A standby regulator circuit includes a standby bias circuit and a standby
operational amplifier. The standby regulator circuit provides a standby
regulated control voltage to a multiplexer. A regular operational
amplifier provides a regulated control voltage to the multiplexer. During
regular operation, the multiplexer selects the regular operational
amplifier and selects the standby regulator circuit in a low-power mode.
The multiplexer couples to a native pass transistor gate having a
threshold voltage about equal to 0 V. The native pass transistor provides
a regulated output voltage with relatively low-level input control
voltages. In low-power mode, a power-down signal, provided to the
multiplexer, smoothly transitions regulated control voltage from the
regular operational amplifier to regulated control voltage sourcing from
the standby operational amplifier. In low-power operation regular
operational amplifier power is saved and the standby operational
amplifier is appropriate for regulating the low threshold voltage native
pass transistor.