A CMOS analog pulse compressor with a low-power analog-to-digital converter for MIMO radar applications

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radars, which utilize multiple transmitters and receivers to send and receive independent waveforms, have been actively investigated as a next generation radar technology inspired by MIMO techniques in communication theory. Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology offers an opportunity for dramatic cost and size reduction for a MIMO array. However, the resulting formidable signal processing burden has not been addressed properly and remains a challenge. On the other hand, from a block-level point of view, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is required for mixed-signal processing to convert analog signals to digital signals, but an ADC occupies a significant portion of a system's budget. Therefore, improvement of an ADC will greatly enhance various trade-offs. This research presents an alternative and viable approach for a MIMO array from a system architecture point of view, and also develops circuit level improvement techniques for an ADC.;This dissertation presents a fully-integrated analog pulse compressor (APC) based on an analog matched filter in a mixed signal domain as a key block for the waveform diversity MIMO radar. The performance gain of the proposed system is mathematically presented, and the proposed system is successfully implemented and demonstrated from the block level to the system level using various waveforms. Various figures of merit are proposed to aid system evaluations. This dissertation also presents a low-power ADC based on an asynchronous sample-and-hold multiplying SAR (ASHMSAR) with an enhanced input range dynamic comparator as a key element of a future system. Overall, with the new ADC, a high level of system performance without severe penalty on power consumption is expected.;The research in this dissertation provides low-cost and low-power MIMO solutions for a future system by addressing both system issues and circuit issues comprehensively.