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US 8,044,653 B2Granted
Low drop-out voltage regulator
AssigneeSTMicroelectronics S.r.l.
InventorsPhilippe Maige, Yannick Guedon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A low drop-out DC voltage regulator regulates a voltage from a DC supply and includes: a pass device controllable to maintain a voltage at an output of the regulator and arranged to provide a first current from the DC supply, at least part of said first current being provided to a load coupled to the output of the regulator; and a current regulator coupled to said pass device and to the output of the regulator. The current regulator is arranged to conduct a second current controllable such that the first current through said pass device remains constant irrespective of variations in a load current to said load.
Claims36
A voltage regulator, comprising:
- an input;
- a pass device coupled to the input and configured to pass a first current;
- an output coupled to the pass device and configured to provide a load current, the load current including at least part of the first current;
- and
- a current regulator, coupled to said pass device and to the output of the voltage regulator, wherein the pass device and the current regulator are configured to maintain a voltage at the output of the voltage regulator and the current regulator is configured to cause the first current through said pass device to remain relatively constant during variations in the load current.
2 more elements
A device, comprising:
- a load;
- and
- an integrated circuit comprising a voltage regulator configured to provide a load current to the load, the integrated circuit including:
- a pass device configured to pass a first current, wherein the load current includes at least part of the first current;
- and
- a current regulator, coupled to said pass device and to the load, wherein the pass device and the current regulator are configured to maintain a voltage at the load and the current regulator is configured to cause the first current through said pass device to remain relatively constant irrespective of variations in the load current.
3 more elements
A method, comprising:
- regulating a voltage at an output of a low drop-out DC voltage regulator, the regulating including:
- controlling a pass device to maintain a voltage at the output of the regulator, the pass device providing a first current, at least part of the first current being provided to a load coupled to the output of the regulator;
- and
- controlling a current regulator coupled to said pass device to conduct a second current to maintain the first current through said pass device at a relatively constant level irrespective of a load current to said load.
1 more element
A low drop-out DC voltage regulator, comprising:
- an input configured to receive a supply voltage;
- an output configured to provide a regulated output voltage to a load;
- a pass device coupled between the input and an intermediate node;
- a resistance coupled between the intermediate node and the output;
- a switch element coupled between the output and a supply terminal;
- and
- a control circuit coupled to the switch element and the resistance, the control circuit being structured to control the switch element based on a voltage across the resistance.
4 more elements
A low drop-out DC voltage regulator for regulating a voltage from a DC supply comprising:
- a pass device controllable to maintain a voltage at an output of the voltage regulator and arranged to provide a first current from the DC supply, at least part of said first current being provided to the output of the regulator, which is configured to be coupled to a load;
- a current regulator, coupled to said pass device and to the output of the voltage regulator, and configured to cause the first current through said pass device to remain relatively constant irrespective of variations in a load current to said load;
- a resistance coupled between the pass device and the output of the voltage regulator and configured to receive at least part of the first current;
- and
- a controller configured to control the current regulator based on a voltage drop across the resistance, wherein said current regulator comprises a transistor and said controller comprises a comparator coupled to first and second terminals of said resistance and to a control terminal of said transistor, said comparator being configured to provide a control signal to the control terminal of said transistor for controlling a second current.
2 more elements
A device, comprising:
- a DC supply;
- a load;
- and
- an integrated circuit comprising a low drop-out DC voltage regulator that includes:
- a pass device controllable to maintain a voltage at an output of the voltage regulator and arranged to provide a first current from the DC supply, at least part of said first current being provided to the output of the voltage regulator, which is configured to be coupled to a load;
- a current regulator, coupled to said pass device and to the output of the voltage regulator, and configured to cause the first current through said pass device to remain relatively constant irrespective of variations in a load current to said load;
- a resistance coupled between the pass device and the output of the voltage regulator and arranged to receive at least part of the first current;
- and
- a controller configured to control the current regulator based on a voltage drop across the resistance, wherein said current regulator comprises a transistor and said controller comprises a comparator coupled to first and second terminals of said resistance and to a control terminal of said transistor, said comparator being arranged to provide a control signal to the control terminal of said transistor for controlling a second current.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.