Electromechanical switch on input / output (I / O) component

Abstract

The invention relates to an electromechanical switch on an input / output i / o component. Input / output (I / O) components may include electromechanical switches that may be placed on signal lines coupled between transceivers and I / O pads, respectively. The electromechanical switch is operable to isolate respective transceivers from other transceivers and / or I / O pads to protect those transceivers from ESD events. The electromechanical switch of the I / O assembly may be a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) switch.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to semiconductor memory and methods, and more particularly to apparatus, systems, and methods for electromechanical switches on I / O components. Background Art

[0002] Memory devices are typically provided as internal semiconductor integrated circuits in computers or other electronic systems. There are many different types of memory, including volatile and non-volatile memory. Volatile memory may require power to maintain its data (e.g., host data, error data, etc.) and includes random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), and thyristor random access memory (TRAM), etc. Non-volatile memory can provide persistent data by retaining stored data when not powered and can include NAND flash memory, NOR flash memory, ferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM), and resistance variable memory, such as phase change random access memory (PCRAM), resistance random access memory (RRAM), and magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), such as spin torque transfer random access memory (STT RAM), etc.

[0003] The memory device may be coupled to a host (e.g., a host computing device) to store data, commands, and / or instructions for use by the host when the computer or electronic system is operating. For example, the data, commands, and / or instructions may be transferred between the host and the memory device during operation of the computing system or other electronic system. A controller may be used to manage the transfer of data, commands, and / or instructions between the host and the memory device. Summary of the invention

[0004] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a device of one or more input / output (I / O) components, comprising: an input / output (I / O) pad; an input driver coupled to the I / O pad; an output driver coupled to the I / O pad; and a first microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switch coupled to the I / O pad and to one of the input driver and the output driver, wherein when the other of the input driver and the output driver actively drives a signal, the first MEMS switch is operable to isolate the one of the input driver and the output driver from the I / O pad.

[0005] Another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a system for controlling an electromechanical switch on an input / output (I / O) component, comprising: an input / output (I / O) component comprising: an I / O pad coupled to an output driver and an input driver; a first microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switch coupled between the I / O pad and the output driver, the first MEMS switch being operable to isolate the output driver from the I / O pad and the input driver; and a second MEMS switch coupled between the I / O pad and the input driver, the second MEMS switch being operable to isolate the input driver from the I / O pad and the output driver; a controller coupled to the I / O component; the controller being configured to: place the first MEMS switch in a closed position to cause the output driver to drive a signal; and place the first MEMS switch in an open position to isolate the output driver from the I / O pad and the input driver to cause the input driver to drive a signal.

[0006] Yet another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for controlling an electromechanical switch on an input / output (I / O) component, comprising: closing a first microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switch coupled between an output driver of the input / output (I / O) component and an I / O pad in association with driving a signal via the output driver of the I / O component; and maintaining a second MEMS switch in an open position when the output driver actively drives the signal, wherein the second MEMS switch is coupled between an input driver of the I / O component and the I / O pad. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a device in the form of a computing system including a controller and input / output (I / O) components according to several embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0008] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating example I / O components in some methods.

[0009] Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating example I / O components according to several embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0010] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating another example I / O component according to several embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0011] Figure 5 is a flow chart of a method for controlling an electromechanical switch on an I / O component according to several embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] Systems, apparatus, and methods related to electromechanical switches on I / O components are described. An I / O circuit may include one or more signal lines for transmitting signals in one or more directions. Those I / O circuits capable of transmitting signals in one direction are referred to as "unidirectional" I / O circuits, while those capable of transmitting signals in two (e.g., opposite) directions are referred to as "bidirectional" I / O circuits. An I / O circuit may include various parts, such as I / O pads, transceivers that may be coupled to each other and to the I / O pads, and the like. The I / O circuit may be implemented in various components of a memory system, including, but not limited to, controllers, buffers, ports, interfaces, and the like.

[0013] The transceiver may include a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, the term "transmitter" may be alternatively referred to as a "transmit driver," "output driver," etc. In addition, the term "receiver" may be alternatively referred to as a "receiver driver," "input driver," etc. A transmitter as an output driver may drive a signal (e.g., received from the outside) to an I / O pad and a receiver as an input driver may drive a signal received from an I / O pad.

