Patent ID: 8144487

Claim:
A controller for use in a power converter, comprising: a current controller having first and second terminals, the first terminal to be coupled to an energy transfer element, the second terminal to be coupled to an input of the power converter; a control circuit to generate a mode select signal coupled to be received by the current controller, wherein a first, second or third current is enabled in the current controller in response to a selection of a first, second or third mode of operation, respectively, of the current controller by the control circuit, wherein the first current is substantially zero, the second current is greater than the third current and the third current is greater than the first current, wherein the third current is controlled to only partially discharge a capacitance that is coupled to the first terminal; a first feedback circuit coupled to the control circuit and coupled to generate a first feedback signal representative of an output of the power converter during the first mode of operation after a period of operation of the second mode of operation of the current controller; and a second feedback circuit coupled to the control circuit and coupled to generate a second feedback signal representative of the output of the power converter during the first mode of operation after a period of operation of the third mode of operation of the current controller, wherein the control circuit is coupled to control selection of the first, second or third modes of operation in response to the first and second feedback signals to control a transfer of energy from the input of the power converter to the output of the power converter.