Patent ID: 7629769

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a battery pack operable to be coupled to a device, where the battery pack includes: a battery cell; a battery protection circuit coupled to the battery cell; a processor coupled to the battery protection circuit for determining if a battery protection event has occurred; a voltage regulator circuit coupled to the battery cell and the processor, the voltage regulator circuit configurable to provide power to the processor, the voltage regulator circuit including a voltage regulator controller circuit coupled to a step-up voltage regulator and a linear voltage regulator, the voltage regulator controller circuit operable to enable and disable the step-up voltage regulator and the linear voltage regulator, the voltage regulator controller circuit operable to place the voltage regulator circuit into one of a linear regulator mode, a step-up regulator mode, a combination mode, and a protection mode; an energy storage device coupled to the voltage regulator circuit, and configurable to provide the processor with power during the battery protection event; and a switch coupled between the energy storage device and the battery cell, the switch configurable to selectively disconnect the energy storage device from the battery cell during the battery protection event, where the switch is included in the voltage regulator circuit.