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VincePG
This is so cool. Correct me if I'm wrong on this since I'm no expert, but the ...
CJS2
I hope this proves to be a significant improvement in cell reception. I have ...
RF-MEMS to boost NTT's cell phones
R Colin Johnson
8/30/2010 11:02 PM EDT
PORTLAND, Ore. — MEMS RF filters will be designed with NTT DoCoMo Inc. for its popular mobile phone network in Japan in a joint development agreement with WiSpry Inc. Both companies will pursue MEMS tunable filters to improve reception and mitigate dropped calls, thereby increasing performance and expanding capacity on NTT's mobile networks.
WiSpry's MEMS capacitor arrays allow RF applications to dynamically tune their circuitry to adapt to changing circumstances while a handset user moves about, touches the antenna portion of the case and encounters obstacles or reflections down urban canyons. Today, most tunable RF functions are set at the factory with discrete components, whereas putting those functions into a capacitor array allows microcontrollers to optimize performance in real time.
WiSpry (Irvine, Calif.) recently announced separate joint development deals with IBM in the U.S. and Infineon in Europe to develop tunable RF MEMS front-ends for cell phones. The terms of the deal with NTT DoCoMo (Tokyo) were not disclosed.
The joint development effort will result in CMOS chips using RF MEMS that shrink the size, lower the cost and improve performance over the many discrete components required for RF filters today. Dynamic tuning of the filters as a handset user moves about, according to the companies, will making calls go through more smoothly thereby increasing the overall performance and expanding network capacity.
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Jimelectr
8/31/2010 12:26 AM EDT
MEMS are definitely the way of the future. How far in the future is anyone's guess. I predict that there will be 3 steps in the progression: 1) MEMS devices will be on a board in separate packages from the radio chip(s), 2) MEMS will reside on a separate die from the radio chip in the same package, and 3) MEMS will become a part of the radio chip itself. You heard it here first!
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CJS2
8/31/2010 7:24 AM EDT
I hope this proves to be a significant improvement in cell reception. I have had many instances of dropped calls where the apparent signal strength as displayed by my phone has jumped back from the lowest displayed signal strength in a matter of seconds while driving. Perhaps the next iteration of the IPhone will not require a "bumper".
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VincePG
8/31/2010 9:57 PM EDT
This is so cool. Correct me if I'm wrong on this since I'm no expert, but the way I understand this to work is small(10 micron diameter, 1/10 the size of a hair) fingers of various resonating properties(lengths) are created on a layered silicon substrate. An electrical signal is passed through a finger that vibrates at a specific harmonic frequency and depending on the adjacent finger harmonic properties a signal is passed filtered. It's all mechanical. This technology can be interleaved so that the filter can be adaptable to CPU process, unlike a discrete filter. The fingers can be connected mechanically, like tiny springs, or they can be linked using electric fields and magnetic attractions. Since the cell environment is variable having a CPU adaptable filter is a real advantage for cell phones.
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