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US 7,248,028 B1Granted
Low-power charge pump regulator
AssigneeMarvell International Ltd.
InventorThart Fah Voo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A low-power charge pump regulator is provided. The low-power charge pump regulator may periodically turn off charge pumping portions of the charge pump circuitry to reduce power consumption. The charge pumping portions of the charge pump circuitry may then be turned on when they are needed to maintain the output of the charge pump regulator. In some embodiments, where the leakage off the voltage regulator output is small, the charge pumping portions of the charge pump circuitry may only need to be turned on for brief periods of time.
Claims20
Low-power charge pump regulator, comprising:
- a clock signal;
- a charge pump regulator circuit comprising a charge pumping circuit and an output circuit;
- a control circuit operative to activate and inactivate the charge pumping circuit in response to the clock signal;
- and
- charge pump regulator circuit comprises:
- an oscillator circuit operative to provide an oscillating signal;
- an AND gate operative to receive a first input signal comprising the oscillating signal and a second input signal;
- a diode operative to receive an output from the AND gate;
- a charge storage circuit operative to receive an output from the diode and to store charge received from the diode output;
- a transistor comprising a control input coupled to the charge storage circuit, a first terminal coupled to a supply voltage, and a second terminal operative to supply an output voltage;
- a first and a second resistor connected in series coupled to the second terminal of the transistor;
- and
- an amplifier having a first input operative to receive a reference voltage signal, a second input coupled between the first and the second resistors, and an output coupled to the second input of the AND gate.
10 more elements
Low-power charge pump regulator, comprising:
- clock means for providing a clock signal;
- charge pump regulator means comprising a charge pumping means and output means;
- and
- control means operative to turn the charge pumping means on and off in response to the clock signal;
- and
- wherein the charge pump regulator means comprises:
- oscillating means operative to provide an oscillating signal;
- AND gate means operative to receive a first input signal comprising the oscillating signal and a second input signal;
- diode means operative to receive an output from the AND gate means;
- charge storage means operative to receive an output from the diode means and to store charge received from the diode means output;
- transistor means comprising a control input coupled to the charge storage circuit, a first terminal coupled to a supply voltage, and a second terminal operative to supply an output voltage;
- a first and a second resistance means connected in series coupled to the second terminal of the transistor;
- and
- amplifier means having a first input operative to receive a reference voltage signal, a second input coupled between the first and the second resistance means, and an output coupled to the second input of the AND gate means.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.