A Compact Harmonic Radar System with Active Tags at 61/122 GHz ISM Band in SiGe BiCMOS for Precise Localization

Abstract

This article presents a frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) harmonic radar in the 61-/122-GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) frequency bands. The radar is based on two self-designed monolithic microwave wave integrated circuits (MMICs) for the transceiver (TRX) and tag which are fabricated in a 130-nm SiGe BiCMOS technology. The presented TRX-MMIC consists of a fundamental voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), a power amplifier (PA), Wilkinson power dividers, and a static divide-by-16 chain for stabilization within a phase-locked loop (PLL) in the transmitter (TX) part. The receiver (RX) part has two channels with a low noise amplifier (LNA), a Gilbert cell mixer, and an intermediate frequency (IF)-amplifier each. The fundamental of the VCO is converted by a frequency doubler and distributed to the local oscillator (LO) input of the RX-mixers. With such a TRX architecture the active nonlinear tag which consists of antennas, pre-amplifiers, and a frequency doubler can be detected. For a sweep from 60 to 64 GHz, a spatial resolution of 4 cm at 1-m distance and a range of 23.3 m is achieved. With these characteristics, the tag enables harmonic radar applications in the millimeter-wave (mm-wave) range for medium range with high accuracy and resolution with a small form factor.