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:
Nov. 07, 2000
Filed:
Jan. 27, 1999
Richard T Owen, Fremont, CA (US);
Dennis P O'Neill, Monte Sereno, CA (US);
Linear Technology Corporation, Milpitas, CA (US);
Abstract
An error amplifier circuit is provided having a pair of current mirror transistors driven by a pair of current sources, where one of the current mirror transistors operates at a lower current density than the other, and further having a resistor in an emitter circuit of the transistor operating at the lower current density and a summing node in the emitter circuit between the emitter of the one transistor and the resistor. A feedback circuit including a second resistor and a base-emitter circuit of a third transistor is in series between a feedback node coupled to the base of the feedback transistor and the summing node, such that a current from the feedback circuit is summed with the current conducted by the emitter of the one transistor. The error amplifier is balanced when the voltage at the feedback node is equal to a predetermined voltage, which can have substantially zero temperature coefficient at a voltage as low as one bandgap voltage. A resistive divider may be coupled to the feedback node, such that the error amplifier is balanced when the voltage at a node of the resistive divider is at a predetermined voltage greater than the bandgap voltage. The error amplifier may be used, among other applications, as a control circuit for a low dropout voltage regulator which is capable of producing a regulated output voltage, having nominally zero temperature drift over a wide operating range, substantially equal to or greater than the bandgap voltage.