Abstract:
A regulator circuit for a charge pump voltage generator includes a voltage comparator circuit that performs a voltage comparison between a charge pump output voltage and a reference voltage. A circuit responsive to the voltage comparator circuit conditions a charge pump clocking to the result of the voltage comparison. The voltage comparator circuit includes a sampling circuit for sampling the charge pump output voltage at a sampling rate. A sampling rate control circuit is responsive to the voltage comparisons for controlling the sampling rate according to the result of the voltage comparison.

Description:
This application claims priority from European patent application No. 03425404.5, filed Jun. 24, 2003, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
   TECHNICAL FIELD 
   The present invention relates in general to charge pump voltage generators, which are circuits capable of generating, from a starting voltage, e.g. a supply voltage, prescribed positive or negative voltages different from the starting voltage. In particular, the present invention concerns a regulator circuit for controlling a charge pump voltage generator. 
   BACKGROUND 
   In the field of electronics, charge pump voltage generators, hereinafter simply referred to as charge pumps, have several applications. 
   Charge pumps are particularly useful in integrated circuits. For example, in electrically programmable and electrically erasable and programmable semiconductor memories such as EPROMs, EEPROMs and Flash memories, integrated charge pumps are provided for generating the voltages required for carrying out the read, write and erase operations on the memory cells. In particular, the relatively high positive and negative voltages required for writing and erasing the memory cells, typically ranging from 12 to 15 V, are generated starting from supply voltages of 3 V or less. 
   A charge pump comprises a plurality of stages connected in cascade between a supply voltage rail (typically, the supply voltage VDD of the integrated circuit) and a charge pump output. Each stage is capable of receiving electric charge from a previous stage or from the supply voltage rail, storing the electric charge in a charge-storage element, typically a capacitor, and transferring the electric charge to a following stage. The output of the last stage forms the charge pump output. The operation of the charge pump stages is controlled by properly out-of-phase timing signals, generally referred to as phases, which are generated by a phase generator starting from a base clock signal, generated for example by an oscillator circuit, or received from outside the integrated circuit. 
   In some applications, the voltages generated by the charge pumps should be highly stable irrespective of the current sunk from the charge pump. This is for example the case of the write/erase voltages for electrically alterable semiconductor memories, wherein the current sunk from a charge pump may easily reach the tens or even hundreds of μA. In particular, it is extremely important that the charge pump output voltages do not exceed prescribed safety levels, not to cause permanent damages to the tiny oxides forming the gates of the transistors and the dielectric of integrated capacitors. Unfortunately, charge pumps are, as known, far from being ideal voltage generators, because, due to their relatively high output impedance, the charge pump output voltages are greatly affected by the amount of current sunk therefrom. 
   For these reasons, charge pumps are normally equipped with regulator circuits that control the charge pump operation in such a way as to ensure that the output voltages are kept stable irrespective of the current sunk. 
   A conventional charge pump regulator typically comprises a voltage comparator circuit, for comparing the charge pump output voltage to a precisely known and stable reference voltage, generated for example by a band-gap reference voltage generator. The voltage comparator drives a control circuit that is adapted to condition the transmission of the clock signal to the phase generator. If the comparison performed by the voltage comparator reveals that the charge pump output voltage exceeds (in absolute value) a target voltage, equal to or derived from the reference voltage, the control circuit blocks the transmission of the clock signal pulses to the phase generator, thereby causing the charge pump to temporarily stop working (i.e., stop transferring electric charge between stages); the charge pump output voltage thus tends to decrease (in absolute value), due to the current absorbed by the charge pump load and to inevitable leakages. On the contrary, when the charge pump output voltage falls below the target voltage, the voltage comparator switches and the control circuit allows again the transmission of clock signal pulses to the phase generator; the charge pump is restarted. 
