Millimeter-Wave sensor with FMICW capabilities for medium-range high-resolution radars

Abstract

Frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radars offer many advantages such as low peak power, low probability of interception, low interference with other systems, and high-range resolution. However, their major drawback is the isolation required between the transmitter and receiver that typically leads to the use of two separate antennas for transmission and reception. Some schemes have been proposed to enable FMCW radars to operate with a single antenna, such as frequency-modulated interrupted continuous-wave (FMICW) technology. Recently, a stagger procedure has been proposed to overcome the problems associated with the use of the FMICW technique in high-resolution radars. The technique was tested using simulated data. Now, a high-resolution millimeter-wave radar sensor, in Ka-band, has been developed at the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, to perform an experimental validation of the theoretical approach of the stagger procedure. The sensor transmits a linear frequency-modulated interrupted continuous wave with a maximum bandwidth of 2 GHz and a transmitted power of +29 dBm.