Patent ID: 8030966

Claim:
An electrical circuit for efficiently driving a transmission line, the transmission line having a characteristic impedance, the circuit comprising: a source terminating resistive element with an output side connected to an input of the transmission line, the resistive element having an impedance substantially equal to the characteristic impedance of the transmission line; a voltage source having an output voltage substantially equal to a target source voltage at the input of the transmission line, wherein the voltage source is connected serially with an input side of the resistive element; a current source having an output current substantially equal to the output voltage of the voltage source divided by the characteristic impedance of the transmission line, wherein the current source is connected with the output side of the resistive element and drives signal current into the transmission line; and wherein the electrical circuit, upon coupling to the transmission line, drives an input signal into the transmission line while dissipating substantially no power across the resistive element related to the input signal and while dissipating power across the resistive element to terminate one or more reflected signals.