A Monostatic D-Band Doppler MMIC With Very Compact I/Q Mixer Realization in SiGe BiCMOS Technology

A novel concept to realize a highly compact low-cost I/Q radar transceiver for Doppler radar measurements is presented. Based on a diode mixer approach, no couplers are needed to realize both its monostatic structure and the quadrature downconverter to generate the I/Q phase shift at the baseband output, which is connected to on-chip buffer amplifiers. An on-chip push-push D-band voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) generates a transmitted signal with an output power of about - 1.5 dBm within an operating bandwidth of 134-146 GHz. The total current consumption amounts to 75 mA from a 3.3-V supply, with the downconverter and baseband amplifiers only contributing about 3 mA, which makes the presented principle very suitable for applications, where low power consumption is important. The transceiver exhibits a noise figure of 14.9 dB including the integrated buffer amplifiers and shows reliable functionality over a wide range of silicon bulk temperature up to 125 degrees C. Despite its simple structure, it demonstrates high capability for continuous wave radar applications.

Automated summary

A novel concept for a highly compact and low-cost I/Q radar transceiver for Doppler radar measurements is presented. The transceiver utilizes a diode mixer approach, eliminating the need for couplers, and demonstrates excellent performance suitable for applications with low power consumption requirements.