A 22–29-GHz UWB Pulse-Radar Receiver Front-End in 0.18-$\mu{\hbox{m}}$ CMOS

The design of a CMOS 22-29-GHz pulse-radar receiver (RX) front-end for ultra-wideband automotive radar sensors is presented. The chip includes a low-noise amplifier, in-phase/quadrature mixers, a quadrature voltage-controlled oscillator (QVCO), pulse formers, and baseband variable-gain amplifiers. Fabricated in a 0.18-mum CMOS process, the RX front-end chip occupies a die area of 3 mm
²
. On-wafer measurements show a conversion gain of 35-38.1 dB, a noise figure of 5.5-7.4 dB, and an input return loss less than -14.5 dB in the 22-29-GHz automotive radar band. The phase noise of the constituent QVCO is -107 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset from a center frequency of 26.5 GHz. The total dc power dissipation of the RX including output buffers is 131 mW.