[0014] Electrostatic discharge (ESD) refers to a sudden flow of current caused by direct contact or proximity between two charged objects (e.g., electrical components, circuits, etc.). For example, ESD may occur in the constituent parts of an I / O component, such as a transceiver, an I / O pad, etc., that are coupled to each other via physical signal lines; thereby, causing significant damage to the I / O component. To prevent ESD, the I / O component may be implemented with specific circuits (referred to herein as "ESD protection circuits") that are specially designed to provide ESD protection. These ESD protection circuits are operable to limit the voltage of an ESD event to a level that the electrical components and / or circuits can withstand, thereby preventing damage caused by the ESD event.

[0015] In some approaches, ESD protection circuits are placed between I / O pads and transceivers to provide ESD protection to the corresponding transceivers for ESD events occurring from the I / O pads. However, they may not be able to completely shield the transceivers from ESD occurring when manufacturing the I / O circuits (e.g., assembling the constituent circuits of the I / O circuits). In addition, incorporating ESD protection circuits into the I / O circuits may significantly increase their size and power consumption and reduce the performance of the I / O circuits.

[0016] Aspects of the present disclosure address the above and other challenges associated with providing ESD protection to I / O circuits. In lieu of separate ESD protection circuits, I / O circuits (referred to herein alternatively as "I / O components") may be provided with electromechanical switches that may be placed on those signal lines of transceivers coupled to the I / O components, which may isolate each transceiver not only from the I / O pads, but also from other transceivers. Transceivers that are "active" (e.g., actively driving signals) and isolated from other "inactive" transceivers may improve their performance (e.g., performance of "active" transceivers, such as data transfer bandwidth) by preventing interference from electrical loads generated by other "inactive" transceivers.

[0017] The isolation provided by these electromechanical switches may be sufficient to eliminate the need for separate ESD protection circuitry; thereby, reducing the volume of I / O components. The electromechanical switches described in the present disclosure may be microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switches. MEMS switches may include mechanical parts that can "physically" move in response to electrical signals, allowing them to open or close. Thus, signal lines that may be connected via MEMS switches may be "physically" disconnected, which may provide more complete isolation of transceiver components (e.g., transmit drivers and / or receive drivers) by preventing unwanted signals or interference from passing through, compared to relying solely on electrical disconnection, such as, for example, via CMOS transistors.

[0018] As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include singular and plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. In addition, the word "may" is used throughout this application to mean permission (i.e., it is possible, can) rather than mandatory (i.e., must). The term "include" and its derivatives mean "including (but not limited to)". The term "coupled" means directly or indirectly connected.

[0019] The figures herein follow a numbering convention in which the first digit or digits correspond to the figure number and the remaining digits identify the element or component in the figure. Similar elements or components between different figures may be identified by using similar numerals. For example, 104 may refer to Figure 1 Component "04" in , and similar components in Figure 3 It can be referred to as 304.

[0020] Similar elements within the figures may be referenced by a hyphen and an additional number or letter. Figure 1104-1, ..., 104-N in FIG. Such similar elements may generally be referenced without hyphens and additional numbers or letters. For example, elements 104-1, ..., 104-N may be collectively referred to as 104. As used herein, the designator "N" particularly with respect to reference numbers in the drawings indicates the number of specific features that may be included as such. As will be appreciated, the elements shown in various embodiments herein may be added, exchanged, and / or eliminated in order to provide several additional embodiments of the present disclosure. In addition, as will be appreciated, the proportions and relative dimensions of the elements provided in the drawings are intended to illustrate certain embodiments of the present invention and should not be understood in a limiting sense.

[0021] Figure 1 1 is a block diagram of a device in the form of a portion of a computing system 100 including a controller 102 and input / output (I / O) components 104-1, ..., 104-N (collectively referred to as "I / O 104") according to several embodiments of the present disclosure. As used herein, the controller 102 and the I / O 104 may also be individually referred to as "devices".

[0022] I / O 104 may include various circuit systems to facilitate signal transmission between electrical components (e.g., chips). Figure 3 As further described in , the I / O 104 may include one or more signal lines, transceivers (e.g., transmitters, receivers, etc.), I / O pads, etc. that can receive external signals (e.g., signals received from an external device such as the controller 102) and / or output received signals (e.g., to the controller 102). Although the embodiment is not limited thereto, the I / O 104 may be a bidirectional I / O that can transmit / receive signals from / to the I / O pads.

[0023] Although the embodiment is not limited in this regard, the I / O 104 may form various buses (e.g., data buses, address buses, command buses, etc.) and may be placed in various locations of the computing system. For example, the I / O components may be placed in peripheral devices (e.g., sensors, actuators, displays, etc.) of the computing system, a host (e.g., a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a network server, a mobile device, or such computing device including a memory and a processing device), a storage system (e.g., including a memory die), etc.

