Six-Port Receiver and Frequency Measurement for Radar Applications at 35GHz

The application of a six-port technology in the receiving part of a radar front-end is described in this paper. This receiver allows measuring magnitude and phase of the radar signal without the need of down-conversion. According to the applications and the availability of the devices needed for assembling the prototype sensor, the frequency of operation was set to 35GHz. The structure of this six-port as well as the calibration and measurement algorithms are described in detail. The accuracy of the phase measurement is 2–10° depending on the power level of the signal. Another key element of the proposed radar sensor is a direct frequency counter. Using this circuit it is possible to measure the frequency of operation with a resolution of 20 bits within 120μs. The accuracy of the distance reading of the radar is directly related to the accuracy of the frequency measurement and has reached 0.1mm.