The CM1213A family of diode arrays has been designed to provide ESD protection for electronic components or subsystems requiring minimal capacitive loading. These devices are ideal for protecting systems with high data and clock rates or for circuits requiring low capacitive loading. Each ESD channel consists of a pair of diodes in series which steer the positive or negative ESD current pulse to either the positive(VP) or negative(VN) supply rail. A Zener diode is embedded between VP and VN, offering two advantages. First, it protects the VCC rail against ESD strikes, and second, it eliminates the need for a bypass capacitor that would otherwise be needed for absorbing positive ESD strikes to ground. These devices are particularly well-suited for protecting systems using high-speed ports such as USB 2.0, IEEE1394 (Firewire?, iLink?), Serial ATA, DVI, HDMI and corresponding ports in removable storage, digital camcorders, DVD-RW drives and other applications where extremely low loading capacitance with ESD protection are required in a small package footprint.