A two-channel, ultra-low-power, SiGe BiCMOS receiver front-end for X-band phased array radars

We present an ultra-low-power SiGe BiCMOS receiver front-end for X-band phased-array radar systems. The receiver, which consists of two LNAs and a 3-bit phase shifter, consumes only 4 mW of DC power while achieving over 10 dB of gain, less than 5 dB noise figure, and an OTOI of over 10 dBm. In addition, the RMS gain and phase errors were less than 0.5 dB and 2deg, respectively. This design demonstrates possible applications of SiGe HBT technology for use in ultra-low-power radar systems.