Millimeter-wave imaging radar system design based on detailed system radar simulation tool

This paper presents a 35 GHz direct-digital-synthesizer (DDS)-based FMCW radar for future fully-integrated front-end MIMO radar systems with complex signal generation. The full integration of radar front-ends is a challenge at millimeter-wave frequencies due to poor signal integrity and spectrum purity, which are essential for imaging applications. The radar features a Hartley architecture for conversion image rejection in up-and down-conversion and an enhanced push-pull power amplifier architecture for harmonic cancellation. A radar simulation environment has been developed emulating realistic device performance. An innovative 3D electromagnetic propagation model is proposed to account for the antenna and wave propagation to the target. With the above architecture we achieve a conversion image rejection of −53.5 dBc with an output power above 34 dBm across 1 GHz bandwidth, using various commercial components. A spectral purity less than −130 dBc is achieved for the 2nd and 3rd order harmonic suppression, respectively. The total DC consumption is around 30 W determined by the power amplifier.