A 77-79-GHz Doppler Radar Transceiver in Silicon

This paper presents the first 77 GHz single-chip direct-conversion transceiver in silicon. The transceiver, fabricated in a 0.13 mum SiGe BiCMOS technology with f_T/f_MAX of 170/200 GHz, consumes 740 mW, and occupies 1.3 mm x 0.9 mm. The receiver achieves 25.6 dB conversion gain, 9 dB noise figure, 90 dB dynamic range, and an IP1dB of -24 dBm. The transmitter provides +5.8 dBm of saturated output power at 77 GHz, and a divide14, static frequency divider is included on-die. A tuned, 77 GHz clock distribution network is used to distribute the VCO signal to the divider, power amplifier, and down-conversion mixer. Successful detection of a Doppler shift of 55 Hz at a range of 4 m is shown. The phase noise at IF is shown to be superior to the VCO, suggesting noise correlation between the transmitter and receiver.