Leading Chinese provider of mmWave radar SoCs, Calterah Semiconductor, will be showcasing its most comprehensive product portfolio of automotive mmWave radar SoCs, including the most sought-after next-gen Andes SoC for 4D imaging radar, at the world’s largest and most important mobility event, IAA Mobility 2023 from September 5 to 10, at Booth A2-F31 of Messe München in Munich, Germany.

4D imaging radar, a state-of-the-art and buzzed-about mmWave sensing technology, provides high-resolution and long-range object detection that covers four dimensions (4D), namely distance, velocity, azimuth, and more importantly, elevation that sets it apart from traditional 3D mmWave radar systems. By collecting object information of four dimensions, it can output more dense point cloud data for better imaging, giving rise to the term “imaging radar”. Compared to regular mmWave radar, 4D imaging radar offers a range of advantages, such as a wider field of view (FOV), enhanced accuracy, exceptional resolution, better height measurement, and the capability to identify stationary objects and smaller targets other than vehicles, etc.

The next-gen Andes SoC (CAL77C844-AF) from Calterah is more than ready to meet the requirements of 4D premium and imaging radar. Just like other Calterah SoCs, Andes is a full integration of radar transceiver and microprocessor functions. Among similar radar sensor products in the market, Andes is made a true standout by its unmatched strengths.

• Multi-Core CPU with DSP and RSP

The Andes SoC integrates 4 CPU cores that deliver the strongest computation power, a DSP with at least 2X and even 9X faster digital signal processing, and a proprietary RSP for more rapid radar signal processing. These all translate into a significant edge in signal and data processing and executing advanced algorithms, outshining the competition.

• Flexible Architecture

The flexible architecture makes Andes fit for various use scenarios and waveform requirements. With a 7-bit phase rotator for greater resolution and accuracy, its RF subsystem also supports flexible waveform generation, accurate digital compensation, and an optimized floorplan for better isolation. Another testament to its flexibility is the innovative Flex-Cascading function with C2C interfaces, which enables users to create powerful 4D imaging radar systems of various scales by cascading different numbers of CAL77C844-AF SoCs.

• Convenient Debugging Functions

The complicated development of imaging radar calls for convenient debugging functions. To address the demand, the Andes SoC device offers an array of user-friendly debugging functions by providing various debugging interfaces, channels, and analytic modules.

• Advanced Security Capability

In response to the ever-growing demand for automotive cybersecurity, Andes has a Hardware Security Module (HSM) meeting the requirements of a main control chip of a vehicle. Featuring a “safety island” design, it ensures exclusive access to resources for the CPU within the HSM. Moreover, crypto hardware accelerators within the HSM bolster common encryption and decryption algorithms, further safeguarding cybersecurity of vehicle systems.

Figure 1: Two Cascaded Calterah Andes mmWave Radar SoCs

Based on two cascaded Andes SoCs, Calterah has developed a 4D imaging radar solution, which offers outstanding detection performances: azimuth resolution of 1.5°, azimuth accuracy of ±0.1°, elevation resolution of 4°, a maximum target number of 2048, and more. Notably, unlike radar systems based on cascaded MMICs, Calterah’s 4D imaging radar solution eliminates the need for an additional MCU thanks to the high integration level of Andes SoCs, hence achieving a lower radar system cost. With both exceptional detection capabilities and high cost-efficiency, the Calterah 4D radar solution enabled by Andes SoCs is poised to empower more L3+ ADAS systems, advancing the landscape of autonomous driving.

Figure 2: Max Detection Range (Left) and Azimuth Resolution (Right) of Andes-Based Two-Chip Cascaded 4D Imaging Radar

Since its establishment in Shanghai in 2014, Calterah has been committed to providing its users with higher-performance, easier-to-use, and more power-efficient mmWave radar technology. With a proven track record of shipping accumulatively over 5 million units of automotive ICs and empowering 150 plus vehicle models, Calterah has grown from a pioneer to an established and prominent supplier of CMOS single-chip mmWave radar sensors. This makes the company a compelling option worth noting, particularly for automotive Tier-1s that seek high-quality, reliable, and cost-efficient mmWave radar SoC products and solutions.

With the rapid development of intelligent driving, vehicle perception systems require higher accuracy, resolution, and precision of mmWave radar sensors. Calterah’s Alps-Pro mmWave radar SoC can cover L2/L2+ ADAS applications. Recently, Calterah has introduced a high-performance corner radar solution based on the Alps-Pro SoC, which has served mainstream automotive Tier-1 suppliers in China, facilitating the development of intelligent driving perception.

