..... Click the link for more information. to a current when it is closed, and it offers infinite impedance when open. Mechanical switches, which operate by moving contacts together and apart, are often classified by the number of connections they can make or break at once and the number of closed positions in which they can be placed. A single-pole double-throw switch can be placed in either of two closed positions, making one connection in each position. A double-pole single-throw switch can open or close two connections at once. For many operations, as in computers and digital telecommunications, the operation of mechanical switches is too slow and transistors transistor, three-terminal, solid-state electronic device used for amplification and switching. It is the solid-state analog to the triode electron tube; the transistor has replaced the electron tube for virtually all common applications.
..... Click the link for more information. are used instead. The PIN diode diode , two-terminal electronic device that permits current flow predominantly in only one direction. Most diodes are semiconductor devices; diode electron tubes are now used only for a few specialized applications.
..... Click the link for more information. , which contains an intermediate intrinsic layer between the n-type and p-type layers, is also used as a simple switch. This device, which normally acts as a conductor, acts as a strong dielectric when the intrinsic layer is reverse biased. See relay relay, electromechanical switch operated by a flow of electricity in one circuit and controlling the flow of electricity in another circuit. A relay consists basically of an electromagnet with a soft iron bar, called an armature, held close to it.
..... Click the link for more information. .
Bibliography
See J. C. McDonald, Fundamentals of Digital Switching (1990).
With regard to a simple on/off switch, remember... Open is "off." Closed is "on."
(2) In programming, a bit or byte used to keep track of something. Sometimes refers to a branch in a program.
(3) A modifier of a command. See DOS switch.
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| Mechanical and Semiconductor Switches |
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| The semiconductor switch (transistor) performs the same function as an on/off light switch on the wall. Instead of being manually closed, the switch is electronically closed by pulsing the semiconductor material, which makes it conduct. |
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| A Manual Switch |
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| This early switch panel from New York Electric Switchboard Company was used to manually open and close electric lines. |
switch
switch [swich]
| 1. | (programming) | switch - switch statement. | |
| 2. | (software) | switch - command line option. | |
| 3. | (networking) | switch - packet switch, circuit switch. |
Switch
a device that selects the required output circuit (or circuits) and connects to it an input circuit (or circuits) by means of connection, disconnection, or commutation. The selection may be manual or automatic, following a program stated in terms of a time or state function of other electric circuits. Switches are a component of more complex data-transmission equipment used in telemechanics and communications engineering, and they are used to solve programming and control problems in computer technology and to connect circuits in electric machines.
A distinction is made among electromechanical, electronic, and electron-beam switches. The simplest electromechanical switches are knife switches, commutators of electric machines, and sets of electromagnetic relays or electromechanical selectors. More complex switches are electronic devices assembled according to definite functional schemes; they may include ionic devices, electron tubes, semiconductor devices, and electron-tube commutators, as well as gas-discharge tubes and circulators (for ultrahigh frequencies).
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