converters with a minimum resolution of 18 bits
so that the uncertainties of the measurement of T on account
of this are not greater than 0.02 °C.
Another problem in ITTs is noise. Fig. 9 shows an example
simulation result illustrating the effect of standard deviation
σnoise of Gaussian noise added to the bridge output voltage on
temperature measurement uncertainty. The presented results
refer to the measurement case T = 180 °C for which the
highest uncertainty values were obtained.
From Fig. 9, it follows that to obtain an uncertainty of a
single T measurement below 0.02 °C, the noise must be less
than 2 μV. Reducing the impact of noise and electromagnetic
interference on the final measurement result can be obtained
by [21] as follows:
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6 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT

measurements by means of a Thomson bridge, it was

assumed that the resistances Rl_S and Rl_St j amount to
0.12  each, and the scatter of these values (l_St j,S )
does not exceed 0.01 .

A. Simulation Tests
The evaluation of the designed measurement circuit was
conducted by means of the MC method. The determination
of the uncertainty of the temperature T measurement was
realized in the MathCAD program, according to the following
Fig. 9. Effect of σnoise on the uncertainty of a single temperature measure- assumptions.
ment for a 99% confidence level, for T = 180 °C, measured by the ITT in
nominal conditions. 1) The number of random experiments M was 106 .
2) Sources of uncertainty were defined as measure-
ment input quantities with values: δ R St j (i ), TCR St j (i ),
1) averaging the results of multiple measurements; δ R2 (i ), δ R3 (i ), δ R4 (i ), TCR S (i ), δV (i ), δ1 (i ), 1 (i ),
2) shielding and grounding the connections, especially the T a(R St j )(i ), T a (i ), and l_St j,S (i ), generated ran-
RTD connection with the bridge; domly (for i = 1 . . . M) according to their uniform
3) using analog filters; probability distribution.
4) appropriate selection of elements, e.g., low-noise resis- 3) The output quantity was defined as an error of tem-
tors, used in the ITT processing channel. perature measurement whose values were determined
The test results shown in Figs. 8 and 9 imply a need to from (8).
use an 18-bit A/D converter and a low-noise level in the ITT. 4) Based on (1) and (2), mathematical models were
Such requirements are met by popular sigma–delta converters, designed of the bridge voltage V1_S (i ) (for temperature
which can contain a programmable amplifier in their structure. sensor) and V1_St j (i ) (for standard resistors), whose
values depend on δ R St j (i ), TCR St j (i ), δ R2 (i ), δ R3 (i ),
III. E VALUATION OF T EMPERATURE δ R4 (i ), TCR(i ), δV (i ), δ1 (i ), 1 (i ), T a(R St j )(i ),
M EASUREMENT ACCURACY T a (i ), and l_St j,S (i ), and are described by the depen-
The evaluation of the temperature measurement accuracy dencies
within a range of 0 °C–200 °C by means of the ITT was
V1 S (i ) = k S (i )V ∗ (i )(1 + δ1 (i )) + ∗1 (i ) (9)
conducted for the designed measurement circuit realizing an
∗
autocalibration procedure taking into account the research V1_St j (i ) = k St j (i )V (i )(1 + δ1 (i )) + ∗1 (i ) (10)
results presented in Section II. In the designed circuit (Fig. 1), where
the amplifier (A) and the A/D converter were replaced with
R S + Rl_S (i ) R 2 (i )
an Agilent 3458A multimeter, and the μP was replaced with k S (i ) = −
a PC. The evaluation of temperature measurement was made R S + Rl_S (i ) + R4 (i ) R2 (i ) + R3 (i )
for the following measurement conditions. (11)
R St j (i ) + Rl_St j (i )
1) In the bridge circuit, RWE 0411 standard metal resistors k St j (i ) =
(R St0 –R St4 ) with a coefficient TCR St j = 5 ppm/°C and R St j (i ) + Rl_St j (i ) + R4 (i )
values of 1020.435, 1199.436, 1379.225, 1579.465, and R2 (i )
− (12)
1759.106 , measured by an Agilent 3458A multimeter R2 (i ) + R3 (i )
with the accuracy δ R St j = 0.002% were applied. R2 (i ) = R2 (1 + δ R2 (i ))(1 + T C RT a (i )T a (i ))
2) In the bridge circuit, metal resistors with the nominal (13)
