26 February 2015

Imec and Panasonic present 28nm CMOS transceiver chip for 79GHz phase-modulated continuous-wave radar

At the 2015 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco (22-26 February), nanoelectronics R&D center Imec of Leuven, Belgium and Panasonic Corp of Osaka, Japan presented a transceiver chip for phase-modulated continuous-wave radar at 79GHz, demonstrating the potential of downscaled CMOS for cheap millimeter-wave radar systems that can be used for accurate presence and motion detection.

Picture: The 28nm CMOS 79GHz transceiver chip.

Millimeter-wave radar technology is used in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to improve safety in blurry conditions such as dust, fog and darkness, where image-based driver assistance systems lack robustness. It also offers longer range, higher precision and invisible mounting capabilities compared with ultrasound sensors. Imec's 79GHz radar solution is based on 28nm CMOS technology, and is an alternative to existing silicon germanium (SiGe)-based technology as it offers a path to a low-power, compact and integrated solution, says Imec. Moreover, at the expected high manufacturing volumes, CMOS technology is intrinsically low cost.

The transceiver chip contains a control loop to suppress the spillover from the transmitter into the receiver without affecting the RF performance. With a power consumption of 260mW, the output power of the transmitter is 11dBm, while the RX gain is 35dB with a noise figure below 7dB and a TX-to-RX spillover suppression of 15dB. Due to the wide modulation bandwidth, the achievable depth resolution is 7.5cm.

The 28nm CMOS technology presents new opportunities for mm-wave radar systems, not only for automotive radar but also for other applications such as smart homes, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and robotics, says Wim Van Thillo, program director Perceptive Systems for the Internet of Things at Imec. "This transceiver chip is an important milestone we have realized in our pursuit of a complete high-performance radar system fully integrated onto a single chip," he adds.

Interested companies have access to Imec's CMOS-based 79GHz radar technology by joining Imec's industrial affiliation program or through IP licensing.

See related items:

Imec and Vrije Universiteit Brussel report first 79GHz radar transmitter in 28nm CMOS

Tags: IMEC Panasonic CMOS Radar

Visit: www.imec.be

Visit: http://panasonic.net

Visit: www.isscc.org