Patent ID: 7925910

Claim:
A circuit for providing an internal power supply signal responsive to receiving an external power supply signal, comprising: a current limiter receiving the external power supply signal, the current limiter being configured to be responsive to an first enable signal to limit the current of the external power supply signal used to provide the internal power supply signal; a voltage regulator receiving the external power supply signal, the voltage regulator being configured to be responsive to a second enable signal to regulate the voltage of the internal power supply signal; and a power level detector coupled to the current limiter and the voltage regulator, the power level detector being configured to receive the internal power supply signal and to compare a voltage of the internal power supply signal to a threshold voltage, the power level detector further being configured to provide the first enable signal to the current limiter when the voltage of the internal power supply signal is less than the threshold voltage, and to provide the second enable signal to the voltage regulator when the voltage of the internal power supply signal is greater than the threshold voltage.