A voltage generating system including: a voltage source, a clock generating circuit, and a voltage generating circuit. The voltage source generates a reference voltage. The clock generating circuit generates a first clock signal and a second clock signal according to the reference voltage. The voltage generating circuit including an output circuit and a switch circuit. The output circuit generates a control signal at a control node according to the first clock signal and the reference voltage, generates an output signal at an output node according to the second clock signal and the reference voltage. An absolute value of an amplitude of the output signal is greater than the reference voltage while an absolute value of an amplitude of the control signal is greater than the reference voltage. The switch circuit selectively outputs the output signal to an output terminal according to the control signal.

The invention relates to a DC-DC converter (1) for a power source (2) generating extremely low voltage, the converter (1) operating in discontinuous mode, wherein the converter (1) comprises a self-oscillating charge pump (3a) having an array of interconnected ring oscillators (RO1-RON) for successively stepping up an input voltage (Vin) so as to result in the accumulated voltage (XN) at the last ring oscillator (RON), an amplifier (3b) and a pulse signal generator (3c) that generates a pulse signal that actuates a switch (11) so that the stepped-up, output voltage may be provided via a diode (12). The invention further relates to a method for actuating the DC-DC converter (1) for a power source (2) generating extremely low voltage.

Numerous embodiments of an improved charge pump design are disclosed for generating the high voltages necessary to perform erase and program operations in non-volatile flash memory devices. In these embodiments, each boost stage in the charge pump is modified to overcome a deficiency in prior art charge pumps whereby voltage actually would decrease in the final boost stage. These modifications include the addition of one or more of a clock doubling circuit, a local self-precharge circuit, a feed-forward precharge circuit, a feed-backward precharge circuit, and a hybrid circuit comprising NMOS and PMOS transistors and diodes.

A secondary side controller for a switched mode power supply, the controller comprising a first semiconductor die comprising an integrated circuit configured to provide a load connection signal; a second semiconductor die, packaged with the first semiconductor die, comprising a charge pump configured to, in response to the load connection signal received from the integrated circuit of the first semiconductor die, provide a switch signal for control of a load connection switch that controls whether or not the switched mode power supply is electrically connected to a load; wherein the presence or absence of the load connection signal is configured to control whether or not the charge pump generates the switch signal and the amplitude of the load connection signal is configured to control the voltage of the switch signal.

Circuits, methods, and system for DC voltage conversion are disclosed. A charge pump circuit is described that includes input switches and output switches that are individually controlled by different clock signals to alternatively couple energy storage capacitors to an input and to an output. The individualized switching control allows for the use of clock signals with no overlapping transitions to improve conversion efficiency. Additionally, the input switches are controlled by clock signals that are level shifted relative to the input voltage. The level shifted switching control also improves efficiency and allows for a range in input voltages to be accommodated for DC voltage conversion.

An electronic device includes: a clock booster circuit configured to store charges on doubler capacitors therein, wherein each doubler capacitor is connected to a corresponding clock signal; secondary booster circuit including booster capacitors that are each coupled to one of the doubler capacitors, the secondary booster circuit configured to provide one or more stage outputs based on boosting the charges stored on the doubler capacitors; and connecting switches that each connect one of the doubler capacitors to one of the booster capacitors during recycling durations, wherein the recycling duration occurs after generating the one or more stage outputs; wherein the clock signals correspond to a state during the recycling duration.

A voltage generating system including: a voltage source, a clock generating circuit, and a voltage generating circuit. The voltage source generates a reference voltage. The clock generating circuit generates a first clock signal and a second clock signal according to the reference voltage. The voltage generating circuit including an output circuit and a switch circuit. The output circuit generates a control signal at a control node according to the first clock signal and the reference voltage, generates an output signal at an output node according to the second clock signal and the reference voltage. An absolute value of an amplitude of the output signal is greater than the reference voltage while an absolute value of an amplitude of the control signal is greater than the reference voltage. The switch circuit selectively outputs the output signal to an output terminal according to the control signal.

According to some implementation, a charge pump includes a boost charge pump circuit and a buck charge pump circuit sharing a common flying capacitance. In some implementations, the boost pump circuit includes an input node and a boosted-voltage output node, and the buck charge pump circuit includes the input node and a divided-voltage output node. In some implementations, the charge pump of claim 3 wherein the boosted-voltage includes 2Vin, and the divided-voltage includes Vin/2, Vin being an input voltage at the input node. In some implementations, the boost pump circuit further includes a first holding capacitance that couples the boosted-voltage output node to a ground. In some implementations, the buck pump circuit further includes a second holding capacitance that couples the divided-voltage output node to the ground.

An electronic device includes: a clock booster configured to generate a boosted intermediate voltage greater than a source voltage, wherein the clock booster includes: a controller capacitor configured to store energy for providing a gate signal, wherein the gate signal is for controlling charging operations to generate the boosted intermediate voltage based on the source voltage, and a booster capacitor configured to store energy according to the gate signal for providing the boosted intermediate voltage, wherein the booster capacitor has greater capacitance level than the controller capacitor; and a secondary booster operatively coupled to the clock booster, the secondary booster configured to generate an output voltage based on the boosted intermediate voltage, wherein the output voltage is greater than both the source voltage and the boosted intermediate voltage.

A voltage generating circuit, a semiconductor memory device, and a voltage generating method are provided. The voltage generating circuit includes: an oscillation signal generating part generating an oscillation signal that alternately repeats a state of a first voltage and a state of a second voltage; a capacitor having one end receiving the oscillation signal and an other end connected to an output node; a switch element receiving a control voltage and set to an on state or an off state according to the control voltage, and applying the first voltage to the output node when set to the on state; and a switch control part supplying, as the control voltage to the switch element, the second voltage when the oscillation signal is in the state of the first voltage, and a voltage of the output node when the oscillation signal is in the state of the second voltage.