Radar sensors are the eyes of driverless cars, and their resolution, detection accuracy, safety, and reliability are critical to the development of intelligent transportation and the commercialization of autonomous driving.
Several chip companies focus on automotive radar-related markets
In recent years, the global automotive radar market has grown rapidly. According to market research reports, the global automotive radar market will reach US$1.6 billion in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 37%.
From 2021 to 2024, it is expected to achieve a compound annual growth rate of 18%, and the automotive radar market will reach 2.7 billion US dollars by 2024.
The rapid development of autonomous driving has brought new market opportunities. On the one hand, the scale of autonomous driving at the L2+ level is increasing, and it is gradually transitioning to the L3 level; on the other hand, the commercial application of advanced autonomous driving is developing in the fields of trunk logistics, ports, and mines.
Vehicle radar is an important component of the perception layer in the field of autonomous driving; while autonomous driving is developing in many fields, vehicle radar has also attracted much attention.
On October 17, Renesas Electronics announced that it has completed the acquisition of Steradian Semiconductors Private Limited (Steradian). Steradian is a fabless semiconductor company advancing 4D imaging radar solutions.
Headquartered in Bangalore, India, Steradian is a start-up company established in 2016 to improve radar solutions that enable high-precision object recognition and power efficiency in a small form factor.
Radar is a very important technology for ADAS, which utilizes various complex sensor combinations in vehicles to detect objects. Renesas Electronics plans to expand its automotive product portfolio with Steradian's radar technology and strengthen its presence in the radar market by leveraging the high growth opportunities offered by the automotive radar market.
The resulting automotive radar solution will combine new automotive radar products, Renesas' ADAS SoC (system-on-chip) for processing radar signals, power management ICs (PMICs) and timing products, and software for object recognition. These solutions will simplify automotive radar system design and help accelerate product development.
After the acquisition, Steradian has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Renesas Electronics. Combining Steradian's outstanding radar technology and engineering talent will enhance Renesas' sensing solutions across a wide range of applications, including industrial systems.
In addition to Renesas Electronics, other well-known chip companies are also very active in the automotive radar market. As a leading supplier in the rapidly growing radar market, NXP will have the highest market share in the automotive radar market in 2021, far ahead of other competitors, and almost all of the world's top 20 automotive OEMs have adopted NXP's radar technology.
Previously, NXP has launched five generations of automotive radar chips, and is now working hard to develop the sixth generation. NXP transitioned to RFCMOS as early as the fourth generation, and RFCMOS also played a very important role in the development of sixth-generation products, further improving system integration and reducing system costs.
At the beginning of this year, another well-known chip company, Texas Instruments, announced the launch of a new AWR2944 automotive millimeter-wave radar sensor to help automakers improve the object sensing capabilities of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).
Compared with the previous generation AWR1642, the RF performance of the AWR2944 has been improved by 50%, and the detection distance is longer; it will improve the performance of the vehicle in fast object detection, blind spot monitoring, and efficient cornering and corner navigation.
Texas Instruments has also been exploring the development of autonomous driving for more than ten years, and its products cover various fields of autonomous driving. Millimeter wave radar is one of TI's main products, and it is also the company's key development direction in the future.
According to data forecasts, driven by factors such as the expansion of driverless fleets and the increase in the penetration rate of lidar in ADAS, the overall lidar market is expected to show a rapid development trend. will exceed $8 billion. Judging from the dynamics of major chip manufacturers, the prospect of the automotive radar market is worth looking forward to.
