Switching voltage regulator employing current pre-adjust based on power mode

A switching voltage regulator operable to regulate a supply voltage to system circuitry, the switching voltage regulator comprising:

• a ring oscillator operable to generate an oscillator signal representing a gate speed of a reference circuit in the system circuitry, wherein the ring oscillator comprises a plurality of delay elements connected in series;
• a frequency generator operable to generate a reference signal representing a target gate speed of the reference circuit, wherein a frequency of the reference signal is based on a divider value;
• a comparator operable to compare the oscillator signal to the reference signal;
• switching circuitry operable to charge a charging element in response to the comparison;
• and
• control circuitry operable to:
• adjust the number of delay elements in the ring oscillator and the divider value of the frequency generator to generate hysteresis in the comparison;
• and
• prior to a power mode of the system circuitry changing, adjust a hysteresis threshold for controlling a level of the hysteresis.

A method of operating a switching voltage regulator operable to regulate a supply voltage to a load, the switching voltage regulator comprising a charging element operable to generate an output voltage, the method comprising:

• initializing an on-time of the charging element to a first on-time;
• measuring a first switch time comprising the first on-time and a first discharge time of a first cycle;
• measuring a first tristate time of the first cycle;
• determining a first ratio of the first tristate time to the first switch time;
• comparing the first ratio to a first ratio threshold;
• decreasing the on-time to a second on-time when the first ratio exceeds the first ratio threshold;
• and
• prior to a power mode changing which increases the current demand of the load, increasing the on-time.

A method of operating a switching voltage regulator operable to regulate a supply voltage to system circuitry, the switching voltage regulator comprising:

• a ring oscillator operable to generate an oscillator signal representing a gate speed of a reference circuit in the system circuitry, wherein the ring oscillator comprises a plurality of delay elements connected in series;
• a frequency generator operable to generate a reference signal representing a target gate speed of the reference circuit, wherein a frequency of the reference signal is based on a divider value;
• a comparator operable to compare the oscillator signal to the reference signal;
• switching circuitry operable to charge a charging element in response to the comparison;
• and
• the method comprising:
• adjusting the number of delay elements in the ring oscillator and the divider value of the frequency generator to generate hysteresis in the comparison;
• and
• prior to a power mode of the system circuitry changing, adjusting a hysteresis threshold for controlling a level of the hysteresis.