Both electromechanical and semiconductor switches are proven technologies used in the control and routing of RF signals. While the use of mechanical switches can be justified in precision test equipment such as vector network analyzers, size- and cost-constrained mass-produced consumer products such as cable or satellite television (CATV/SATV) delivery systems call for electronic switches based on either transistors or PIN diodes. The absence of moving parts also gives semiconductor switches the advantages both of faster response times and longer life spans than their mechanical counterparts.A comparison of Bulk and Epitaxial PIN diodes in low cost wideband RF switching White Paper I. INTRODUCTION II. APPLICATION BACKGROUND Both electromechanical and semiconductor switches RF switches capable of multi-octave operation without are proven technologies used in the control and significant signal loss are required in both test routing of RF signals. While the use of mechanical instruments and CATV/SATV equipment. A multi-carrier switches can be justified in precision test equipment environment like CATV/SATV imposes a stringent such as vector network analyzers, size- and cost- linearity demand on the switch: it must not introduce constrained mass-produced consu……