Patent ID: 7863882

Claim:
A bandgap voltage reference circuit, comprising: a first circuit portion that generates a voltage complimentary to absolute temperature (VCTAT); a second circuit portion that generates a voltage proportional to absolute temperature (VPTAT) that is added to the VCTAT to produce a bandgap voltage reference output (VGO), the second circuit portion comprising: a plurality of delta base-emitter voltage (VBE) generators, connected as a plurality of stacks of delta VBE generators; wherein each delta VBE generator includes a pair of transistors, comprising first and second transistors, that operate at different current densities and thereby generate a difference in base-emitter voltages (Î”VBE); wherein each stack of delta VBE generators includes an uppermost delta VBE generator and a lowermost delta VBE generator; wherein all of the transistors in each stack of delta VBE generators are diode connected except for one of the first and second transistors of the pair of transistors in the uppermost delta VBE generator of the stack; wherein the first and second transistors in all of the delta VBE generators are not connected to one another except for the first and second transistors in the uppermost delta VBE generators; and wherein the plurality of delta VBE generators within each stack are connected to one another, and the plurality of stacks of delta VBE generators are connected to one another, such that the Î”VBEs generated by the plurality of delta VBE generators are arithmetically added to produce the VPTAT; and a current mirror that generates a bias current for each stack of delta VBE generators in dependence on a collector current of the non-diode connected transistor of the uppermost VBE generator of one of the stacks of delta VBE generators.