Patent ID: 6597164
Filing Date: 2003-07-22
Classification: G01R

Abstract:
Switching circuitry for selectively electrically connecting a plurality of circuits to a bus, the switching circuitry comprising:a plurality of switching circuits, each switching circuit being disposed between the bus and a respective one of the plurality of circuits, each switching circuit selectively providing an electrical connection between the respective circuit and the bus, and each switching circuit including a node disposed in an electrical path between the bus and the respective circuit, each node being coupled to a charge source or sink, wherein each switching circuit: a) transfers electrical charge between its node and the charge source or sink when the switching circuit is not providing the electrical connection between the respective circuit and the bus, b) comprises: i) a plurality of serially-coupled devices operatively coupled between the respective circuit and the bus, the node being disposed between two adjacent serially-coupled devices; and ii) a charge-transferring circuit operatively coupled between the node and the charge source or sink, and c) is configured to alternatively set the serially-coupled devices to a conducting state and the charge-transferring circuit to a non-conducting state, or set the serially-coupled devices to the non-conducting state and the charge-transferring circuit to the conducting state.