Patent ID: 8044648

Claim:
A method of operating a voltage regulator, comprising: during a finite period after the voltage regulator has been turned on, operating in a first voltage regular start mode, the finite period having a plurality of current pulses, wherein operating in the voltage regular start mode includes, determining a target voltage from an amount of time since the voltage regulator was turned on, wherein determining the target voltage is based on a function that monotonically increases with the amount of time since the voltage regulator was turned on, the function having a maximum value that is a reference voltage for normal operation of the voltage regulator, monitoring an output voltage from the voltage regulator, closing a switching circuit of the voltage regulator when the output voltage falls below the target voltage to commence a pulse from the plurality of current pulses, determining a maximum current from an ordinal of the pulse or the amount of time since the voltage regulator was turned on, wherein determining the maximum current is based on a function that monotonically increases with the ordinal of the pulse or the amount of time since the voltage regulator was turned on, monitoring an output current from the voltage regulator, opening the switching circuit when the output current exceeds the maximum current so that the output current ramps down, thereby monotonically increasing the maximum current of the current pulses and the target voltage during the finite period.