Calterah’s Alps-Pro high-performance corner radar solution adopts the non-equally-spaced DDM-MIMO waveform design for long-range radar (LRR) and medium-range radar (MRR) modes, under which a sensor can detect multiple objects around the vehicle and obtain information such as their range, velocity, angle, etc.

Advantages of Calterah Alps-Pro High-Performance Corner Radar Solution

• Longer detection range (MRR: 100 m, LRR: 180 m), high range accuracy (MRR: ±0.05 m, LRR: ±0.1 m), high range resolution (MRR: 0.2 m, LRR: 0.4 m). Adopting a 45° beam-deflection antenna design, the solution supports long-distance detection of objects 180 m ahead in the same lane of a vehicle.

• Wide velocity range (-85–85 m/s), high velocity accuracy (±0.025 m/s), and high velocity resolution (MRR: 0.1 m/s, LRR: 0.14 m/s)

• Large FOV (azimuth: -75°–75°, elevation: -12°–12°) and high 2D angle measurement accuracy (azimuth: ±0.2°, elevation: ±0.5°)

• High azimuth resolution (4°) and more stable angle resolution performance

• High point cloud density enables more accurate scene representation.

In addition to better performance of the metrics mentioned, Calterah’s high-performance corner radar solution based on the Alps-Pro SoC also boasts other merits.

• Faster Operation Speed

The hardware-based complete DDM-MIMO signal processing flow operates at a faster speed, and it can easily achieve the 50 ms frame rate requirement while outputting 512 objects.

• Lower Signal Leakage

The comprehensive phase shifter calibration solution enables automatic calibration within one second, thus lowering the signal leakage level to less than -30 dB.

• More Diversified Interfaces

Alps-Pro supports an Ethernet interface to output more diversified target information, point cloud information, and other signal processing results required by domain controllers.

Meanwhile, Alps-Pro also integrates a Hardware Security Module (HSM) to meet increasing demands on cybersecurity.

Calterah’s Alps-Pro high-performance corner radar solution has MRR and LRR modes, which can enable various high-performance corner radar applications, including Blind Spot Detection (BSD), Lane Change Assist (LCA), Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA), etc.

As the new 4T4R 77 GHz radar SoC based on Calterah’s Alps platform, Alps-Pro (CAL77S344-AE) has more powerful transceiver, Baseband Accelerator (BBA), CPU, etc. Moreover, Alps-Pro is more robust since it can further reduce out-of-band spurs, improve interference detection, and support cybersecurity. Alps-Pro also has more optimal cost efficiency and its typical power consumption is as low as 1.5 W at a 50% duty cycle with 4 TRXs on. In addition, Alps-Pro’s various debugging features and its ASPICE-compliant SDK can simplify user development and shorten the time to market. 

Boasting a most comprehensive portfolio of mmWave radar chips in the industry, Calterah offers SoC products that can enable various automotive mmWave radar applications apart from corner radar, including forward-looking radar, imaging radar, in-cabin radar, side radar, etc. Regarding forward-looking radar, Calterah will release its reference solution based on in the 4^th quarter of 2023, continuing to further facilitate L2/L2+ intelligent driving.

On June 21, Calterah exhibited its mmWave radar SoCs and indoor detection system solution in the Innovation Zone of TSMC 2023 China Technology Symposium held at the Shanghai International Convention Center.

The Innovation Zone has been hosted annually since 2021, where a group of emerging enterprises are invited by TSMC to present their cutting-edge products and innovative technologies. This time, focusing on the applications of mmWave radar technology for indoor human detection and tracking, Calterah exhibited the 60 GHz industrial-grade Rhine and Rhine-Mini SoCs and showcased, with a real-time interactive demo, the performances of a 60 GHz mmWave radar SoC with Antenna in Package (AiP) technology.

The mmWave radar sensors based on Calterah industrial-grade AiP SoCs, requiring no external antennas, feature a compact size of a fingernail and easy installation. Capable of sensing micro motions of objects, the mmWave radar sensor can achieve accurate vital sign detection and human tracking, while filtering out non-target objects. In addition, the sensors also boast contactless detection without privacy concerns associated with traditional monitoring methods like cameras, thus ensuring privacy protection.

