2023-10-03 20:10:00
American researchers have developed an innovative sensor that could mark the start of a new era for millimeter wave radar. This sensor, described as a “mission impossible” made possible, presents impressive characteristics in terms of precision and size.
A revolutionary sensor
Millimeter wave radars send fast electromagnetic waves toward targets to analyze their movement, position and speed from the reflected waves. The advantages of millimeter waves are their natural sensitivity to small-scale movements and their ability to focus on and detect data from microscopic objects.
The new sensor uses an innovative millimeter-wave radar design to detect vibrations a thousand times smaller and changes in a target’s position a hundred times smaller than a strand of human hair. It is therefore as precise, or even more precise, than the most efficient sensors in the world. Additionally, unlike its counterparts, this sensor is the size of a sesame seed, inexpensive to produce, and has a long battery life.
The millimeter wave challenge
Millimeter waves are electromagnetic frequencies between microwave and infrared, ranging from 30 to 300 gigahertz. They enable fast communication networks, such as 5G, and are sought after for their short-range detection capabilities. However, they present challenges due to their high power consumption and limited semiconductor performance at these frequencies.
The new sensor is energy efficient and inexpensive to produce. Credit : UC
The main problem the team faced during the first year of work on the sensor was focusing on the desired source. The noise was so great that when researchers tried to pick up the delicate signal of small foliage thinning, their sensors were overwhelmed.
An innovative approach to solving the problem
Hao Wang, an electrical engineering doctoral student in the laboratory High-Speed Integrated Systems from Momeni, came up with the idea of canceling the noise with himself. This approach would solve the problem their sensors were facing. Wang was already working on a chip for his thesis that aimed to accomplish this.
The lab quickly assembled a prototype to test Hao Wang’s idea, and it worked on the first attempt. The prototype was successful because it allowed them to treat the volume of noise received by their sensor as a simple arithmetic problem. They subtracted unnecessary noise while maintaining the sensitivity of their measurement and the integrity of their data.
Potential and future applications
Hao Wang’s chip is simple to produce and features a unique design that significantly improves the power efficiency of the millimeter wave sensor. These advances could address two of the most significant problems facing millimeter-wave sensors: high power consumption and the limited performance of solid-state transistors in terms of noise, gain, and output power.
As the team continues to refine and iterate on their design, they are excited for other researchers to experiment with it. Outside of their FFAR project, they believe the sensor has potential to detect the structural integrity of buildings and improve virtual reality, but they believe it has even more potential than they currently realize.
Synthetic
The sensor developed by researchers atUniversity of California in Davis represents a major advance in the field of millimeter wave radars. Thanks to its innovative design, it offers exceptional precision and sensitivity, while being small and energy efficient. The potential applications of this sensor are numerous, from monitoring the water status of plants to detecting the structural integrity of buildings and enhancing virtual reality. Researchers will continue to work on this promising technology to fully explore and exploit its potential.
For a better understanding
1. What is millimeter wave radar?
Millimeter wave radar sends fast electromagnetic waves toward targets to analyze their movement, position and speed from the reflected waves. Millimeter waves are sensitive to small-scale movements and can focus on microscopic objects.
2. What are the challenges related to millimeter waves?
Millimeter waves present challenges due to their high power consumption and limited semiconductor performance at these frequencies. Noise is also a major problem when detecting weak signals.
Hao Wang, a doctoral student in electrical engineering, proposed canceling the noise with himself. This approach made it possible to subtract unnecessary noise while maintaining measurement sensitivity and data integrity.
4. What are the characteristics of the new sensor?
The new sensor is capable of detecting vibrations a thousand times smaller and changes in the position of a target a hundred times smaller than a strand of human hair. It’s the size of a sesame seed, inexpensive to produce, and has a long battery life.
5. What are the potential applications of this sensor?
Potential applications include monitoring the water status of plants, detecting the structural integrity of buildings, and enhancing virtual reality. The researchers believe the sensor has even more potential than they currently realize.
Main illustration caption: This prototype millimeter-wave radar sensor developed at UC Davis is capable of measuring extremely small vibrations and movements while being energy efficient and inexpensive to produce. (Omeed Momeni/UC Davis)
Article : “A Highly Accurate and Sensitive mmWave Displacement-Sensing Doppler Radar With a Quadrature-Less Edge-Driven Phase Demodulator” – https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10107746
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