Menlo Microsystems, Inc., known for its Ideal Switch™ technology, has announced a double-pole/double-throw (DPDT) switch providing the industry’s highest performance and data rates for high speed differential switching applications. Based on Menlo Micro’s Ideal Switch technology, the MM5600 DPDT switch offers high speed operation from DC to 20 GHz or 40 Gbps, significantly outperforming conventional electromechanical (EM) relays and solid-state switches. The MM5600 switch’s flexible configuration also enables internal differential crossover capabilities, greatly simplifying board routing.
The MM5600 provides a best-in-class differential switching solution for high speed digital applications based on the latest PCI Express standard, PCIe Gen 5, which doubles interconnect speeds over the PCIe 4.0 specification (32 Gigatransfers per second versus 16 GT/s). Faster PCIe speeds are essential for next-generation artificial intelligence, machine learning, 5G infrastructure, data center and cloud-based applications, as well as automated test equipment device interface boards and high speed computer peripheral interfaces. The MM5600 switch also can be configured for single-ended operation for RF and microwave applications.
“We designed the MM5600 DPDT switch to meet the increasing performance demands of today’s high speed digital and RF device interface board applications,” said Chris Giovanniello, co-founder and senior vice president of marketing at Menlo Micro. “Existing electromechanical relays and semiconductors fall short in meeting the extreme performance requirements of PCIe Gen 5 and other high speed data interfaces such as InfiniBand, USB4 and 112G Ethernet. No other EM relay or solid-state switch can match the combined switching speed, size, power efficiency, reliability and versatility of our new MM5600 switch operating at up to 40 Gbps.”
Fast switching: The MM5600’s ultra-fast switching speed (< 10 µs operation time and < 2 µs release time) is 1000x faster than EM relays, enabling reduced test time and cost-to-test.
Reliable solution: The MM5600 provides unmatched reliability and can operate with more than three billion switching cycles, resulting in reduced downtime, maintenance and cost and a 1000x longer lifetime compared to conventional EM relays.
Compact design: The MM5600’s small-footprint/low-profile 64 mm² design in an 8 x 8 x 1.6 mm QFN package provides a 90 percent reduction in size over conventional EM relay solutions. This significant volume reduction enables more parallel tests and easier top and/or bottom routing.
Power efficient: The MM5600 operates at less than 0.08 mW, a 99 percent reduction in power consumption compared to EM relays, making it the most energy-efficient high speed DPDT switching solution available.
Differential modes: The MM5600’s integrated driver offers two modes of operation and can be controlled through a serial or parallel interface to drive the switch’s high-voltage gate lines.
ESD protection: The MM5600 is designed with full electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection on all input/output ports.
Leading IP3 linearity: The MM5600 achieves an IP3 linearity of more than +90 dBm with a power handling capability of +33 dBm, enabling large reductions in distortion and delivering up to a 10,000x improvement over existing EM relays and solid-state switches. IP3 is the figure of merit in determining how much distortion a switch will introduce into a system, impacting the quality of transmitted or received signals.