Integrated Digital-Analog Circuitry Enabled by Advanced CMOS Process

As a global leader in designing and developing CMOS single-chip mmWave radar sensors, Calterah has developed highly-integrated mmWave digital-analog mixed-signal SoC chips based on TSMC’s CMOS technology. Moreover, through constant technological breakthroughs and innovations, Calterah has developed proprietary radar signal processing baseband and AiP SoC design, which have given its products significant advantages in both cost and power consumption.

Calterah’s mmWave radar SoC portfolios are built on two platforms, namely Alps and Andes, which are based on TSMC’s 40 nm process and 22 nm process, respectively. Calterah SoCs based on the Alps platform consist of the Alps, Rhine, Rhine-Mini, and Alps-Pro families, which mainly target the short- and medium-range radar applications, boasting high integration, low cost, and low power consumption, owing to the integration of digital and analog circuitry. Calterah’s next-gen mmWave radar SoC products, the Andes family, employing TSMC’s industry-leading technology of 22 nm process, achieves higher computing power per unit area and shows better RF performance than that of the 40 nm platform through innovative designs, thus capable of empowering 4D premium and imaging radar applications. The precise and comprehensive tools and models provided by TSMC on its process platforms surely play a role in achieving these results.

With a Pledge of Quality, We Innovate for the Greater Good

Upholding the quality policy of “With a pledge of quality, we innovate for the greater good”, Calterah has been certified to the ISO 9001 Quality Management System standard and the ISO 26262 Functional Safety standard, with its products meeting the reliability requirements of AEC-Q100 Grade 2 and Grade 1qualifications. The company has also set up the J Lab, an ATE 5S clean laboratory and ensured a 100% testing rate for automotive-grade products, contributing to the goal of “Zero Defects”, which is also one of TSMC’s goals for pursuing excellent quality. As a fabless company with a specialized Manufacturing Technology Center, Calterah is always ready to work with suppliers to promote technological breakthroughs and innovations and establish a stable, effective, and reliable supply chain, in a bid to provide high-quality products and services for customers.

6月21日，台积公司2023年中国技术论坛在上海国际会议中心盛大举行，加特兰携毫米波雷达SoC芯片室内系统解决方案亮相技术论坛的Innovation Zone客户创新展区。

台积公司客户创新专区（Innovation Zone）自2021年举办以来，每年邀请一批新创企业，向技术论坛与会者展示尖端产品及创新技术。此次加特兰围绕毫米波雷达芯片在人员检测与轨迹跟踪方面的应用，展出了60 GHz工规级Rhine和Rhine-Mini SoC芯片组合，并演示了60 GHz工规级AiP（封装集成片上天线）芯片的实时交互式探测效果。

搭载加特兰工规级AiP芯片的毫米波雷达传感器，无须外置天线，体积小巧，仅有指甲盖大小，非常便于安装。功能上，通过微动检测实现精准的人体生命体征探测和人员跟踪，同时过滤非目标物体信息。另外，还做到了无接触式探测，也避免了摄像头等传统监测手段带来的隐私问题，实现隐私保护。

先进CMOS工艺使能数模集成

作为CMOS毫米波雷达芯片的技术领导者，加特兰采用台积公司的CMOS工艺，实现了高集成度的毫米波数模混合SoC芯片，并不断进行技术突破和创新，研发独特的专用数字雷达信号处理基带，推出AiP芯片设计，使得产品在成本和功耗方面也具有极大的竞争优势。

加特兰的SoC产品系列分为两大平台，Alps平台和Andes平台，分别基于台积公司的40纳米和22纳米工艺技术。基于Alps平台的SoC产品包含Alps、Rhine、Rhine-Mini和Alps-Pro系列，主要面向中短距雷达模组市场，实现了数模电路的集成，具有高集成度、低成本、低功耗的特点；加特兰全新一代Andes系列则采用台积公司业界领先的22纳米工艺，能够提供单位面积上更高的算力，而且通过一系列创新设计，射频性能指标相比40纳米工艺平台进一步提升，助力4D高端及成像雷达应用。这些成果也离不开台积公司在工艺平台上准确全面的开发工具及模型的助力。

