Patent ID: 7595618

Claim:
A DC voltage converter, which cyclically converts an input-side supply voltage into an output voltage, comprising: an inductive storage element comprising a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal is coupled to a supply voltage terminal; a first switch comprising a first terminal and a second terminal, and coupled in series with the inductive storage element, wherein the first terminal of the first switch is coupled to the second terminal of the inductive storage element, and the second terminal of the first switch is coupled to a reference potential terminal; a second switch comprising a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal is coupled to the second terminal of the inductive storage element, and the second terminal is coupled to an output voltage terminal; a capacitive storage element coupled between the output voltage terminal and the reference potential terminal; and a detector circuit configured to distinguish between an intermittent operating mode of the DC voltage converter and a continuous operating mode of the DC voltage converter, the detector circuit configured to receive a detector voltage tapped off at the second terminal of the inductive storage element wherein the detector circuit comprises a threshold value decision unit configured to receive the detector voltage and a downstream storage element coupled to the threshold value decision unit, the detector circuit configured to generate the output signal to distinguish between the intermittent operating mode and the continuous operating mode of the DC voltage converter.