A K-Band CMOS UWB Four-Channel Radar Front-End With Coherent Pulsed Oscillator Array

Abstract

A K-band CMOS ultra-wideband (UWB) four-channel radar front-end based on timed-array coherent pulsed oscillators is presented. The trigger-signal delay method of the oscillator array with an additional 1-bit RF phase shifter is proposed to achieve beam-forming with wide angular coverage and high angular resolution. The phase coherency of the K-band UWB signal is achieved by using an asymmetric control of the pulsed oscillator. This allows it to detect the direction of a target as well as the accurate distance using a single antenna per channel. The chip is fabricated with 0.13-mu m CMOS technology and the chip size is 3.9 mm by 1.7 mm. The output spectrum is centered on 26.0 GHz and satisfies the Federal Communications Commission spectral mask. The system attains the angular resolution of 9 degrees in the range from -45 degrees to +45 degrees. Total power consumption is only similar to 68 mW, mainly used in the receiver and digital blocks.