Design of phase shifters based on RF MEMS shunt switches

Microelectromechanical (MEMS) switches have been recently considered as building blocks of phase shifters to be used in microwave applications for radar systems up to 40 GHz. In this paper, a novel methodology is proposed for the design of loaded line phase shifters based on RF MEMS shunt switches with evident improvements on the insertion loss level with respect to conventional design criteria and an optimization in the number of switches to be used