Configurable microwave structures for software defined (and cognitive) radio front ends

Both Software Defined Radio and Cognitive Radio require a flexible transceiver front end. This paper introduces solutions to two important features of such a device; the antenna and the filter. These are both microwave resonant structures and so share design trade-offs and restrictions; in this application they must both offer some degree of tunability or wideband performance. MEMS technology is proposed as the enabler for reconfigurability in the distributed microwave structures. This technology overcomes the shortcomings of both large-scale mechanical devices and semiconductor-based solutions.