质量为先，科技致善 

加特兰始终坚持“质量为先，科技致善”的方针，通过了ISO 9001质量体系认证和ISO 26262功能安全管理体系认证，产品可靠性规格也从AEC-Q100 Grade 2向Grade 1升级。加特兰还设立了ATE万级洁净度5S实验室J Lab，车规产品出厂测试率达到100%，助力芯片“零缺陷”目标，而这也是台积公司追求卓越品质的目标之一。作为一家芯片设计公司，加特兰拥有专门的生产技术中心团队，携手供应商共同推进技术创新和突破，持续打造一条稳定、高效、可靠的供应链，为客户带来更高品质的产品与服务。

伴随着智能驾驶的不断发展，整车感知系统对毫米波雷达的准确性、分辨率、检测精度等性能都提出了更高的要求。加特兰全新毫米波雷达SoC芯片Alps-Pro可覆盖L2/L2+级ADAS应用。近期，加特兰推出了基于Alps-Pro的高性能角雷达参考方案，覆盖国内主流Tier 1，帮助推进智能驾驶感知发展。

加特兰全新Alps-Pro高性能角雷达方案中，长距和中距模式采用非等间隔DDM-MIMO波形设计，雷达可以稳定检测车辆周围多个目标，实时获取多个目标的距离、速度、角度等信息。

Alps-Pro高性能角雷达方案优势

• 探测范围更远（中距100 m；长距180 m），距离精度高（中距±0.05 m，长距±0.1 m），距离分辨率高（中距0.2 m，长距0.4 m）。角雷达方案采用45°波束偏转设计，可探测正前方车道180 m目标。

• 速度范围大（-85–85 m/s），速度精度高（±0.025 m/s），速度分辨率高（中距0.1 m/s，长距0.14 m/s）。

• FOV覆盖范围大（水平-75°–75°，俯仰-12°–12°），二维测角精度高（水平±0.2°，俯仰±0.5°）。

• 水平角分辨率高（4°），角分辨功能更加稳定。

• 点云密度高，场景刻画更加精确。

除了更优的性能指标，基于Alps-Pro芯片的高性能角雷达方案也具备其他优势：

• 更快的运行速度

基于硬件的DDM-MIMO完整信号处理流程，运行速度快，在512目标点输出情况下亦能轻松满足50 ms的帧率要求。

• 更低的信号泄漏

完善的移相器校准（phase shifter calibration）方案，可在1秒内高效完成自动校准，将信号泄漏水平降低至-30 dB以下。

• 更丰富的接口

 Alps-Pro支持以太网接口，可以输出更加丰富的目标信息、点云信息及其他域控制器所需的信号处理结果。

同时，Alps-Pro还集成了Hardware Security Module（HSM），以应对日益增长的网络安全需求。

基于Alps-Pro的角雷达方案长、中距模式适用于各种高性能角雷达应用场景，包括盲点检测（BSD）、变道辅助（LCA）、后方交通穿行提示（RCTA）等。

Alps-Pro（CAL77S344-AE）是基于加特兰Alps平台的全新4T4R 77 GHz毫米波雷达SoC芯片。Alps-Pro在收发前端系统、基带加速器（Baseband Accelerator, BBA）、处理器等方面，都具备更高的性能（Powerful）。Alps-Pro进一步降低带外杂散，增加干扰检测，支持网络安全，做到更加可靠（Robust）。芯片也拥有更优的性价比（Optimal），并且在4T4R全开、50%占空比条件下典型功耗仅有1.5 W。Alps-Pro支持各种调试功能，SDK软件套件符合ASPICE标准，可简化用户开发，帮助加速产品上市。

加特兰拥有目前业界最全面的毫米波雷达芯片产品组合，除了角雷达应用，也可满足其他多种车载雷达场景需求，包括前向雷达、成像雷达、舱内雷达、门雷达等。针对汽车前向雷达应用，加特兰将在2023年第4季度推出基于Alps-Pro的前雷达参考设计方案，持续为L2/L2+级智能驾驶提供助力。

At the recent Commencement 2023 and the 2nd Annual Award Ceremony of the Department of Electrical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong (CityU EE), Calterah’s founder and CEO Dr. Chen Jiashu has been bestowed the 2022 Outstanding Alumni Award.

CityU EE selects annually no more than three awardees for the Outstanding Alumni Awards to acknowledge their professional achievements, social recognition, and contributions to CityU EE. The outstanding alumni are expected to act as role models for current students, help them navigate professional journeys, and inspire and motivate them to achieve their full potential.

