Crossover switch

In electronics, a crossover switch or matrix switch is a switch connecting multiple inputs to multiple outputs using complex array matrices designed to switch any one input path to any one (or more) output path(s). There are blocking and non-blocking types of cross-over switches.

These switches can be microelectromechanical systems, electrical, or optical non-linear optics, and are used in electronics and fiber optic circuits, as well as some optical computers.[1] A banyan switch is one type of cross-over switch. Their complexity depends on the topology of the individual switches in a switch matrix (how wide it is by how many 'plies' or layers of switches it takes), to implement the desired crossover logic.

Formula

Typical crossover matrices follow the formula: an N×N Banyan switch uses (N/2) log N elements. Other formulas are used for differing number of cross-over layers, and scaling is possible, but becomes very large and complex with large N×N arrays. CAD and AI can be used to take the drudgery out of these designs.

Measurement

The switches are measured by how many stages, and how many up/down sorters and crosspoints. Switches often have buffers built in to speed up switching speeds. A typical switch may have a 2×2 and 4×4 down sorter, followed by an 8×8 up sorter, followed by a 2×2 crosspoint banyan switch network, resulting in a 3-level sorting for a 3-stage banyan network switch. The future is moving to larger arrays of inputs and outputs needed in a very small space.

See also

References
  1. Picton, P. D. (1994-09-01). "Modified Fredkin gates in logic design". Microelectronics Journal. 25 (6): 437–441. doi:10.1016/0026-2692(94)90068-X. ISSN 0026-2692.
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