Development of a Glass Technology Based 79 GHz MIMO Radar Front-End Module for Autonomous Driving

In this paper, a holistic approach, the M3-approach (Methodologies, Models, Measures), is applied for the efficient and accurate design of a 79 GHz scalable MIMO radar frontend for autonomous driving application. First, based on the targeted application and the international regulatory requirements, we derive the component and system specifications of a scalable MIMO hardware architecture. Next, a concept for the low-cost realization of the MIMO radar front-end module by means of a commercial glass interposer technology is derived. The proposed module is modeled and its performance investigated by means of 3D full-wave simulations, both at component and packaging level. Test samples are fabricated and measured to verify the results of the full-wave simulations. Excellent correlation between measurements and simulations is achieved. Finally, the verified models are applied to optimize the RF performance of the MIMO radar components and front-end, without re-design iteration.