SiGe BiCMOS FMCW Photonic-Radar Transmitter for Automotive Applications

In this work, a W-Band SiGe BiCMOS Transmitter (Tx) chip design is presented which realizes Electro-Photonic Circuit integration for Frequency-Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) automotive applications. An optically modulated electrical input signal (19.125 GHz) is converted back to the electrical domain and quadrupled to have about +11 dBm of peak output power. This is enabled by an integrated photodetector and a transimpedance Amplifier which delivers the required voltage swing to the two frequency doublers with separate LC Tanks. The quadrupled output is introduced to a pseudo-differential power amplifier to succeed the desired power level, while a Marchand-Balun at the output stage is used to enable single-ended 50 Ω output termination. To the best of authors ‘ knowledge, this work achieves a state-of-the-art transmitter output power and the best integration capability simultaneously. The presented results validate the photonic-based FMCW Radar can be a new generation candidate for automotive systems.