NASA SBIR 2006 Solicitation
FORM B - PROPOSAL SUMMARY
PROPOSAL NUMBER: |
06-2 O1.06-9177 |
PHASE 1 CONTRACT NUMBER: |
NNJ07JB04C |
SUBTOPIC TITLE: |
Extravehicular (EVA) Radios |
PROPOSAL TITLE: |
Miniaturized UHF, S-, and Ka-band RF MEMS Filters for Small Form Factor, High Performance EVA Radio |
SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Harmonic Devices, Inc.
2269 Cedar Street C
Berkeley, CA 94709 - 1549
(510) 316-4166
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Justin Black
justin@harmonicdevices.com
2269 Cedar Street Apt. C
Berkeley, CA 94709 - 1549
(510) 316-4166
TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
In Phase II of this SBIR, Harmonic Devices (HDI) proposes to develop miniaturized MEMS filters at UHF, S-band and Ka-band to address the requirements of NASA's next-generation software defined EVA radio. The filters are a key enabler for this highly reconfigurable, fault tolerant, cell-phone sized EVA radio.
For UHF and S-band, HDI will employ its proprietary contour-mode aluminum nitride MEMS piezoelectric resonator technology. Processed on silicon substrates, the resonators have their natural frequency defined by the lateral, in-plane dimensions of the structure. This feature enables the definition of different frequencies directly at the CAD layout level. Thus, the low insertion loss UHF and S-band filters can be monolithically integrated into a single chip. For the Ka-band, HDI will employ coaxial 3D MEMS interdigital filters that exhibit low insertion and ripple in a miniaturized form factor. Several US companies have expressed a keen interest in HDI's technology.
In Phase I, HDI successfully proved the feasibility of employing the proposed UHF, S-band, and Ka-band filters in NASA's software defined EVA radio through simulation and microfabrication pilot studies. The filters can be monolithically integrated onto the same silicon substrate, resulting in substantial savings in board space. The objective of Phase II is to build the filter prototypes and deliver them to NASA for testing. The results of the Phase I feasibility study convincingly justify Phase II continuation.
POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The filters proposed by Harmonic Devices will provide a compelling value proposition to mobile phone OEMs by reducing component count and freeing up valuable board space so designers can continue to add new features, reduce costs and shrink form factors. The current directly addressable market size is estimated at approximately $1.7B per year. Since these AlN resonators are fabricated with standard CMOS semiconductor processing steps on silicon substrates, they could ultimately become less expensive than legacy surface acoustic wave (SAW) and quartz crystal passives. Several US companies have expressed a keen interest in HDI's technology.
There is an extensive market for filters and resonators outside of the wireless handset market. Other applications include frequency control semiconductors for space, consumer, military, automotive, and industrial electronics. In the VHF / UHF range, contour-mode AlN filters and resonators can be orders of magnitude smaller than their SAW counterparts.
POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The UHF, S-, and Ka-band filters are a key enabler for NASA's next-generation cell-phone sized EVA SDR radio. This miniaturized, low power, and light-weight EVA radio improves astronaut maneuverability and provides fault-tolerant, reliable communication in harsh conditions. Miniaturized, inexpensive, high-Q filter banks composed of high-Q MEMS filters also present opportunities for novel transceiver, data conversion, and clock synthesis architectures that span the UHF, VHF, P-, S-, L-, X-, and Ka- bands. Important areas include active microwave / synthetic aperture radar, short-range radio modules for miniature satellites, radio astronomy, and GPS. Because of its inert physico-chemical properties, the AlN resonators function over a wide-range of harsh temperature, power, and pressure conditions.
NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.
TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING |
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Highly-Reconfigurable
RF
Telemetry, Tracking and Control
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