MMIC-based FM-CW radar for multipolarization backscatter measurements

Presents a compact multipolarization radar that is designed around a new FM-CW microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC). The FM-CW MMIC device consists of a varactor-tuned oscillator, an amplifier, an active circulator and a mixer. The radar is designed to transmit either a vertically or horizontally polarized signal and to receive both co- and cross-polarized signals simultaneously. The MMIC device is integrated with an external receiver and GaAs transfer switch to obtain all four linear polarizations. The cross-polarization receiver was assembled using a GaAs MMIC mixer and amplifier. The signal processor is a standard commercially available digital signal processing (DSP) board, which is connected to the bus of a personal computer. The radar and signal processor were developed by undergraduate students enrolled in a one-semester senior design course. The total cost of the radar, including the DSP board, was less than $10,000