Integrated Up-Down Converter for Multi-Band UWB M-Sequence Based Radar

An integrated ultra-wideband (UWB) up-down converter front-end for multiband M-Sequence based radar is presented. It is compatible with the commercial UWB M-Sequence baseband system. The front-end is based on the application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) designed for a 130 nm SiGe process with, ft/fmax=300/500 GHz. To achieve an optimum design and to realize the compromise between complexity, system performance, and flexibility, we designed an ASIC capable of the frequency up and down conversion of the M-Sequence stimuli. The aim is to provide an integrated ASIC chip consisting of a matched multi-band active UWB mixer, i.e. operated in the cm and mm-bands. The mixer is based on a conventional double-balanced Gilbert topology to provide conversion gain and sufficient dynamic range in order to improve the overall behavior of commercial UWB radars for a wide variety of applications, especially in the automotive and industrial space. The first simulation results of the UWB mixer will be shown.