Patent ID: 7893672

Claim:
An apparatus for providing an output current and an output voltage to a load, the apparatus comprising: a power transistor that is adapted to be coupled to a load; a measuring circuit that is coupled to the power transistor, wherein the measuring circuit generates a feedback voltage; an error amplifier that is coupled to the measuring circuit, wherein the error amplifier compares the feedback voltage to a reference voltage; an NMOS transistor that is coupled to the error amplifier at its gate and that is coupled to the control electrode at its source on a switching node; a PMOS transistor that is coupled to the switching node at its source and that is coupled to the error amplifier at its gate; a charge pump that is coupled the switching node; and a controller that is coupled to the sources of the NMOS and PMOS transistors and to the charge pump, wherein the controller provides a control signal to the charge pump based at least in part on a voltage at the switching node, and wherein the controller includes a comparator having a hysteresis that compares the voltage at the switching node to a second reference voltage.