Patent ID: 8462578

Claim:
A charge pump circuit, comprising: a charge pump, for outputting an output voltage; clocking circuitry, coupled to the charge pump, for generating clock signals for driving circuitry of the charge pump, and for generating at least one alternative clock signal for driving the circuitry of the charge pump; and a regulation stage, coupled to an output terminal of the charge pump, for producing a signal indicative of a present value of the output voltage, wherein, during start-up of the charge pump circuit, depending on a state of the signal indicative of a present value of the output voltage, the clocking circuitry couples to the charge pump one of the group consisting of: the clock signals and not the at least one alternative clock signal, and the at least one alternative clock signal and not the clock signals, wherein the clock signals have a frequency and the at least one alternative clock signal has a higher frequency.