Automotive radar — “quo vadis?”

The challenges for future automotive radars are caused by two major trends. The first is the series implementation of complex safety functions in small car high volume platforms. With the radar-based Collision Prevention Assist® in the new Mercedes Benz B-Class, series implementation has been realized for the first time. The second trend is the application of driver assistance and active safety systems to rural and urban inner city scenarios. Over all brands worldwide, radar is the first choice for these systems. They can see what a human eye cannot. Radars operate during the day and at night, as well as under most weather conditions and in highly dynamic situations. However, the new market trends will impose four main development challenges on future radar developers: The first is the guarantee of worldwide interoperability and the second, is worldwide frequency regulation. The latter will enable a high level of availability. Another benefit of developing a “world sensor” basis is, that volume bundling effects can be exploited to reduce costs. The third challenge will be imaging capability for the radar outcome to enable urban scenarios and elaborate system reactions. This can be achieved by providing imaging capability to radars and by applying new signal processing schemes to 360° multi radar set ups in one vehicle. Finally, for small car platforms, more performance as standalone sensor is needed to keep affordable cost margins while fulfilling rating requirements. Hence, the sensor architecture and environmental perception tasks will have to go far beyond that of a present day ACC or BSM radar. The article describes the main challenges to future automotive radars and proposes and outlines some solutions.