In this paper a monostatic frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar system around a center frequency of 24 GHz with a wide tuning range of 8 GHz (≈33%) is presented. It is based on a fully integrated single-channel SiGe transceiver chip. The chip architecture consists of a fundamental VCO, a receive mixer, a divider chain, and coupling/matching networks. All circuits, except for the divider, are designed with the extensive use of on-chip monolithic integrated spiral inductors. The chip is fabricated in a SiGe bipolar production technology which offers an fT of 170 GHz and fmax of 250 GHz. The phase noise at 1 MHz offset is better than −100 dBc/Hz over the full-tuning range of 8 GHz and a phase noise of better than −111 dBc/Hz is achieved at 27 GHz. The peak output power of the chip is −1 dBm while the receive mixer offers a 1 dBm input referred compression point to keep it from being saturated. The chip has a power consumption of 245 mW and uses an area of 1.51 mm2. The FMCW radar system achieves a power consumption below 1.6 W. Owing to the high stability of the sensor, high accuracy mesaurements with a range error <±250 µm were achieved. The standard deviation between repeated measurements of the same target is 0.6 µm and the spatial resolution is 28 mm.

This paper presents a novel, compact, single-sideband (SSB) subharmonically-pumped (SHP) direct upconverter developed in a uniplanar 0.18 μm GaAs technology. A total of 100 MHz in-phase and quadrature signals directly modulate the second harmonic of a 30 GHz carrier signal, producing a 60.1 GHz output. Two pairs of antiparallel diodes reduce feed-through of the 30 GHz local oscillator (LO) signal to the mixer's RF output. Novel structures patterned in the center conductor of a coplanar waveguide (CPW) provide matching and size-reduction simultaneously. The 2.1mm2 circuit also uses a miniaturized Wilkinson divider based on asymmetric coplanar stripline and a standard CPW 90° coupler. The SSB SHP direct upconverter exhibits a conversion loss of 10 dB, a lower-sideband rejection of 15 dB and 2fLO suppression of approximately 25 dB over a wide frequency range from 52–61 GHz.

This paper presents a radio frequency (RF) continuous-time band-pass delta sigma modulator (CT BP DSM) receiver realized in a 180 nm SiGe BiCMOS technology. It also provides an introduction to active antenna systems (AAS) for cellular infrastructure base stations, which is the target application for this RF integrated circuit (IC). The internal quantizer and feedback digital to analog converter (DAC) resolution of the CT BP DSM is 2 bit. Without applying DAC linearization techniques such as trimming or dynamic element matching being utilized, measured performance parameters include an SNR and SNDR in 35 MHz bandwidth of 56.7 and 53.7 dB, respectively. IIP3 and noise figure are −6.6 dBm and 10 dB, respectively. No image reception is noticeable within a measurement dynamic range of 83 dB. When driven by single-carrier and three-carrier W-CDMA signals, adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) is −62.6 and −52.1 dB, respectively, making the design also suitable as a modulator for a class-S power amplifier.

In this work, the possibility of achieving GaN-on-Si devices for millimeter wave applications operating at high bias is demonstrated. It is shown that highly scaled AlN/GaN-on-Si double heterostructure enables us to significantly improve electron confinement under high electric field as compared to single heterostructure while delivering high carrier density (>2 × 1013 cm−2). Subsequently, trapping effects can be minimized resulting in the highest GaN-on-Si output power density up to 40 GHz and at a drain bias of 15 V together with a record fmax close to 200 GHz. At higher bias, infrared camera analysis clearly shows that these devices are mainly limited by self-heating effects. Furthermore, low noise figure has been assessed on this heterostructure, promising integration of cost effective low noise and high power millimeter wave amplifiers.

