• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.521-535
• /
• 2015

Vibration-based monitoring is one approach used to perform structural condition assessment. By measuring structural response, such as displacement, dynamic characteristics of a structure may be estimated. Often, the primary dynamic responses in civil structures are below 5 Hz, making accurate low frequency measurement critical for successful dynamic characterization. In addition, static deflection measurements are useful for structural capacity and load rating assessments. This paper presents a DC coupled continuous wave radar to accurately detect both dynamic and static displacement. This low-cost radar sensor provides displacement measurements within a compact, wireless unit appropriate for a range of structural monitoring applications. The hardware components and operating mechanism of the radar are introduced and a series of laboratory experiments are presented to assess the performance characteristics of the radar. The laboratory and field experiments investigate the effect of factors such as target distance, motion amplitude, and motion frequency on the radar's measurement accuracy. The results demonstrate that the radar is capable of both static and dynamic displacement measurements with sub-millimeter accuracy, making it a promising technology for structural health monitoring.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
• /
• v.29 no.8
• /
• pp.632-639
• /
• 2018

This paper presents a single antenna radar sensor with a Ku-band radar transceiver IC realized by 130 nm CMOS processes. In this radar receiver, sensitivity time control using a DC offset cancellation feedback loop is employed to achieve a constant SNR, irrespective of distance. In addition, the receiver RF block has gain control to adjust high dynamic range. The RF output power is 9 dBm and the full chain gain of the Rx is 82 dB. To reduce the direct-coupled Tx signal to the Rx in a single antenna radar, a stub-tuned hybrid coupler is adopted instead of a bulky circulator. The maximum measured distance between the horn antenna and a metal plate target is 6 m.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.591-600
• /
• 2010

In this paper, three kinds of 24 GHz low-power CMOS cross-coupled voltage controlled oscillators are designed and fabricated for a short-range radar applications using TSMC 0.13 ${\mu}m$ CMOS process. The basic CMOS crosscoupled voltage controlled oscillator is designed for oscillating around a center frequency of 24.1 GHz and subthreshold oscillators are developed for low power operation from it. A double resonant circuit is newly applied to the subthreshold oscillator to improve the problem that parasitic capacitance of large transistors in a subthreshold oscillator can push the oscillation frequency toward lower frequencies. The fabricated chips show the phase noise of -101~-103.5 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset, the output power of -11.85~-15.33 dBm and the frequency tuning range of 475~852 MHz. In terms of power consumption, the basic oscillator consumes 5.6 mW, while the subthreshold oscillator does 3.3 mW. The subthreshold oscillator with the double resonant circuit shows relatively lower power consumption and improved phase noise performance while maintaining a comparable frequency tuning range. The subthreshold oscillator with double resonances has FOM of -185.2 dBc based on 1 mW DC power reference, which is an about 3 dB improved result compared with the basic oscillator.