On the Use of an In-Package Dielectric Lens Antenna for Radar-Based Applications

Extensive research on millimeter-wave (mm-wave) chipset solutions has led to a reduction in size and cost while adding sensitivity and accuracy. Recent mm-wave chipset solutions using antenna-in package approaches were developed for various applications with wide beamwidth and low gain. However, for some applications, such as gait monitoring in a long corridor/hallway, there is a strong need to achieve a higher gain with narrower beamwidth. This will increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the transmit/receive detection range of the system while mitigating reflections from the surrounding environment as well as reducing the multipath effects. An add-on dielectric lens is an appealing solution as it improves the system performance while using the existing on-chip or on-printed circuit board (PCB) antenna solutions. Using a low-cost and rapid manufacturing 3-D printing technology, an in-package 3-D printed hyperbola-based dielectric lens antenna for an mm-wave radar is designed, fabricated, and tested. This design leads to a low-cost, lightweight, easy-to-fabricate, and easy-to-integrate mm-wave radar system. The comprehensive parametric analyses of the effect of the lens dimensions, dielectric permittivity, and focal length on the radiation pattern are intensively investigated. All measurement results align with the theoretical analysis and simulation results. Compared with the radar system without the lens, the in-package 3-D printed dielectric lens antenna provides more than 14-dB gain improvement.