values: R2 = R3 = R4 = 1000  in the first of the
R St j (i ) = R St j (1 + δ R St j (i ))
analyzed cases, and R2 = 910  and R3 = R4 =
1000  in the second, with the tolerance δ R2 = δ R3 = × (1 + T C R R St j (i )T a(R St j )(i )) (14)
δ R4 = 0.5% and TCR = 50 ppm/°C were applied. Rl_St j (i ) = Rl_St j + l_St j (i ) (15)
3) The bridge was powered by the voltage V = 2 V from an Rl_S (i ) = Rl_S + l_S (i ) (16)
SQ11 calibrator with the measured short-time instability
V ∗ (i ) = V (1 + δV∗ (i )) (17)
δV = ±10 ppm.
4) The accuracy of the voltage V1 measurement by means where R S is the temperature sensor resistance calculated
of an Agilent 3458A multimeter is V 1 = δ1 V1 + 1 = based on (7), R3 (i ) and R4 (i ) are similarly calculated
14 × 10−6 V1 + 0.3 μV within a 1 V range. according to (13), and ∗ signifies that the values of
5) The ambient temperature of the standard resistors a particular quantity were independently generated for
(Ta(R St j )) and of the remaining part of the circuit (Ta ) each connected standard resistor and the Pt1000 sensor
is 25 °C with the accuracy T a(R St j ) = T a = 1 °C. in a bridge configuration.
6) In the bridge circuit, a compensating loop and a unit of 5) The calculations of the temperature TMC (i ) were con-
reed relay switches (SU) were applied. Next, based on ducted based on (4) and (5) substituting the values of
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MICZULSKI et al.: NEW AUTOCALIBRATION PROCEDURE IN ITT
Fig. 10. Uncertainty intervals of temperature measurement for a 99% con-
fidence level as a function of the measured temperature: (UT low,measMC and
UT high,measMC )—uncertainty interval obtained by means of the MC method
for R2 = 1000  and R2 = 910 , (UT low,meas1 and UT high,meas1 )—
measurement uncertainty interval for R2 = 1000 , and (UT low,meas2 and
UT high,meas2 )—measurement uncertainty interval for R2 = 910 .
the voltages V1_St j (i ) for N St j , and the values of the
voltage V1_S (i ) for N S .
6) It was established that based on the obtained set of
values T (i ) an uncertainty interval (UT low and UT high )
for a probability of 99% was determined by means of
the MC method presented in [22].
The determined uncertainty intervals of temperature mea-
surement (UT ) as a function of the measured temperature
are presented in Fig. 10. Borderline values of the uncer-
tainty intervals amount to UT low,measMC = −0.029 °C and
UT high,measMC = 0.018 °C. Simulation results are identical for
both measurement cases. This means that changing the resistor
R2 value does not influence the measurement uncertainty
determined by means of the MC method and that is why
only one uncertainty interval (UT low,measMC ; UT high,measMC)
is presented.
B. Experimental Tests
The results of the above simulation research were experi-
mentally verified for the same two cases, i.e., for R2 = 1000 
and R2 = 910 . To this end, multiple measurements were
made for the analyzed system, for selected temperatures within
a range of 0 °C–200 °C.
The evaluation of the uncertainty of the actual measurement
results was carried out based on the dependence
Tmeas = Tmeas − Tset
where Tmeas is the mean value with standard deviation uTmeas
of 10 temperature measurements, and Tset is set temperature
(measured).
In order to obtain a satisfactory level of the accuracy of
the evaluation of the measurement result uncertainty, the val-
ues Tset were set indirectly by connecting selected standard
resistors replacing the sensor resistance R S . Prior to each
measurement, the values of the resistance of these resistors
were measured with an Agilent 3458A multimeter, and the
temperature Tset was determined from dependence (7). The
accuracy of the temperature setting (Tset ) resulting from the
multimeter accuracy was estimated at 0.01 °C. The interval
within which the actual temperature value lay (temperature
measurement uncertainty interval) was determined for a 99%
7
TABLE II
C OMPARISON OF T AND T _meas VALUES O BTAINED AS A R ESULT
OF S IMULATION AND E XPERIMENTAL T ESTS FOR
THE T WO A DOPTED R2 VALUES
coverage probability from the dependencies

 
√ Tset 2
UT high,meas = Tmeas + 3 · 0.99 u 2T meas + √ (19)
3
  
√ Tset 2
UT low,meas = Tmeas − 3 · 0.99 u T meas + √
2 (20)
3
assuming a 0.99 coverage factor for a rectangular probability
distribution
√ of the quantity Tset , whose standard uncertainty
T set / 3 was several times greater than the uncertainty
u T meas . The results of the calculated measurement uncertain-
ties are presented in Fig. 10. The obtained characteristics for
the assumed measurement cases are close to each other, which
confirms the effectiveness of the autocalibration procedure.
The greatest discrepancy between these characteristics occurs
at 75 °C and amounts to ca 0.003 °C. It is caused by
differences in the value of the resistances of the points of
contact of the connection of the standard resistors, replacing
the sensor resistance, with the designed measurement circuit
for two cases: R2 = 910 and 1000 , and of the connection of
these standard resistors with an Agilent 3458A multimeter in
order to measure their resistance. The above given greatest
discrepancy between these characteristics (Fig. 10) corre-
sponds with an 11-m resistance differential of the connected
standard resistor, thus is smaller than the 28-m accuracy of
the measurement of standard resistances with a multimeter.
Table II compares the results T and T _meas obtained for
selected settings Tset (beginning and end of the ITT range and
values near the UT extremes) in simulation and experimental
(18) tests, for two set R2 values. The presented results indicate very
large convergence of the obtained Tmeas values at a level of a
few thousandths of °C, in both the simulation and experimental
tests.
IV. C ONCLUSION
The presented simulation and experimental research results
of the designed ITT temperature measurement circuit have
confirmed the correctness of functioning of the new auto-
calibration procedure. Its practical application means that it
is no longer necessary to use precision and stable: resistors
in the bridge, a bridge power supply source, as well as
a measurement amplifier.
From the presented research results within a range
of 0 °C–200 °C for the ITT, it follows that achieving a T mea-
surement uncertainty at a level of 0.03 °C requires applying:
 This article has been accepted for inclusion in a future issue of this journal. Content is final as presented, with the exception of pagination.
8 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT
1) a fourth-degree polynomial describing the processing
characteristic of the ITT measurement channel;
2) precision standard resistors with a 0.002% accuracy and
TCR = 5 ppm/°C together with a sensor for measuring
their ambient temperature with an accuracy not worse
than 1 °C;
3) line resistance fulfilling the condition Rl_S = Rl_St j with
a scatter not greater than 0.01 ;
4) an A/D converter with a resolution not worse than 18 bit.
Reducing the given temperature range while the degree of
the polynomial describing the ITT processing characteristic
remains the same will lead to the reduction of systematic
errors. Applying other measurement range values requires
selecting an appropriate polynomial degree depending on the
assumed temperature measurement uncertainty.
In terms of the achieved accuracy of the temperature T
measurement, the ITT solution proposed in this paper is
similar to the solutions presented in [13] and [14] (Table I)
where TT input circuits are based on Rs /t processing.
The obtained very small values of temperature measurement
errors indicate the possibility of the developed ITT to cooper-
ate with precise IEC Class AA platinum RTDs [1].
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Wiesław Miczulski received the M.Sc. degree in
electrical engineering from the College of Engineer-
ing, Zielona Góra, Poland, in 1980, the Ph.D. degree
in electrical metrology from the University of Tech-
nology, Wrocław, Poland, in 1989, and the D.Sc.
degree in electrical metrology from the University
of Zielona Góra, Zielona Góra, in 2002.
He is currently a Professor with the Institute
of Metrology, Electronics, and Computer Science,
University of Zielona Góra. He was a Supervisor
and a Team Leader in many research projects for the
industry (power engineering, telecommunication, information technology). His
current research interests include electrical measurements, methods, and the
application of artificial intelligence in instruments and measurement systems.
Mariusz Krajewski received the M.Sc. degree in
digital measurement systems from the Technical
University of Zielona Góra, Zielona Góra, Poland, in
2001, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering
from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Com-
puter Science, and Telecommunications, University
of Zielona Góra, in 2009.
He is currently an Assistant Professor with the
Institute of Metrology, Electronics, and Computer
Science, University of Zielona Góra. His current
research interests include issues related to high-
precision voltage measurements, digital signal processing, and determination
of measurement uncertainty.
Sergiusz Sienkowski received the M.Sc. degrees
in industrial mathematics and industrial computer
systems from the Technical University of Zielona
Góra, Zielona Góra, Poland, in 2001, and from
the University of Zielona Góra, Zielona Góra, in
2003, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering
from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Com-
puter Science, and Telecommunications, University
of Zielona Góra, in 2011.
He is currently an Assistant Professor with the
Institute of Metrology, Electronics, and Computer
Science, University of Zielona Góra. His current research interests include
signal processing, processing of measured data, measurement systems, and
evaluation of measurement uncertainty.