This market research report was originally published at the Yole Group’s website. It is reprinted here with the permission of the Yole Group.
3D waveguide antenna technology constitutes a revolution.
Twice a month, Yole SystemPlus analysts share the noteworthy points from their automotive Teardown Tracks. Today, Baptiste Desbois, Guillaume Robichon, Maël Fontaine, Stéphane Elisabeth, Technology & Cost Analysts at Yole SystemPlus, part of Yole Group, take us to the heart of radar systems.
The shift towards highly sophisticated safety applications is driving the need for 4D radars that offer a better price-performance trade-off compared to legacy radars. The revenue for these sensors is expected to represent 61% of the automotive radar module market in 2028. Taking things, a step further, 4D imaging radars improve the angular resolution from 10° to less than 1°, enabling a much better analysis of closely spaced objects.
Highlights from Yole SystemPlus Teardown Tracks
The injection-molded waveguide antenna from Huber+Suhner GmbH, found in the Continental ARS5-A ARS540 4D imaging radar, constitutes a small revolution. The 3D design includes four cascaded MMICs, 12 transmitting antennas and 16 receiving antennas. Some launchers have been integrated to transmit the RF signal which is then routed through the component. The planar antenna observed in the FC3TR legacy system from Aptiv also uses launchers for the RF connection between the MMIC on one side of the board and the antennas on the other.
Other points highlighted by Yole SystemPlus: the presence of Texas Instruments MMICs in many radars, whatever the category, and the use of FPGAs (field-programmable gate arrays) from Xilinx to manage the greater data processing need required in Continental’s imaging radar.
The first generation of 4D radar from Bosch, the FR5CPCCF 4D radar features a planar design, in this case with both the Infineon’s MMIC and the antennas on the same side of the board.
The subject is far from closed: 3D waveguide antenna technology is attracting widespread interest from many players like BOSCH, who are also seeking to improve 4D radar gain and directivity.
Stay tuned for our next What’s in the box? review!
Yole SystemPlus Automotive Teardown Tracks are the result of detailed physical and costing analyses. They are carried out by experts with academic and industrial backgrounds in the semiconductor domain. Yole SystemPlus Automotive Teardown Tracks offer a clear and fruitful understanding of the technical choices made by the leading manufacturers. It also reveals accurate insights related to manufacturing costs.
The company covers the overall supply chain from the components to the system. Based on daily technical and industrial monitoring, Yole SystemPlus has significant expertise to support innovation.
