Case Study: Menlo Micro achieves a 65% shorter design cycle and first-pass MEMS RF switch success with Keysight's PathWave ADS and PNA VNA

Driving Innovation Shortens Design Cycle by 65% for First-to-Market MEMS RF Switch

Menlo Micro, developer of the MM5130 Ideal Switch MEMS RF SP4T, faced the challenge of proving ultra-low insertion loss and end-to-end performance from die to packaged PCB modules for customer demonstrations. The company needed accurate 3D EM simulation, an integrated circuit-to-EM design and test workflow, and reliable PCB de-embedding to validate sub‑0.2 dB insertion loss and other banner specs. To meet these needs Menlo Micro selected Keysight tools including PathWave Advanced Design System (ADS) with PathWave EM (RFPro and EMPro) and used a Keysight PNA vector network analyzer with automatic fixture removal for measurements.

Using Keysight’s PathWave ADS/EMPro/RFPro flow and VNA AFR capabilities—together with Menlo’s custom de-embedding algorithm integrated in ADS—Menlo achieved first‑pass design success and tight correlation between simulation and measured data. Keysight’s software, measurement services and technical support helped shorten the first‑pass design cycle by 65%, verify insertion loss performance (≈0.2 dB at 6 GHz and <1 dB to ~12–15 GHz), and demonstrate the MM5130’s 25 W power handling plus large improvements in linearity and power consumption (up to 1,000× and 99% gains versus alternatives).

Menlo Micro

Xu Zhu

Director of Technology