Boosting circuit with supply-dependent gain
AssigneeMaxim Integrated Products, Inc.
InventorsMark A. Pinchback, Charles D. Thompson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention comprises a method and apparatus for boosting an input signal to an output signal with a variable gain according to a supply voltage. The circuit comprises a detector and a voltage booster. The detector detects the supply voltage and generates a control signal having a value dependent on a difference between the detected supply voltage and a critical supply voltage. The critical supply voltage is temperature insensitive. The voltage booster is coupled to the detector for generating an output signal having a gain relative to the input signal. The gain is dependent on the value of the control signal.
Claims12
A circuit operating across a power supply terminal and a ground terminal, the circuit comprising:
- a detector for detecting a supply voltage at the power supply terminal, the detector generating a control signal having a value dependent on a difference between the detected supply voltage and a critical supply voltage, the detector comprising a band-gap comparator based on a band-gap reference voltage to control the critical supply voltage to be substantially independent of temperature;
- and
- a voltage booster coupled to the detector for boosting an input signal to an output signal at a gain determined by the value of the control signal.
A method of boosting an input signal to an output signal at a gain responsive to a supply voltage, the method comprising:
- detecting the supply voltage based on a critical supply voltage, the detecting including forming a band-gap comparator based on a band-gap reference voltage to control the critical supply voltage to be substantially independent of temperature;
- generating a control signal having a value dependent on a difference between the detected supply voltage and the critical supply voltage;
- and
- generating the output signal at a gain relative to the input signal according to the value of the control signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.