At Calterah Day 2024 hosted on June 6 in Shanghai, Calterah revealed its latest 2-chip cascading imaging radar solution using Andes SoCs, two 6T6R mm-wave radar SoC series—Kunlun-USRR and Lancang USRR, along with an innovative package technology—ROP^®. Calterah also invited experts in the forefront research fields of mm-wave tech and ecosystem partners to explore together how mm-wave radar can leverage cutting-edge technologies to address swiftly changing demands for radar.

This year also marks the 10^th anniversary of Calterah. "Over the past decade, Calterah has been dedicated to providing higher-performance, easier-to-use, and lower-power CMOS mm-wave radar chips. Calterah products have been inside in over 200 vehicle models from 20 plus OEMs," Dr. Jiashu Chen, Founder and CEO of Calterah said in the keynote speech, "We thank our partners, with whom we have jointly endeavor to contribute to the popularization of automotive mm-wave radar and localization of the China automotive radar supply chain over the past decade."

Surmounting “Andes” and Defining a New Paradigm for R&D of Imaging Radar

At this event, Calterah unveiled a 2-chip cascading imaging radar solution using Andes SoCs, which indicates the chip named after the largest mountain range in South America—Andes, will enter mass production soon.

Based on the 22 nm CMOS process technology, the Andes SoC integrates an RF module with a continuous sweep range from 76 GHz to 81 GHz, a typical maximum output power of 14 dBm, and a phase noise of -95 dBc/Hz (@ 1 MHz). It also has a 7-bit phase shifter and high-performance ADC based on a transmission line, allowing flexible waveform generation and various functions like precise digital compensation. Boasting the unique architecture of a quad-core CPU with a digital signal processor (DSP) and a dedicated Radar Signal Processor (RSP), an Andes SoC can offer more than 2500 DMIPS computing power and exceptional signal processing performance. It also provides developers with the flexibility to deploy customized algorithms.

Owing to the distinctive feature of Andes—Flex-Cascading^®, customers can cascade two Andes SoCs through Chip-to-Chip interfaces to readily realize an imaging radar system. This approach not only scales up SoC resources but also simplifies the hardware architecture, optimizes the BOM, and allows software reuse. With the 2-chip cascading imaging radar solution, Calterah redefines the R&D paradigm of imaging radar, providing a fresh boost for its mass production.

Calterah 2-Chip Cascading Imaging Radar Solution supports up to 64 MIMO channels, provides a maximum detection range of 320 meters with a 1.5° azimuth separation, a 3° elevation separation, and can output 2048 point targets per frame. Furthermore, it offers excellent distance resolution and anti-interference performances with the multi-band chirping technology.

Calterah demonstrated the road test results of the imaging radar solution in different scenarios. These results highlighted highly competitive detection capabilities of the radar in maximum detection distance, separation of strong and weak targets in complex scenarios filled with both moving and stationary objects, hidden target detection, and detection at intersections, on highways, etc. Calterah announced that it would bring the 2-Chip Cascading Imaging Radar Solution using Andes SoCs to market this June.

Scaling “Kunlun” and Pushing Back Frontiers of Vehicle Perception

With the rapid development of intelligent vehicles, new applications are emerging, such as automatic obstacle avoidance doors, passenger monitoring, and child presence detection. These applications have growing requirements for mm-wave radar, which means radar needs to have low power consumption, compact size, and excellent angular resolution and spatial resolution.

Primarily to meet these growing demands, the Calterah Kunlun automotive mm-wave radar SoC platform came into being. Based on the Kunlun platform, Calterah unveiled the 77 GHz Kunlun-USRR SoC family and the 60 GHz Lancang-USRR SoC family. USRR stands for Universal Short Range Radar, meaning these multi-channel radar SoCs are optimized and tailored to the requirements of universal emerging radar applications.

Calterah Kunlun-USRR SoCs and Lancang-USRR SoCs are both 6T6R chips, with more channels than the typical 2T3R or 2T4R mm-wave radar chips, offering stronger angular performance. The two SoC series are equipped with a flexible and powerful RSP that allows customized signal processing flows for different application scenarios with flexible configuration. Different power consumption modes ensure that the SoCs can meet the low power consumption requirements of various short-range radar applications. These two SoC series also offer the compact Antenna-in-Package (AiP) version, with a remarkably small package size of 13 mm × 16 mm. This compact design ensures excellent spatial resolution performance and facilitates the installation of radar systems in challenging scenarios for emerging applications, expanding the scope of vehicle perception from ADAS to both the interior and exterior of vehicles.

Samples of Calterah’s Kunlun-USRR SoCs and Lancang-USRR SoCs are expected to be available in Q4, 2024.

Radiator on Package (ROP^®)—Optimal Chip Solution for Waveguide Antenna Systems

At this event, Calterah also introduced a cutting-edge mm-wave package technology—Radiator on Package (ROP^®). Unlike traditional package technologies that use solder balls for RF signal connections, ROP^® employs radiators to directly transmit signals to a waveguide antenna system, which significantly reduces antenna feedline loss and improves channel isolation, better meeting the radar requirements of longer detection ranges and wider FOVs. Calterah ROP^® package technology will also be applied in the Alps-Pro and Andes SoC series.

Industry Experts Gather to Discuss mmWave Technology Trends

The innovations of mm-wave radar chips rely on the concerted efforts of the entire industry. At the Advanced Technology Forum and the Industry Ecosystem Forum of Calterah Day 2024, experts from Calterah, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and fields of ICs, power management, and antenna design, shared their insights.

mm-wave radar uses electromagnetic waves to detect targets, making it susceptible to signal interference and malicious attacks. As mm-wave radar is closely tied to intelligent driving, its cybersecurity is crucial. Calterah Cyber Security Architect, Yunjie Zhang, provided a detailed introduction to the cybersecurity features of Calterah mm-wave radar SoCs and Calterah’s practices in the area, in an effort to safeguard the security of automotive mm-wave radar together with industry partners.

As AI technologies evolve rapidly, large models have become a hot topic in the tech field. The mm-wave radar industry is also actively embracing AI. Calterah Radar Systems Engineer, Zhifei Wang, shared how data-driven approaches enhance radar's perception capabilities. Associate Professor and PhD advisor, Changzhan Gu, from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, introduced the advanced mm-wave bio-radar technology and its application prospects in smart health monitoring.

Experts from Cadence, Silicon Content Technology, and HUBER+SUHNER introduced topics such as the role of DSP in radar signal processing, design ideas for radar power management chips, and realizing waveguide antennas with 3D injection molding technology. These forums provided online and offline audiences with a wealth of mm-wave radar knowledge and insights.

Sailing to the Sea of Intelligent Perception in the Next Decade

Over the past decade, Calterah has been leading the innovation of mm-wave radar chips and pushing the limits of wireless perception of mm-wave radar. As of Q1, 2024, Calterah’s accumulative chip shipments have exceeded 8 million units, and counting. For 2024, Calterah expects to ship over 6 million chips. This surge in shipments is projected to raise the market share of mm-wave radar enabled by Calterah chips in China to over 20%. This significant growth will breathe new life into the global mm-wave radar chip market.

In the next decade, Calterah will continue to forge ahead in chip innovation and leverage cutting-edge technologies and products to widen applications of mm-wave radar in various domains including intelligent vehicles, living its mission to "Make Millimeter-Wave Serve Everyone."