Abstract: An embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus capable of a high fundamental acoustic resonance frequency, comprising a substrate, a bottom electrode layer adjacent the substrate, a voltage tunable dielectric layer adjacent the bottom electrode layer, the voltage tunable dielectric layer including an active region, a top electrode adjacent the voltage tunable dielectric layer, a final interconnect layer connected to the top electrode via an interlayer, and wherein the top and bottom electrodes are at a predetermined thickness such that a desired high fundamental acoustic resonance is obtained. The active region of the voltage tunable dielectric layer may be approximately the length of the top electrode and the interlayer and the final interconnect layer may cover only a small fraction of the active region of the voltage tunable dielectric layer, thereby reducing the amplitude of resonances due to the interlayer or final interconnect layer.

Abstract: An embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus capable of a high fundamental acoustic resonance frequency, comprising a substrate, a bottom electrode layer adjacent the substrate, a voltage tunable dielectric layer adjacent the bottom electrode layer, the voltage tunable dielectric layer including an active region, a top electrode adjacent the voltage tunable dielectric layer, a final interconnect layer connected to the top electrode via an interlayer, and wherein the top and bottom electrodes are at a predetermined thickness such that a desired high fundamental acoustic resonance is obtained. The active region of the voltage tunable dielectric layer may be approximately the length of the top electrode and the interlayer and the final interconnect layer may cover only a small fraction of the active region of the voltage tunable dielectric layer, thereby reducing the amplitude of resonances due to the interlayer or final interconnect layer.

Abstract: An embodiment of the present invention provides a method of mitigating third order inter-modulation distortion in electronic circuits, comprising estimating an IP3 of the circuits using an empirical equation which includes at least one or more of the factors IP3˜IP3o?20logQ+10logF+10logC?17.3logk dBm and optimizing one or more of the factors such that the third order inter-modulation distortion is mitigated.

Abstract: An embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus, comprising a varactor; and at least one external high-Q fixed capacitors combined with the varactor thereby improving the Q of the varactor. The at least one external high-Q fixed capacitor may combined in series with the varactor or in parallel with the varactor. Further, the varactor may be constructed of an internal low-tuning high-Q material with high-Q and large capacitance but low tuning range. The apparatus of one embodiment of the present invention may be incorporated into a 4-pole bandpass filter enabling Q improvement on the circuit performance or also may be incorporated into an amplifier or a voltage controlled oscillators or a phase shifters. Another embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus, comprising a resonator and a varactor variably coupled into the resonator through an RF transformer, wherein by varying a coupling factor, the Q-factor and the tunability of the apparatus is capable of being affected.

Abstract: An embodiment of the present invention provides a method of mitigating third order inter-modulation distortion in electronic circuits, comprising estimating an IP3 of the circuits using an empirical equation which includes at least one or more of the factors IP3˜IP3o?20 log Q+10 log F+10 log C?17.3 log k dBm and optimizing one or more of the factors such that the third order inter-modulation distortion is mitigated.

Abstract: An embodiment of the present invention provides an antenna system, comprising a plurality of non-uniformly spaced antenna elements arranged substantially linearly, a power divider for dividing transmit power thereby coupling signals to the plurality of antenna elements, a phase shifter capable of phase shifting the signals between the power divider and the plurality of antenna elements such that radiated signals from each antenna element add coherently such that the radiated electromagnetic energy may be focused at a focal point in the near field region or in the Fresnel region of the antenna system. An embodiment of the present invention may also provide at least one additional receive antenna element capable of receiving signals backscattered from at least one RFID tag located in the near field of the focused array and the divider may create substantially equal power levels feeding each antenna element.

Abstract: An apparatus capable of tracking a target, comprising at least one near-field focused antenna comprising an array of elements and a phase shifter to form multiple fixed beams in the near-field, a sensor capable of sensing the location of the target, and a controller capable of accepting position information and capable of activating the proper fixed beam along a course so as to enable the near-field focused beams to track the target. The array of elements may be substantially linear and the sensor may be optical, mechanical, thermal, or sonic position detection subsystems. In an embodiment of the present invention the target may be at least one RFID tag and the phase shifter may include a voltage tunable dielectric. The controller may control a plurality of switches which activate at least one beam forming network. Further, the tracking may occur along a predetermined course, and the predetermined course may be along a conveyor line or through a doorway.