On-chip radar development kits stretch to 122GHz

Silicon Radar of Frankfurt has introduced development kits for its GHz CMOS radar MMICs (millimetre wave integrated circuits), which are built using SiGe or SiGe:C from IHP.

“We offer high frequency circuits for radar solutions, phased-array-systems and wireless communications, for both custom specific ASIC design and supply of standard circuits in frequency range from 10GHz X-band up to 200GHz and above,” said the firm.

Silicon Radar participated in the European Commission 7th Framework Success project (photo right), to develop ways to mass produce silicon mm-Wave SoCs at low cost – with STMicro, IHP, Evatronix, Selmic, Hightec, Bosch, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the University of Toronto.

The development kits are:

EasyRadar is for evaluating all of the firm’s TX/RX radar chips, and is “great for beginners and pros who want to start development and tweak system parameters”, said Silicon Radar.

programmable FMCW parameters
signal processing
target recognition
web-based GUI
USB or wireless LAN communication with PC

The kit includes:

122GHz radar front end (see photo above)
24GHz radar front end (see lower photo)
controller board
baseband board with WiFi
lens for 122 GHz

SimpleRadar is available to evaluate the firm’s 122GHz radar front end.

It has the same functionality as the EasyRadar but is smaller (40 x 40mm), and can be used as a Wi-Fi-enabled radar sensor with integrated target recognition.