MEMS Journal -- The Largest MEMS Publication in the World

RF MEMS aim for cell phone on-a-chip

by R. Colin Johnson
Contributing Editor, MEMS Investor Journal

RF MEMS devices are tiny replacements for the dozens of discrete components used in conventional radios and hold the possibility of enabling an entire cell phone to be cast onto a single CMOS chip.  Instead of duplicating the circuitry for each band that a cell phone serves, as is done today, RF MEMS chips use arrays of switchable devices to dynamically reconfigure a tunable radio – saving on size, cost and power consumption simultaneously.  The goal has been the subject of multiple initiatives in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

RF MEMS switches are reliable: a comprehensive technology overview

by John Maciel, Ph.D.
Chief Operating Officer, Radant MEMS, Inc.

MEMS switches have been in development for over 20 years at numerous industrial, academic and government research laboratories.  Low insertion loss, high isolation, low power consumption, extreme linearity and the ability to be integrated with other electronics make MEMS switches an attractive alternative to other mechanical and solid-state switches.  This seemingly simple device has been fraught with reliability and packaging issues that have prevented commercial success – that is, until now.  Improvements in reliability and MEMS packaging have occurred at a rapid pace over the past 5 to 10 years.  The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has contributed significantly to the funding of these efforts as they look to apply this technology to future U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) programs.

NASA harnesses RF MEMS for climate assessment

by R. Colin Johnson, Contributing Editor
MEMS Investor Journal

MEMS has enabled a complete phased-array radar to fit on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).  NASA has commissioned the Georgia Institute of Technology with a $2.4 million grant to build the lightweight, low-cost and pint-sized phased array radar to map the Earth's changing ice sheets and snow formations, potentially answering vexing questions about global climate change.

RF MEMS phase shifters

We recently spoke with Dr. Van Caekenberghe, author of several articles on RF MEMS technology for radar sensors, about RF MEMS phase shifters. Koen shares his thoughts on the small but growing RF MEMS phase shifter market including applications, market developments, pricing and vendors of RF MEMS phase shifters as well as alternative technologies.

The radar sensor market has a global turnover of about $6.25 billion annually according to Defense Industry Daily. In Koen's opinion, approximately 50% of the budget is spent on airborne, ground-based, and naval AESA radar sensors, and approximately 25% of the budget is spent on mechanically scanned radar sensors -- and during the next decade, 20% of the mechanically scanned radar sensors might be replaced by PESA radar sensors based on RF MEMS shifters, resulting in a potential global market of $300 million annually.

TeraVicta and the RF MEMS switch market

MEMS based switches for RF circuits are one of the most promising applications in the field.  We spoke with TeraVicta’s President and CEO Ray Burgess about his company’s recent activities, plans for the future as well as the size and growth potential of the MEMS based switch market.

RF MEMS for better cell phone performance

Everyone has experienced dropped calls and choppy cell phone signals.  As cell phone manufacturers are continually looking to ensure that consumers are satisfied with their devices, WiSpry is one of the companies which is now providing components to make it easier for phone designers make their products more robust.  The company raised another $13.5 million VC round in August and is now looking to move its devices into volume production and expand its marketing efforts.  We recently spoke with WiSpry's CEO Jeff Hilbert.

RF MEMS: a brief history and future trends

One of the most exciting and rapidly growing set of applications in our industry are those involving RF MEMS.  We recently spoke with Dr. Dan Hyman, the founder and CEO of XCOM Wireless, about RF MEMS history, current challenges and future trends.

In this thoroughly comprehensive interview, Dr. Hyman shares his expertise and insight, and offers intriguing predictions about the future potential of RF MEMS devices. 

Radant MEMS President discusses RF switches

MEMS based switches for RF applications are the basic block for more complex RF MEMS architectures.  We recently spoke with Dr. Jean-Claude Sureau, President of Radant MEMS.

Motorola Comments on RF MEMS

There has been much discussion about RF applications in the MEMS industry circles.   While most of the comments and input so far has been from RF MEMS manufacturers, we thought that getting some feedback from a potential RF MEMS customer, Motorola, is important as well.  We recently spoke with Tom Walczak, Senior Director of the Radio Systems Group, Mobile Devices Technology Office, and Joel Clark, Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff, about RF and other MEMS applications.

Jeff Hilbert Speaks About RF MEMS

WiSpry is a fabless, radio frequency (RF) semiconductor company headquartered in Irvine, California.  The company was formed in October 2002 through a spin-off of the RF/Wireless business unit of Coventor, Inc. and recently secured $7 Million Series A funding to drive growth of RF tunable filter and RF switch products for the cellular phone handset market. 

We spoke with Jeff Hilbert, President and CEO of Wispry and a co-founder of the company.  Jeff has over 25 years of executive management and technical experience in a number of leading semiconductor and MEMS companies including LSI Logic, Motorola, and Coventor.