A voltage regulator is disclosed having a switching regulator portion and
an LDO regulator portion on a single chip. The switching portion switches
one or more transistors at a high frequency to supply a voltage to a
terminal of a series transistor of an LDO regulator. A second terminal of
the series transistor provides the output voltage of the LDO regulator.
The LDO regulator controls the conductivity of the series transistor to
regulate the LDO regulator output voltage to be a desired fixed value. To
minimize power dissipation in the series transistor, a feedback signal is
taken from the series transistor indicating the level of saturation of
the series transistor. This feedback signal is used by the switching
regulator to adjust the switching regulator's output voltage such that
the voltage supplied to the series transistor is close to the output
voltage of the LDO. If there is a change of current, temperature, or
process variations, the switching regulator voltage will be adjusted
accordingly to keep the series transistor at a desired level in
saturation. By minimizing the voltage drop across the series transistor
and operating the series transistor at an optimum level of saturation,
the overall regulator is highly efficient.