This paper deals with the realization, measurements and testing of an integrated UWB radar head operating in the continuously transmitted stimulation signal mode. The term UWB is derived from the exploited system bandwidth. Practically, the frequency bands nearly from DC to 14 GHz or those specified by the Electronic Communication Committee (ECC) or the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations are used. The stimulation signal is generated by modulation of the carrier by a binary sequence which spreads the frequency spectrum of the signal. Thanks to the parameters of the resulting signal, it is not the source of interference for other radio services, but it can be observed only as an increase in noise. In the context of the UWB radars emitting the spread-spectrum signal, the term noise radar is often used, where the generated spreading signal is the result of generation of a pseudorandom noise modulation signal. The principle of generation of such a signal as well as the description of the transmitter is described in this article in more details. The reception of the UWB signals is not a trivial task. Hence in this paper, we deal with the topic of the UWB radar transceiver, relying on the equivalent time sampling approach, with attention to the receiver section. The measurements focused on qualitative parameters of the given UWB radar are evaluated as well, concentrating on the innovative integrated front-end. The main tested parameters include reliability across the whole frequency range, dynamic range, as well as crosstalk in the proposed structure.
Short-range ultra-wideband (UWB) radar sensors belong to very promising sensing techniques that have received vast attention recently. The M-sequence UWB sensing techniques for radio detection and ranging feature several advantages over the other short-range radars, inter alia superior integration capabilities. The prerequisite to investigate their capabilities in real scenarios is the existence of physically available hardware, i.e., particular functional system blocks. In this paper, we present three novel blocks of M-sequence UWB radars exploiting application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) technology. These are the integrated 15th-order M-sequence radar transceiver on one chip, experimental active Electronic Communication Committee (ECC) bandpass filter, and miniature transmitting UWB antenna with an integrated amplifier. All these are custom designs intended for the enhancement of capabilities of an M-sequence-based system family for new UWB short-range sensing applications. The design approaches and verification of the manufactured prototypes by measurements of the realized circuits are presented in this paper. The fine balance on technology capabilities (Fc of roughly 120 GHz) and thoughtful design process of the proposed blocks is the first step toward remarkably minimized devices, e.g., as System on Chip designs, which apparently allow broadening the range of new applications.
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