A 65 nm Duplex Transconductance Path Up-Conversion Mixer for 24 GHz Automotive Short-Range Radar Sensor Applications

A 24 GHz highly-linear upconversion mixer, based on a duplex transconductance path (DTP), is proposed for automotive short-range radar sensor applications using the 65-nm CMOS process. A mixer with an enhanced transconductance stage consisting of a DTP is presented to improve linearity. The main transconductance path (MTP) of the DTP includes a common source (CS) amplifier, while the secondary transconductance path (STP) of the DTP is implemented as an improved cross-quad transconductor (ICQT). Two inductors with a bypass capacitor are connected at the common nodes of the transconductance stage and switching stage of the mixer, which acts as a resonator and helps to improve the gain and isolation of the designed mixer. According to the measured results, at 24 GHz the proposed mixer shows that the linearity of output 1-dB compression point (OP1dB) is 3.9 dBm. And the input 1-dB compression point (IP1dB) is 0.9 dBm. Moreover, a maximum conversion gain (CG) of 2.49 dB and a noise figure (NF) of 3.9 dB is achieved in the designed mixer. When the supply voltage is 1.2 V, the power dissipation of the mixer is 3.24 mW. The mixer chip occupies an area of 0.42 mm2.

On the quality of RS41 radiosonde descent data

Radiosonde descent profiles have been available from tens of stations for several years now – mainly from Vaisala RS41 radiosondes. They have been compared with the ascent profiles, with ECMWF short-range forecasts and with co-located radio occultation retrievals. Over this time, our understanding of the data has grown, and the comparison has also shed some light on radiosonde ascent data. The fall rate is very variable and is an important factor, with high fall rates being associated with temperature biases, especially at higher altitudes. Ascent winds are affected by pendulum motion; on average, descent winds are less affected by pendulum motion and are smoother. It is plausible that the true wind variability in the vertical lies between that shown by ascent and descent profiles. This discrepancy indicates the need for reference wind measurements. With current processing, the best results are for radiosondes with parachutes and pressure sensors. Some of the wind, temperature and humidity data are now assimilated in the ECMWF forecast system.