Patent ID: 7576531

Claim:
A switching regulator comprising: an output switching element connected between an input terminal to which an input voltage is applied and an output terminal from which an output voltage is derived to be fed to a load; an output feedback circuit generating an error voltage varying according to an error between an actual value of and a target value of the output voltage; a switching control circuit turning on and off the output switching element based on the error voltage so that the error of the output voltage is reduced; a short-circuit current protection circuit including: a first comparator comparing with a predetermined first threshold voltage an output current reference voltage varying according to an output current to the load, the short-circuit current protection circuit generating, based on a comparison output signal from the first comparator, a short-circuit current protection signal instructing whether to drive the switching control circuit; and a drive current generating circuit including: a second comparator operating with a drive current lower than a drive current for the first comparator and comparing the error voltage with a predetermined second threshold voltage, the drive current generating circuit determining, based on a comparison output signal from the second comparator, whether to supply the drive current to the first comparator.