K-Band FMCW Radar CMOS Front-End ICs with 13.3 dBm Output Power

This paper presents CMOS front-end ICs with 13.3 dBm output power for K-band FMCW radar, which is integrated in 0.13-mu m CMOS technology. The transmitter consists of a voltage controlled oscillator, divider chain, power amplifier, and additional buffers. The receiver consists of a low-noise amplifier, IQ mixers, an IQ generator, and buffers. The leakage problem can be mitigated by adopting differential topology and ground shielding. As a result, the receiver achieves a conversion gain of 35.7 dB, a P1dB of 31.6 dBm, and a DSB noise figure of 5.5 dB. The transmitter achieves the tuning range of 23.8 similar to 24.5 GHz and the phase noise of -104 dBc/Hz @ 1MHz offset. The receiver and transmitter chips consume 121.5 mW and 373.5 mW from a 1.5 V power supply, respectively. Using these two chips, the K-band FMCW radar module is implemented and verified by measuring the distance of an object.