Patent ID: 7973592

Claim:
A charge pump circuit system, including: a charge pump circuit, connected to receive an input voltage and generate therefrom an output having a voltage level; and regulation circuitry connected to the charge pump circuit, including: a voltage comparison section connected to receive the output and a reference voltage and derive from the voltage level the output and. the reference voltage a first control signal; a current determination section connected to the charge pump circuit to indirectly determine the amount of current flowing therethrough and determine a second control signal based upon the determined amount of current; and a pump control section connected to receive the first and second control signals and derive therefrom a third control signal, wherein the charge pump system adapts the operation of the charge pump circuit in response to the third control signal, and wherein the current determination section is connected to a first node and a second node in the charge pump circuit to determine a voltage drop across an element of the charge pump circuit that is connected between the first and second nodes and includes: an analog to digital converter connected having a first input connected to the first node, a second input connected the second node, and an output providing the second control signal as a multi-bit digital signal.