A 130-nm 76-81-GHz SiGe TDM MIMO radar transmitter array for automotive applications

Abstract

A fully-integrated transmitter (TX) for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) 79GHz automotive radar applications is presented. The output power scaling and monitoring is implemented in order to enable flexibility and to support robust and reliable operation in complex traffic environments and scenes. The layout of the single channel can easily be replicated to obtain double and quadruple TX arrays. The transmitter delivers 15.12dBm of saturated output power with 11.93dBm output 1-dB compression point, while the peak power-added efficiency simultaneously reaches 15%. The power dissipation of a single TX chain is approximately 265mW from a single 3.3V supply, and scales linearly with the number of chains. Simulated channel gain is 25dB, and covers complete 76-81GHz automotive band of interest. The proposed dual channel transmitter occupies 1.57 mm2 of area, while the quad channel transmitter takes 2.44 mm2, both given as stand-alone chip solutions in the standard industrial SiGe: C HBT 130nm BiCMOS process technology.