Patent ID: 7106036

Claim:
A circuit for regulating an output signal, comprising: an error circuit that is arranged to provide an error signal based, in part, on a feedback signal and a reference value of a reference signal; a pulse modulation circuit that is arranged to provide a switch control signal such that a modulation parameter of the switch control signal is modulated based, in part, on the error signal; and such that the switch control signal corresponds to an inactive level if a shutdown signal is asserted; a switch circuit that is arranged to enable the output signal to be regulated based, in part, on the switch control signal; a shutdown delay circuit that is configured to enable assertion of a reset signal if the shutdown timer is asserted for an amount of time that is greater than a pre-determined shutdown delay time; and a soft-start circuit that is configured to enable soft-starting of the reference signal such that, if the reference value is less than a threshold value, the reference value increases until the reference value is substantially equal to the threshold value; and such that the reference value is reset to a reset value if the reset signal is asserted.