SBIR Phase I: Integration of Radio Front End Using Radio Frequency Micro-electro-Mechanical Systems

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)Phase I project will investigate breakthrough improvements in radio frequency (RF) electronics for wireless portable devices, including cellular telephones and wireless local area network (LAN) elements. The focus is on the radio transceiver, or "front-end," circuitry: that portion of the wireless device that first receives signals from the antenna, or finally sends them to the antenna for transmission. This project is important because the rate of improvement in the performance and usefulness of wireless devices is hindered by difficulty in miniaturizing and combining certain components (like inductors, capacitors, and filters) with other microelectronics. The project goal will be achieved by combining micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) devices with RF circuitry in synergistic ways. The novelty lies in monolithically building ultra low-loss RF MEMS switches with microcoils, to yield electronically reconfigurable, high Q inductors, and thereby enable frequency-agile devices. Additionally, the project will include design of more complex MEMSplus RF-device combinations, the latter including variable capacitors and active circuit elements, to explore greater implementation possibilities. Significant innovation in microfabrication technology and device design will be required, covering both MEMS and non-MEMS elements. This technology will be used by high volume component manufacturing partners and cell phone producers. This will make the solutions emerging from this project broadly available commercially, at low cost. A successful implementation will have a broad, important impact on reducing cost, increasing functionality, and increasingly the data handling capacity of next generation wireless handheld devices.