This paper presents for the first time a novel concept of a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) waveguide switch based on a reconfigurable surface, whose working principle is to block the wave propagation by short-circuiting the electrical field lines of the TE10 mode of a WR-12 rectangular waveguide. The reconfigurable surface is only 30 µm thick and consists of up to 1260 micromachined cantilevers and 660 contact points in the waveguide cross-section, which are moved simultaneously by integrated MEMS comb-drive actuators. Measurements of fabricated prototypes show that the devices are blocking wave propagation in the OFF-state with over 30 dB isolation for all designs, and allow for transmission of less than 0.65 dB insertion loss for the best design in the ON-state for 60–70 GHz. Furthermore, the paper investigates the integration of such microchips into WR-12 waveguides, which is facilitated by tailor-made waveguide flanges and compliant, conductive-polymer interposer sheets. It is demonstrated by reference measurements where the measured insertion loss of the switches is mainly attributed to the chip-to-waveguide assembly. For the first prototypes of this novel MEMS microwave device concept, the comb-drive actuators did not function properly due to poor fabrication yield. Therefore, for measuring the OFF-state, the devices were fixated mechanically.

This paper presents the design and measurement of two different switch matrix modules based on Radio Frequency Microelectromechanical System (RF MEMS) switches. The operational frequency range is between 25.5 GHz and 26.5 GHz for data links between a Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) relay satellite and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. The switch matrix implements a key functionality for tracking the incident signals of the LEO satellites on the receive feed antenna array of the GEO satellite's reflector antenna. Two different technologies are used to build simplified switch matrix modules suitable for realizing the full functionality switching matrix. Rogers RT/Duroid 5880 with commercially available RF MEMS is used to build the first module, while EADS in house RF MEMS are integrated in Rogers Ultralam 3850 Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) for the second module. Maximum insertion losses of 8.5 dB and 10.2 dB have been measured for the Rogers RT/Duroid 5880 and the LCP module, respectively. Isolation is higher than 45 dB and a minimum return loss of 15 dB is shown. Finally, the measured losses in the LCP module are analyzed and suitable improvements are discussed.

Emerging intrinsically tunable film bulk acoustic wave(BAW) resonators allow the development of new generation reconfigurable and agile microwave circuits. In this paper, we demonstrate the enhancement of tunable performance of the high Q-factor BaxSr1−xTiO3 BAW – solidly mounted resonators (BAW–SMR) by varying Ba concentration. The Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 BAW–SMR reveal tunability of series resonance frequency up to 2.4%, electromechanical coupling coefficient up to 7.5% and rather high Q-factor, up to 250 at 5.3 GHz. Correlations between the measured electroacoustic parameters are analyzed using the theory of dc field-induced piezoelectric effect in paraelectric phase ferroelectrics. Higher coupling coefficient and tunability of resonance frequency of the Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 BAW–SMR are associated with higher tunability of permittivity. Strong anisotropy in field-induced piezoelectric effect is predicted with highest coupling coefficient in (001) direction of the BaxSr1−xTiO3 films. It is also shown that the tunability of series resonance frequency of Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 BAW–SMR is limited by relatively high and negative nonlinear electrostriction coefficient which is found to be m ≈ −4·1010 m/F. The BAW–SMR Q-factor is limited significantly by extrinsic acoustic loss associated with wave scattering at reflection from relatively rough top interface. The results of analysis show possible ways of further improvement of the performance of tunable BAW–SMR.

Two types of optoelectronic oscillators delivering high spectral purity microwave signals are presented in this paper. These oscillators use the Pound–Drever–Hall laser stabilization technique to lock the laser carrier onto two different types of passive optical resonators featuring high-quality factors: a fiber ring resonator (FRR) and a whispering gallery mode monocrystalline disk-shaped micro-resonator. The different noise processes occurring inside these oscillators are discussed. Particular attention is given to the conversion of the laser's amplitude and frequency noise into RF phase noise via the laser stabilization loop and the resonator, and via the photodetector nonlinearity as well. A modeling approach using CAD software is also proposed to qualitatively evaluate laser noise conversion through the optical resonator. Moreover, different contributions of nonlinear optical scattering noise are discussed, mainly in the case of the FRR-based oscillator. When controlling these nonlinear optical effects in the case of the FRR, low-phase noise operation of the oscillator has been achieved, with a −40 dBc/Hz noise level at 10 Hz offset frequency from a 10.2 GHz RF carrier.