   The feedback nature of this voltage regulation scheme allows reaching a dynamic equilibrium condition, in which the charge pump output voltage is kept substantially equal to the target voltage. Once the output voltage has reached the target voltage, the charge pump is substantially turned off; in this way, when the charge pump works in an unloaded condition, the power consumption is significantly reduced, because it is only necessary to compensate for the leakages associated with the charge pump output. When instead a load is connected to the charge pump output, the regulator causes the charge pump to work at a rate that is exactly equal to what is needed for compensating the current sunk by the load (and, of course, the leakage current, which is however several orders of magnitude lower than the current sunk by the load). 
   Typically, the voltage comparator included in the charge pump regulator comprises a resistive voltage divider, to which the charge pump output voltage is applied, for deriving therefrom a precisely known percentage thereof, i.e. a suitable down-scaled value that is comparable to the band-gap reference voltage. This down-scaled charge pump output voltage is fed to a comparator, together with the reference voltage. The precision of the voltage regulator largely depends on the capability of the intermediate tap of the resistive voltage divider of rapidly tracking the variations in the charge pump output voltage. In order to compensate for effects caused by parasitics associated with the integrated resistors making up the resistive divider, shunt capacitors are provided in parallel to the resistors. 
   The conventional charge pump regulators work satisfactorily well, but have a non-negligible current consumption (current consumption levels of the order of 5 -10 μA are typical. Such a current consumption does not pose problems in normal operating conditions when the charge pump has to deliver several tens or hundreds of μA, but it is unacceptably high in case a stand-by operation is envisaged. 
   In fact, in order to shorten the time necessary for an integrated circuit, for example a semiconductor memory, to return from a stand-by condition to the normal operating condition, the charge pump or pumps integrated therein are preferably kept in a working condition even when the integrated circuit is put in stand-by. 
   However, the power consumption requirements in stand-by are normally quite strict, and the relatively high current absorbed by the charge pump regulator cannot be tolerated. In order to reduce the current absorbed by the charge pump regulator, very large resistance values should be adopted in the resistive voltage divider, which means large silicon area and slow response to variations in the charge pump output voltage. 
   Summarizing, the conventional charge pump regulators, which perform satisfactorily in normal operating conditions, are rather power-consuming and are not well adapted to the operation in stand-by conditions. 
   SUMMARY 
   In view of the state of the art outlined, an embodiment of the present invention provides a charge pump regulator featuring a low consumption; in particular, this embodiment provides a charge pump regulator having so low a consumption as to be adapted to the use even in stand-by operating conditions. 
   Briefly, according to an embodiment of present invention, the voltage regulator comprises a voltage comparator means for performing a voltage comparison between a charge pump output voltage and a reference voltage, and means responsive to the voltage comparator means for conditioning a charge pump clocking to the result of the voltage comparison. 
   The voltage comparator means includes sampling means for sampling the charge pump output voltage at a sampling rate. 
   Sampling rate control means are provided, responsive to the voltage comparison, for controlling the sampling rate according to the result of the voltage comparison. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Features and advantages of the present invention will be made apparent by the following detailed description of an embodiment thereof, provided merely by way of non-limitative example, which will be conducted making reference to the annexed drawings, wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic, functional block diagram of charge pump voltage generator with an output voltage regulation arrangement, according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  shows an integrated circuit, particularly a semiconductor memory, including one or more charge pump voltage generators of the type shown in  FIG. 1  according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic, functional block diagram of a part of the voltage regulation arrangement intended for the normal (i.e., non-stand-by) operation of the charge pump voltage generator according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 4  is a schematic, functional block diagram of a stand-by regulator circuit of the output, voltage regulation arrangement, according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 5  is a state-transition diagram illustrating the operation of a state machine included in the stand-by regulator circuit of  FIG. 4  according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   With reference to the drawings, and particularly to  FIG. 1 , a regulated charge pump voltage generator is schematically shown in terms of the main functional blocks, and is globally identified by  100  according to an embodiment of the invention. The regulated charge pump  100  is for example part of an Integrated Circuit (IC). For example, referring to  FIG. 2 , one or more regulated charge pumps  200  of the type shown in  FIG. 1  are integrated in a chip  205  of a semiconductor memory  210  , particularly an electrically programmable or an electrically erasable and programmable non-volatile memory, such as an EPROM, an EEPROM, a Flash memory, for generating the electric potentials necessary for the operations of reading, writing and erasing the memory cells according to an embodiment of the invention. 
