INSULAR WAVEGUIDE INTEGRATED MILLIMETER FRONT END FOR FM-CW TYPE RADAR SYSTEMS

VARIOUS RADAR AND TARGET SEEKER SYSTEMS ARE BEING DEVELOPED TO OPERATE AT MILLIMETER SYSTEMS. LOW COST, HIGHLY RELIABLE FRONT END HARDWARE IS REQUIRED FOR THESE MUNITIONS. DIELECTRIC INSULAR WAVEGUIDE PLANAR INTEGRATED CIRCUITS FOR THIS PURPOSE WERE DESCRIBED INITIALLY BY EPSILON LAMBDA PERSONNEL IN 1970. SOME OF THESE RADARS ARE OF THE FM-CW TYPE, AND THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THE NEED FOR DEMONSTRATING AN INTEGRATED, LOW NOISE TRANSMITTER FOR SUCH A RADAR. STATE-OF-THE-ART PERFORMANCE FROM A VARACTOR TUNED V-BAND GUNN OSCILLATOR IS EXPECTED DURING THIS PHASE I DEMONSTRATION. THE USE OF INSULAR WAVEGUIDE COMPATIBLE TECHNIQUES IS NOT EXPECTED TO LOWER PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS. A SUBSEQUENT PHASE II PROGRAM EFFORT WOULD ALLOW DEMONSTRATION OF A PRE-PRODUCTION DESIGN OF A FULLY INTEGRATED INSULAR FRONT END INCLUDING TRANSMITTER, CIRCULATOR AND MIXER. THE FRONT END COULD BE FORM FACTORED FOR APPLICATION IN A TYPICAL (OR PARTICULAR) RADAR APPLICATION.