Millimeter-Wave Technology for Automotive Radar Sensors in the 77 GHz Frequency Band
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide background and an overview of the state of the art of millimeter-wave technology for automotive radar applications, including two actual silicon based fully integrated radar chips.
Abstract: The market for driver assistance systems based on millimeter-wave radar sensor technology is gaining momentum. In the near future, the full range of newly introduced car models will be equipped with radar based systems which leads to high volume production with low cost potential. This paper provides background and an overview of the state of the art of millimeter-wave technology for automotive radar applications, including two actual silicon based fully integrated radar chips. Several advanced packaging concepts and antenna systems are presented and discussed in detail. Finally measurement results of the fully integrated radar front ends are shown.
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TL;DR: Various aspects of automotive radar signal processing techniques are summarized, including waveform design, possible radar architectures, estimation algorithms, implementation complexity-resolution trade off, and adaptive processing for complex environments, as well as unique problems associated with automotive radars such as pedestrian detection.
Abstract: Automotive radars, along with other sensors such as lidar, (which stands for "light detection and ranging"), ultrasound, and cameras, form the backbone of self-driving cars and advanced driver assistant systems (ADASs). These technological advancements are enabled by extremely complex systems with a long signal processing path from radars/sensors to the controller. Automotive radar systems are responsible for the detection of objects and obstacles, their position, and speed relative to the vehicle. The development of signal processing techniques along with progress in the millimeter-wave (mm-wave) semiconductor technology plays a key role in automotive radar systems. Various signal processing techniques have been developed to provide better resolution and estimation performance in all measurement dimensions: range, azimuth-elevation angles, and velocity of the targets surrounding the vehicles. This article summarizes various aspects of automotive radar signal processing techniques, including waveform design, possible radar architectures, estimation algorithms, implementation complexity-resolution trade off, and adaptive processing for complex environments, as well as unique problems associated with automotive radars such as pedestrian detection. We believe that this review article will combine the several contributions scattered in the literature to serve as a primary starting point to new researchers and to give a bird's-eye view to the existing research community.
705 citations
Cites background from "Millimeter-Wave Technology for Auto..."
...D) waveforms in Figure 3(c) depict successive reflected pulses arranged across two time indices....
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TL;DR: The proposed IEEE 802.11ad-based radar meets the minimum accuracy/resolution requirement of range and velocity estimates for LRR applications and exploits the preamble of a single-carrier physical layer frame, which consists of Golay complementary sequences with good correlation properties that make it suitable for radar.
Abstract: Millimeter-wave (mmWave) radar is widely used in vehicles for applications such as adaptive cruise control and collision avoidance. In this paper, we propose an IEEE 802.11ad-based radar for long-range radar (LRR) applications at the 60 GHz unlicensed band. We exploit the preamble of a single-carrier physical layer frame, which consists of Golay complementary sequences with good correlation properties that make it suitable for radar. This system enables a joint waveform for automotive radar and a potential mmWave vehicular communication system based on the mmWave consumer wireless local area network standard, allowing hardware reuse. To formulate an integrated framework of vehicle-to-vehicle communication and LRR, we make typical assumptions for LRR applications, incorporating the full duplex radar operation. This new feature is motivated by the recent development of systems with sufficient isolation and self-interference cancellation. We develop single- and multi-frame radar receiver algorithms for target detection as well as range and velocity estimation for both single- and multi-target scenarios. Our proposed radar processing algorithms leverage channel estimation and time–frequency synchronization techniques used in a conventional IEEE 802.11ad receiver with minimal modifications. Analysis and simulations show that in a single-target scenario, a gigabits-per-second data rate is achieved simultaneously with cm-level range accuracy and cm/s-level velocity accuracy. The target vehicle is detected with a high probability (above 99.99 $\%$ ) at a low false alarm rate of 10 $^{-6}$ for an equivalent isotropically radiated power of 40 dBm up to a vehicle separation distance of about 200 m. The proposed IEEE 802.11ad-based radar meets the minimum accuracy/resolution requirement of range and velocity estimates for LRR applications.
469 citations
Cites background or methods from "Millimeter-Wave Technology for Auto..."
...range of the target vehicle within a CPI duration of less than 10 ms, which is desirable in LRR [1], [20]....
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...range and cm/s-level velocity resolution, desirable in automotive radars [1], due to insufficient bandwidth....
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...In this paper, we propose an IEEE 802.11ad-based radar for long-range radar (LRR) applications at the 60 GHz unlicensed band....
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...11, we infer that for PL exponent of 2.0, the IEEE 802.11ad-based radar can detect very reliably with PD > 99.9% and PFA = 10−6 till 200 m, which is desirable for LRR [21]....
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...11ad preamble, which is better than the required LRR resolution specifications in [1] and typical CPI duration used in automotive radars (see, e....
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TL;DR: By introducing a new pairing mechanism and a spatial filter design algorithm, the proposed detection architecture not only provides high accuracy and reliability, but also requires low pairing time and computational loading.
