Patent ID: 7973593

Claim:
A reference voltage generation circuit, comprising: a voltage generation circuit provided between a first power supply and a second power supply, to output an output voltage to an output terminal; an auxiliary start-up circuit connected between the output terminal and the first power supply, to supply a voltage of the first power supply to the output terminal; and a control circuit that switches the auxiliary start-up circuit between an operating state and a non-operating state according to a value of a voltage at the output terminal, wherein the voltage generation circuit includes first and second transistors and a diode connected in series between the first and second power supply, the control circuit includes third and fourth transistors coupled in series between the first and second power supply, and the third transistor includes a gate connected to a gate of the first transistor, and the fourth transistor monitors the value of the voltage of the output terminal, wherein the voltage generation circuit comprises a bandgap voltage generator that generates the output voltage based on a bandgap voltage of a semiconductor.