   The regulated charge pump voltage generator, in the following shortly referred to as regulated charge pump,  100  comprises a charge pump  105 , made up of at least one stage, more typically a plurality of N stages connected in cascade between a supply voltage rail, in the shown example a metal line VDD distributing the supply voltage for the IC circuit blocks, and a charge pump output node OUT, at which a charge pump output voltage Vout is made available. The charge pump output voltage Vout is for example a relatively high positive or negative voltage, and, referring again to  FIG. 2 , is then delivered to the memory cells read/write/erase circuits for applying to the memory cells the electric potentials necessary to access the memory cells in reading, write data therein or erase previously written data. 
   In  FIG. 1 , the charge pump  105  has been schematically represented as being made up of a plurality of stages, each comprising a unidirectional charge transfer element, depicted as a diode, and a charge storage element, depicted as a capacitor. 
   The charge pump stages are driven by properly out-of-phase timing signals or, in jargon, phases globally identified as PHI. In greater detail, the phases are two-level signals switching between two voltage levels, typically the supply voltage VDD and the reference voltage GND; in each charge pump stage, the respective capacitor has a free plate that is driven by a respective one of the phases, and the phases driving adjacent stages are reciprocally out-of-phase. The diode in each,stage enables the electric charge to be transferred from the capacitor of one stage to the capacitor of the following stage, preventing at the same time the charge from flowing back to the preceding stage. 
   The principle of operation of a charge pump is well known in the art and will not be described in further detail. 
   It is observed that the charge pump internal structure sketched in  FIG. 1  is merely provided for recalling the charge pump principle of operation; in the practice, the structure of the charge pump stages is normally more complex; for example, the diodes are formed by means of transistors, local voltage boosts can be provided in each stage for properly driving the transistors, and so on. However, it is observed that the specific internal structure of the charge pump  105 , and, namely, the specific structure of the stages thereof is not relevant to the present invention, and can vary depending on the designer preferences and/or on contingent needs and requirements. In general, any charge pump stage structure can be adopted. 
   The phases PHI are generated by a phase generator circuit  110 ; in particular, the phases PHI are generated synchronously with, and have a frequency same as or corresponding to a frequency of a phase generator clock signal CKpg. For example, assuming that the phases PHI includes two phase signals, the two phase signals are in phase opposition to each other. 
   The regulated charge pump comprises a charge pump output voltage regulator  115  that controls the operation of the charge pump  105  in a closed-loop way. In particular, the charge pump regulator  115  receives the charge pump output voltage Vout and a precisely-known, stable reference voltage Vbg, for example generated by a bandgap reference voltage generator  120 . Based on a detected deviation of the charge pump output voltage from a target charge pump output voltage value, derived from the reference voltage Vbg, the charge pump regulator  115  acts on a base clock signal CK, received from a clock signal generator  125 , having a predetermined, first frequency fa (e.g., equal to 10 MHz in normal operating conditions), so as to selectively transfer or block pulses of the base clock signal CK, thereby deriving from the base clock signal CK the phase generator clock signal CKpg having a second frequency fb that depends on the detected deviation of the charge pump output voltage from the target charge pump output voltage value. In particular, but not limitatively, the second frequency fb is a submultiple of the first frequency fa. 
