120 GHz MIMO FMCW radar chipset in a SiGe bipolar technology

Abstract

This paper presents a flexible SiGe monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) chipset for 120 GHz ultra-wideband frequency-modulated continuous wave radar systems. The highly integrated chipset is implemented with multiple-input and multiple-output radar in mind which leads to transmit and receive MMICs with four integrated channels in each chip. The transmitter achieves an output power of 12.9 dBm with a total power consumption of only 403 mW. The receiver chip incorporates a sub-harmonic approach for suppression of leakage radiation at 120 GHz through a receive channel. Both chips integrate active multiplier chains that are driven by a third reference dual band voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) MMIC that can deliver an output at center frequencies of 15 or 30 GHz. The reference VCO MMIC demonstrates relative tuning ranges of 32%.