Research Article
Using MEMS Capacitive Switches in Tunable RF Amplifiers
Department of Electronics, Carleton University Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1S 5B6
EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking 2006, 2006:016518 doi:10.1155/WCN/2006/16518
Published: 16 May 2006Abstract
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 in
m 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.
