RF Transceiver for the Multi-Mode Radar Applications

Area of Science:

• Electrical Engineering
• Radar Systems
• Integrated Circuit Design

Background:

• Flicker noise in radar receivers (several Hz to several kHz) significantly degrades Doppler frequency accuracy.
• This noise reduction impacts long-range detection, target range, and velocity measurements.
• Existing radar systems struggle with performance limitations due to flicker noise.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design a multi-mode radar transceiver (pulse, FMCW, CW) as an integrated circuit.
• To suppress local oscillator (LO) leakage in the transmitter and DC offset in the receiver.
• To enhance long-range detection performance and accuracy of target parameters.

Main Methods:

• Designed a multi-mode radar transceiver using TSMC 65 nm CMOS process.
• Proposed a transmitter design to suppress LO leakage.
• Developed a receiver structure with double conversion architecture and image rejection to suppress DC offset.

Main Results:

• Achieved 37 dB LO leakage suppression at 24 GHz in the transmitter.
• Improved receiver noise figure by approximately 20 dB at 100 Hz.
• Demonstrated 30 dB DC offset rejection in the receiver.
• Verified the operation of pulse, FMCW, and CW modes through experimental testing.

Conclusions:

• The proposed integrated circuit radar transceiver effectively mitigates flicker noise and LO leakage.
• The design enhances long-range detection capabilities and improves target parameter accuracy.
• The fabricated circuit demonstrates robust performance across multiple radar modes.