RF-MEMS technology: An enabling solution in the transition from 4G-LTE to 5G mobile applications

RF-MEMS, i.e. MicroElectroMechanical-Systems for Radio Frequency passives, have been around for two decades. From the market prospect, disappointments seem to overweight success cases. Nevertheless, full deployment of such a technology has still to come, and future 5G mobile standard might be the perfect ground for such a potential to manifest. In this work, after a brief review of RF-MEMS technology evolution also including current market figures, the envisaged challenges that 5G will pose in terms of performance are unrolled. Therefore, experimental characteristics of a few classes of RF-MEMS designed at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) will be reported, commenting on how they position in the 5G landscape.