System Level Analysis of Millimetre-wave GaN-based MIMO Radar for Detection of Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

The detection of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) of micro/nano dimensions, is becoming a hot topic, due to their large diffusion, and represents a challenging task from both the system architecture and components point of view. The Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radar architecture in a Multi-Input Multi-Output configuration has been identified as the most suitable solution for this purpose, due to both its inherent short-range detection capability and compact implementation. This paper describes the operation and technology challenges inherent to the development of a millimeter-wave FMCW MIMO radar for small UAVs detection. In particular it analyzes the sub-systems specifications and the expected system performance with respect to a chip set designed and developed in GaN at 37.5 GHz applications.