© 2013

75 Cours Emile Zola, F-69100 Villeurbanne - Lyon, France

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Web: http://www.yole.fr

RF-MEMS:

From Technology Push to Market Pull?

Microwave & RF 2013 – Conférence RF MEMS

10 Avril 2013

© 2013• 2

Outline

• Presentation of Yole Developpement

• Status of MEMS industry in 2013

• The boom of RF-MEMS for cell phone tuning

• High-added value application segments

© 2013• 3

Fields of Research Activity

Founded in 1998, Yole Developpement is a global market, technology and strategy consulting company involved in :

Our research is performed by in-house personnel conducting open-ended discussions based on interviews.

32 full time analysts with technical and marketing degrees

Primary research including over 3,500 interviews per year

Wafers and substrates

MEMS &

image sensors

Photovoltaics

Advanced

Packaging

Microfluidic

& Medical

Technologies

Power

Electronics

HB LED, LED & LD

© 2013• 4

Yole Développement Services

1. Strategy & Technology Consulting Services

• Market research and marketing analysis

• Strategy analysis

• Technology evaluation

• Reverse costing

• Financial services with Yole Finance

2. Publication of Market & Technology Reports

• >30 reports per year

3. Custom Workshops

• Get data and information on any of Yole’s expertise: MEMS, Compound

Semiconductors, Advanced Packaging, Photovoltaic …

4. Yole Media & Communication Support

• Micronews magazine and website

• Technology magazines: MEMS Trends…

© 2013• 5

$ 0M

$5 000M

$10 000M

$15 000M

$20 000M

$25 000M

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

MEMS market forecast 2012-2018 value (in M$)

Others

Oscillators

RF MEMS

Microdispensers (microfluidics)

Microfluidics for IVD

Microfluidics for research

Other optical MEMS

Projection systems

Micro displays

PIR & thermopiles

Microbolometers

Inertial combos

Digital compass

Gyroscopes

Accelerometers

Microphones

Pressure sensors

InkJet heads

Continued Strong Growth2012-2018 Forecast (in US$M)

Yole Developpement © March 2013

© 2013• 6

2012 MEMS players ranking Top 30

$ 0

$ 200

$ 400

$ 600

$ 800

$1 000

$1 200

MEM

S R

eve

nu

e (

US$

M)

TOP 30 MEMS Players Ranking 2012

Yole Developpement © March 2013

© 2013• 7

Global RF-MEMS market update

• Moderate market opportunities in ATE market

– RF MEMS used in niche applications, not compete with the mainstream part (solid state switches). This market is

conservative

– Offering becomes broader

– Trend is to handle higher frequencies

• Switches for aerospace & defense are already in production, but with limited volume

• Mobile phone market started

– Strong demand for tuner devices, but strong competition from alternative technologies

– Yole has revised upwards his forecast for MEMS in ASM with >100M dies expected in 2016

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Mar

ket

($M

)

2012-2018 RF MEMS Switch / Variable Capacitor Market ($M)

Aerospace & defense

Industrial

Telecom infrastructure

Mobile devices

Yole développement © Apr. 2013

© 2013• 8

Applications for tunable modules in the

radio handset

Tunable modules will be integrated in three handset locations:

Tunable

ModulePA

Base-

bandFilter

SM

AR

T A

NT

EN

NA

SY

ST

EM

Command (for open-loop)

Tunable

Module

PA Filter

TU

NA

BLE

PA

MO

DU

LE

Tunable

Module

PA Filter

TU

NA

BLE

FIL

TE

R

MO

DU

LE

Command

(for open-

loop)

Command

(for open-

loop)

Antenna

Switch

Module

Base-

band

Base-

band

Antenna

Switch

Module

Filter LNA

Antenna

Switch

Module

Antenna tuning

Tunable PA

Tunable filter / duplexer

Source Epcos

• A tunable module is

built from:

– a switch

multiplexer

connected to

capacitors

– and inductors

© 2013• 9

Drivers for RF tuners… and MEMS value proposition

Increasing

number of

bands and

antennas

LTECarrier

aggregation

Smaller

antennas for

smaller phones

Operators demand for

more users per BST

+ more data per user

• Very high Q

• Excellent linearity over wide frequency range

• Low loss

• High capacitor range

• Digital control, that can be integrated

• Low power consumption (electrostatic actuation)

MEMS value

proposition

Drivers for RF

tuners

© 2013• 10

Wispry reverse engineering

Wispry RF MEMS

Underfill

ASIC

MEMS Interconnect

MEMS Beam

Package

MEMS Lid/Cap

Package Top view

Package side view

4.2mm

1m

m

3.6

mm

Extract from the reverse costing report “Wispry RF MEMS Antenna Tuner”

(published in Jan. 2012)

© 2013• 11

Die SEM

view

Die SEM

view

Die

Bump

Polyimide

layer

Beam

Holes

Wispry reverse engineeringDie – SEM View

Extract from the reverse costing report “Wispry RF MEMS Antenna Tuner”

(published in Jan. 2012)

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Proliferation of RF tunersFirst Epcos close loop tuner on the market!

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Proliferation of RF tuners2 antenna tuners in iPhone 5!

