Radar front end with RF oscillator monitoring

A monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC), comprising:

• an RF oscillator, integrated in a semiconductor chip;
• a ramp generating circuit, integrated in the semiconductor chip, the ramp generating circuit configured to generate a ramp signal to control a frequency modulation of the RF oscillator;
• and
• a monitor circuit integrated in the semiconductor chip, the monitor circuit comprising a counter configured to receive an RF signal derived from the RF oscillator, the counter configured to provide at least one digital value that is dependent on a number of cycles of the RF signal during a measurement time interval and to receive a synchronization signal to synchronize the measurement time interval with a ramp of the ramp signal.

A method, comprising:

• actuating an RF oscillator;
• generating a ramp signal to control a frequency modulation of the RF oscillator;
• counting a number of cycles of an RF signal derived from the RF oscillator;
• generating at least one digital value that is dependent on the number of cycles of the RF signal counted during a measurement time interval;
• and
• synchronizing the measurement time interval with a ramp of the ramp signal based on a synchronization signal.