An Overview of State-of-the-Art D-Band Radar System Components

Abstract

In this article, a literature study has been conducted including 398 radar circuit elements from 311 recent publications (mostly between 2010 and 2022) that have been reported mainly in the F-, D- and G-Band (80–200 GHz). This study is intended to give a state-of-the-art comparison on the performance of the different technologies—RFCMOS, SiGe/BiCMOS and III–V semiconductor composites—regarding the most crucial circuit parameters of Voltage-Controlled Oscillators (VCO), Power Amplifiers (PA), Phase Shifters (PS), Low-Noise Amplifiers (LNA) and Mixers. The most common topologies of each circuit element as well as the differences between the technolgies will futher be laid out while reasoning their benefits. Since not all devices were derived solely from single device publications, necessary steps to yield as fairly a comparison as possible were taken. Results include the area and power efficiency in RFCMOS, superior noise and power performance in III–V semiconductors and a continuous compromise between efficiency and performance in SiGe. The most rarely published devices, being Mixers and PSs, in the given frequency range have also been identified to give incentive for further developments.

Compact and Digitally Controlled D-Band Vector Modulator for Next-Gen Radar Applications in 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS

“…Besides more available bandwidth, a smaller MMIC size is desired. To fulfill this requirement, future radar sensors will target the D-band [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]. Hereby, the MMIC size, antenna size, and antenna spacing d, and, therefore, the overall sensor size shrink due to the smaller wavelength λ.…”

A Multipurpose D-Band Vector Modulator for FMCW and PMCW Sensing Applications in 130 nm SiGe

“…Pursuing higher center frequencies than E-band, used for 77 GHz automotive radar systems, results in more free-space path loss and atmospheric attenuation [3, p. 5], along with higher phase noise [4, p. 75]. Recent studies have highlighted both the challenges and capabilities of D-band components and systems [1], [5], [6], [7], [8]. Furthermore, an increasing number of researchers are exploring THz frequencies, utilizing silicon technologies to shrink system size and enhance bandwidth even further [9], [10], [11], [12].…”