Patent ID: 7965558

Claim:
A program voltage generating circuit, comprising: a pumping circuit configured to generate an initial voltage; a first voltage regulator coupled to the pumping circuit and configured to control a voltage level of the initial voltage; a ramping circuit coupled to the pumping circuit and configured to generate a first ramping voltage in response to the initial voltage; and a second voltage regulator coupled to the ramping circuit and configured to generate a second ramping voltage having a reduced ripple compared to a ripple of the first ramping voltage; wherein the second voltage regulator includes: an output driver for receiving the first ramping voltage; an output terminal coupled to the output driver for outputting the second ramping voltage; a current source unit for supplying a constant current between the output driver and a ground terminal; a voltage divider coupled to the output terminal and configured to divide the second ramping voltage based on a predetermined resistance ratio; a comparator for comparing the divided voltage to a predetermined reference voltage and generating a comparison result responsive thereto; and a level controlling unit configured to control a level of the second ramping voltage according to the comparison result.