Patent ID: 6967471

Claim:
A method for regulating voltage on an integrated circuit formed on a substrate to power circuitry on the substrate, comprising the steps of: providing an unregulated power supply as an input to the integrated circuit connected between a positive node and a reference node on the integrated circuit; sourcing current in a first current sourcing step through drive circuitry on the substrate from the positive node to an inductor/capacitor reactive circuit external to the integrated circuit, the output of the inductor/capacitor reactive circuit comprising a filtered regulated power supply voltage that is operable to power at least a portion of the circuitry on the substrate; sourcing current in a second current sourcing step through the drive circuitry on the substrate from the reference node to the inductor/capacitor reactive circuit when the current in the inductor/capacitor reactive circuit is ramping down; controlling the first and second sourcing steps to alternately source current to the inductor/capacitor reactive circuit from the positive and reference nodes; and preventing in the step of controlling substantially any current from being drawn through the substrate body during either the first current sourcing step or the second current sourcing step and delivered to the inductor/capacitor reactive circuit during ramp up or ramp down of the current in the inductor/capacitor reactive circuit and during any transition there between.