220-GHz imaging radar with 1 Hz frame rate using an array of homodyne transceivers

Paper in proceeding, 2018

We present a 220 GHz imaging radar prototype that has been developed in the European Defense Agency (EDA) project TIPPSI. The purpose of the development was to demonstrate short-range high-resolution 3D imaging for security applications at checkpoints, and to guide the development of stand-off real-time millimeter wave and sub-millimeter wave imaging systems for detection of larger objects at greater distances. An additional goal was to experimentally verify simulation techniques for active (sub)-mmw imaging systems, the verified simulation techniques can then be used to explore different system architectures. The 220 GHz imaging radar prototype consist of a flexible, mechanically scanned optical system that can support linear arrays of transmit/receive (TxRx) units up to 150 mm in length. The optical system is divided into two parts: A compact Dragonian system including the mechanical scanner that can be used as a stand-alone imager at reduced target distance and resolution, and a confocal system that can be added to achieve the full resolution of 1 cm x 1 cm x 1 cm at 4.5 m target distance. The field of view of the full resolution system is 70 cm x 70 cm. The front-end is currently populated by 4 TxRx units that are sparsely distributed along the 150 mm focal plane. The TxRx units operate in frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) mode and have a bandwidth of 24 GHz. Each TxRx unit use a single horn antenna and the transmit- and receive signals are generated and received using the same circuits which avoids the need of a duplexer. We will demonstrate high resolution 3D videos taken at 1 Hz frame rate and compare the individual images with simulations using electromagnetic simulators and character/clothes animation.