[0024] In some embodiments, one or more of the I / Os 104 may be part of (e.g., form) a “port,” which may be a physical port such as a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) port, a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) port, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, a Fibre Channel port, a Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) port, a Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) port, a Dual In-line Memory Module (DIMM) port, an NVM Express (NVMe) port, an Open NAND Flash Interface (ONFI) port, etc. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the I / Os 104 may be a (e.g., integrated) part of the controller 102 rather than a separate component independent of the controller 102.

[0025] like Figure 1 , the I / O 104 includes an electromechanical switch 108, which can be respectively coupled (eg, placed on a signal line) to a transceiver of the I / O 104. The electromechanical switch 108 can be a MEMS switch.

[0026] Controller 102 may include various circuitry to facilitate the operations described herein, such as controlling various parts of I / O 104. For example, controller 102 may include specialized circuitry in the form of an ASIC, FPGA, state machine, and / or other logic circuitry or software and / or firmware that may allow controller 102 to control parts of I / O 104 (e.g., electromechanical switch 108).

[0027] In some embodiments, the controller 102 may be a device (e.g., test equipment) that can control parts of the I / O 104 (e.g., electromechanical switches 108) during the manufacturing and testing stages. In some embodiments, the controller 102 may be a device (e.g., of a computing device) that can control parts of the I / O 104 (e.g., electromechanical switches 108) during operation of the computing device. For example, the controller 102 may provide a signal to the I / O 104 to configure the I / O to receive a signal or transmit a signal received therefrom to an external circuit (e.g., off-chip), which may be accomplished by selectively enabling / disabling the electromechanical switches 108 of the I / O 104. As used herein, "opening" a switch and / or placing a switch in an open position refers to "disabling" an electromechanical switch, while "closing" a switch and / or placing a switch in a "closed" position refers to "enabling" an electromechanical switch. Those switches in the "open" position disconnect the signal line that connects the placed switch, while those switches in the "closed" position connect the signal line that the placed switch.

[0028] As described herein, a MEMS switch may include mechanical parts that can be "physically" moved to a closed or open position, which can ultimately "physically" disconnect a signal line. Since the signal line is "physically" disconnected, parts of the I / O (e.g., Figure 3 305, 307 and / or I / O pad 306) illustrated in FIG. 1 is protected from ESD events that would otherwise occur from other parts (e.g., other transceivers, I / O pads, etc.) that are “physically” disconnected from the protected parts.

[0029] I / O 104 may be “hot plugged” or “hot swapped.” As used herein, the term “hot plugged” or “hot swapped” refers to the ability to be added and / or removed to a computing device / system (e.g., system 100) during operation of the computing device / system. For example, controller 102 may dynamically control electromechanical switch 108 (e.g., while system 100 is operating) to disconnect those signal lines of I / O 104 that are to be “hot plugged” or “hot swapped,” which may reduce and / or prevent ESD damage to parts of I / O 104 (e.g., transceivers 305, 307) when I / O 104 is “hot plugged” or “hot swapped.” Controller 102 may further control electromechanical switch 108 (e.g., to place switch 108 in an open or closed position) during a manufacturing (e.g., assembly) phase and / or operation of the computing system to protect I / O 104 from ESD events. In combination Figure 3 and 4 Additional details of controlling electromechanical switch 108 are described.

[0030] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating example I / O components in some methods. Figure 2 As illustrated in FIG. 1 , the I / O component 204 includes a first transceiver (e.g., Figure 2 205), a second transceiver (e.g., Figure 2 Receiver 207 shown as "RX" in FIG. 1 ) and I / O pad 206 (shown as "RX" in FIG. Figure 2 Transmitter 205 is coupled to I / O pad 206 via signal line 209-1, and receiver 207 is coupled to I / O pad 206 via signal line 209-2.

[0031] The I / O component 204 further includes an ESD protection circuit 215 coupled between the respective transceivers 205 and 207 and the I / O pad 206. The ESD protection circuit may include an ESD protection diode or a transient voltage suppression (TSV) diode. Although the ESD protection circuit 215 may protect the transceivers 205 and 207 from the electrical load originating from the I / O pad 206, it may not provide the same protection for each transceiver 205, 207 from the ESD event that may occur when the I / O component 204 is manufactured (e.g., when assembling the transmitter 205, the receiver 207, the ESD protection circuit 215, the pad 206, etc.), which may make the I / O component 204 still vulnerable to damage from the ESD event during the manufacturing and / or assembly stages.

