V band scanner system based on ball grid array-integrated circuit transceiver chip set automation

Abstract

The authors present and experimentally evaluate a scheme for measuring the frequency response of propagation channels and frequency-selective surfaces (FSSs) from 56.5–62 GHz in the US-defined license-free industrial, scientific and medical band using a commercially available millimeter-wave transceiver chip set. The authors exploit the chipset's IQ modulation scheme to produce a single sideband signal that allows the magnitude of the baseband signal to be correlated to the carrier power. Data can be recorded at 600 different frequencies in the band in 130 s, while the fastest scan the authors demonstrate gives 12 frequency points in 2.6 s. The authors expect that further savings can be made by miniaturising the system and eliminating latency associated with the use of general-purpose test equipment. Hence, it is expected that a fast, portable device for the identification of hidden millimetre-wave security labels, based on FSSs, can be constructed from this architecture.