Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

David Ho

Publication Date

7-21-2008

Abstract

For some military applications, there exists a need for small custom radios. These radios need to be able to survive extreme environments and transmit the necessary data. This can be achieved by using banks of micromechanical filters. These small filters are post-CMOS compatible, allowing hundreds of high-Q filters to be incorporated over a typical RF transceiver die. Selection of these filters allows the band, channel, and bandwidth to be rapidly changed in operation. Having integrated Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) filters eliminates the need for off-chip components such as crystal references and Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) filters. This allows for smaller, low power, high performance, shock hardened radios to be developed. This thesis will examine the simulation and system analysis of MEMS filters. In past literature, there have been advances in transceiver architecture that have reduced the number of parts, but many of these approaches have sacrificed RF performance. The zero-IF and LOW-IF direct conversion sacrifices RF performance, but is good enough for normal applications. For specific military applications, this RF sacrifice is not acceptable. This thesis will simulate a BPSK architecture to develop an understanding that the post-CMOS filters can reliably be trusted upon in communication systems. The initial system to be simulated will be a 5-channel MEMS filter. This thesis will also present actual results of the 5-channel MEMS filter.

Keywords

Microelectronics

Sponsors

Sandia National Laboratory

Document Type

Thesis

Language

English

Degree Name

Electrical Engineering

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Electrical and Computer Engineering

First Committee Member (Chair)

Abdallah, Chaouki

Second Committee Member

Christodoulou, Christos

Third Committee Member

Olsson, Roy

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