Millimeter-Wave Launcher-in-Package Concept for Car Radar Applications

Transitions from a millimeter-wave integrated circuit (IC) to waveguides tend to have high losses and are difficult to realize in high-volume manufacturing processes. Based on the requirements of car radar systems, we introduce a low-loss and very compact launcher-in-package (LiP) concept, in which a direct transition from the IC is realized. The optimized design of the complete transition shows a simulated insertion loss below 1 dB and channel isolation higher than 40 dB over a fractional bandwidth of more than 20% in the frequency band of interest. A demonstrator was manufactured and characterized. Measurements of the demonstrator confirm our approach and accuracy of our models. Using low-loss materials, an insertion loss below 1 dB, and interchannel isolation better than 30 dB over the 76–81 GHz band can be achieved.