Patent ID: 7498769

Claim:
A method for charging a battery, comprising: employing linear regulation to provide a charge current to the battery; monitoring at least one operating condition of the charging; based on the at least one monitored operating condition, determining whether a first pre-determined condition is satisfied; if the first pre-determined condition is satisfied, employing switching regulation to provide the charge current; providing a voltage error signal that is based, in part, on a voltage of the battery; and providing a current error signal that is based, in part, on the charge current, wherein: employing linear regulation includes: providing a linear regulation control signal by performing a majority function on the voltage error signal and the current error signal; and driving the gate of the power transistor based on the linear regulation control signal; and wherein employing switching regulation includes: providing a switching regulation control signal based on pulse modulating a clock signal with the voltage error signal, and further based on employing the current error signal as a current limit; and driving the gate of the power transistor based on the switching regulation control signal.