Current regulators for I/sup 2/L circuits to be operated from low-voltage power supplies

A new bandgap current reference is described which can be used to control the injector current of I/SUP 2/L circuits for supply voltages down to about 1 V. For small currents the total injector current is obtained as a mirror of the reference current. For large injector currents the current control is performed by a series regulator which compares the injector current of one I/SUP 2/L gate to the reference current. The described reference current can be adjusted to give a variation with temperature of about 60 ppm//spl deg/C over the temperature range -10 to +70/spl deg/C. However, in some applications a nonzero, but well controlled temperature coefficient is desired. It is shown how a temperature stable ring oscillator with I/SUP 2/L gates can be constructed by tailoring the temperature dependence of the supply current appropriately.