Fast Switching Relay with The Ideal Switch

There are so many switches, because engineers have to find just the right balance between their strengths and many weaknesses.

ELECTROMECHANICAL
RELAYS

ELECTRO-MECHANICAL
RELAYS

SOLID STATE
SWITCHES

These weaknesses make the things they power bigger, slower, wasteful, less capable, or more expensive.

ELECTROMECHANICAL
RELAYS

WEAKNESSES
Big & bulky
Slow
Unreliable

STRENGTHS
Low loss
Air-gap isolation
High-power

ELECTRO-MECHANICAL
RELAYS

WEAKNESSES
Big & bulky
Slow
Unreliable

STRENGTHS
Low loss
Air-gap isolation
High-power

SOLID STATE
SWITCHES

WEAKNESSES
High losses
Distorts RF signal
Can require bulky heatsinks

STRENGTHS
Small & lightweight
Fast & silent
Reliable & vibration-proof

SOLID STATE
SWITCHES

WEAKNESSES
High losses
Distorts RF signal
Can require bulky heatsinks

STRENGTHS
Small & lightweight
Fast & silent
Reliable & vibration-proof

The Ideal Switch delivers all the strengths with none of the weaknesses.

STRENGTHS

Low loss
Air-gap isolation
High-power
Small & lightweight
Fast & silent
Reliable & vibration-proof

Side by side comparison

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vs. Electromechanical

These improvements aren’t incremental. They’re paradigm shifts.

Power Consumption (mW)

Longer battery life, less heat, new form factors

100x

LESS POWER

Longer battery life, less heat, new form factors

EMR

100

> 100mW

> 1mW

Linearity/IIP3 (dBm)

Distortion-free RF signal

100x

HIGHER LINEARITY

Distortion-free RF signal

EMR

60 dBm

> 85 dBm

Switching Speeds (ms)

New capabilities, new applications

1000x

FASTER SWITCHING

New capabilities, new applications

EMR

2.5

7.5

10ms

<10µs

Switching Cycles

Massive reliability gain

1000x

LONGER LIFE

Massive reliability gain

EMR

< 3M operations

> 3B operations

Size

240V/20A relay with integrated protection

48A/10A relay with integrated protection

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Side by side comparison

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vs. Solid-State

If infinite nano-second switching isn’t required, the Ideal Switch is always the better option.

Power Consumption (mW)

Longer battery life, less heat, new form factors

100x

LESS POWER

Longer battery life, less heat, new form factors

100

100 mW

< 10 mW

Linearity/IIP3 (dBm)

More bandwidth, higher data rates

100x

MAGNITUDE BETTER LINEARITY

More bandwidth, higher data rates

60 dBm

>85 dBm

Insertion Loss (dB)

Longer battery life, no big, heavy heatsinks

>0.5dB

LOWER LOSS

Longer battery life, no big, heavy heatsinks

0 dB

0.4 dB

0.7 dB

0.2 dB

On-Resistance

No heatsinks, massive weight, size and cost savings

85%

LESS RESISTANCE

No heatsinks, massive weight, size and cost savings

100

150

200

200 mΩ

<30 mΩ

Size

200V/20A relay With integrated protection

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So many problems, solved.

High linearity

Linear performance from 0 Hz to >50 GHz
Higher bandwidth
Faster speeds
More simultaneous phone calls
Fewer dropped calls

Low power needs

Very little power needed for switching
Longer battery life
Smaller battery packages

High reliability

Longer lifetime
Lower parts costs
No relay replacement downtime
Lower total cost of ownership

Small size and weight

Semiconductor-like packaging
Size and weight of a chip, but without the bulky heatsink

Low loss

Low resistance when "ON"
No heat
No heatsinks
Longer battery life

Airgap isolation

No leakage when "OFF"
Energy savings
Longer battery life
Lower total cost of ownership

Fast switching relay

Saves energy
Saves test time (with high volume test equipment)
Protects equipment (faster protection, reduce fault currents)

High power

Switch kW in a chip-sized package for smaller, lighter things
More portable (e.g. military radios)
More efficient to move (e.g. cars)
Easer to place and manage remotely (e.g. building circuit breakers)

PERFORMANCE

Until now, every switch has been a compromise.

So many problems, solved.