Patent ID: 7936158

Claim:
A switching regulator, comprising: a first switch configured to switch in accordance with a first control signal; an inductor configured to store charge from an input voltage by switching the first switch; a second switch configured to discharge a charge stored in the inductor in accordance with a second control signal; a controller that outputs the first control signal and the second control signal, configured to control a switching operation by switching the first switch and switching the second switch complementarily to the first switch, to obtain a constant output voltage; and a reverse current detector configured to detect a reverse current that flows from an output terminal toward the second switch, wherein the reverse current detector generates a proportional voltage that is proportional, but not equal, to a voltage at a junction node between the second switch and the inductor, and detects a generation or an indication of the reverse current based on the proportional voltage, wherein the controller switches off the second switch to create a shutdown state when the reverse current detector detects the generation or the indication of the reverse current.