Switching regulator with multiple power transistor driving voltages
AssigneeVolterra Semiconductor Corporation
InventorsMarco A. Zuniga, Charles Nickel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A voltage regulator has an input terminal, an output terminal, a first transistor connecting the input terminal to an intermediate terminal, a second transistor connecting the intermediate terminal to ground, a controller that drives the first and second transistors to alternately couple the intermediate terminal between the input terminal and ground, and a filter disposed between the input terminal and the output terminal to provide a substantially DC voltage at the output terminal. The controller drives the two transistors with different gate voltage, and the two transistors can have different gate oxide layer thicknesses.
Claims24
A voltage regulator having an input terminal and an output terminal, comprising:
- a first transistor connecting the input terminal to an intermediate terminal;
- a second transistor connecting the intermediate terminal to ground;
- a controller that drives the first and second transistors to alternately couple the intermediate terminal between the input terminal and ground;
- and
- a filter disposed between the input terminal and the output terminal to provide a substantially DC voltage at the output terminal, the filter including at least one element connecting the intermediate terminal to the output terminal;
- wherein the first transistor includes a source, a drain and a gate, and the first transistor has a channel length between the source and the drain which is less than a channel length required for reliable behavior under steady state saturation conditions.
A voltage regulator having an input terminal and an output terminal, comprising:
- a first transistor connecting the input terminal to an intermediate terminal;
- a second transistor connecting the intermediate terminal to ground;
- a controller that drives the first and second transistors to alternately couple the intermediate terminal between the input terminal and ground;
- and
- a filter disposed between the input terminal and the output terminal to provide a substantially DC voltage at the output terminal, the filter including at least one element connecting the intermediate terminal to the output terminal;
- wherein the second transistor includes a source, a drain and a gate, and the second transistor has a channel length between the source and the drain which is less than a channel length required for reliable behavior under steady state saturation conditions.
A voltage regulator having an input terminal and an output terminal, comprising:
- a first transistor to intermittently couple the input terminal to the output terminal, wherein the first transistor includes a source, a drain, and a gate, and the first transistor has a channel length between the source and the drain which is less than a channel length required for reliable behavior under steady state saturation conditions;
- and
- a filter disposed between the input terminal and the output terminal to provide a substantially DC voltage at the output terminal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.