The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 21, 1999
Filed:
Mar. 05, 1998
Kevin P D'Angelo, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Robert S Wrathall, Scotts Valley, CA (US);
Impala Linear Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A low dropout (LDO) voltage regulator for generating a well-regulated voltage which is stable with variations in load resistance and in supply voltage includes a non-complex reference voltage generator. In the preferred embodiment, the reference voltage generator is configured to function as an amplifier as well as a reference voltage generator. In one embodiment, a single gain stage LDO voltage regulator utilizes the single function reference voltage generator which is compared to a feedback voltage that is proportional to an output voltage. The feedback voltage and the reference voltage control two currents which are used to generate a control signal to a pass transistor. Depending on the supply voltage, the pass transistor either increases or decreases the current to an output terminal to raise or lower the output voltage until the output voltage equals the regulated voltage. In another embodiment, a two gain stage LDO voltage regulator utilizes the dual function reference voltage generator. The two gain stage LDO voltage regulator compares a gained signal instead of the reference voltage with the feedback voltage to generate the control signal to the pass transistor.