Electromechanical and Electromagnetic Simulation of RF-MEMS Complex Networks Based on Compact Modeling Approach

RF-MEMS, i.e. MicroElectroMechanical-Systems for Radio Frequency applications, have been attracting the interest of the scientific community for more than one decade, thanks to their high performance and large reconfigurability. The employment of RF-MEMS based devices and networks, like varactors, switches, phase-shifters, impedance matching networks and so on, within transceivers platforms, is the key to extend their functionalities and supported services. In this scenario, it is straightforward that the proper simulation of RF-MEMS devices and networks is a critical aspect to be faced, aiming at their integration within functional blocks based on standard semiconductor technologies. Our contribution reports on the exploitation of a MEMS compact model software library, previously developed by some of the authors, in order to simulate the coupled electromechanical and RF behavior of RF-MEMS devices/networks within a commercial ICs development framework, i.e. Cadence©. Such an approach enables the fast and accurate simulation of the mixed-domain behavior of RF-MEMS, as well as the hybridization of RF MEMS and CMOS blocks within the same schematic.