   As shown in  FIG. 1 , the charge pump regulator  115  is adapted to work both in a normal operating condition and in a stand-by operating condition. In the context of the present description, by normal operation condition there is intended an operating condition that is not a stand-by operating condition, i.e., an operating condition wherein the charge pump may be requested to deliver a relatively high current. On the contrary, by stand-by condition there is intended a condition wherein the IC in which the regulated charge pump is integrated is substantially turned off, or put in a very-low current consumption state, but the charge pump is kept on, in order to reduce the settling time of the charge pump output voltage when leaving the stand-by condition to return to the normal operating condition. In particular, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the charge pump regulator  115  comprises a normal-operation regulator circuit  115 - 1  and a stand-by regulator circuit  115 - 2 . The normal-operation regulator circuit  115 - 1  controls the charge pump during the normal operation, and is turned off when the IC is put in stand-by; the stand-by regulator circuit  115 - 2  takes on an active role in controlling the charge pump when the IC is put in stand-by. 
   Finally, in  FIG. 1  a current generator lleak pictorially represents a current leakage inherently associated with the charge pump output OUT. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 3 , the structure of the normal-operation regulator circuit  115 - 1  is schematically shown according to an embodiment of the invention. The charge pump output voltage Vout is fed to a resistive voltage divider comprised of two integrated resistors R 1 , R 2  connected in series. A voltage Vtap 1  equal to a fraction R 2 /(R 1 +R 2  ) of the charge pump output voltage Vout is tapped out from the intermediate node of the voltage divider, and is fed to a first, inverting input of a voltage comparator  300 . A second, non-inverting input of the comparator  300  receives the reference voltage Vbg. In order to compensate for effects caused by parasitics associated with the integrated resistors R 1 , R 2 , and for avoiding undesired dynamic undershoots in the voltage Vtap 1 , shunt capacitors C 1 , C 2  are provided in parallel to the resistors R 1 , R 2 . The comparator  300  outputs a logic signal Von that is fed to a clock control circuit  305  (substantially, a gating circuit comprising for example a logic gate or an arrangement of logic gates). The clock control circuit  300  receives the clock signal CK and outputs the normal-operation phase generator clock signal CKpg, nrm. Depending on the logic state of the signal Von, the clock control circuit  300  either transmits to the output thereof or blocks pulses of the base clock signal CK. In particular, when the voltage Vtap 1  is lower than the reference voltage Vbg (meaning that the charge pump output voltage Vout is lower than a target voltage value Vbg*(R 1 +R 2 )/R 2 =Vbg*(1+R 1 /R 2 )), the logic signal Von is high, and this causes the clock control circuit  305  to transmit the clock signal pulses to the output; on the contrary, when the voltage Vtap 1  is higher than the reference voltage Vbg (meaning that the charge pump output voltage Vout is higher than the target voltage value), the logic signal Von is low, and this causes the clock control circuit  305  to block the clock signal pulses. As a consequence, the frequency of the phase generator clock signal CKpg,nrm is varied accordingly to the detected value of the charge pump output voltage Vout. In particular, after a transient, a dynamic equilibrium condition is reached in which the charge pump output voltage Vout is kept substantially equal to the desired target voltage value; in this condition, the regulator circuit  115 - 1  acts to keep the frequency of the phase generator clock signal CKpg, nrm at a value sufficient to compensate the decrease in the charge pump output voltage Vout due to the current delivered by the charge pump  105 . The charge pump input-output characteristic in regulated conditions is: 
           Iout   =       fb   N     ⁢     (         (     N   +   1     )     ·   VDD     -   Vout     )             
where lout is the current delivered by the charge pump  105  (sum of the current sunk by the load connected to the charge pump output OUT and the leakage current lleak), and N is the number of charge pump stages.
 
   The resistors R 1 , R 2  of the voltage divider can either be constituted by integrated resistors or by transistors, for example MOSFETs. 
   Due to the presence of the resistive voltage divider, the normal-operation regulator circuit  115 - 1  exhibits a non-negligible current consumption, typically of the order of 5 to 10 μA, which is unacceptable in view of an operation in stand-by conditions. It is observed that, in order to limit the current consumption, the resistors R 1 , R 2  should have a high resistance, but this would cause an unacceptable increase in the semiconductor area to be reserved to the charge pump regulator, as well as an unacceptable reduction in the regulator dynamic response. 
