Charge pump power savings

A charge pump, comprising:

• a first plurality of switches for charging an energy storage element during a charging phase;
• a second plurality of switches for conveying an output voltage via the energy storage element during an output phase;
• a first clamp configured to modify a voltage applied to a first switch of the first plurality of switches if an input voltage into the charge pump is greater than a threshold voltage regardless of the output voltage of the charge pump;
• and
• a second clamp configured to modify a voltage applied to a first switch of the second plurality of switches if the input voltage is greater than the threshold voltage.

A method, comprising:

• comparing a charge pump voltage of a charge pump to a threshold voltage, wherein the comparing comprises comparing the charge pump voltage to a first threshold voltage while the charge pump is in a power savings mode of operation and comparing the charge pump voltage to a second threshold voltage while the charge pump is in a normal mode of operation;
• adjusting a rail voltage of at least one driver coupled to a gate of a switch of a plurality of switches of the charge pump if the charge pump voltage is greater than the second threshold voltage;
• and
• conveying at least one signal from a controller to adjust the rail voltage of the at least one driver.

A method, comprising:

• comparing a clock frequency of a charge pump to a threshold frequency;
• disabling at least a portion of one or more switches of the charge pump while enabling another portion of the one or more switches if the clock frequency is below the threshold frequency;
• and
• conveying a control signal to a plurality of multiplexers, each multiplexer of the plurality coupled to a switch of the one or more switches to disable at least the portion of the one or more switches upon receipt of the control signal.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform instructions for operating a charge pump, the instructions comprising:

• comparing a charge pump voltage of a charge pump to a threshold voltage, wherein the comparing comprises comparing the charge pump voltage to a first threshold voltage while the charge pump is in a power savings mode of operation and comparing the charge pump voltage to a second threshold voltage while the charge pump is in a normal mode of operation;
• adjusting a rail voltage of at least one driver coupled to a gate of a switch of a plurality of switches of the charge pump if the charge pump voltage is greater than the second threshold voltage;
• and
• conveying at least one signal from a controller to adjust the rail voltage of the at least one driver.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform instructions for operating a charge pump, the instructions comprising:

• comparing a clock frequency of a charge pump to a threshold frequency;
• disabling at least a portion of one or more switches of the charge pump while enabling another portion of the one or more switches if the clock frequency is below the threshold frequency;
• and
• conveying a control signal to a plurality of multiplexers, each multiplexer of the plurality coupled to a switch of the one or more switches to disable at least the portion of the one or more switches upon receipt of the control signal.