Amplifier-Integrated Active Array Antennas for millimeter-Wave Radar

Modern wireless systems, especially at millimeter-wave, place increasingly stringent requirements on size, weight, power and cost (SWaP-C). In this talk we present an overview of our recent work on active beamsteering array antennas for mm-wave sensing applications, highlighting an active transmitarray antenna for Kaband (34-36 GHz) monopulse tracking radar with commercial SiGe-based beamforming chips developed for 5G. Moreover, an outlook is given towards higher levels of integration between electronics and array antennas, where co-design techniques such as direct matching and in-antenna combining may help optimizing output power and efficiency.

I. Introduction

The ever-increasing demand for improved wireless communication and sensing performance within a densely allocated radio frequency (RF) spectrum is rapidly pushing developments to millimeter-wave (mm-wave) frequency bands beyond 30 GHz. The wider available bandwidths at higher frequencies can provide better range resolution and smaller device sizes, as demonstrated by the shift from 24 to 77 GHz in automotive radars [1].