Electronica: 78 – 81GHz multi-channel radar transceiver for automated driving

Following its acquisition of Steradian Semiconductors in August, Renesas entered the automotive radar market this week when it introduced a multi-channel 76 – 81GHz transceiver at Electronica.

Renesas Steradian RAA270205 block

Designed for driver assistance and Level 3 (and higher) autonomous driving, the MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuit) is aimed imaging radar, long-range forward radar and ‘4D’ radar, “but can also be used for corner and central-processing radar architectures, the so-called ‘satellite’ automotive radar systems”, according to the company.

Dubbed RAA270205, it has four transmit and four receive channels and supports up to 16 MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) operation, as well as cascading for higher channel count and better radar resolution.


Renesas Steradian RAA270205 Polaris app

Within the 7.6 x 5.6mm embedded wafer-level ball-grid array are ADCs (112.5Msample/s) , VCO (-97.5dBc/Hz phase noise at 1MHz), a PLL (-226dBc noise floor), PAs, LNAs, 360° phase shifters for beam-forming and signal processing accelerators. Up to 5GHz of bandwidth is available.


Specs include 1.2W consumption (970mW estimated at 40frame/s), 9dB noise figure and 300MHz/µs chirp rate.

Amongst safety mechanisms aimed at satisfying ISO26262 functional safety requirements, are chip loop-back testing, voltage monitors, clock monitors and digital error checking.

“It will be fully compliant with automotive industry requirements such as IATF 16949, AEC-Q100 Grade2 and ASIL B,” said Renesas, which is planning product samples in the first quarter of next year.

Renesas has a RAA270205 product page here

 

Steve Bush

Steve Bush is the long-standing technology editor for Electronics Weekly, covering electronics developments for more than 25 years. He has a particular interest in the Power and Embedded areas of the industry. He also writes for the Engineer In Wonderland blog, covering 3D printing, CNC machines and miscellaneous other engineering matters.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*