Patent ID: 7102421

Claim:
An on-chip circuit for controlling the activation of an on-chip voltage generator of a chip that provides an on-chip generated voltage having a voltage level, the on-chip voltage generator being activated as a function of the logic level of a control signal, the chip being configurable into a plurality of operational modes, the circuit comprising: a voltage sensing circuit coupled to monitor the on-chip generated voltage, wherein the voltage sensing circuit is configured to generate a voltage sense signal having a level that is a function of the voltage level of the on-chip generated voltage; and a buffer circuit coupled to the voltage sensing circuit and the on-chip voltage generator, the buffer circuit having a configurable switch threshold, wherein the buffer circuit is configured to generate the control signal with a logic level that is a function of the level of the voltage sense signal and the configurable switch threshold, the control signal being received by the voltage generator and, in response to a logic level of the control signal, the voltage generator is activated and de-activated.