   For this reasons, the normal-operation regulator circuit  115 - 1  is turned off when the IC is put in stand-by conditions, as schematized by the switches SW 1  and SW 2 , controlled by a stand-by control signal SBY, which causes the switches SW 1  and SW 2  to open when the stand-by condition is entered. In stand-by, the control of the charge pump  105  is thus entrusted to the stand-by regulator  115 - 2 , which is activated upon entering in stand-by. 
     FIG. 4  schematically shows the main functional blocks of the stand-by regulator circuit  115 - 2 , according to an embodiment of the present invention. Differently from the normal-operation regulator circuit  115 - 1 , the stand-by regulator circuit  115 - 2  includes a sampling voltage comparator  400 , particularly based on a capacitive voltage divider. Specifically, the charge pump output voltage Vout is applied, through a switch SW 3  controlled by a sampling signal SMP, to a first plate of a first capacitor C 3 ; a second plate of the first capacitor C 3  is connected to a first plate of a second capacitor C 4 , having a second plate connected to the ground GND. First and second capacitor discharge paths are also provided, comprising respective switches SW 4  and SW 5 , driven in counter-phase compared to the switch SW 3 , so as to connect the first plate of the first capacitor C 3  and the first plate of the second capacitor C 4  to the ground GND. 
   In particular, during a sampling phase of the charge pump output signal (sampling pulse SMP), the switch SW 3  is closed and the switches SW 4  and SW 5  are open; the charge pump output voltage Vout is thus applied to the first plate of the first capacitor C 3 . The capacitors C 3  and C 4  are charged by a charge current, sunk from the charge pump output. A voltage Vtap 2  equal to a prescribed fraction C 3 /(C 3 +C 4  ) of the charge pump output voltage Vout is tapped out from the intermediate node of the capacitive divider C 3 , C 4  (i.e., the second plate of the first capacitor C 3 , connected to the first plate of the second capacitor C 4 ), and is fed to a first, inverting input of a voltage comparator  405 . A second, non-inverting input of the comparator  405  receives the reference voltage Vbg. 
   The comparator  405  outputs a logic signal whose logic state is indicative of the fact that the charge pump output voltage Vout is lower or higher than the desired target voltage value (Vbg*(1+C 4 /C 3 )). 
   Once the sampling phase (sampling pulse SMP) is terminated, the switch SW 3  opens, and the switches SW 4  and SW 5  are closed; in this way, the capacitors C 3  and C 4  are discharged, and made ready for the next sampling phase. However, in one embodiment of the comparator  405  (or the inverter connected to its output) it holds its current output valve until the next sampling phase. 
   The voltage comparator  400  of the stand-by regulator  115 - 2  exhibits a very low current consumption, in particular much lower than that of the resistive-divider voltage comparator of the normal-operation regulator  115 - 1 ; in fact, the consumption of the sampling voltage comparator  400  is the sum of the consumption of the comparator  405  (corresponding to the comparator  300 ), plus the dynamic current absorbed by the capacitive divider C 3 , C 4  during the sampling pulse SMP. It can thus be appreciated that the consumption of the sampling voltage comparator  400  depends on the sampling rate of the charge pump output voltage Vout the lower the sampling rate, the lower the consumption of the voltage comparator  400 , and thus the lower the consumption of the stand-by regulator  115 - 2 . By choosing a relatively low sampling rate, the consumption of the sampling voltage comparator can be kept low. 
   On the other hand, if the sampling rate of the charge pump output voltage Vout is too low, the regulation of the charge pump output voltage Vout against variations due to current leakages becomes poor; in this respect, the higher the sampling rate, the better the regulation of the charge pump output voltage Vout, but the consequent increased current consumption of the sampling voltage comparator  400  adds up to the current leakages, and thus causes a faster degradation of the charge pump output voltage Vout. 
