Imec produces 79 GHz chip in 28 nm CMOS

Imec (Leuven, Belgium; www2.imec.be_en) discussed their development of the world's first 79 GHz radar transmitter implemented in plain digital 28 nm CMOS at last week's ISSCC 2014 in San Francisco. Running from a supply voltage of 0.9 V, the chip consumes just 121 mW and is fully compliant with the spectral mask imposed by ETSI for the 79 GHz band.

With an output power above 10 dBm, the transmitter front-end fits full radar-on-chip solutions for automotive driver assistance systems and smart environmental applications. The devices phase modulation guarantees high resilience against interference and enables code-domain MIMO radar. Imec plans to develop a compatible receiver device by the end of 2014.