ELECTROMECHANICAL SWITCHING CIRCUITRY IN PARALLEL WITH SOLID STATE SWITCHING CIRCUITRY SELECTIVELY SWITCHABLE TO CARRY A LOAD CURRENT APPROPRIATE TO SUCH CIRCUITRY

摘要

A switching system is provided to suppress formation of an arc between contacts of an MEMS(Micro Electro-Mechanical System) switch by using an overcurrent protection circuit. A switching system(200) includes an MEMS switching circuit(202), a solid state switching circuit(204), a first overcurrent protection circuit(206), and a controller(208). The first overcurrent protection circuit is connected to the MEMS switching circuit and the solid state switching circuit in parallel to suppress an arc between contacts of the MEMS switching circuit. The controller is coupled with the MEMS switching circuit, the solid state switching circuit, and the first overcurrent protection circuit and performs selective switching of load current between the MEMS switching circuit and the solid state switching circuit according to a load current condition suitable for operation capability of each of the switching circuits.