Course Description

RF MEMS Circuit Design
for Wireless Communications

UCL, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, 28th of November 2006 (9:00 am - 5:30 pm)

Speaker

Héctor J. De Los Santos, Ph.D., IEEE Fellow
NanoMEMS Research, LLC
Irvine, California, U.S.A
hjd@nanomems-research.com

Abstract

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology is on the verge of revolutionizing RF and Microwave wireless applications. As the requirements of present day and future wireless systems for lower weight, volume, power consumption and cost with increased functionality, frequency of operation and component integration become more and more demanding, the potentialities of the RF MEMS arsenal to meet these requirements, by enabling new wireless components and system architectures, are becoming ever more attractive. In this course we address the key practical aspects on which one must be well versed to succeed in exploiting this technology as well as its salient emerging applications.

Who Should Attend: Students, engineers, designers, manufacturers, marketing and business development managers, and executives currently involved in the study, development, or manufacturing of wireless systems for both commercial and defense markets.

Course Objectives

This course aims at getting interested parties informed on:

• Motivation for applying RF MEMS in Wireless Systems
• The elements of RF Circuit Design
• The nature of Circuit Elements Enabled by RF MEMS and Their Applications
• Case Studies on the Application of RF MEMS Devices in Circuit Design for Wireless Systems

Course Outline

1. Wireless Systems : A Circuits Perspective
2. Elements of RF Circuit Design
   Physical Aspects of RF Circuit Design. Practical Aspects of RF Circuit Design
3. RF MEMS-Enabled Circuit Elements and Models
   RF/Microwave substrate properties. Micromachined-Enhanced Elements
   MEM switches. Resonators. MEMS modeling
4. Novel RF MEMS-Enabled Circuits
   Reconfigurable Circuit Elements. Reconfigurable Circuits. Reconfigurable Antennas
5. RF MEMS-Based Circuit Design–Case Studies
   Phase Shifters. Filters. RF MEMS oscillators.

Speaker Biography

Héctor J. De Los Santos received the Ph.D. degree from the School of Electrical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, in 1989. He is President and CTO of NanoMEMS Research, LLC, Irvine, CA, a company engaged in Nanoelectromechanical Quantum Circuits and Systems and RF MEMS (NanoMEMS) research, consulting, and education, where he focuses on discovering fundamentally new devices, circuits and design techniques to implement NanoMEMS Systems-on-Chip. Prior to founding NanoMEMS in 2002, he spent two years as Principal Scientist at Coventor, Inc., Irvine, CA, where he led Coventor’s intellectual property R&D effort, with activities including the conception, modeling, and design of novel RF MEMS devices. From 1989 to 2000, he was employed at Hughes Space and Communications Company, Los Angeles, CA, where he served as Director of the Future Enabling Technologies IR&D Program. Under this program he pursued research in the areas of RF MEMS, Quantum Functional Devices and Circuits, and Photonic Bandgap Devices and Circuits. Dr. De Los Santos holds 16 US patents, and is author of bestseller textbooks, including the now classic Introduction to Microelectromechanical (MEM) Microwave Systems (1999). His newest book, Principles and Applications of NanoMEMS Physics, was published by Springer in 2005. From 2001-2003 he lectured worldwide as an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer of the Microwave Theory and Techniques Society. He has been recently elected an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer of the Electron Devices Society. He serves regularly as a reviewer for top technical journals and conferences, and funding agencies, in particular, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the European Science Foundation. He is an IEEE Fellow.

Venue

The course will be held in Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium) on november 28th, 2006, 9:00 am - 5:30 pm.

It will take place in the BARB 01 (morning) and BARB 91 (afternoon) rooms. These rooms are part of the "Sainte-Barbe" building. Referring to this map:

• Nr. 6 in square E8 is where the course will be held.
• For people coming by car, free parking is available close to the "Ferme du Rédimé" in square E9.
• For people coming by train, the "Louvain-la-Neuve-univ." station is nr. 18 in square D6-7. From the station, go up the "Rue des Wallons" (including the "Place des Wallons"), go through the "Place des Sciences" and continue to the "Sainte-Barbe" building.

Organization

MUSICS Graduate School

and

UCL MEMS Chair
Electrical Engineering Department
Université catholique de Louvain
Place du Levant 3
1348 Louvain-la-Neuve

Registration

Registration deadline : November 20th, 2006.

The course is free for university students and members, otherwise a fee of 150 euros will be charged.