RFMD RF1101 and RF1102 tuners for 2 applications in iPhone 5:

Diversity antenna for low band LTE

Main cellular antenna

(source Chipworks)

In Orange: 3 BST ICs used for

impedance matching in Blackberry Z10!

(source Chipworks)

© 2013• 14

Cellphone RF tuners for cell phonesPosition of MEMS today

Price

Size

PerformancedB improvement

Q factor

Number of capacitors

Wispry15mm² 5mm² today (WLCSP) 4mm²

EpcosOpen loop

On Semi, STM, Blackberry

Peregrine

RFMD

Qualcomm…

CavendishWLCSP - 2mm² (only MEMS part)

$1 75 cents 50 cents

GaAs MEMS BST SOI - SOS

RFMD71%

Paratek / RIM10%

Epcos3%

Peregrine2%

Wispry1%

Others13%

2012 cellphone impedance matching module market share in value

- Total = $54.9M -

Yole développement © Feb. 2013

© 2013• 15

Cellphone RF tuners for cell phonesTomorrow expectations

Price

Size

PerformancedB improvement

Q factor

Number of capacitors

Wispry15mm² 5mm² today (WLCSP) 4mm²

EpcosOpen loop

On Semi, STM, Blackberry

Peregrine

RFMD

Qualcomm…

CavendishWLCSP - 2mm² (only MEMS part)

$1 75 cents 50 cents

Development of close loop solutions

Diversification: tunable filters…

Lower cost product

lines (less capacitors)

Package and die shrink

New players

GaAs MEMS BST SOI - SOS

© 2013• 16

RF switches: another MEMS opportunity

Multiband Multimode FEM

Baseband(Multiband)

Multibandtransceiver PA + Duplexer

Antenna

Switch

Module

(ASM)

Main

AntennaPA + Duplexer

Duplexer

PA

ModuleFilter

bank

PA

T/R antenna switch

Dual band

PA die

SPDT

SP12T

switch

PA module

PA die

PA die

PA die

Band switchingSPDT SP5T

PA receiver side

/ Converged PASPDT SP5T

Diversity

antenna

/ LTE

antennaASM

Many opportunities for switches:

© 2013• 17

RF switches: another MEMS opportunity

Multiband Multimode FEM

Baseband(Multiband)

Multibandtransceiver PA + Duplexer

Antenna

Switch

Module

(ASM)

Main

AntennaPA + Duplexer

Duplexer

PA

Module

Filter

bank

PA

T/R antenna switch

Dual band

PA die

SPDT

SP12T

switch

PA module

PA die

PA die

PA die

Band switchingSPDT SP5T

PA receiver side

/ Converged PASPDT SP5T

Diversity

antenna

/ LTE

antennaASM

1. GaAs substrate

2. HR-SOI substrate

3. SOS substrate

4. CMOS (Infineon)

5. MEMS (emerging)

Different technology candidates:

Source DelfMEMS

© 2013• 18

High added value applications for RF-

MEMS switches/varicaps

• The use of MEMS switches in high-end markets depend on 5 key parameters:

– Configuration: a fonction is requested, not a single switch/varicap

– Frequency range

– Switching time

– Power handling

– Cycling

• RF MEMS switches/varicaps value proposition:

– Low loss and high isolation, enabling new architectures

– Less power consumption (than EM relay)

– Potential for low cost and high level of integration

– Can enable a decrease of size / weight of the system

30 GHz MEMS Phase Shifter from Raytheon

© 2013• 19

High added value applications for RF-

MEMS switches / varicaps

Military radars

Electronically scanned array

Circulator in TR modules

Adaptative antennas

Others: receiver protection

devices…

Communication

RF-MEMS switches

/ varicaps

Space

Redundancy matrix

Commutation matrix

Space radars &

communication: reflect

array antenna, PESA…

Commutation between filters

Adaptative filters

TR modules

Steering antennas

© 2013• 20

High added value application segmentsCircuit configurations and market potential

Matrix

Phase shifters

Adaptative

filters

SPxt (SP4T…)

SPDT

Tunable

filters

Filter

commutati

on

TR

modules

TR

modules

circulator

s

Radar &

communi

cation

Missiles

Seekers

PESA,

Reflect

array

antennas

Steering

antennas

COMMUNICATION field

RADARS field

SPACE field

Redundan

cy /

commutat

ion matrix

$50M

$5M

Market potential at

maturity

© 2013• 21

Recent activity in RF MEMS for aerospace

& defense applicationsMarket trends

• The market is still not mature

– Limited availability of MEMS products

– Still limited adoption of MEMS technology : MEMS is still a R&D topic

• Market is still dominated by development contracts

– E.g. European projects involving ESA for Space, or on packaging of RF MEMS (with Ommic…)

– Large integrators such as Thales, Raytheon… are often part of such programs

• The number of RF MEMS initiatives is still high, and leads to more and more

commercial companies

– AirMEMS, RFuTech, Proton Microtechnik…

– Technology evolutions: focus on higher reliability, and lower actuation voltage

– Many developments focus on product platforms that customers can customize for each application (e.g.

Proton Microtechnik)

© 2013• 22

Summary

• MEMS industry is big and growing

• Strong market pull observed for RF tuners in cell phones

• Still techno push for industrial and high-end markets

© 2013• 23

For more information:

Merci pour votre attention!Questions

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