Low-Cost 3D printed Dielectric Hyperbolic Lens Antenna for Beam Focusing and Steering of a 79GHz MIMO Radar

Abstract

Extensive research has been conducted on millimeter wave (mm-wave) chipset solutions led to reduction in size and cost while adding sensitivity and accuracy. Recent 79GHz chipset solutions using antenna-in package approach were developed for various applications with a wide beamwidth and low gain. However, for some applications such as multiple people vital sings detection and corridor gait monitoring, there is still a need to achieve higher gain with thinner beamwidth, to increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the transmit/receive range of the system, mitigate the reflection from surrounding objects as well as reduce multi-path effects. The use of a lens is an appealing solution since it could improve the system performances while using existing chipset solution. Using low cost and rapid manufacturing 3D printing technology, we designed and fabricated a dielectric lens antenna for a 79GHz MIMO radar. Compared with the system without lens, the full-wave simulation demonstrated a 14dB improvement in gain which is in good agreement with measurement results.