The TCA4311 is a 2–wire I²C buffer designed to facilitate hot–swapping of peripheral cards into chassis systems and helps prevent data and clock bus corruption. The open drain architecture allows for easy detection of card/backplane connection. This device minimizes worst-case voltage differential via the 1–V precharge on the SDA/SCL lines. The integrated IEC level ESD circuitry protects sensitive devices or equipment from damage. Previous I²C buffers did not have this hot–swap capability and data was lost, forcing the user to initiate a power-cycle of the system. The TCA4311 overcomes this issue as well as overcoming the need to reset systems to clear data corruptions.