STMicroelectronics and Autoroad Technology, a Chinese supplier of millimeter wave (MMW) radar, jointly exhibited automotive radar solutions at the recent International Automotive Technology Expo in Chongqing, China.
Autonomous driving requires the broad adoption of advanced safety technologies that use a combination of cameras and lasers, ultrasonic and IR sensors, and MMW radar. In particular, autonomous vehicles need radar solutions with high resolution, based on MMW-radar ICs that detect objects at long-range in bad weather conditions with a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), that complement the other sensors.
At Auto Tech 2017 Autoroad presented its modules and solutions, which embed ST’s 77GHz SiGe MMW radar products, and also introduced an innovative, new evolution in radar imaging using 79GHz Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR).
Autoroad’s 77GHz radar solution, the first developed in China, was introduced in the market in 2015; the solution displayed at the Automotive event in Chongqing, based on ST’s MMW products, is its second generation.
ST’s latest 77GHz MMW wideband radar ICs provide high integration and compact size, along with a multi-channel architecture that has high object recognition and resolution for Forward-Collision Warning (FCW), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), and other safety features in all weather conditions.
Autoroad also showed that it had achieved a significant breakthrough in 79GHz SAR imaging. The company demonstrated a new approach to object detection and recognition in all weather conditions, such as rain, snow and smog, or in extremely low light, by combining range resolution produced by broadband signals with azimuth resolution produced by using relative vehicle movement.
This SAR technology, implemented using ST’s 79GHz SiGe RF front-end ICs, presents 2D and 3D images at high resolution using the relative movement between the installed radar and the target. It enables detection, recognition, positioning, and size estimation of vehicles, pedestrians, and other targets around a car in all weather and light conditions.
