At European Microwave Week 2025, Electronic Specifier’s Editor, Mick Elliott speaks to Steven Edwards, Head of Product Management at Pickering Interfaces about a range of switching solutions making their debut at the exhibition.
At the show, Edwards introduced five new standard products which will allow its customers to have completely commercial off-the-shelf products available, providing them with a full range of options for all of the Pickering microwave switches.
“We’ve had various requests from customers over the years for bespoke products, custom products in the microwave ranges, which we’ve provided in all sorts of different form factors as per requirements.
For this show [we released] a range of five new standard products, to allow customers to have completely commercial off-the-shelf products available, which provide a full range of options for all of our microwave switches.”
These products include SPDT switching (terminated and unterminated from 6–110GHz), high channel count MUXes (SP 8Ts, 10Ts, and 12Ts), and transfer switches.
By adding transfer switches to our range, our customers have access in commercial off-the-shelf range for every product we previously offered in our customer range.”
The company also launched constructed MUXes and a constructed Matrix. These, Edwards explained, are: “High channel count MUXes 36 to 1’s, 48 to 1s, pre-wired, preconfigured into a unit. The fifth product itself is a constructed Matrix. We’re offering up to 12 x 12, up to 67GHz in that particular range.”
By adding these five products, every switch and frequency combination is now available as a commercial off-the-shelf option.
To support growing demand from customers, Pickering has created an online Microwave Switch Design Tool (MSDT).
“We’ve also created a free online tool for our customers called the microwave switch design tool or MSDT for short. Available from our website free of charge, it allows customers to basically create their custom unit. So they can design the front and rear panel. They can add their corporate logo to the unit. They can pre-wire all the switches. And most importantly, it allows them to provide real-time simulation of the performance. So customers can fine-tune the design before they actually physically receive hardware.”
Pickering’s Microwave Switch Design Tool (MSDT) is also used internally by engineers to assign part numbers and generate simulation results for custom microwave units. For customers, it simplifies deployment by providing preconfigured units complete with S2P data, ready to use in test systems. Lead times depend on configuration complexity, ranging from around 10–12 weeks for standard units, with simpler setups potentially delivered faster. However, more complex systems may require additional components.
“Customers request non switch components to be added to the system. So they for example require some attenuation, they require some splitters, combiners, some active circuitry like amplifiers. We can also source all of that and actually provide it into the unit to create the RFIU specifically for their application.”
Although not all features are available in the tool yet, Edwards encouraged customers to engage early: “From the MSD team that’s the first place to look at. At the moment you can add switches only with the cabling and interconnects. The next release will allow you to add all the non-switch components but it will allow you to simulate now for your relay switch path. And from that we can start the dialogue with the customer.”
Watch the video below to learn more.
