Telemetric angle and position sensing using millimeter-wave metamaterial and a frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) chip

Abstract

We present a fully telemetric sensor concept for angle and position measurement. It is based on single-layer millimeter-wave metamaterials that exhibit an anisotropic resonant behavior in interaction with incident electromagnetic waves. The angle of rotation is determined from the reflected millimeter waves of the metamaterial target using a millimeter wave chip transceiver. We use a metamaterial geometry exhibiting anisotropic Fano-type resonant behavior. The Fano-type resonance shows a distinct minimum in the reflection spectrum, even with a single layer of metamaterial. The metamaterial target is manufactured on a printed circuit board (PCB) laminate with low-cost standard manufacturing methods. We present an analytical model estimating the resonance frequency of the metamaterial used. The model allows us to assess whether with the Fano-type metamaterial unit cell structure resonance frequencies in the millimeter wave regime are achievable and compliant with standard PCB manufacturing design rules. We performed proof-of-principle experiments with the metamaterial targets and a vector network analyzer, assisted by a detailed analysis of the sensor effect by means of finite-element method calculations. Finally, we implemented a demonstrator setup containing a state-of-the-art frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar chip and a metamaterial target manufactured with standard PCB manufacturing processes.