A method and system for estimating a parameter of an electric machine, including a controller and a switching device, the controller responsive to at least one of: a current sensor, and a temperature sensor. The high swing cascode biasing circuit may be implemented in Ahuja compensation circuits or other circuits. In some embodiments, if a memory card is in the memory card slot of the card reader, but has not been accessed in a second specified amount of time, the card reader may be electrically disconnected from the host controller if a sideband signal is available to signal the card reader when to electrically reconnect.