Variable slope charge pump control

A regulator circuit for providing a regulated voltage, comprising:

• a driver for generating a drive signal;
• a charge pump, being responsive to the drive signal, to generate a pump voltage from a first voltage source, the charge pump having at least two charging modes;
• an amplifier having a reference input coupled to a reference voltage, a sense input coupled to a sense signal representative of the pump voltage, and an output, operable in response to a difference between the reference voltage and the sense signal, to control the driver;
• and
• a pump controller being coupled from the amplifier output to the charge pump, the pump controller including a measuring device, being operable in response to mode criteria, to select a charging mode of the charge pump,
• wherein the measuring circuit is selected from the group of pulse counters, time measuring circuits, and energy measuring circuits.

A regulator circuit for providing a regulated voltage, comprising:

• a driver for generating a drive signal;
• a charge pump, being responsive to the drive signal, to generate a pump voltage from a first voltage source, the charge pump having at least two charging modes;
• an amplifier having a reference input coupled to a reference voltage, a sense input coupled to a sense signal representative of the pump voltage, and an output, operable in response to a difference between the reference voltage and the sense signal, to control the driver;
• and
• a pump controller being coupled from the amplifier output to the charge pump, the pump controller including a measuring device, being operable in response to mode criteria, to select a charging mode of the charge pump,
• wherein the mode criteria is selected from the group of clock pulses, energy charging cycles, time elapsed following a predetermined event, and energy transferred to the output voltage.

A regulator circuit for providing a regulated voltage, comprising:

• a driver for generating a drive signal;
• a charge pump, being responsive to the drive signal, to generate a pump voltage from a first voltage source, the charge pump having at least two charging modes;
• an amplifier having a reference input coupled to a reference voltage, a sense input coupled to a sense signal representative of the pump voltage, and an output, operable in response to a difference between the reference voltage and the sense signal, to control the driver;
• and
• a pump controller being coupled from the amplifier output to the charge pump, the pump controller including a measuring device, being operable in response to mode criteria, to select a charging mode of the charge pump,
• wherein the pump controller further includes a decoder for generating a set of mode control signals to control the charging mode of the charge pump.

A regulator circuit for providing a regulated voltage, comprising:

• a driver for generating a drive signal;
• a charge pump, being responsive to the drive signal, to generate a pump voltage from a first voltage source, the charge pump having at least two charging modes;
• an amplifier having a reference input coupled to a reference voltage, a sense input coupled to a sense signal representative of the pump voltage, and an output, operable in response to a difference between the reference voltage and the sense signal, to control the driver;
• a pump controller being coupled from the amplifier output to the charge pump, the pump controller including a measuring device, being operable in response to mode criteria, to select a charging mode of the charge pump;
• and
• a clock generator coupled to the driver for generating a clock signal having a pulse frequency.

A regulator circuit for providing a regulated voltage, comprising:

• driver means for generating a drive signal;
• charge pump means for generating a pump voltage from a first voltage source in response to the drive signal, the charge pump means providing at least two charging modes;
• amplifier means for controlling the driver means in response to a reference voltage and a sense signal representative of the pump voltage, the amplifier means being operable in response to a difference between the reference voltage and the sense signal;
• and
• pump controller means for selecting a charging mode of the charge pump means in response to mode criteria, the pump controller means being coupled from the amplifier means to the charge pump means, wherein the pump controller means comprises a counting means and a decoder means.

A regulator circuit for providing a regulated voltage, comprising:

• driver means for generating a drive signal;
• charge pump means for generating a pump voltage from a first voltage source in response to the drive signal, the charge pump means providing at least two charging modes;
• amplifier means for controlling the driver means in response to a reference voltage and a sense signal representative of the pump voltage, the amplifier means being operable in response to a difference between the reference voltage and the sense signal;
• and
• pump controller means for selecting a charging mode of the charge pump means in response to mode criteria, the pump controller means being coupled from the amplifier means to the charge pump means,
• wherein the mode criteria is selected from the group of clock pulses, energy charging cycles, time elapsed following a predetermined event, and energy transferred to the output voltage.

A regulator circuit for providing a regulated voltage, comprising:

• driver means for generating a drive signal;
• charge pump means for generating a pump voltage from a first voltage source in response to the drive signal, the charge pump means providing at least two charging modes;
• amplifier means for controlling the driver means in response to a reference voltage and a sense signal representative of the pump voltage, the amplifier means being operable in response to a difference between the reference voltage and the sense signal;
• and
• pump controller means for selecting a charging mode of the charge pump means in response to mode criteria, the pump controller means being coupled from the amplifier means to the charge pump means,
• wherein the pump controller means further generates a set of mode control signals to control the charging mode of the charge pump means.

A regulator circuit for providing a regulated voltage, comprising:

• driver means for generating a drive signal;
• charge pump means for generating a pump voltage from a first voltage source in response to the drive signal, the charge pump means providing at least two charging modes;
• amplifier means for controlling the driver means in response to a reference voltage and a sense signal representative of the pump voltage, the amplifier means being operable in response to a difference between the reference voltage and the sense signal;
• pump controller means for selecting a charging mode of the charge pump means in response to mode criteria, the pump controller means being coupled from the amplifier means to the charge pump means;
• and
• comprising clock means for generating a clock signal having a pulse frequency, the clock means being coupled to the driver.

A method for providing a regulated voltage, comprising:

• generating a drive signal;
• counting a clock signal;
• decoding a mode criteria in accordance with the counting step;
• selecting a charging mode, based upon the mode criteria, for generating a pump voltage;
• generating the pump voltage from a first voltage source in response to the drive signal and selected charging mode;
• generating a sense signal representative of the pump voltage;
• and
• controlling the drive signal in response to determining a difference between a reference voltage and the sense signal.

A method for providing a regulated voltage, comprising:

• generating a drive signal;
• selecting a charging mode, based upon mode criteria, for generating a pump voltage;
• generating the pump voltage from a first voltage source in response to the drive signal and selected charging mode;
• generating a sense signal representative of the pump voltage;
• and
• controlling the drive signal in response to determining a difference between a reference voltage and the sense signal,
• wherein the mode criteria is selected from the group of clock pulses, energy charging cycles, time elapsed following a predetermined event, and energy transferred to the output voltage.

A method for providing a regulated voltage, comprising:

• generating a drive signal;
• selecting a charging mode, based upon mode criteria, for generating a pump voltage;
• generating the pump voltage from a first voltage source in response to the drive signal and selected charging mode;
• generating a sense signal representative of the pump voltage;
• controlling the drive signal in response to determining a difference between a reference voltage and the sense signal;
• and
• generating a set of mode control signals to control the charging mode.

A method for providing a regulated voltage, comprising:

• generating a drive signal;
• selecting a charging mode, based upon mode criteria, for generating a pump voltage;
• generating the pump voltage from a first voltage source in response to the drive signal and selected charging mode;
• generating a sense signal representative of the pump voltage;
• controlling the drive signal in response to determining a difference between a reference voltage and the sense signal;
• and
• controlling the drive signal with a clock signal having a pulse frequency.