Designing a Reconfigurable Frequency Agile Software Radio based on Function Blocks

This talk elaborates on a new approach for designing radios that offer flexibility in the ananlog domain. The flexibility will mainly be offered by using RF-MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) Technology, that allows setting analog characteristics. It is possible to design Capacitors and Inductors and Switches in MEMS Technology, furthermore it is also feasible to realize tunable elements like Varactors and Variometers. Fixed and variable elements can be formed together as an analog circuit, whose characteristics can be set by applying control voltages. The flexible circuits are called RFB (radio function blocks). They may also contain active circuits like isolation amplifiers, DACs and logic for easy access. RFBs will serve as the building blocks for a frequency agile software reconfigurable radio. A typical RFB could be an analog filter, whose center frequency and bandwidth are set by software, whereby influences from parasitics like package and outer circuitry are shielded by the use of isolation amplifiers.