mm-Wave System and Circuit Design for Highly-Integrated Radar Transceivers

mm-Wave System and Circuit Design for Highly-Integrated Radar Transceivers

IEEE Distinguished Microwave Lecture
Prof.  Vadim Issakov
TU Braunschweig, Germany

Abstract: This talk focuses on system and circuit design considerations for highly-integrated radar transceivers in CMOS and SiGe HBT technologies. The speaker will first provide motivation for the realization of radar sensors at mm-wave frequencies by showing the possible applications. Then, frequency band allocations for radar at mm-wave frequencies are discussed. Next, the speaker will discuss system level consideration in detail and will present step-by-step system design steps for an integrated fast-chirp FMCW radar transceiver, such as level budget calculation, phase noise considerations, PLL linearity, design of the analog baseband. The system considerations will be systematically translated into specifications of circuit blocks (e.g. LNA, mixer, PA, VCO, analog baseband etc.) of the radar transceiver. Additionally, digital modulation techniques such as phase-modulated continuous-wave (PMCW) will be discussed and a systematic comparison with FMCW will be given. Next, technology-dependent considerations and challenges related to critical building blocks are discussed (e.g. phase noise, noise figure, operating frequency, routing density, digital baseband). Then, the speaker will present several design examples of integrated radar transceivers operating at V-band and D-band and will discuss the circuit architectures. The talk is rounded out by a vision on novel modulation techniques and trends in MIMO radar array realization.

Speaker’s Bio: Vadim Issakov received the M.Sc. from TU Munich in 2006, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Paderborn, in 2010. In 2010, he joined Infineon Technologies. Afterwards, he was with imec, Belgium, and then with Intel Corporation, before he came back to Infineon in 2015 as Principal mm-wave Design Engineer working on the predevelopment of millimeter-wave radar products. Since April 2021 he is a full Professor at the TU Braunschweig. Dr. Issakov was a recipient of several awards including 2019 IEEE MTT Outstanding Young Engineer Award.

This is virtual DML, organized by the IEEE MTT-S Student Branch Chapter, IIT Kanpur, India in association with the IEEE MTT-S Uttar Pradesh Section Chapter.