3. Jens Martensson
TOWARDS 4D IMAGING RADARS
• Radar technology is further evolving towards a 4D imaging radar capable
of providing a dense 4D point cloud that can enable moving beyond
presence, range, and speed determination towards 3D object detection,
classification, and tracking.
• The critical impact of increasing the antenna array on azimuth and
elevation resolution and on the data matrix and the point cloud is that the
additional high-res information on azimuth and elevation paves the way
towards 4D imaging radars.
• These emerging capabilities will blur the lines with lidar, potentially
allowing radar to encroach into lidar territory without compromising its
light-level and weather independence.
• This will set up an interesting competitive dynamic although lidar will
likely retain its dominance some parameters including angular resolution
and potentially object classification.
4. Jens Martensson
The interference challenge is also significant. This is expected to become a
growing challenge as the number of radar-equipped radars on the roads will
grow. Various approaches are under consideration. In some cases, the
jammed signals are locally reconstructed. In other approaches, a loose or a
tight system-level coordination is proposed, akin to what is found in
telecommunication systems.
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6. Jens Martensson
INNOVATIVE START-UPS
• Multiple innovative radar start-ups have emerged in recent years. These
firms take different approaches. Some are developing radars on advanced
SOI or CMOS nodes, supporting very large virtual channel sizes.
• This, coupled with their developing processing techniques, can enable
truly 4D imaging. Others are developing novel techniques such as the
use of metamaterials to electronically steer the radar beam.
• Some are focused on the UWB band, seeking to offer single-chip low-
cost high-resolution radar solutions for applications such as drone
navigation, vital signs monitoring, human machine interface, medical
imaging, smart home, and so on.
• These start-ups include Arbe Robotics, Uhnder, Steradian, Echodyne,
Metawave, Oculii, Vayyar, Lunewave, Zendar, Ghostwave, Novelda,
Omniradar (Staal Technologies), and so on.
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7. Jens Martensson
SEMI-AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE RADARS TO
GENERATE HIGHER REVENUE TILL 2030
• Till 2030, higher revenue to the automotive radar market would be
contributed by the semi-autonomous bifurcation.
• This is because fully autonomous vehicles won't be available for
purchase till 2023; thus, the total sales of semi-autonomous
vehicles would be higher till 2030, which is why these automobiles
would generate the larger requirement for radars. The short &
medium bifurcation dominated the automotive radar market during
the historical period (2016-2019).
• This is ascribed to the fact that more such radars are utilized in
automobiles, compared to long-range radars.
• For instance, in a level 2 semi-autonomous vehicle, only one long-
range radar is integrated, while the number of short- & medium-
range radars is three.
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