Predicted sensitivity of a 300GHz FMCW radar to pedestrians

This paper addresses several issues which are novel in respect of the rapidly-evolving state of the art of low-terahertz radars: firstly, the sensitivity available from currently-available radars, secondly the likely effects of source noise and thirdly the effects of the fact that even relatively small targets, like people, occupy more than one resolution cell, as a consequence of the high resolutions which can be used to obtain ‘quasi imaging’ performance at these wavelengths. The power budget for a state-of-the-art 300GHz frequency-modulated continuous wave radar is presented, including consideration of the effects of oscillator noise. It is shown that the sensitivity of the system will not be significantly affected by oscillator noise.