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Using MEMS Capacitive Switches in Tunable RF Amplifiers

EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking volume 2006, Article number: 016518 (2006) Cite this article

Abstract

A MEMS capacitive switch suitable for use in tunable RF amplifiers is described. A MEMS switch is designed, fabricated, and characterized with physical and RF measurements for inclusion in simulations. Using the MEMS switch models, a dual-band low-noise amplifier (LNA) operating at GHz and GHz, and a tunable power amplifier (PA) at GHz are simulated inm CMOS. MEMS switches allow the LNA to operate with 11 dB of isolation between the two bands while maintaining dB of gain and sub- dB noise figure. MEMS switches are used to implement a variable matching network that allows the PA to realize up to 37% PAE improvement at low input powers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronics, Carleton University Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    John Danson, Calvin Plett & Niall Tait

Authors
  1. John Danson
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  2. Calvin Plett
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  3. Niall Tait
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to John Danson.

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Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Danson, J., Plett, C. & Tait, N. Using MEMS Capacitive Switches in Tunable RF Amplifiers. J Wireless Com Network 2006, 016518 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1155/WCN/2006/16518

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/WCN/2006/16518

Keywords

  • Information System
  • Input Power
  • System Application
  • Power Amplifier
  • Noise Figure