Small footprint ESD protection of hot-swappable I/Os

A small footprint ESD protection scheme is developed for the hot-swappable chip interface (I/O). Elimination of ESD elements in the I/O to VCCO path, and elimination of ESD elements for LVDS drivers has enabled ~50% ESD area reduction. The design is qualified for production and has passed ESD specifications of 2000V HBM, 500V CDM, and 200V MM with excellent margin.