ABSTRACT
Switching products technologies ranges from traditional Electro Mechanical Relays (EMR) and reed relays to semiconductor switches made of silicon or GaAs materials. A new type of device is currently getting to commercialization. The first sales of RF MEMS switches outside DOD programs have been realized by Teravicta in 2006. The achievements of RadantMEMS in USA DOD programs, the first commercial product sales from Teravicta in 2006 and the 4 other competitors (MEW, XCOMwireless, MEMSTRONICs, Advantest) product introduction in the same year, is a clear sign that RF MEMS switches are gaining momentum. Market potential is therefore large because MEMS based switches are expected to both: • substitute existing products • enable new applications, particularly for mobile phones within short term The RF MEMS switch market mainly follows three drivers: • Weight and size benefit for space and ATE (Automated Test Equipment) applications • Increased RF switching performance at constant size and cost, for cell phone and radars applications • Ability to create switching matrix being low cost and good RF performances in wired and wireless telecom applications What is the technical segmentation? The large panel of potential applications having strongly different specifications brings additional constrains to product development programs. There is a close relation between the MEMS structure developed and its ability to answer power handling capability of communication radars, or to achieve the appropriate cost structure required by cell phone handset modules. This lead to a complex market segmentation which should take into account a large set of parameters: Supply voltage, size, and cost structure, RF power handling capability, reliability level, and fit with the supply chain requirements… An investigation through the different industries has highlighted that MEMS will only hit a share of the total RF switch market. RF MEMS switches will never replace antenna switches in cell phones because of switching speed limitation for example. The limiting market factors are mainly related to power handling, low RF performance and reliability requirements. Will RF MEMS switch be able to enter the cell phone billion unit market? The RF analog from end module is expected to use up to four MEMS switch based features. The goal is to optimize the impendence of the antenna, the power amplifier and the filters in a large range of frequencies.
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