Regulating a supply voltage provided to a load circuit
AssigneeXilinx, Inc.
InventorEric E. Edwards
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of regulating a supply voltage (Vgg) provided to a load circuit. The method can include generating at least one reference voltage (Vr1, Vr2, Vr3) having a negative voltage-temperature coefficient. The method further can include applying the reference voltage as a bias voltage (Vbias) to a current sink that is electrically coupled in parallel with a path of a leakage current (Ileak) drawn by the load circuit. A related voltage regulator can include a current sink that is electrically coupled in parallel with a path of a leakage current drawn by a load circuit, and a bias control circuit that generates at least one reference voltage having a negative voltage-temperature coefficient and applies the reference voltage as a bias voltage to a current sink.
Claims16
A method of regulating a supply voltage provided to a load circuit, comprising:
- applying a voltage gain to a first reference voltage by a voltage gain amplifier and outputting a plurality of second reference voltages;
- selecting, with a switch, one of the second reference voltages as a third reference voltage, the third reference voltage having a negative voltage-temperature coefficient;
- applying the third reference voltage as a bias voltage to a current sink that is electrically coupled in parallel with a path of a leakage current drawn by the load circuit;
- and
- turning off the reference voltage applied to the current sink as the bias voltage in response to the load circuit reaching an operating temperature;
- wherein the current sink is turned off in response to turning off the reference voltage applied to the current sink.
A voltage regulator, comprising:
- a current sink that is electrically coupled in parallel with a path of a leakage current drawn by a load circuit;
- a bias control circuit that generates at least a first reference voltage having a negative voltage-temperature coefficient and applies the first reference voltage as a bias voltage to the current sink;
- wherein the bias control circuit comprises:
- a voltage gain amplifier that applies a voltage gain to a second reference voltage and outputs a plurality of third reference voltages;
- and
- a switch that selects one of the third reference voltages from among the plurality of third reference voltages as the first reference voltage that is applied as the bias voltage to the current sink;
- wherein the bias control circuit is configured to turn off the first reference voltage applied to the current sink as the bias voltage in response to the load circuit reaching an operating temperature;
- and
- wherein the current sink is turned off in response to the bias control circuit turning off the first reference voltage.
A regulator, comprising:
- a voltage supply circuit configured and arranged to generate a regulated voltage based on a reference voltage and provide the regulated voltage to a load circuit coupled to an output of the regulator;
- a current sink coupled to the output of the regulator and configured and arranged to sink current from the output of the regulator to a ground voltage in response to a bias voltage;
- and
- a bias control circuit configured to:
- generate a first reference voltage having a negative voltage-temperature coefficient and provide the first reference voltage to the current sink as the bias voltage;
- and
- turn off the first reference voltage applied to the current sink as the bias voltage in response to the load circuit reaching an operating temperature;
- wherein:
- the current sink is further configured and arranged to turn off in response to the bias control circuit turning off the first reference voltage;
- and
- the voltage supply circuit provides a non-varying current in response to changes in operating temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.