Patent ID: 7313034

Claim:
A reference voltage generator comprising: a first voltage generator configured to generate a first voltage, the first voltage generator comprising: a bipolar transistor having a emitter, a base and a collector, the bipolar transistor having its base and collector coupled to each other and to a first voltage source; and a first current source coupled between the emitter of the bipolar transistor and a second voltage source, the first current source causing a first current to flow between the emitter and collector of the bipolar transistor to cause the first voltage to be generated at the emitter of the bipolar transistor; a second voltage generator configured to generate a second voltage; and an averaging circuit coupled to receive the first voltage from the first voltage generator and the second voltage from the second voltage generator, the averaging circuit operable to generate a reference voltage by averaging the first voltage and the second voltage without generating any voltage having a magnitude that is substantially greater than the greater of the first voltage and the second voltage, the averaging circuit comprising: a first resistor coupled between an output node and the first voltage generator so that the first voltage is coupled to the output node through the first resistor; and a second resistor coupled between the output node and the second voltage generator so that the second voltage is coupled to the output node through the second resistor.