Monopulse-Doppler Radar Front-End Concept for Automotive Applications Based on RF MEMS Technology

A concept for a high pulse repetition frequency (HPRF) monopulse-Doppler radar front-end for automotive applications is presented. The design is based on an RF MEMS electronically scanned array (ESA). The front-end detects targets up to 150 m with a range resolution of 1.5 m, unambiguous relative velocity estimation up to 400 km/h with a velocity resolution of 6.25 km/h. The front-end is capable of scanning plusmn;11deg degrees from boresight in azimuth. Amplitude-comparison monopulse tracking allows the radar to track targets with an angular deviation from the scanning angle up to plusmn;2.5deg which is a fraction of the beamwidth. The design is optimized for 38 GHz, but is readily scalable to the 76-77 GHz band and brought into compliance with the ITU-R recommendation M.1452 (05/00). It is fabricated using wafer-scale monolithic tile construction. The laminate consists of a 6 inch fused silica wafer which contains a constrained corporate MEMS true time delay (TTD) feed network, two T/R modules and a planar IF monopulse processor, and a Rogers TMM3 substrate which contains a 16 times 8 microstrip antenna array