To accelerate the proliferation of high-performance radar system-on-chips (SoCs), Indie Semiconductor and pure play foundry GlobalFoundries (GF) are collaborating on 77 GHz and 120 GHz for automotive advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and adjacent industrial applications.
The need comes from radar adoption in the automotive market that is accelerating due to safety regulations increasing and consumer demand for these ADAS services. GF said that new vehicles may need at least four radar sensors in coming generations, and this may double in future vehicle use cases.
Use cases
The 77 GHz SoCs are used in systems for shorter- and longer-range detection to monitor surroundings and detect obstacles in use cases like:
- Forward collision warning
- Automatic emergency braking
- Blind spot detection
- Cross-traffic alert
- Automated parking
The radar solution will be used in design-in stages with Tier 1 automotive OEMs.
Meanwhile, the 120 GHz radar solution from Indie Semiconductor will be used for in-cabin applications that require higher resolution and precision over shorter ranges. This includes occupant monitoring and detection of vital signals like heartbeat and respiration.
The radar solutions will be manufactured on GF’s automotive-qualified 22 nm fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process technology. The 22FDX platform offers FinFET-class performance and energy efficiency in a planar technology.
