Patent ID: 8072195

Claim:
A voltage converter, connectable to a power source and to a load, for providing a regulated output voltage from a voltage power source by switchable current paths including an inductive element, the voltage converter comprising: a plurality of switching elements being adapted for switching said current paths of said voltage converter as a forward-phase current path when said input voltage corresponds to said output voltage, an up-phase current path when said input voltage is lower than said output voltage, and a down-phase current path when said input voltage is higher than said output voltage; a central controller being adapted for controlling a switching state of said plurality of switching elements; a current sensing unit including a comparator being adapted for sensing a current flowing through only one switching element of said switching elements; and a plurality of processing units being adapted for processing sensing results of said current sensing unit, said processing being based on said sensed current flowing through said at least one switching element and being triggered by said comparator; wherein said current sensing unit includes a current source and a further switching element being adapted for generating a reference voltage to be fed to said comparator; and wherein said central controller being adapted for controllably setting said current source and controlling the switching state of said further switching element for obtaining said reference voltage.