A DC/DC converter has a linear voltage regulator for reducing or
eliminating the output ripple of the converter with a minimum loss of
efficiency. The converter comprises a converter stage with a supply
voltage input, a converted voltage output and a control input, a
regulator stage having an input connected to the converted voltage output
of the converter stage and an output connected to a load, and a tracking
circuit with inputs for a voltage at the converted voltage output of the
converter stage, a voltage at the output of the regulator stage and a
load sense current, and an output connected to the control input of the
converter stage. The tracking circuit controls the converter stage so as
to increase the converted voltage with an increasing load sense current
and vice versa. The output voltage of the converter is always just
sufficient to eliminate the ripple without having to operate the
regulator's pass transistor in its linear range.