Long-range radars (LRRs) for higher level autonomous driving (AD) will require more antennas than simple driving assistance. The point at issue here is 50-60% of the LRR module area is used for antennas. To miniaturize LRR modules, we use horn and lens antenna with highly efficient gain. In this paper, we propose two high-density implementation techniques for radio-frequency (RF) front-end using horn and lens antennas. In the first technique, the gap between antennas was eliminated by taking advantage of the high isolation performance of horn and lens antennas. In the second technique, the RF front-end including micro-strip-lines, monolithic microwave integrated circuits, and peripheral parts is placed in the valley area of each horn. We fabricated a prototype LRR operating at 77 GHz with only one printed circuit board (PCB). To detect vehicles horizontally and vertically, this LRR has a minimum antenna configuration of one Tx antenna and four Rx antennas placed in 2×2 array, and 30 mm thickness. Evaluation results revealed that vehicles could be detected up to 320 m away and that the horizontal and vertical angle error was less than +/- 0.2 degrees, which is equivalent to the vehicle width over 280 m. Thus, horn and lens antennas implemented using the proposed techniques are very suitable for higher level AD LRRs.

The thermal gain variation of a high-power amplifier (HPA) module for a wide-band code division multiple access (W-CDMA) system application was reduced to within 1 dB by applying a thermistor to compensate the gain variation. Two techniques for gain variation compensation with respect to temperature were investigated: base bias control according to temperature, and use of a thermistor in a matching network. Experimental comparison of two techniques indicated that the thermistor-based technique was more effective in reducing the gain variation without affecting linearity. A fabricated two-stage HPA module with a thermistor in its input matching network achieved a small gain variation within 1 dB and 5 MHz offset adjacent channel leakage power ratio (first ACLR) below -36 dBc over the temperature range from -10 to +85C, where the first ACLR was measured under a load-mismatched condition with a voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of 1.4:1.

Smaller antenna structures for long-range radar transmitters and receivers operating in the 77-GHz band for automotive application have been achieved by using antennas with a horn, lens, and microstrip antenna. The transmitter (Tx) antenna height was reduced while keeping the antenna gain high and the antenna substrate small by developing an antenna structure composed of two differential horn and lens antennas in which the diameter and focus distance of the lenses were half those in the previous design. The microstrip antennas are directly connected to the differential outputs of a monolithic microwave integrated circuit. A Tx antenna fabricated using commercially available materials was 14mm high and had an output-aperture of 18×44mm. It achieved an antenna gain of 23.5dBi. The antenna substrate must be at least 96mm2. The antenna had a flat beam with half-power elevation and azimuth beamwidths of 4.5° and 21°, respectively. A receiver (Rx) antenna array composed of four sets of horn and lens antennas with an output-aperture of 9×22mm and a two-by-two array configuration was fabricated for application in a newly proposed small front-end module with azimuth direction of arrival (DOA) estimation. The Rx antenna array had an antenna coupling of less than -31dB in the 77-GHz band, which is small enough for DOA estimation by frequency-modulated continuous wave radar receivers even though the four antennas are arranged without any separation between their output-apertures.