Renesas Electronics Corporation, a provider of advanced semiconductor solutions, is entering the automotive radar market with the launch of a 4x4 channel, 76-81GHz transceiver designed to meet the demanding requirements of ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) and Level 3 and higher autonomous driving applications.
Leveraging automotive experience accumulated over years of global customer engagement, Renesas will incorporate the new RAA270205 high-definition radar transceiver into its growing sensor fusion portfolio, which combines radar, vision systems and other sensing modalities.
Designed in cooperation with Steradian Semiconductors Private Limited, which Renesas acquired earlier this year, the RAA270205 was featured in a Renesas product showcase at electronica, Munich, Germany, November 15-18, 2022.
The new MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuit) transceiver is especially suitable for imaging radar, long-range forward-looking radar and 4D radar. It can also be used for corner radar and central processing architectures, so-called “satellite” automotive radar systems.
Equipped with 4Tx and 4Rx channels, the RAA270205 supports up to 16 MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) channels. It can be cascaded to allow for higher channel counts and better radar resolution.
The RAA270205 features best-in-class accuracy with up to 5 GHz of bandwidth and an ADC (analog to digital converter) sampling rate of 112.5 MSPS that is nearly three times faster than competitive devices. The 1.2W power consumption is 50% lower than comparable transceivers and offers a noise value of 9dB, which is 3dB lower than other radar transceivers. Its superior chirp rate of up to 300 MHz/µs improves radar resolution and object detection.
“Today’s radar transceiver MMICs must achieve higher definition to support the high-precision requirements of ADAS and autonomous driving safety platforms,” said Vivek Bhan, senior vice president and deputy general manager of ADAS’ automotive solutions business unit. Renesas. “Working closely with Steradian, who brings deep expertise in radar design, we are expanding our sensor fusion offerings with a focus on functional safety and low power consumption to help our customers reduce their development costs and improve time to market.”