Abstract: For a typical FMCW automotive radar system, a new design of baseband signal processing architecture and algorithms is proposed to overcome the ghost targets and overlapping problems in the multi-target detection scenario. To satisfy the short measurement time constraint without increasing the RF front-end loading, a three-segment waveform with different slopes is utilized. By introducing a new pairing mechanism and a spatial filter design algorithm, the proposed detection architecture not only provides high accuracy and reliability, but also requires low pairing time and computational loading. This proposed baseband signal processing architecture and algorithms balance the performance and complexity, and are suitable to be implemented in a real automotive radar system. Field measurement results demonstrate that the proposed automotive radar signal processing system can perform well in a realistic application scenario.
426 citations
07 Jul 2016
TL;DR: The potential for these oscillators in a wide range of applications, from microwave signal sources and detectors to neuromorphic computation elements, is discussed together with the specific electronic circuitry that has so far been designed to harness this potential.
Abstract: This paper reviews the state of the art in spin-torque and spin-Hall-effect-driven nano-oscillators. After a brief introduction to the underlying physics, the authors discuss different implementations of these oscillators, their functional properties in terms of frequency range, output power, phase noise, and modulation rates, and their inherent propensity for mutual synchronization. Finally, the potential for these oscillators in a wide range of applications, from microwave signal sources and detectors to neuromorphic computation elements, is discussed together with the specific electronic circuitry that has so far been designed to harness this potential.
306 citations
Cites background from "Millimeter-Wave Technology for Auto..."
...Later, it was shown that a nanocontact-based STNO can be successfully modulated to a modulation frequency of 3.2 GHz [151]....
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...More recently, a very low Gilbert damping and ultrafast spin precession with frequencies of up to 280 GHz has been demonstrated [208], which makes it possible to further extend the operating frequencies of STNOs....
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...[150], [110], [151] Bonetti et al., [150] reported a frequency as high as 46 GHz for high magnetic fields applied normally to the film plane....
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...It was reported that it would be possible to achieve a frequency beyond 65 GHz, which would be potentially attractive for a range of millimeter-wave applications, such as shortrange high-speed radio links (IEEE 802.15.3c) near 60 GHz and vehicle radar for active cruise control at 77 GHz....
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...The operating frequency of GMR STNOs has been experimentally observed up to 46 GHz and extrapolated to 65 GHz [150]....
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TL;DR: This tutorial survey collates research across a number of topics in V2X, from historical developments to standardization activities and a high-level view of research in anumber of important fields to provide a useful reference for the state of V2x research and development for newcomers and veterans alike.
Abstract: As we edge closer to the broad implementation of intelligent transportation systems, the need to extend the perceptual bounds of sensor-equipped vehicles beyond the individual vehicle is more pressing than ever. Research and standardization efforts toward vehicle to everything (V2X), technology is intended to enable the communication of individual vehicles with both one another and supporting road infrastructure. The topic has drawn interest from a large number of stakeholders, from governmental authorities to automotive manufacturers and mobile network operators. With interest sourced from many disparate parties and a wealth of research on a large number of topics, trying to grasp the bigger picture of V2X development can be a daunting task. In this tutorial survey, to the best of our knowledge, we collate research across a number of topics in V2X, from historical developments to standardization activities and a high-level view of research in a number of important fields. In so doing, we hope to provide a useful reference for the state of V2X research and development for newcomers and veterans alike.
290 citations
Cites methods from "Millimeter-Wave Technology for Auto..."
...Prior to its application to 5G, mmWave has had a history of use in the automotive industry; for example, the 77 GHz band has already been used in the context of Long Range Radar (LRR) in automatic cruise control and other car sensor applications [88]....
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References
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Book•
01 Jan 1962
TL;DR: This chapter discusses Radar Equation, MTI and Pulse Doppler Radar, and Information from Radar Signals, as well as Radar Antenna, Radar Transmitters and Radar Receiver.
Abstract: 1 An Introduction to Radar 2 The Radar Equation 3 MTI and Pulse Doppler Radar 4 Tracking Radar 5 Detection of Signals in Noise 6 Information from Radar Signals 7 Radar Clutter 8 Propogation of Radar Waves 9 The Radar Antenna 10 Radar Transmitters 11 Radar Receiver
6,010 citations
"Millimeter-Wave Technology for Auto..." refers background in this paper
...For semiconductor technology, higher performance, more integration and lower power consumption are key factors....
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TL;DR: The receiver and the on-chip antenna sections of a fully integrated 77-GHz four-element phased-array transceiver with on- chip antennas in silicon are presented.
