Patent ID: 8018251

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: an integrated circuit having a P-type substrate with one or more deep N-wells or an N-type substrate with one or more deep P-wells, wherein the integrated circuit is coupled to at least a first voltage reference and a second voltage reference, the integrated circuit comprising; a plurality of circuits powered from the first voltage reference and the second voltage reference; a level-shift circuit configured to receive an input signal, wherein the input signal originates from a circuit from the plurality of circuits, wherein the level-shift circuit is configured to generate a level-shifted signal, wherein a level of the level-shifted signal is shifted from a level of the input signal; and a driver circuit for a transmitter embodied in the deep N-well or the deep P-well, wherein the driver circuit is configured to be powered from a third voltage reference and a fourth voltage reference different from the first voltage reference and the second voltage reference, wherein the third voltage reference and the fourth voltage reference are floating with respect to the first voltage reference and the second voltage reference, wherein the driver circuit has an input coupled directly or indirectly to the level-shifted signal of the level-shift circuit, and wherein the driver circuit is configured to generate an output signal as an output of the integrated circuit; wherein the output of the integrated circuit is suitable for DC coupling to an input of a receiver.