Patent ID: 7979727

Claim:
An apparatus for efficiently regulating voltage, the apparatus comprising: an integrated power supply that regulates voltage on a regulated bus, the regulated bus providing power to a load, the integrated power supply comprising: a first power supply providing power to the regulated bus, the first power supply comprising components rated to provide full load power to the load; a second power supply providing power to the regulated bus, the second power supply comprising switching elements that have lower switching losses than switching elements of the first power supply, the second power supply capable of providing power to the load at a power level below a minimum power threshold, wherein the minimum power threshold comprises a power level above which the first power supply exceeds a minimum allowable efficiency, wherein efficiency comprises a ratio of power delivered to the load divided by power received by the integrated power supply; a sensing module for measuring power; and a switching module that starts up the second power supply and shuts down the first power supply in response to the measured power falling below the minimum power threshold, and starts up the first power supply and shuts down the second power supply in response to the measured power rising above the minimum power threshold.