Patent ID: 7884648

Claim:
A device for transmitting signals through a plurality of transmission channels, in a known frequency band, comprising: m signal terminals, a common terminal and a reference terminal, the signal terminals and the common terminal being configured to be connected to an interconnection having at least m+1 conductors, m being an integer greater than or equal to 2; a receiving circuit delivering, when the receiving circuit is in the activated state, p output signals of the receiving circuit corresponding each to a transmission channel, p being an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to m, the input of the receiving circuit being coupled to at least p of the signal terminals and to the common terminal, each of the output signals of the receiving circuit being mainly determined by the voltage between one and only one of the signal terminals and the common terminal; a transmitting circuit receiving q input signals of the transmitting circuit corresponding each to a transmission channel, q being an integer greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to m, the output of the transmitting circuit being coupled to at least q of the signal terminals, the output of the transmitting circuit delivering, when the transmitting circuit is in the activated state, q transmission variables, each transmission variable being either a voltage between one of the signal terminals and the reference terminal or a current flowing out of one of the signal terminals, each transmission variable being mainly determined by one and only one of the input signals of the transmitting circuit; and a common terminal switching circuit having an open state and a closed state, the common terminal switching circuit having a return current terminal connected to the common terminal, the common terminal switching circuit being in the closed state when the transmitting circuit is in the activated state, the common terminal switching circuit being in the open state when the receiving circuit is in the activated state, the common terminal switching circuit in the closed state providing, between the common terminal and the reference terminal, a voltage approximately equal to the sum of a constant voltage and of the voltage, determined using the active sign convention, which would appear across a first passive two-terminal circuit element subject to the current flowing from the return current terminal to the common terminal.