1 Introduction

Door and window sensors make up the backbone of any home security system and are specifically intended to monitor which doors and windows are opened and closed within a home or office. These devices are mostly battery operated and communicate with a main security system hub with information as to whether a door or window is open or closed. If an event occurs in which a door or window gets opened or breached when the alarm is on, the sensor sends an alert signal to the main control panel and immediately triggers the main alarm.

If the internal workings of the door or window sensor are examined, there is one device that is clearly integral to the functionality of this device, a ferromagnetic sensitive device. This can be a simple Reed switch or a Hall-effect sensor, but which is better for your design and why?

The subsequent sections of this article provide an overview of a door and window sensor evaluation platform focused on simultaneous comparison of performance and tamper susceptibility among the Reed switch, the DRV5032, and the TMAG5273. Additionally, tests and their respective results are outlined and compared for each device. To allow for a true comparison between the three sensors, each is co-located on the PCB.