For his “remarkable contributions to the development and commercialization of low-power CMOS millimeter-wave radar chips”, Dr. Chen Jiashu was presented with the Outstanding Alumni Award by Prof K M Luk, Head of CityU EE. Dr. Chen was also invited to visit the State Key Laboratory of Terahertz and Millimeter Waves of CityU, where he had fruitful discussions with top-notch experts and scholars.

Calterah Low-Power CMOS mmWave Radar SoCs

With the constant advancement of semiconductor technologies, the production process of mmWave radar chips has evolved from GaAs and SiGe to the current CMOS, which has become the most widely-adopted process for mmWave radar ICs, due to its high integration level and low power consumption. As a global leader in designing and developing CMOS single-chip mmWave radar sensors, Calterah has taken the lead to roll out fully-integrated CMOS radar SoC chips, which simplify radar system designs and reduce the costs of radar modules. Moreover, Calterah’s CMOS SoCs can deliver an over 30% reduction in power consumption, thus providing a solid foundation for the rapid growth of automotive radar modules. Calterah Rhine-Mini 2T2R radar SoCs boast a typical power consumption of only 0.8 W; the Alps and Rhine 4T4R radar SoCs also feature a low typical power consumption, which is 1.3 W; the Alps-Pro 4T4R SoC, Calterah’s latest high-performance product based on the Alps platform, has a typical power consumption of as low as 1.5 W (these typical power consumption values are measured with all TRXs on and a duty cycle of 50%).

Calterah boasts the most comprehensive portfolio of mmWave radar chips in the industry, enabling applications of corner radar, forward-looking radar, imaging radar, in-cabin radar, side radar, etc. in ADAS and autonomous driving. By far, Calterah’s CMOS mmWave radar chips have been adopted by most mainstream automotive OEMs in China and applied to more than 150 passenger vehicle models, helping to provide customers with a safer and smarter driving experience.

Consistently upholding the core values of never-ending breakthroughs and the innovative mind, Dr. Chen Jiashu as the founder of Calterah, has led the company to make constant breakthroughs in mmWave radar IC technologies, facilitate the development and commercialization of CMOS mmWave radar chips, and advance the mission of “Make Millimeter-Wave Serve Everyone”.

近期，加特兰CEO陈嘉澍博士出席第二届香港城市大学电机工程系年度奖项（CityU EE Annual Awards）颁奖仪式暨2023年电机工程系毕业典礼，荣膺2022年度杰出校友奖（Outstanding Alumni Award）。

为表彰城大校友在职业领域内取得的成就和社会认可，以及对城大电机工程系的贡献，香港城市大学电机工程系每年颁发杰出校友奖，每届获奖人数不超过3人。同时，该奖项的设置也是通过回顾杰出校友的成就，为电机工程系青年学生树立榜样，为他们的职业生涯指引方向，激励学生充分发挥潜力。

凭借“为低功耗CMOS毫米波雷达芯片的商业化、产业化做出的杰出贡献”，陈嘉澍博士荣获城大电机工程系第二届杰出校友奖。电机工程系主任陆贵文教授为陈博士颁奖，对其在领域内做出的贡献表示了肯定。陈博士此行也受邀回访了港城大太赫兹及毫米波国家重点实验室，与学界前沿人才展开了密切交流。

加特兰低功耗CMOS毫米波雷达SoC

随着半导体技术的不断革新，毫米波雷达芯片从砷化镓、锗硅工艺发展到目前的CMOS工艺。凭借高集成度、低功耗的优势，CMOS工艺成为了毫米波雷达芯片生产的主流工艺。作为CMOS工艺毫米波雷达芯片开发与设计的领导者，加特兰率先推出了全集成CMOS毫米波雷达SoC芯片，简化雷达模块的系统设计，实现更优的系统成本。低功耗方面，基于先进CMOS工艺的加特兰产品可节省30%以上的功耗，为雷达装配数量的快速增长提供了坚实基础。加特兰2发2收的Rhine-Mini系列，典型功耗仅为0.8 W；Alps与Rhine系列4发4收SoC芯片，典型功耗为1.3 W；基于Alps平台的全新高性能4发4收毫米波雷达SoC Alps-Pro，典型功耗仅有1.5 W（以上均为在收发通道全开、占空比为50%情况下的典型功耗）。

加特兰拥有目前业内最全面的毫米波雷达芯片产品组合，可以满足包括角雷达、前雷达、成像雷达、舱内雷达、门雷达等汽车辅助驾驶及自动驾驶领域的应用需求。目前，加特兰CMOS毫米波雷达芯片已导入到中国绝大部分主流车企，赋能150多款乘用车，持续帮助更多车辆实现安全智能的驾驶。

