A 60-GHz Radar Sensor for Micron-Scale Motion Detection

TL;DR

This paper presents a compact 60-GHz radar sensor capable of detecting micron-scale motions non-contactly, demonstrating high sensitivity and noise robustness for applications like micro-motion detection.

Contribution

The development of a novel, integrated 60-GHz radar system with advanced algorithms enabling detection of 45-micrometer movements with high signal-to-noise ratio.

Findings

Successfully detected 45-μm pendulum swing

Achieved 20.6-dB SNR in experiments

Demonstrated robustness against noise

Abstract

A compact, continuous-wave, mmWave radar sensor is developed for non-contact detection of micron-scale motions. This board-integrated radar system consists of a pair of mmWave transmitter and receiver, two series-fed microstrip patch arrays, an IF subsystem, and a microcontroller. Working at 60-GHz frequency, this super-heterodyne, digital-IF radar sensor exhibits an agile sensitivity and a robust anti-noise performance. Assisted by a gradient-descent DC offset estimation and a phase demodulation algorithm based on extended differential and cross-multiply, a 45-{\mu}m pendulum swing can be experimentally detected with a 20.6-dB SNR, verifying its strong ability in Doppler micro-motion detections.