[0032] Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example I / O component 304 according to several embodiments of the present disclosure. The I / O component 304 may be similar to Figure 1 The I / O component 104 described in .

[0033] like Figure 3 As illustrated in FIG. 1 , the I / O component 304 includes a first transceiver (e.g., Figure 3 305), a second transceiver (e.g., Figure 3 Receiver 307 shown as "RX" in FIG. 1 ) and I / O pad 306 (shown as "RX" in FIG. Figure 3 309-1). Transmitter 305 is coupled to I / O pad 306 via signal line 309-1, and receiver 307 is coupled to I / O pad 306 via signal line 309-2. As used herein, the term "transmitter" may alternatively be referred to as a "transmit driver," "output driver," etc. In addition, the term "receiver" may alternatively be referred to as a "receiver driver," "input driver," etc. Figure 3 As illustrated in FIG, transmitter 305 as an output driver is operable to drive a signal (e.g., received externally) to an I / O pad (e.g., I / O pad 306), while receiver 307 as an input driver is operable to drive a signal received from an I / O pad (e.g., I / O pad 306).

[0034] I / O component 304 further includes electromechanical switches 308-1 and 308-2 (e.g., MEMS switches) placed on signal lines 309-1 and 309-2, respectively. As described herein, electromechanical switches 308-1 and 308-2 may be MEMS switches. In addition, electromechanical switches 308-1 and 308-2 may be controlled by a controller (e.g., Figure 11 and 308-2 are controlled by the controller 102 described in the embodiment of the present invention. When the electromechanical switches 308-1 and 308-2 are placed in the open position, the electromechanical switches 308-1 and 308-2 are operable to electrically and physically isolate the respective transceivers 305 and 307. In contrast to the ESD protection circuit 215, which only provides electrical isolation, the isolation provided by the MEMS switches 308-1 and 308-2 is not only electrical, but also physical, which may be sufficient to eliminate the need for a separate electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit on the I / O 304. Therefore, the I / O component 304 does not include a separate ESD protection circuit.

[0035] During operation of the I / O component 304, the controller 102 can disable the transceivers 305 and 307 when they are not in use. In one example, the transceivers 305 and 307 can be disabled during a manufacturing stage (e.g., an assembly stage) and / or when the I / O component 304 is not in use (e.g., so that both the transceivers 305 and 307 do not need to actively drive a signal) to isolate both the transmitter 305 and the receiver 307 from each other and from the I / O pad 306.

[0036] When it is desired to use the transmitter 305 (e.g., to drive a signal from the transmitter 305 to the I / O pad 306), the controller 102 can disable the MEMS switch 308-2 to disconnect the signal line 309-2 and enable the MEMS switch 308-1 to connect the signal line 309-1. In this example, when the transmitter 305 actively drives the signal, the transmitter 305 can be isolated from the receiver 307 (e.g., not only electrically but also physically); thereby, preventing interference from the electrical load generated by the receiver 307 and improving the performance of the transmitter 305.

[0037] Vice versa, when it is desired to use the receiver 307 (e.g., to drive a signal from the I / O pad 306 to the receiver 307), the controller 102 may disable the MEMS switch 308-1 to disconnect the signal line 309-1 and enable the MEMS switch 308-2 to connect the signal line 309-2. In this example, when the receiver 307 actively drives the signal, the receiver 307 may be isolated from the transmitter 305 (e.g., not only electrically but also physically); thereby, preventing interference from the electrical load generated by the transmitter 305 and improving the performance of the receiver 307.

[0038] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating another example I / O component 404 - 1 , . . . , 404 - 4 (collectively referred to as I / O component 404 ) according to several embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 4 Each I / O component 404 described in Figure 1 and 3The I / O components 104 and / or 304 described in .

[0039] like Figure 4 As illustrated in FIG. 4 , the I / O components 404 may be coupled to each other via MEMS switches 408-5-1, ..., 408-5-4 (collectively referred to as MEMS switches 408-5). Figure 4 As illustrated in FIG. 4 , for example, I / O component 404-1 is coupled to other I / O components 404 via MEMS switch 408-5-1; I / O component 404-2 is coupled to other I / O components 404 via MEMS switch 408-5-2; I / O component 404-3 is coupled to other I / O components 404 via MEMS switch 408-5-3; and I / O component 404-4 is coupled to other I / O components 404 via MEMS switch 408-5-4.

