Ramping up production of high-performance radar processors

NXP Semiconductors has launched the latest member of its scalable S32R radar processor family into production. Tailored to fulfil the more demanding processing necessities to support L2+ autonomous driving and ADAS solutions, the high-performance S32R41 is foremost to creating high-resolution corner and front-facing long-range radars. ADAS total solution expert CubTEK will employ the processors and TEF82xx RFCMOS transceivers for its new high-end radar sensor system. Next-generation commercial vehicles can use this technology in a sophisticated blind spot information system to aid drivers in enhancing road safety for vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists. Its scalable radar platform of highly integrated processors and radar one-chip, which provides a high degree of architecture compatibility and software reuse, enables CubTEK to benefit from its prior work on 4D imaging radar with the S32R45.

The radar processor satisfies the requirements of advanced 77GHz radar applications, not only for high-resolution long-range radar applications, but also for advanced corner radar applications for passenger cars and commercial vehicles, including CubTEK’s BSIS. The architecture supports up to functional safety level ASIL D according to ISO 26262 and creates an optimal processing chain with high-performance Signal Processing Toolbox and Cadence BBE32 DSP radar processing accelerators. The high-performance processing capability with dual MIPI CSI2 interfaces and 8MB of local SRAM, facilitates high angular resolution radar systems. Also, the hardware security engine with EdgeLockTM compliance provides OTA update capability and is ISO 21434 ready. Developers can use the processor and radar software development kit to build and optimise high-resolution 77GHz radar sensor applications.

“NXP’s S32R41 radar processor is the first device we have seen on the market that provides the necessary processing power and connectivity to meet both the technical and commercial requirements for enhancing safety in commercial vehicles. CubTEK’s ECE R151 certified system fulfils the BSD, LCA and TA functions, solving the tractor and container angle issues,” said Dennis Tsai, chief technology officer at CubTEK. “We are excited to work with NXP and use the S32R41 processor in our latest radar product.”

“The NXP S32R41 processor is tailor-made to deliver outstanding performance at low power to meet the next-generation high-class radar sensor requirements,” said Huanyu Gu, director product marketing ADAS at NXP. “As such, the CubTEK team developed their BSIS with a remarkable field view of 180 degrees and a detection range of over 110 meters. We are very pleased with the broad application of the S32R41 processor beyond the passenger car segment.”