Pre-charging bootstrapped FET gate

A method comprising:

• precharging a gate terminal of a first transistor of a circuit, wherein the first transistor is coupled between a voltage supply node and a switching node and wherein the circuit further includes a second transistor coupled between the switching node and a ground node, wherein the first and second transistors are both NMOS transistors, wherein precharging comprises charging the gate terminal of the first transistor to a voltage less than a voltage present on the voltage supply node;
• charging a capacitor of a bootstrap circuit concurrent with precharging the gate terminal of the first transistor;
• controlling, using a timing circuit, an amount of time of the precharging the gate terminal of the first transistor;
• and
• activating the first transistor, wherein activating the first transistor comprises coupling a first terminal of the capacitor to the gate terminal of the first transistor such that a voltage on the gate terminal of the first transistor is raised to a value greater than the voltage present on the voltage supply node.

A system comprising:

• a power converter, wherein the power converter includes a first transistor coupled between an input voltage node and a switching node, a second transistor coupled between the switching node and a ground node, and an inductor coupled between the switching node and a regulated output voltage node, wherein the first and second transistors are NMOS transistors, and wherein the power converter further includes a control circuit, the control circuit including:
• a precharge circuit configured to precharge a gate terminal of the first transistor to a voltage that is less than an input voltage received via the input voltage node;
• a bootstrap circuit, wherein subsequent to precharging the gate terminal of the first transistor, the bootstrap circuit is configured to cause activation of the first transistor by charging the gate terminal to a voltage greater than the input voltage;
• and
• a timing circuit configured to control an amount of time of precharging the gate terminal of the first transistor.