Patent ID: 7545149

Claim:
A driver and receiver circuit comprising: at least one output terminal configured to connect to a line connection, a voltage supply connected to the at least one output terminal, a current measuring arrangement connected to the at least one output terminal, the current measuring arrangement configured to detect a current at the at least one output terminal and to generate a current measurement signal dependent on the current, wherein the current measuring arrangement is operable to include information representative of information modulated on the current in the current measurement signal, at least one monitoring circuit configured to generate an error signal based on the current at the at least one output terminal, and to generate the error signal when the current lies above a predetermined threshold value for a time duration which is longer than a predetermined first time duration, and a control circuit, to which the current measurement signal is fed, wherein the control circuit is operably connected to receive the error signal, and wherein the control circuit is configured to generate the control signal based at least in part on the error signal.