DelfMEMS, an emerging RF MEMS technology company, reported this week that it has successfully delivered custom samples to NTT DOCOMO, the Japanese mobile operator. DelfMEMS has provided arrays of custom MEMS ohmic switches to enable tunability into RF front-end modules, or FEMs, for mobile applications. DelfMEMS said that voltage, size, losses, isolation, ultra-fast switching time and power handling will be evaluated by NTT DOCOMO according to the requested specifications which cover a frequence range of up to 6 GHz.
DelfMEMS also said that it is setting-up an open technology platform to propose a new integrated micro-mechanical building block that is based on "a strong, totally new IP portfolio "that solves past issues of RF MEMS ohmic switches. According to some industry experts, MEMS switches are considered to be the optimum RF switching technology that can decreases power consumption and bill of material costs by minimizing losses between the antenna and active devices of an FEM.
"Concerning RF MEMS, after so many promises and disappointments, we are working with a very basic approach: step by step. This step is a huge one and we are extremely proud of the validation of these delivered custom MEMS arrays by an operator such as NTT DOCOMO. They are pioneer in the mobile field, and we hope to help them to increase data transfer and to decrease power consumption of the global chain from handsets to base stations,'' said Olivier Millet, DelfMEMS CEO. ''The last advantage, but not the least, is that even if current insertion losses of our MEMS switches are better than advanced SOI or SoS technologies, we already know how to decrease them again in the next months with a lower cost and a lower size."
DelfMEMS is based in France and develops RF switches based on MEMS technology. The company's potential customers are automatic test equipment (ATE) manufacturers, RF front-end module manufacturers, semiconductor industry, telecom infrastructures manufacturers and others.
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