Help may be on the way for Apple iPhone 4 users frustrated by dropped calls with the arrival of Radio Frequency Microelectromechanical Systems (RF MEMS) switches and varactors, semiconductor devices set to undergo rapid shipment growth in the coming years because of its capability to improve the performance of antennas in mobile phones, according to market research firm iSuppli Corp.
Long plagued by technological hurdles and other disappointing setbacks, RF MEMS switches and varactors are finally ready for the big time, with revenues projected to rise dramatically and grow almost fourfold in 2011.
From slightly less than $4 million in 2006, global revenue for RF MEMS switches and varactors is anticipated to climb to $8.1 million this year—and then surge to $27.9 million in 2011, iSuppli data show. By 2014, revenue will reach a whopping $223.2 million—a far cry from the industry’s extremely modest beginnings.
Like filters, resonators and inductors, switches and varactors are among the devices categorized as RF MEMS. Used in modest volumes in instrumentation for their small form factor and excellent RF performance, RF MEMS switches and varactors nonetheless have failed to take off on a large scale despite initial promise, sinking many companies unable to resolve the myriad commercialization and technological obstacles.
All that is about to change, market intelligence from iSuppli indicates, as RF MEMS technology reaches a plateau of productivity via strong product offerings from a number of credible companies.
Already six firms are sampling. Targeting high-end applications for testing and instrumentation are U.S. entities such as Analog Devices Inc., Radant Technologies, and X-COM in cooperation with the relay manufacturer Teledyne Technologies, as well as Japanese-based Omron Corp. On another front, California-based WiSpry Inc. and Japan’s TDK-Epcos are aiming for high-volume cell phone applications.
In particular, interest is growing among mobile handset manufacturers on how RF MEMS can be used for the front-end tuning of cell phones to improve antenna performance, given the advent of new wireless standards like LTE for 4G technology. The first mobile handset with tunable antenna or antenna matching is expected to arrive sometime in the second half of this year, while WiSpry—which has garnered several design-wins under its belt with MEMS varactors—is expected to head into serial production by the fourth quarter this year.
By 2014, more than 50 percent of mobile handsets will feature some level of front-end-module tuning, according to iSuppli MEMS research.
The implementation of RF MEMS switches and varactors in mobile phones could help boost the performance of smart phones like the iPhone 4, which made news headlines recently because of a problematic antenna that resulted in dropped signal strength.
A couple of smaller—but untapped—opportunities also exist for RF MEMS switches and varactors in the foreseeable future.
One area lies in wireless infrastructure—e.g., for femto cells—and cellular base stations, where the current switches being used could be outperformed in cost and performance by the new RF MEMS devices.
A second area is in defense and aerospace applications—including radio systems—especially after 2014 for phased array antennas, which offer the best high-volume opportunity numbering in the millions of units.
Read More > RF MEMS Switches and Varactors Deliver on Their Promise