作为加特兰创始人，陈嘉澍博士始终坚持“突破自我，勇于创新”的核心价值观，引领加特兰不断突破毫米波雷达芯片技术，推进CMOS工艺毫米波雷达芯片的商业化、产业化，持续向“让毫米波服务每个人”的使命迈进。

随着国内乘用车毫米波雷达市场规模不断扩大，毫米波雷达前瞻技术受到业内广泛关注与讨论。6月6日—7日，2023（第五届）汽车毫米波雷达前瞻技术展示交流会在苏州国际博览中心举行。加特兰作为CMOS工艺毫米波雷达芯片开发与设计的领导者，在交流会上发表了题为“加特兰新一代高性能毫米波芯片——助力汽车感知”的演讲。

聚焦新能源和智能化，此次交流会围绕4D毫米波雷达成像、技术和材料创新，以及新一代天线技术和射频芯片，汇聚了来自行业OEM、Tier-1、汽车毫米波雷达厂商、芯片厂商等400余位专家，共同探索汽车毫米波雷达产品在自动驾驶领域的发展与未来。

加特兰在演讲中分享了L2+级毫米波雷达的市场需求，总结为3点：性能强大、可靠安全、极具性价比，并对雷达模组性能与芯片系统指标进行了解析。加特兰新一代毫米波雷达SoC芯片Alps-Pro完美匹配市场对于L2+级雷达的需求，在性能指标、可靠性与安全性、性价比方面达到powerful、robust、optimal的特点。此外，也介绍了加特兰全新一代车规级雷达芯片产品Andes，采用DSP+RSP的全新架构，可实现灵活级联，助力4D高端雷达和成像雷达。

在此次交流会上，加特兰与国内外汽车产业上下游企业展开了深入的交流，希望通过此次前瞻技术的交流展示，共同推动技术应用与落地，助力汽车感知。

当地时间5月31日—6月1日，IWPC在德国慕尼黑组织了主题为“Automotive Sensor Architecture（汽车传感器架构）”的线下互动研讨会。加特兰受邀参加此次研讨会，并发表了题为“SoCs Used in Edge Radar and Satellite Radar（边缘式雷达与卫星式雷达中的SoC芯片）”的演讲。

此次研讨会由宝马（BMW）主办，来自全球汽车领域的知名OEM、顶级Tier-1供应商以及行业上游的芯片企业和机构出席了此次会议，并围绕汽车传感器架构，探讨了在自动驾驶飞速发展的当下，集中式与分布式架构的优劣。

随着自动驾驶不断发展，传感器的协作性能直接决定自动驾驶车辆的安全性。多传感器架构通过利用不同传感器获得的信息，避免了单个传感器的感知局限性和不确定性，从而形成对环境或目标更全面的感知和识别，有助于优化多模式感知系统的全方位性能。

汽车雷达前沿架构

在主题演讲中，加特兰汽车产品线总监王政表示，随着汽车雷达架构演进趋势由分布式ECU向域控制及中央集中架构方向发展，需要多传感器共同感知外部环境，由中央计算单元统一综合判断，协同操作。王政介绍了两类车载雷达协同工作架构，Satellite Radar与Edge Radar。Satellite Radar指各雷达传感器的数据经过初步预处理后，由中央计算单元协同处理；另一类Edge Radar则是各雷达独立进行信号处理。

王政介绍，Satellite Radar可以利用中央计算单元的高算力，实现更复杂的信号处理算法，更易将不同传感器进行融合，同时降低SoC的复杂度和成本；另一方面，Satellite Radar需要更高的接口传输速率，系统级成本更高，因此不适用于低成本的车型（无中央计算单元及车载以太网口的支持）。此外，当前Satellite Radar也基本处于样机（prototype）阶段，并未经受过市场的考验和洗礼。相对而言，Edge Radar所需接口更简单、成本更低，同时拥有成熟的生态系统支持，性能可靠、久经验证。

王政也总结了这两种架构发展的趋势：Satellite Radar确实具有超前意义，但距离普及还需要相当长时间的发展，Edge Radar将长期占据市场主导地位。如果未来雷达SoC芯片的性能继续提升，成像雷达的成本能够降低，Edge Radar的主导周期还将进一步延长。

