Crossbar switch

In electronics and telecommunications, a crossbar switch (cross-point switch, matrix switch) is a collection of switches arranged in a matrix configuration. A crossbar switch has multiple input and output lines that form a crossed pattern of interconnecting lines between which a connection may be established by closing a switch located at each intersection, the elements of the matrix. Originally, a crossbar switch consisted literally of crossing metal bars that provided the input and output paths. Later implementations achieved the same switching topology in solid-state electronics. The crossbar switch is one of the principal telephone exchange architectures, together with a rotary switch, memory switch, and a crossover switch. A crossbar switch is an assembly of individual switches between a set of inputs and a set of outputs. The switches are arranged in a matrix. If the crossbar switch has M inputs and N outputs, then a crossbar has a matrix with M × N cross-points or places where connections can be made. At each crosspoint is a switch; when closed, it connects one of the inputs to one of the outputs. A given crossbar is a single layer, non-blocking switch. A crossbar switching system is also called a coordinate switching system. Collections of crossbars can be used to implement multiple layer and blocking switches. A blocking switch prevents connecting more than one input. A non-blocking switch allows other concurrent connections from inputs to other outputs. Crossbar switches are commonly used in information processing applications such as telephony and circuit switching, but they are also used in applications such as mechanical sorting machines. The matrix layout of a crossbar switch is also used in some semiconductor memory devices which enables the data transmission. Here the bars are extremely thin metal wires, and the switches are fusible links. The fuses are blown or opened using high voltage and read using low voltage. Such devices are called programmable read-only memory.