2017/04/17 04/12 Strategy Analytics: Autonomous Vehicles and Safety Mandates Spur Increase in Automotive RADAR Demand and Performance

Demand for RADAR Sensors Will Increase Rapidly from 26M Units in 2016 to 129M Units by 2023

Boston, MA - April 12, 2017 – The recent developments in autonomous vehicles and new “soft mandates” from safety agencies, such as Euro-NCAP, are raising requirements for enhanced resolution and 360-degree sensing.  This will increase demand for automotive RADARs as well as bring about the introduction of new technologies, such as RF CMOS (Radio Frequency-Compound Metal Oxide Semiconductor).  This technology is used in the NXP Dolphin chip set that Hella will use in its fifth generation short range RADARs.   

The Strategy Analytics report, “Autonomous Vehicles and Safety Mandates Raise Demand and Performance in Automotive Radars,” comments on the recent trends affecting the automotive RADAR market.

Click here for the report: http://bit.ly/2pppxDM / http://bit.ly/2p1a5Bj

RF CMOS enables even greater integration of chipsets than current silicon germanium-based designs.  It thus will allow the size of short range RADARs to be reduced even further, potentially enabling them to challenge the current market for ultrasonic sensors in high-end park assist applications. 

In the meantime, RADAR resolutions are being improved by the current switch over to higher frequencies at 76-79 GHz and to the higher bandwidths enabled by these frequencies.  Backed by learning algorithms and new modulation techniques, automotive RADARs will be more capable of identifying different targets.  This raises the prospect of future RADARs recognizing pedestrians and even curb stones, as well as enhancing the robustness of detecting such targets and reducing false positive readings. 

“This enhanced capability is what is required by autonomous vehicles, along with corner or surround RADAR concepts that provide redundant sensing, on top of cameras and LIDARs, and in adverse weather conditions,” said Kevin Mak, Senior Analyst at the Automotive Practice of Strategy Analytics.  “But with this increase in performance comes the challenge of processing and transmitting larger rates of data, which can pose a dilemma on how auto makers design their vehicle architectures in the run-up towards autonomous vehicles,” he added.