79GHz radar transmitter in plain digital 28nm CMOS

With an output power above 10dBm, the transmitter operates in the 79GHz band. Implemented in 28nm CMOS, with a supply voltage of 0.9V, it only consumes 121mW and is fully compliant with the spectral mask imposed by ETSI. Further to this, the phase modulation guarantees high resilience against interference and enables code-domain MIMO radar.

Mm-wave radar systems, featuring a range resolution finer than 10cm and an angular resolution finer than 10 degrees, will be used in next-generation driver assistance systems to improve safety in blurry conditions (dust, fog, and darkness) where image-based driver assistance systems fail. However, the high bandwidth and carrier frequency needed to achieve such high resolution, wide field of view and high angular resolution, translate into large, expensive and power hungry mm-wave antenna arrays. A low power compact radar technology will be key to enable the application of mm-wave sensors in next generation automotive and smart environment applications.