A fast imaging algorithm for real-time use in short-range (ultra-wideband) radar with synthetic or real-array aperture is proposed. The reflected field is presented here as a convolution of the target reflectivity and point spread function (PSF) of the imaging system. To obtain a focused 3D image, the proposed algorithm deconvolves the PSF out from the acquired data volume with high speed due to fast Fourier transform and implementation in frequency-wavenumber domain. Then the result is tested against two numerical criteria for efficiency, namely error and instability, whose optimal values can be obtained iteratively. Since the PSF differs with distance, the algorithm suits mainly applications with relatively small objects such as concealed weapon detection. Using several PSFs allows us to image a certain range of interest by their successive deconvolution from the same data. Performance of the algorithm has been evaluated experimentally and compared with that of Kirchhoff migration. Measurements were carried out by a 5–25 GHz synthetic aperture radar in the lab, and scenarios included a gun and a ceramic knife in free space, on a large metal plate, and a gun concealed on a dummy under a thick raincoat. The results demonstrate sufficient image quality obtained in a fraction of time.

In this article, a novel motion model-based particle filter implementation is proposed to classify human motion and to estimate key state variables, such as motion type, i.e. running or walking, and the subject's height. Micro-Doppler spectrum is used as the observable information. The system and measurement models of human movements are built using three parameters (relative torso velocity, height of the body, and gait phase). The algorithm developed has been verified on simulated and experimental data.

The paper describes a radar demonstrator that was used to collect L-band range profiles of illuminated ground surface. The measurement results are to be used by the Institute of Geodesy and Cartography as the reference data for satellite image interpretation. The demonstrator is a software-defined noise radar composed of commercial-off-the-shelf elements. The paper conveys the theory of scattering coefficient measurement, system setup, and signal processing as well as the preliminary results of the field measurement campaigns.

In this paper, we present the results of using a frequency-stepped continuous-wave radar system to estimate the position of overlapping and electrically good conductive plates. We especially focus on polarimetric scattering effects caused by the step of a lap joint, which is a common welding-geometry. To model the step's contribution to the overall scattered signal, we use a two-dimensional combined field integral equation (CFIE) approach. For demonstrating its practical applicability, the implemented scattering model is verified by measurements. To emphasize the improvements of position estimation by using a CFIE approach, the outcomes of the model are compared to a commonly used point scattering model. Finally, the numerical signal is utilized to precisely estimate the position of the lap joint.

This paper presents the design of a multi-channel reconfigurable front-end architecture for a waveform-agile radar. At first the purpose of the design is explained following the status of research on software-defined radar at MTSR. A description of the proposed system architecture is given with details on sub-systems implementation. Then some preliminary results obtained on a prototype of the platform are shown. Finally, further developments on this system architecture are described, highlighting how this platform can support research on software-defined multi-channel radar systems.

Phase unwrapping (PU) is one of the key processing steps in reconstructing the digital elevation model (DEM) of a scene from interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data. The PU problem entails the estimation of an absolute phase from observation of its noisy principal (wrapped) values. Recently, PU approaches based on Kalman filtering have proved their efficacy in tackling the PU problem even when strong discontinuities of the height profile and noisy data are involved. This paper presents a novel multichannel InSAR PU algorithm using several interferometric SAR images based on the extended Kalman filter. The proposed technique exploits the capability of the Kalman algorithm to simultaneously perform noise filtering, PU, and multi-sensor data fusion. The proposed method, even being a Bayesian estimator, optimally fuses height information coming from an additional maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) combining the benefits of both the Bayesian and the non-Bayesian approaches. The performance of the proposed algorithm has been tested on simulated interferometric images proving the effectiveness of the proposed method.