[0040] exist Figure 4 , each I / O component 404 may be considered and referred to as a "channel". The I / O components 404 as channels may be connected to each other to allow signals from one IO component 404 (e.g., pad 406) to be broadcast to other / multiple I / O components 404. The MEMS switch 408-5 may be functionally operated as a multiplexer (MUX) and / or a demultiplexer (DeMUX) to selectively connect one I / O component 404 to another I / O component 404. In one example, the MEMS switches 408-5-1, ..., 408-5-4 may be placed in a closed position to allow the I / O components 404-1, ..., 404-4 to be connected to each other so that a signal from one I / O component 404 may be broadcast to other / multiple I / O components 404.

[0041] In another example, if I / O component 404-1 is not in use (e.g., not expected to be used), while I / O components 404-2, 404-3, and 404-4 are in use (e.g., expected to be used), then MEMS switches 408-5-2, 408-5-3, and 408-5-4 may be placed in a closed position, while MEMS switch 408-5-1 is placed in an open position. This (e.g., placing the respective MEMS switches 408-5-1 in an open position) isolates the other channels (corresponding to I / O components 404-2, 404-3, and 404-4) from the capacitive load (e.g., including the pad capacitance of pad 406-1 from the channel) from the channel (corresponding to I / O component 404-1) and reduces the capacitive load from I / O component 404-1; thereby improving the high bandwidth performance of I / O components 404 in use.

[0042] Figure 5530 is a flowchart of a method for controlling an electromechanical switch on an I / O component according to several embodiments of the present disclosure. The method as illustrated by flowchart 530 may be performed by processing logic, which may include hardware (e.g., a processing device, circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic, microcode, hardware of a device, integrated circuit, etc.), software (e.g., instructions running or executed on a processing device), or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the method is performed by Figure 1 102 as described in the foregoing. Although shown in a particular sequence or order, the order of the processes may be modified unless otherwise specified. Therefore, the illustrated embodiments should be understood as examples only, and the illustrated processes may be performed in a different order, and some processes may be performed in parallel. In addition, one or more processes may be omitted in various embodiments. Therefore, not all processes are required in every embodiment. Other process flows are possible.

[0043] At 532, the communication may be performed via an I / O component (e.g., Figure 1 and 3 104, 304) output driver (e.g., Figure 3 The output driver 305 described in the embodiment of the present invention is coupled to the output driver (eg, Figure 3 ) and an I / O pad (e.g., Figure 3 ) between the I / O pad 306 illustrated in FIG. Figure 3 ) (eg, placing it in a closed position). At 534, the MEMS switch 308-1 coupled to the input driver (eg, Figure 3 ) and the second MEMS switch (eg, between the receiver 307 described in Figure 3 The MEMS switch 308-2 illustrated in FIG. 1 is maintained in an open position to isolate the input driver 307 from the output driver 305 and the I / O pad 306 when the output driver 305 is actively driving a signal.

[0044] Alternatively, the second MEMS switch 308-2 can be closed (e.g., placed in a closed position) in association with driving the signal via the input driver 307 to drive the signal. In this example (when the input driver 307 is actively driving the signal), the first MEMS switch 308-1 can be maintained in an open position to isolate the output driver 305 from the I / O pad 306.

[0045] In some embodiments, the first MEMS switch 308-1 and the second MEMS switch 308-2 may be opened while the input and output drivers (e.g., input driver 307 and output driver 305) are not actively driving signals. In some embodiments, the first MEMS switch 308-1 and the second MEMS switch 308-2 may be opened and closed dynamically during operation of a computing device including the I / O components 104, 304.

[0046] Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that arrangements calculated to achieve the same results may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. The present disclosure is intended to cover adaptations or variations of one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be appreciated that the above description has been made in an illustrative and non-restrictive manner. After reviewing the above description, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand the combination of the above embodiments and other embodiments not explicitly described herein. The scope of one or more embodiments of the present disclosure includes other applications in which the above structures and processes are used. Therefore, the scope of one or more embodiments of the present disclosure should be determined with reference to the attached claims and the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

[0047] In the foregoing detailed description, some features are grouped in a single embodiment for the purpose of simplifying the disclosure. This method of disclosure should not be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the disclosed embodiments of the disclosure must use more features than those explicitly recited in each claim. Rather, as the appended claims reflect, the inventive subject matter lies in less than all the features of a single disclosed embodiment. Therefore, the appended claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.

