Patent ID: 7330019

Claim:
A discontinuous switching voltage regulator comprising: (a) a charging element operable to generate an output voltage; (b) switching circuitry coupled to the charging element; and (c) switch control circuitry operable to control the switching circuitry to configure the charging element during a cycle, including to charge the charging element for an on-time, discharge the charging element for a discharge time, and tristate the charging element for a tristate time, and further operable to: initialize the on-time to a first on-time; measure a first switch time comprising the first on-time and a first discharge time of a first cycle; measure a first tristate time of the first cycle; determine a first ratio of the first tristate time to the first switch time; compare the first ratio to a first ratio threshold; and adjust the on-time to a second on-time if the first ratio exceeds the first ratio threshold.