24 GHz frequency modulation continuous wave radar front end system on substrate

The purpose of this research is to implement a completely integrated frequency-modulation continuous-wave (FMCW) radar front-end system-on-substrate (SoS) for short range applications. The main foci of this work are the integration and interaction of various building blocks, including antennas, mixers, amplifiers, and power dividers.;The design and implementation of such a front-end SoS are investigated in detail in this work, after the completion of an FMCW radar using commercial multiple-chip-modules. The functionality of the implemented front-end SoS as well as its application in a FMCW radar for range measurement are carefully experimented.;The conclusion of this work is that such a SICs technology provides a flexible and versatile integration platform characterized by good performances, high integration-density and relatively low fabrication cost SoS approach for modern and future microwave industry.;A planar/non-planar hybrid integration approach, i.e. the so-called substrate-integrated-circuits (SICs) is the adopted methodology to accomplish this work. It is concluded that the geometry difference between non-planar waveguiding structures such as classic metallic waveguide, and planar waveguiding structures such as microstrip lines, is no longer distinctive under the roof of this integration strategy. By hybrid integration of different waveguiding structures on the same substrate, the merits of different building blocks can be combined together, while the limitations may be eliminated, partly at least if not completely. This statement is justified by a proposed SICs mixer using a "surface-volume" hybrid integration approach. Based on strict measurement results, this SICs mixer demonstrates superior overall performance compared with mixers designed with a monotonous integration approach.