Claims

1. A device having one or more input / output (I / O) components, comprising: Input / output I / O pad (306; 406-1、…、406-4)； an input driver (307; 407-1, ..., 407-4) coupled to the I / O pad; an output driver (305; 405-1, ..., 405-4) coupled to the I / O pad; and A first micro-electromechanical system MEMS switch (308-1, 308-2; The first MEMS switch is configured to couple the input driver to the I / O pad and to one of the input driver and the output driver, wherein the first MEMS switch is operable to isolate the one of the input driver and the output driver from the I / O pad when the other of the input driver and the output driver is actively driving a signal.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The device includes a bidirectional I / O component (104-1, ..., 104-N; ​​304; 404-1, ..., 404-4); and Operation of the first MEMS switch provides sufficient electrical isolation such that the bidirectional I / O component does not include separate electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuitry.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a second MEMS switch (308-1, 308-2; 408-1-1, 408-1-2, 408-2-1, 408-2-2, 408-3-1, 408-3-2, 408-4-1, 408-4-2) coupled to the I / O pad and the other of the input driver and the output driver, wherein when the one of the input driver and the output driver is actively driving a signal, the second MEMS switch is operable to isolate the other of the input driver and the output driver from the one of the input driver and the output driver.

4. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the one of the input driver and the output driver is a receiver driver (307; 407-1, ..., 407-4) and the other of the input driver and the output driver is a transmit driver (305; 405-1, ..., 405-4).

5. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first MEMS switch is operable to isolate the one of the input driver and the output driver from the I / O pad when the first MEMS switch is in an open position.

6. A system for controlling an electromechanical switch on an input / output (I / O) component, comprising: Input / output I / O components (104-1, ..., 104-N; 304； 404-1, ..., 404-4), which includes: I / O pads (306; 406-1, ..., 406-4) coupled to output drivers (305; 405-1, ..., 405-4) and input drivers (307; 407-1, ..., 407-4); a first micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) switch (308-1; 408-1-2, 408-2-2, 408-3-2, 408-4-2) coupled between the I / O pad and the output driver, the first MEMS switch being operable to isolate the output driver from the I / O pad and the input driver; and a second MEMS switch (308-2; 408-1-1, 408-2-1, 408-3-1, 408-4-1) coupled between the I / O pad and the input driver, the second MEMS switch being operable to isolate the input driver from the I / O pad and the output driver; A controller (102) coupled to the I / O component; the controller being configured to: placing the first MEMS switch in a closed position to cause the output driver to drive a signal; and The first MEMS switch is placed in an open position to isolate the output driver from the I / O pad and the input driver to cause the input driver to drive a signal.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein: The output driver is operable to drive a signal to the I / O pad; and The input driver is operable to drive a signal received from the I / O pad.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the controller is configured to place the first or second MEMS switch in an open or closed position during operation of the system.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the controller is configured to place the second MEMS switch in an open position to isolate the input driver from the I / O pad and the output driver when the output driver is actively driving a signal.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein: the controller being configured to place the second MEMS in a closed position to couple the input driver to the I / O pad to cause the input driver to drive a signal; and The controller is configured to place the first MEMS switch in an open position to isolate the output driver from the I / O pad and the input driver when the input driver is actively driving a signal.

11. The system of claim 6, wherein the controller is configured to place both the first MEMS switch and the second MEMS switch in an open position to isolate both the input driver and the output driver from the I / O pad.

12. The system of any one of claims 6 to 11, wherein the input driver and the output driver are coupled to the I / O pads without being coupled to an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit.

13. A system according to any one of claims 6 to 11, wherein: The output driver corresponds to a transmitter (305; 405-1, ..., 405-4); and The input driver corresponds to the receiver (307; 407-1, ..., 407-4).

14. A method for controlling an electromechanical switch on an input / output (I / O) component, comprising: and via an input / output I / O component (104; 304) driving signal to close a first micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) switch (308-1) coupled between the output driver of the I / O component and an I / O pad (306); and When the output driver actively drives the signal, a second MEMS switch (308-2) is maintained in an open position, wherein the second MEMS switch is coupled between an input driver (307) of the I / O component and the I / O pad.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising: In association with driving the signal via the input driver, closing the second MEMS switch; and When the input driver is actively driving the signal, the first MEMS switch is maintained in an open position to isolate the output driver from the I / O pad. 16 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising opening the first MEMS switch and the second MEMS switch when the input driver and the output driver are not actively driving a signal.

17. The method of any one of claims 14 to 16, further comprising dynamically opening and closing the first and second MEMS switches during operation of a computing device (100) including the I / O component.

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