Tunable, switchable, high-Q VHF microelectromechanical bandpass filters

Recent attempts to reduce the cost and size of wireless transceivers feature higher levels of transistor integration in alternative architectures to reduce the need for the off-chip, high-Q passives used in present-day super-heterodyne transceivers. Unfortunately, removal of off-chip passives often comes at the cost of increased power consumption in circuits preceding and including the analog-to-digital converter (ADC), which must have higher dynamic ranges to avoid desensitization caused by larger adjacent channel interferers. A selectivity (Q) versus power trade-off is seen here. This device makes possible a paradigm-shifting transceiver architecture that, rather than eliminate high-and passive components, attempts to maximize their role with the intention of harnessing the above Q versus power trade-off.