Patent ID: 7800869

Claim:
A circuit for transient voltage protection, comprising: an input transistor that is coupled between an input voltage node and a regulator input node, and further coupled to a control node; a voltage regulator controller having at least an output, and a voltage input wherein the voltage input of the voltage regulator controller is coupled to the regulator input node; and an input monitor circuit that is coupled to the input node, and the control node, wherein the input monitor circuit is arranged to determine whether the input voltage reaches a pre-determined voltage level, and further arranged such that: if the input voltage reaches the pre-determined voltage level: the input monitor circuit controls the input transistor such the input node is disconnected from the voltage input of the voltage regulator controller; and the input monitor circuit causes the voltage regulator controller to be disabled, such that, if the input voltage level reaches the pre-determined voltage level, substantially no current flows through the input transistor even if the input transistor is in a voltage breakdown mode.