|
|
Article: Crosspoint-switch ICs enter digital domain.
- Article from:
- EDN
- Article date:
- February 16, 1989
- Author:
-
|
Copyright informationCOPYRIGHT 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. (US). This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Crosspoint-switch ICs enter digital domain
When you hear someone refer to a crosspoint-switch IC these days, don't assume that they are speaking about an analog IC. Certainly the most common type of crosspoint, or crossbar, switch is the analog one, but new digital crosspoint switches are emerging that provide efficient ways to switch or reroute digital data.
In general, these programmable switches connect one of many inputs to one or more outputs. Initially, crosspoint-switch ICs were developed to replace electromechanical switches (relays) in electronic telephone-switching systems such as key exchanges--systems with 20 to 30 lines--and PBXs (Fig 1). However, the ...