   Thus, the stand-by regulator circuit  115 - 2  and, particularly, the sampling voltage comparator  400  and the sampling rate thereof, should be dimensioned on the basis of the leakage current Ileak. Unfortunately, the real-life value of this quantity is hardly predictable in the design phase, because it largely depends on many factors, such as the IC working temperature and the manufacturing technology. 
   In order to overcome the problems discussed above, according to an embodiment of the present invention there is provided a self-adjustable sampling rate, i.e., a sampling rate that varies according to the level of leakage. 
   In an embodiment of the present invention, the adjustment of the sampling rate is based on an analysis of the evolution in time of the charge pump output voltage Vout in the stand-by operating condition. 
   In particular, in an embodiment of the present invention, the adjustment of the sampling rate is performed counting the times that the logic signal outputted by the comparator  405  is high/low in successive sampling phases. 
   A logic signal RGok, derived from the output signal of the comparator  405  by means of a logic inversion, is fed to a sequential logic unit  410 , particularly a state machine. Based on the previous and present states of the logic signal RGok, following a prescribed operation logic, an example of which will be described in greater detail in the following, the state machine  410  establishes suitable control codes Fsel for a frequency divider  415 . The frequency divider  415  receives a base clock signal of frequency fo, for example the clock signal CK of frequency fa generated by the clock generator  125 , or a stand-by clock signal CKsby, generated by a stand-by clock generator, having a different, particularly a lower frequency fc (e.g., 1 MHz). Responsive to the control code Fsel provided by the state machine  410 , the frequency divider  415  operates a frequency division of the frequency fo for a prescribed division factor, that depends on the control code Fsel received. A frequency down-scaled internal clock signal CKin is thus produced by the frequency divider  415 , having a frequency fin which is a sub-multiple of the frequency fo. The internal clock signal CKin is then fed to a pulse shaper circuit  420 , which generates, synchronously with the pulses of the internal clock signal CKin, for example at each rising edge thereof, sampling pulses SMP of prescribed time duration for the sampling voltage comparator  400 . 
   The internal clock signal CKin is also fed to a clock control circuit  425 , similar to the clock control circuit  305  in the normal-operation regulator  115 - 1 . The clock control circuit  425  also receives the logic output RGok, and outputs a stand-by phase generator clock signal CKpg,sby which is fed to the phase generator  110 . Depending on the logic state of the signal RGok, the clock control circuit  425  either transmits to the output thereof or blocks the pulses of the internal clock signal CKint. 
   Reference is now made to  FIG. 5 , wherein there is depicted a state-transition diagram illustrating the operation of the state machine  410 , in one embodiment of the present invention. For each frequency division factor to be applied by the frequency divider, a respective subset of states is provided. In the exemplary embodiment described herein, six different subsets of states S 10 -S 14 , S 20 -S 24 , S 30 -S 34 , S 40 -S 44 , S 50 -S 54  and S 60 -S 63  are provided, corresponding to frequency division factors equal to 1 (fin=fo), 2 (fin=fo/2), 4 (fin=fo/4), 8 (fin=fo/8), 16 (fin=fo/16) and 32 (fin=fo/32), respectively. 
   From the state-transition diagram of  FIG. 5 , it can be appreciated that if the stand-by regulator circuit  115 - 2  is, at a given time, operating at a given sampling rate, e.g. equal to fo/4, such a sampling rate is kept unchanged as long as either one of the following two conditions is satisfied:
         a) the logic output signal RGok of the comparator  405  is alternately high and low in successive sampling phases (meaning that the charge pump output voltage Vout has a value oscillating around the target voltage value, that is, a dynamic equilibrium has been reached); or   b) the logic output signal RGok of the comparator  405  is high twice and low once.       

