Method and apparatus for reducing current supplied to an integrated circuit useable in a computer system
First Claim
1. A voltage regulator for supplying a regulated voltage to an integrated circuit, comprising:
- a first regulator having a power supply input terminal, a first regulated voltage output terminal, and a control input terminal, the first regulator being adapted to supply to the integrated circuit a first regulated voltage at the first regulated voltage output terminal from a first power supply voltage applied to the power supply input terminal, the power drawn by the first regulator from the first power supply input terminal being controlled by a power control signal applied to the control input terminal;
a second regulator having a power supply input terminal, and a second regulated voltage output terminal, the second regulator being adapted to supply to the integrated circuit a second regulated voltage at the second regulated voltage output terminal from a second power supply voltage applied to the power supply input terminal; and
a power control circuit coupled to the second regulated voltage output terminal of the second regulator and the control input terminal of the first regulator, the power control circuit generating the power control signal to reduce the power drawn by the first regulator from the first power supply input terminal responsive to the magnitude of the second regulated voltage being within a predetermined range of values.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An integrated circuit of the present invention includes power regulating circuitry for reducing preregulator bias current. In one embodiment, power regulating circuitry includes a two stage preregulator for supplying current to a charge pump and a primary regulator. The first stage includes a high power operational amplifier for quickly establishing substrate bias and other pumped voltages before primary voltage is coupled to the remainder of the integrated circuit. Preregulated and pumped voltages are used to establish a reference voltage for the primary regulator. The second stage preregulator includes a low power series regulator to power the charge pumps and so maintain the reference voltage. When the primary regulator has generated the primary voltage level, the power regulating circuitry couples the primary voltage to the remainder of the integrated circuit and disables the first stage preregulator. Using circuitry and operating methods of the present invention, the total operating and standby current supplied to the integrated circuit no longer includes the bias currents related to the operation of the high power operational amplifier.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A voltage regulator for supplying a regulated voltage to an integrated circuit, comprising:
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a first regulator having a power supply input terminal, a first regulated voltage output terminal, and a control input terminal, the first regulator being adapted to supply to the integrated circuit a first regulated voltage at the first regulated voltage output terminal from a first power supply voltage applied to the power supply input terminal, the power drawn by the first regulator from the first power supply input terminal being controlled by a power control signal applied to the control input terminal; a second regulator having a power supply input terminal, and a second regulated voltage output terminal, the second regulator being adapted to supply to the integrated circuit a second regulated voltage at the second regulated voltage output terminal from a second power supply voltage applied to the power supply input terminal; and a power control circuit coupled to the second regulated voltage output terminal of the second regulator and the control input terminal of the first regulator, the power control circuit generating the power control signal to reduce the power drawn by the first regulator from the first power supply input terminal responsive to the magnitude of the second regulated voltage being within a predetermined range of values. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A voltage regulator for supplying a regulated voltage to a power terminal of an integrated circuit, comprising:
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a first regulator having a power supply input terminal adapted to be coupled to a power source, a first regulated voltage output terminal coupled to the power terminal of the integrated circuit to supply a first regulated voltage to the integrated circuit, and a control input terminal, the power supplied to the integrated circuit by the first regulator being controlled by a power control signal applied to the control input terminal; a second regulator having a power supply input terminal adapted to be coupled to the power source, and a second regulated voltage output terminal coupled to the power terminal of the integrated circuit to supply a second regulated voltage to the integrated circuit, the power capacity of the second regulator being less than the power capacity of the first regulator and the efficiency of the second regulator being greater than the efficiency of the first regulator; and a power control circuit coupled to the second regulated voltage output terminal of the second regulator and the control input terminal of the first regulator, the power control circuit generating the power control signal to reduce the power supplied to the integrated circuit by the first regulator responsive to the magnitude of the second regulated voltage being within a predetermined range of values. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A memory device, comprising:
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a memory circuit having an address bus adapted to receive a memory address, and a data bus adapted to send and receive data, the memory circuit being adapted to receive at least one power supply voltage supplying power to the memory circuit; a first regulator circuit having a power supply input terminal, a first regulated voltage output terminal coupled to the memory circuit, and a control input terminal, the first regulator circuit being adapted to supply a first regulated voltage to the memory circuit at the first regulated voltage output terminal from a first power supply voltage applied to the power supply input terminal, the power supplied to the memory circuit by the first regulator circuit being controlled by a power control signal applied to the control input terminal of the first regulator circuit; a second regulator circuit having a power supply input terminal, and a second regulated voltage output terminal coupled to the memory circuit, the second regulator circuit being adapted to supply a second regulated voltage to the memory circuit at the second regulated voltage output terminal from a second power supply voltage applied to the power supply input terminal; and a power control circuit coupled to the second regulated voltage output terminal of the second regulator circuit and the control input terminal of the first regulator, the power control circuit generating the power control signal to reduce the power supplied to the memory circuit by the first regulator circuit responsive to the magnitude of the second regulated voltage being within a predetermined range of values. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A method of supplying a regulated voltage to an integrated circuit, comprising:
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supplying a first regulated voltage to the integrated circuit, the power supplied to the integrated circuit by the first regulator being controllable; supplying a second regulated voltage to the integrated circuit; examining the magnitude of the second regulated voltage; and reducing the power supplied to the integrated circuit by the first regulated voltage responsive to the magnitude of the second regulated voltage being within a predetermined range of values. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification