Low drop out (ldo) bypass voltage regulator

Abstract

A power element bypass and voltage regulation circuit shutdown is used in a low drop out (LDO) bypass voltage regulator to minimize current drawn by the voltage regulator circuit when the supply input voltage approaches the regulated output voltage of the voltage regulation circuit. Two modes of operation are used in the low drop out (LDO) bypass voltage regulator. A regulate mode is used when the supply input voltage is greater than the reference voltage input, and a track mode is used when the supply input voltage is less than or equal to approximately the regulated output voltage of the voltage regulation circuit. Hysteresis may be introduced when switching between the regulate and track modes of operation.

Description

[0001] Related Application Cross Reference [0002] This application requests the application filed on November 3, 2008 by Ruan Laurens, Razvan Enachescu, and Marc Tiu entitled "Low Dropout (LDO) Bypass Voltage Regulator (Low Drop Out (LDO) Bypass Voltage Regulator)" Ser. No. 61 / 110,714 of the commonly owned U.S. Provisional Patent Application, which is incorporated by reference for all purposes and into this article. technical field [0003] The present invention relates to on-chip voltage regulators, and more particularly, to low dropout (LDO) bypass voltage regulators with low current consumption when in low dropout bypass mode. Background technique [0004] Integrated circuit devices are fabricated in sub-micron processes and cannot operate at voltages much higher than 3.3 volts. However, these integrated circuit devices may be part of electronic systems that operate at higher voltages, thus requiring the devices to operate with a higher voltage power supply. This ca...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, this type of on-chip voltage regulator will draw an increased amount of current when the input voltage is lower than or equal to its output design voltage

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