加特兰全新一代Andes平台

加特兰全新一代毫米波雷达SoC芯片Andes系列可用于Edge Radar。在射频前端性能方面，Andes系列芯片拥有基于传输线设计的7比特移相器以及优化的布局，有助于实现更好的隔离度。在信号处理方面，Andes SoC芯片集成了DSP以及自研的RSP（雷达信号处理器），拥有超强算力，可实现高吞吐率的数据处理；同时支持信号的并行处理，大大提高了运算效率。Andes系列还可以实现不同数量芯片的灵活级联。芯片采用“安全岛”设计，可满足不同等级的安全需求。加特兰另一款尚处于研发阶段的芯片产品Andes-Satellite，则定位于Satellite Radar，将拥有更优的射频前端性能和轻量化的信号处理模块。

随着自动驾驶级别的提升，对于汽车感知能力的要求越来越高。加特兰全新一代高性能毫米波雷达SoC芯片Andes系列即将在2023年第3季度开始送样，应用于汽车前向雷达、4D高端雷达和成像雷达，为汽车提供更强的外部感知能力，助力汽车智能化驾驶。

The International Wireless Industry Consortium (IWPC) organized a face-to-face interactive workshop, themed Automotive Sensor Architecture, in Munich from May 31st to June 1st local time. Calterah was invited and delivered a speech titled “SoCs Used in Edge Radar and Satellite Radar”.

At this event hosted by BMW, renowned global OEMs, top Tier-1s, and companies in the upstream IC supply chain gathered, focusing on automotive sensor architecture, to explore the pros and cons of centralized and distributed architectures for ADAS in the dynamic landscape of rapidly advancing autonomous driving.

With the continuous development of autonomous driving, the collaborative performance of sensors plays a crucial role in ensuring vehicle safety. Multi-sensor architectures can help reduce the perception limitation and uncertainty of individual sensors based on the information gathered from different sensors, thus forming a more comprehensive perception of the environment or targets, which helps to optimize the all-around performance of multi-modal perception systems.

During the speech, Zheng Wang, Calterah Automotive Product Line Director, stated that as the radar typology evolves from distributed ECU to domain controller and centralized computing architecture, a multi-sensor architecture is required to jointly sense the environment with a Central Computing Unit to make comprehensive judgments and coordinate operations. He shared two types of collaborative working architectures for automotive radar, Satellite Radar and Edge Radar. Satellite Radar refers to the radar architecture where data from various radar sensors is coordinately processed by the Central Computing Unit after preliminary pre-processing; while Edge Radar involves independent signal processing by each radar sensor.

Wang also compared the two architectures. Satellite Radar can support more complex algorithms based on the high computing power of Central Computing Unit, facilitate sensor fusion, as well as reducing SoC cost and complexity. However, it comes with higher system-level costs due to its requirements for interfaces of higher data rates, making it unsuitable for cost-efficient vehicles without Central Computing Units and Ethernet interfaces. In addition, Satellite Radar is in the prototyping stage and has not been tested by the market. In comparison, cheaper and simpler interfaces can meet the requirements of Edge Radar, which is also supported by a mature ecosystem and offers proven performances.

The comparison was concluded with Wang’s summary of the development trend of these two architectures: “Satellite Radar is cutting-edge, but it would take a long way to become popular. Hence Edge Radar would dominate the market for quite a period. And the period would be further extended if the performance of radar SoCs continues to improve and the cost for imaging radar could be reduced.”

Calterah’s next-generation mmWave radar SoC family Andes can be employed for Edge Radar. In terms of the RF front end, Andes SoCs come with 7-bit transmission line based phase shifters and optimized floorplan for high isolation. For signal processing, Andes integrates cutting-edge DSP and Calterah proprietary RSP (radar signal processor), supporting high-throughput data processing, highly computing-intensive algorithms, and parallel signal processing for greater computation efficiency. Moreover, a flexible number of Andes SoCs can be cascaded in use. Its “Safety Island” design can meet various levels of cybersecurity requirements. Another Calterah SoC product, Andes-Satellite, which is yet in the development stage, is designed for Satellite Radar and will have better RF front-end performance and a lighter signal processing module.

Higher-level autonomous driving requires more advanced automotive sensing. Samples of the next-gen mmWave radar SoCs Andes are expected to be available in Q3 2023 for forward-looking radar and 4D premium and imaging radar, providing greater external perception capabilities for vehicles and facilitating intelligent driving.