Applications using a low-cost baseband pulsed microwave radar sensor

This paper presents several measurement applications using a low-cost baseband pulsed microwave radar sensor. The sensor transmits and receives Gaussian pulses having a full width half maximum of 150 ps and peak amplitude of 7 V via two ultrawide band antennas in a bistatic configuration. Time-domain scattering and ranging measurements of metallic plates and cylinders in addition to fluid volume gauging were performed Target range was calculated by applying the time-of-flight concept. Range uncertainty was less than 6 mm. For a pulse repetition frequency of 5 MHz, an upper limit on the power spectral density (PSD) of the radiated pulses was calculated. The PSD upper limit had a peak of -74 dBm/Hz at a frequency of 1.5 GHz.