Concurrent 2.4 and 5.8 GHz dual band power amplifier for FMCW radar systems

A concurrent dual band power amplifier (PA) for the use with frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radars is presented in this work. A method for synthesizing dual band matching networks with arbitrary frequencies is outlined. The circuit shows large 3-dB-bandwidths of 1.8-3.2 GHz and 4.8-6 GHz with maximum output powers of 18.3dBm and 14.9dBm, respectively. Power added efficiency of the whole chip including bias circuitry reaches 15.2% in the lower band and 9.5% in the upper band. The chip is implemented using an IBM 180nm SiGe BiCMOS process and its area amounts to 1.2×0.8mm
²
.