Patent ID: 7123060

Claim:
A drive circuit for applying a drive voltage through an output terminal to a switching element, comprising: a supplying circuit for generating a first drive current in response to a control signal; an amplifying circuit for generating a second drive current based on the first drive current and applying the second drive current to the output terminal for changing the drive voltage, wherein the second drive current is larger than the first drive current; a detecting circuit coupled to the output terminal for generating a detection signal representative of the drive voltage; and an adjusting circuit implemented by a differential comparator for dynamically adjusting the first drive current based on a comparison of the detection signal and a predetermined threshold voltage, wherein the differential comparator comprises: a first control terminal for receiving the detection signal; a second control terminal for receiving the threshold voltage; a first current path controlled by the first control terminal; a second current path controlled by the second control terminal; and a current source for distributing a predetermined adjustment current between the first current path and the second current path based on the comparison of the detection signal and the threshold voltage, wherein: the first current path is coupled to the supplying circuit for dynamically adjusting the first drive current.