Patent ID: 8018215

Claim:
A circuit for regulation, comprising: a switching regulator controller that is arranged to provide a switching signal; a switch that is coupled between a switch node and a comparison node, wherein the switch is arranged to receive a control signal that is based, at least in part, on the switching signal; a ramp circuit arranged to provide a ramp voltage; and a comparison circuit having at least a first input that is coupled to the comparison node, a second input, and an output, wherein the comparison circuit is arranged to receive the ramp voltage at the second input, and wherein the comparison circuit is configured to provide a comparison signal at the output such that the comparison signal is based, at least in part, on a comparison between the ramp voltage and a comparison input voltage at the comparison node, and such that the comparison signal is indicative of whether an inductance value is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold inductance value based, at least in part, on the comparison between the ramp voltage and the comparison input voltage.