Patent ID: 7498869

Claim:
An integrated circuit chip, comprising: a voltage reference circuit that includes: a first voltage divider stack comprising: a first input for receiving a regulated voltage; and a first internal node for providing a first divided output voltage; a second voltage divider stack electrically coupled in parallel with said first voltage divider stack and having a nonlinear relationship to said regulated voltage, said second voltage divider stack comprising: a second input for receiving said regulated voltage; and a second internal node for providing a second divided output voltage; and a voltage regulator operatively configured to generate said regulated voltage as a function of said first divided output voltage and said second divided output voltage; wherein: said second voltage divider stack comprises a first leaky capacitor and a second leaky capacitor coupled in series with one another so as to define said second internal node; said first leaky capacitor has a first leakage current and comprises a first transistor having a first gate oxide and said first leakage current is provided by current tunneling across said first gate oxide; said second leaky capacitor has a second leakage current and comprises a second transistor having a second gate oxide and said second leakage current is provided by current tunneling across said second gate oxide; and said first transistor is a low-voltage-threshold device and said second transistor is a regular-voltage-threshold device.