Autoroad Technology, China's leading supplier of millimeter wave (MMW) radars, and STMicroelectronics, jointly exhibited innovative 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 mmWave radars. Autonomous vehicles need radar solutions with high resolution, based on mmWave-radar ICs that can detect objects at long-ranges in bad weather conditions with a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). At Auto Tech 2017, Autoroad presented its automotive radar modules and solutions, which embed ST's advanced fully integrated 77 GHz mmWave radar products, and also introduced an innovative, new evolution in radar imaging using the 79 GHz Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR).
Autoroad's 77 GHz radar solution was the first automotive radar developed in China, and was introduced to the market in 2015. The solution displayed at the 2017 Automotive event in Chongqing, was based on ST's IC, making it their second generation automotive radar solution. ST's latest 77 GHz 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 they have achieved a significant breakthrough in 79 GHz 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 solution was implemented using ST's 79 GHz RF front-end ICs and presents 2D/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.
