CMOS Gaussian Monocycle Pulse Transceiver for Radar-Based Microwave Imaging

Area of Science:

• Electrical Engineering
• Microwave Engineering
• Semiconductor Technology

Background:

• Radar-based microwave imaging requires advanced transceiver technology for high resolution.
• Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) technology offers a path for integrated transceiver development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a single-chip Gaussian monocycle pulse (GMP) transceiver for radar-based microwave imaging.
• To evaluate the performance of the GMP transceiver in terms of signal characteristics and imaging capabilities.

Main Methods:

• Utilized 65-nm CMOS technology for fabricating a monolithic GMP transceiver.
• Designed a transmitter (TX) to generate GMP signals with specific pulse widths and bandwidths.
• Implemented a 102.4 GS/s equivalent time sampling receiver (RX) to capture and process the signals.

Main Results:

• The transmitter generates GMP signals with 192 ps pulse width and 5.9 GHz -3 dB bandwidth.
• The receiver achieved a minimum jitter of 0.58 ps, input referred noise of 0.24 mVrms, and SNR of 28.4 dB.
• The transceiver demonstrated the ability to differentiate two 1 cm phantom targets with 1 cm spacing using confocal imaging.

Conclusions:

• A functional single-chip GMP transceiver was successfully developed using 65-nm CMOS technology.
• The developed transceiver exhibits promising performance for high-resolution radar-based microwave imaging applications.
• The system's capability to resolve small, closely spaced targets highlights its potential for advanced imaging.