Gate driving technique to lower switch on-resistance in switching converter applications

Abstract

Techniques and apparatus for driving transistor gates of a switched-mode power supply (SMPS) circuit. One example power supply circuit generally includes a switching converter having a switching transistor and a gate driver having an output coupled to a gate of the switching transistor. The gate driver includes a first switching device coupled between the output of the gate driver and a first voltage rail; a second switching device coupled between the output of the gate driver and a voltage node of the gate driver; a third switching device coupled between the voltage node of the gate driver and a second voltage rail; and a voltage clamp coupled in series with a fourth switching device, the voltage clamp and the fourth switching device being coupled between a third voltage rail and the voltage node (or the output of the gate driver).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.