   If either of these two conditions is satisfied, the charge pump output voltage Vout has a value oscillating around the target voltage value, that is, a dynamic equilibrium has been reached. In this case, supposing that the current sampling rate is fo/4, the state machine continuously cycles among the states S 31  and S 32 , or S 31 , S 32  and S 33 . 
   On the contrary, if the logic output signal RGok remains high for three consecutive sampling phases (a situation assumed to be indicative of too high a sampling rate), the sampling rate is decreased, in particular it is halved (referring again to the example of a current sampling rate equal to fo/4, the state machine  410  goes from the state S 33  to the state S 40 , the first state in the next subset of states S 40 -S 44  to which there corresponds a frequency division factor equal to 8). 
   If instead the logic output signal RGok remains low for two consecutive sampling phases (a situation assumed to be indicative of too low a sampling rate, not sufficient for compensating the leakages), the sampling rate is increased, in particular it is doubled (referring again to the example of a current sampling rate equal to fo/4, the state machine goes from the state S 32  to the state S 20 , the first state in the previous subset of states S 20 -S 24  to which there corresponds a frequency division factor equal to 2). 
   It is observed that in the first subset of states S 10 -S 14 , a jump from the state S 12  to the state S 10  replaces the jump from the state S 22 , S 32 , S 42 , S 52 , S 62  to the first state in the previous subset of state (1 is the lowest frequency division factor, in the shown embodiment), and in the last subset of states S 60 -S 62  the fourth state is missing, and there is provided a loop around the state S 61  (32 is the highest frequency division factor, in the shown embodiment). 
   It is pointed out that the number of subset of states may vary depending on the number of different frequency division factors (for example, if only four division factors 1, 2, 4 and 8 were provided for, only four subset of states would be necessary). Similarly, the number of states in each subset of states may vary, depending on the patterns chosen for the logic output signal RGok and made to correspond to a decrease, maintenance as such or increase of the sampling rate. 
   When the stand-by condition is entered, the normal-operation regulator circuit  115 - 1  is deactivated, the clock signal generator  125  is caused to generate the lower-frequency stand-by base clock signal CKsby, and the stand-by regulator  115 - 2  is activated, the state machine  410  starts from an initial state, corresponding to a prescribed control code Fsel for the frequency divider, which in turn corresponds to a prescribed initial frequency division factor. For example, the initial state may be the state S 10 , corresponding to a frequency division factor equal to 1, or, preferably, the starting state may be the starting state of an intermediate subset of states, for example the state S 30 , corresponding to a division factor equal to 4. From this state, depending on the detected value of the charge pump output Vout, sampled at a rate determined by the initial frequency division factor, the state machine  410  evolves, causing the frequency division factor to vary and thus in the sampling rate, until an equilibrium condition is reached in which the sampling rate is the minimum admissible sampling rate (and thus, the minimum current consumption) that allows for compensating the decrease in the charge pump output voltage Vout due to the leakage. 
   Depending on the current logic state of the output signal RGok, the clock control circuit  425  enables or not the supply of clock pulses of the internal clock signal CKint to the phase generator  110 : when the signal RGok is low (meaning that Vtap 2 &lt;Vbg), the clock control circuit  425  let the pulses of the internal clock signal CKint pass and be fed to the phase generator  110 , so that the charge pump  105  pumps electric charge from the supply voltage rail to the output. When, instead, the signal RGok is high (meaning that Vtap 2 &gt;Vbg), the clock control circuit  425  blocks the pulses of the internal clock signal CKint, and the charge pump  105  does not pump electric charge. 
   It is observed that, in principle, nothing prevents from using a self-adjusting sampling rate, sampling voltage comparator regulator similar to the stand-by regulator  115 - 2  also for controlling the charge pump during the normal operating conditions, in place of the regulator  115 - 1 . 
   Although the present invention has been disclosed and described by way of some embodiments, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that several modifications to the described embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the present invention are possible without departing from the scope thereof. For example, the IC  205  of  FIG. 2  may be incorporated into an electronic system such as a computer system.