Charge pump circuit with internal pre-charge configuration

1. A charge pump circuit, comprising:

a charge pump configured to

increase a voltage of an input signal to generate a voltage-boosted input signal,

output the voltage-boosted input signal in response to a determination that the voltage-boosted input signal is greater than or equal to a threshold, and

connect the charge pump to a supply voltage that is different from the input signal to pre-charge the charge pump (i) in response to a determination that the voltage-boosted input signal is less than the threshold and (ii) prior to a repeated attempt to increase the voltage of the input signal; and

a bandgap reference generator configured to

receive the voltage-boosted input signal, and

output, based on the voltage-boosted input signal, a voltage reference signal to a device that operates in accordance with the supply voltage.

2. The charge pump circuit of claim 1 , wherein the supply voltage is an operating voltage of a circuit that receives the voltage reference signal from the bandgap reference generator.

3. The charge pump circuit of claim 1 , wherein the threshold is less than the supply voltage.

4. The charge pump circuit of claim 1 , wherein the input signal is a clock signal.

5. The charge pump circuit of claim 1 , wherein the charge pump includes a voltage multiplying circuit.

6. The charge pump circuit of claim 1 , further comprising a comparator that is configured to (i) receive the voltage-boosted input signal and the supply voltage and (ii) generate an output based on a comparison between the voltage-boosted input signal and the threshold.

7. The charge pump circuit of claim 6 , wherein the output of the comparator indicates whether the voltage-boosted input signal is less than the threshold.

8. The charge pump circuit of claim 6 , wherein the comparator is configured to define the threshold based on the supply voltage.

9. The charge pump circuit of claim 6 , wherein the comparator is a multiplexor.

10. An integrated circuit including the charge pump circuit of claim 6 .

11. A method of operating a charge pump circuit, the method comprising:

using a charge pump,

increasing a voltage of an input signal to generate a voltage-boosted input signal,

outputting the voltage-boosted input signal in response to a determination that the voltage-boosted input signal is greater than or equal to a threshold, and

connecting the charge pump to a supply voltage that is different from the input signal to pre-charge the charge pump in response to a determination that the voltage-boosted input signal is less than the threshold and (ii) prior to a repeated attempt to increase the voltage of the input signal; and

using a bandgap reference generator,

receiving the voltage-boosted input signal, and

outputting, based on the voltage-boosted input signal, a voltage reference signal to a device that operates in accordance with the supply voltage.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising providing the supply voltage as an operating voltage of a circuit that receives the voltage reference signal from the bandgap reference generator.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the threshold is less than the supply voltage.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising providing a clock signal as the input signal.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising using the charge pump to multiply a voltage of the input signal.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising generating an output based on a comparison between the voltage-boosted input signal and the threshold.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the output indicates whether the voltage-boosted input signal is less than the threshold.

18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising defining the threshold based on the supply voltage.

19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising generating the output using a multiplexor.

20. The method of claim 16 , further comprising arranging thecharge pump circuit in an integrated circuit.