An RF (Radio Frequency) switch is a device to route high frequency signals through transmission paths.
Solid state and Electro mechanical switches up to 40GHz with different connector options at various power levels are available.
An RF (Radio Frequency) switch is a device to route high frequency signals through transmission paths.
Solid state and Electro mechanical switches up to 40GHz with different connector options at various power levels are available.
Features
Electro-mechanical RF switches have low insertion loss and high port to port isolation. Their switching speed is in the milliseconds (10 msec typical) and they can cold switch high RF power levels (200W @ 1GHz). Electro-mechanical RF switches do have mechanical wear that limits their lifetime to 1 million operations typical.
Solid-State RF Switch
Solid-State RF switches have fast switching speed (microseconds) and high reliability (MTBF 250,000 hours typical). Because solid-state switches have no mechanical wear, the insertion loss repeatability is excellent. Solid-state switches do have lower isolation and higher harmonic distortion than their electro-mechanical counterparts.
Reflective Switch: Switch ports are high impedance (i.e. open) when turned off.
Absorptive Switch: Switch ports are properly terminated when turned off (i.e. 50 Ohms for 50 Ohm switches).
Self-terminating Switch: This term has the identical meaning as the term absorptive switch.
Normally Open (N.O.) Switch: When no control power supplied, common port is connected to none of the output ports.
Failsafe Switch: When no control power supplied, common port is connected to one of the output ports.