A 95 GHz centimeter scale precision confined pathway system-on-chip navigation processor for autonomous vehicles in 65nm CMOS

This paper presents a 95 GHz centimeter scale navigation system which allows a unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) or possibly even aerial vehicle (UAV) to navigate through a highly cluttered environment and follow a safe obstacle-free pathway to a desired goal. The navigation system defines multiple pathways using mm-wave base-stations called path generators and then uses a single CMOS SoC containing a receiver, ADC and an FFT processor to detect and navigate these pathways. The demonstrated confined pathway SoC (CP-SoC) occupies 5.4mm² of silicon area in 65nm technology, and consumes only 199 mW, making it suitable for lightweight payloads associated with UAVs and UGVs.