Patent ID: 7142019

Claim:
A combination switch comprising: a pre-charge switch having a first source/drain terminal coupled to a power supply and a second source/drain terminal coupled to a power output terminal, wherein the pre-charge switch is configured to selectively couple the power supply to the power output terminal; a header switch having a first source/drain terminal coupled to the power supply and a second source/drain terminal coupled to the power output terminal, wherein the header switch is configured to selectively couple the power supply to the power output terminal, and wherein the pre-charge switch has a lower current capacity than the header switch; a first control signal line coupled to a gate terminal of the pre-charge switch, the first control signal line configured to carry a first control signal to control a state of the pre-charge switch, wherein the first control signal line of the combination switch is coupled to the first control signal line of a combination switch immediately preceding it in the linear sequence and the first control signal line of the combination switch is coupled to the first control signal line of a combination switch immediately following it in the linear sequence; and a second control signal line coupled to a gate terminal of the header switch, the second control signal line configured to carry a second control signal to control a state of the header switch, wherein the combination switch is configured so that the pre-charge switch is turned on before the header switch.