RF MEMS for ubiquitous wireless connectivity. Part II. Application

This paper reports on RF-MEMS switchable capacitors, varactors, and ohmic switch technology attribute for both base stations and handsets in realizing frequency-agile RF/wireless systems capable of serving multiple frequency bands. For the handset, this leads to a smaller footprint combined with low power consumption of the RF radio. For the base station the benefit lies in ability for reconfiguration of the air interface, which leads to high logistical savings for infrastructure vendors through a reduction in the number of product variants. Reconfigurable frequency-agile radios are a perfect addition to reconfigurable baseband processing. Both together form the basis of a realistic and reasonable approach to realize software radios.