Reconfigurable RF Circuits and RF‐MEMS

Abstract

The twelfth chapter, Reconfigurable RF Circuits and RF-MEMS, was contributed by Robert Malmqvist from Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) and Uppsala University, Sweden, Aziz Ouacha from FOI, Sweden, Mehmet Kaynak from IHP GmbH, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, Naveed Ahsan Linkoping University, Sweden, and Joachim Oberhammer from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. While most of today's RF circuits are designed for a specific (fixed) function and frequency range, a much higher degree of flexibility would be possible using highly reconfigurable circuit implementations and front-ends architectures. This chapter presents examples of reconfigurable RF circuits that have been realised using either fully transistor based solutions or by employing RF MicroElectroMechanical Systems (RF-MEMS). First a novel approach for implementing reconfigurable circuitry based on the concept of Programmable Microwave Function Arrays (PROMFA) is presented. Various reconfigurable circuit designs based on the emergence of high performance RF-MEMS switches being developed in GaAs, GaN and SiGe RFIC/MMIC process technologies are then reviewed. In the final section, an overview of state-of-the-art RF-MEMS based phase shifter designs intended for electronic beam-steering antennas and phased array systems is presented.