Software configurable 5.8 GHz radar sensor receiver chip in 0.13 µm CMOS for non-contact vital sign detection

A direct conversion 5.8 GHz radar sensor chip with 1 GHz bandwidth was designed and fabricated. This radar sensor chip is software configurable to set the operation point and detection range for optimal performance. It integrates all the analog functions on-chip so that the output can be directly sampled for digital signal processing. Important design issues for direct conversion non-contact vital sign detection sensors, such as the effect of baseband flicker noise and gain budget, have been discussed. Experiments have been performed successfully in lab environment to detect the vital signs of human subject seated at a distance of up to 1.5 meter.