Abstract: In this paper, we present the receiver and the on-chip antenna sections of a fully integrated 77-GHz four-element phased-array transceiver with on-chip antennas in silicon. The receiver section of the chip includes the complete down-conversion path comprising low-noise amplifier (LNA), frequency synthesizer, phase rotators, combining amplifiers, and on-chip dipole antennas. The signal combining is performed using a novel distributed active combining amplifier at an IF of 26 GHz. In the LO path, the output of the 52-GHz VCO is routed to different elements and can be phase shifted locally by the phase rotators. A silicon lens on the backside is used to reduce the loss due to the surface-wave power of the silicon substrate. Our measurements show a single-element LNA gain of 23 dB and a noise figure of 6.0dB. Each of the four receive paths has a gain of 37 dB and a noise figure of 8.0 dB. Each on-chip antenna has a gain of +2 dBi
383 citations
Additional excerpts
...A typical setup is shown in Fig....
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TL;DR: In this article, the first fully integrated 77-GHz phased-array transceiver is presented, which utilizes a local LO-path phase-shifting architecture to achieve beam steering and includes four transmit and receive elements, along with the LO frequency generation and distribution circuitry.
Abstract: Integration of mm-wave multiple-antenna systems on silicon-based processes enables complex, low-cost systems for high-frequency communication and sensing applications. In this paper, the transmitter and LO-path phase-shifting sections of the first fully integrated 77-GHz phased-array transceiver are presented. The SiGe transceiver utilizes a local LO-path phase-shifting architecture to achieve beam steering and includes four transmit and receive elements, along with the LO frequency generation and distribution circuitry. The local LO-path phase-shifting scheme enables a robust distribution network that scales well with increasing frequency and/or number of elements while providing high-resolution phase shifts. Each element of the heterodyne transmitter generates +12.5 dBm of output power at 77 GHz with a bandwidth of 2.5 GHz leading to a 4-element effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) of 24.5 dBm. Each on-chip PA has a maximum saturated power of +17.5 dBm at 77 GHz. The phased-array performance is measured using an internal test option and achieves 12-dB peak-to-null ratio with two transmit and receive elements active
310 citations
01 Nov 2008
TL;DR: In this paper, Infineon's embedded Wafer level Ball Grid Array (WLB) technology is presented, which allows fitting interconnects onto a so-called fan-out area extending the chip area.
Abstract: The main challenges of today's device packaging are miniaturization, continuously increasing operating frequencies/high data rates, high number of I/Os, reliability, and thermal requirements. One of the major package trends driven by mobile-phone applications is the Wafer Level Ball Grid Array (WLB). Drivers for the implementation of WLB technology are cost reduction, smaller form factor and better electrical performance with respect to high frequency applications. Thin-film WLB technology consists in realizing additional redistribution layers above the passivation of a semiconductor chip using standard thin-film techniques to rearrange peripheral pads on the wafer in an array pattern. A hard limit will be reached with this technology, when the number of I/Os reaches a larger number dian can be fitted on the silicon chip at a given pitch. We introduce Infineon's embedded Wafer Level Ball Grid Array technology, which allows fitting interconnects onto a so-called fan-out area extending the chip area. The core process of this emerging technology is the encapsulation of silicon dice by compression molding. The eWLB technology is a forward-looking development of the WLB technology, upholding the known benefits such as small package dimensions, excellent electrical and thermal performance, and maximum connection density. However, this technology significantly increases the functionality and application spread. Due to eWLB. complex semiconductor chips such as modem and processor chips for applications in mobile communications require a high number of solder connections with standardized contact spacing to be produced with a minimal footprint. At the same time, the packages can be provided with as many solder contacts as needed. The possibility of additional wiring area around the chip proper means that the wafer-level packaging technology also lends itself to new. space-sensitive applications. We demonstrate the capabilities of Infineon's molded embedded Wafer Level Package Technology and show how we extended it towards a Platform Technology. The qualified Platform we introduce here covers currently a range of package sizes up to 8×8mm2 at a ball pitch of 0.5mm. The Qualification Criteria we have applied follow the tests described in JEDEC Standard Number 26-A.
284 citations
"Millimeter-Wave Technology for Auto..." refers background in this paper
...The authors would like to thank Infineon for providing the millimeter-wave integrated circuits....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors used selective lateral etching based on micromachining techniques to enhance the performance of rectangular microstrip patch antennas printed on high-index wafers such as silicon, GaAs, and InP.
Abstract: This paper presents the use of selective lateral etching based on micromachining techniques to enhance the performance of rectangular microstrip patch antennas printed on high-index wafers such as silicon, GaAs, and InP. Micromachined patch antennas on Si substrates have shown superior performance over conventional designs where the bandwidth and the efficiency have increased by as much as 64% and 28%, respectively. In this work, the silicon material is removed laterally underneath the patch antenna to produce a cavity that consists of a mixture of air and substrate with equal or unequal thicknesses. Characterization of the micromachined patch antenna is presented herein and includes a discussion on the bandwidth improvements, radiation patterns, and efficiency of the patch. In addition, antenna placement on the reduced index cavity with respect to the high-index substrate is described to achieve efficiency improvements over conventional patch antennas.
282 citations