CMOS-MEMS tuning and impedance matching circuits for reconfigurable RF front-ends

Tunable radio-frequency microelectromechanical system (RF-MEMS) impedance matching networks for the compact implementation of reconfigurable RF front-ends for multistandard applications are presented in this paper. Different networks are presented which improve the overall performance in terms of power handling, size, insertion loss and DC power consumption by utilizing RF-MEMS technology. The integration of the RF-MEMS impedance matching networks in standard CMOS technologies is presented. The implementation of the tunable MEMS impedance matching networks with CMOS electronics on the same chip allows for fully integrated silicon solutions for future multi-band reconfigurable RF front-ends. To demonstrate reconfigurability at the system-level, reconfigurable RF amplifiers are presented based on the proposed MEMS tunable impedance matching networks.