Patent ID: 9484800
Filing Date: 2016-11-01
CPC Classification: H02M

Claim Text:
1. An integrated circuit comprising: a load circuit; a switching regulator for supplying a regulated output voltage to the load circuit, the switching regulator comprising: a switch control circuit including means for generating a pulsed gate voltage signal; a power switch coupled to a system operating voltage source and the load and having a gate terminal connected to receive the pulsed gate voltage signal; and a soft-start circuit including means for generating a direct current (DC) ramp voltage that gradually changes between a first voltage and a second voltage during an initial soft-start operating phase, wherein soft-start circuit is coupled to supply the the DC ramp voltage to the switch control circuit such that an amplitude of the pulsed gate voltage gradually changes between the first and second voltages during the initial soft-start phase, and wherein the soft-start circuit comprises a ramp generator circuit coupled to the gate terminal of one of a PMOS source-follower transistor transistor and an NMOS source-follower transistor, and means for activating the ramp generator at the beginning of the initial soft-start operating phase.