Voltage regulator having bias current boosting

A voltage regulator, comprising:

• a power stage having an input, and an output for providing an output voltage;
• a differential amplifier having a first input for receiving a feedback voltage representative of the output voltage, a second input for receiving a reference voltage, a bias current input for receiving a boosted bias current, and an output coupled to the input of the power stage, the differential amplifier being configured to output an error voltage to control the power stage;
• an offset voltage source having an input for receiving the feedback voltage and an output for providing an offset-compensated feedback voltage by applying a voltage offset to the feedback voltage;
• and
• a voltage-controlled current source having a first input for receiving the offset-compensated feedback voltage, a second input for receiving the reference voltage, the voltage-controlled current source being operative to:
• when the reference voltage is greater than the offset-compensated feedback voltage, output, over an output coupled to the bias current input of the differential amplifier, a boosted bias current proportional to a difference between the reference voltage and the offset-compensated feedback voltage, and bias the differential amplifier based on the boosted bias current, and
• when the reference voltage is less than the offset-compensated feedback voltage, refrain from outputting the boosted bias current.

A method, comprising:

• receiving a reference voltage;
• receiving a first voltage representative of an output voltage of a voltage regulator;
• generating an offset-compensated feedback voltage by applying a voltage offset to the first voltage;
• when the reference voltage is greater than the offset-compensated feedback voltage, producing, by a voltage-controlled current source, a boosted bias current proportional to a difference between the reference voltage and the offset-compensated feedback voltage;
• biasing a differential amplifier with the boosted bias current to shorten a response time of the differential amplifier in response to changes to the output voltage during load transient conditions;
• and
• when the reference voltage is less than the offset-compensated feedback voltage, refraining, by the voltage-controlled current source, from outputting the boosted bias current.