Capable of detecting subtleties, mmWave radar can sense fine motions of the objects, which enables itself to detect vital signs such as respiration and heartbeat in a relatively long range and therefore to obtain real-time respiration rates and heart rates without body contact. Breathing causes micromotions in the chest and abdomen, which can be sensed by mmWave radar and translated into breath rates information. This also applies to heart rate monitoring.

Respiration signs detected by mmWave radar Heartbeat signs detected by mmWave radar

Realization of core functions

The Calterah AiP (Antenna in Package) chip integrates a radar baseband processing unit (RBPU), which enables users to achieve the pre-processing of respiration and heartbeat signs by configuring registers in the real application. The integrated 300-MHz ARC^® 32-digit MPU, 640-KB RAM and 1-MB expandable memory of AiP chips can further meet requirements for the processing of more diverse and personalized algorithms.

A typical process for the processing of respiration and heartbeat signs

The RBPU of Calterah AiP chips can efficiently complete the first 4 procedures above in real time while the last 3 can be done with the help of the ARC processor. Also, users can further harness the potential of Doppler FFT and DoA modules in the baseband, such as separation of the motional and motionless in the environment and sensing of motional objects and their directions.

Demo: The monitoring of breath and heartbeat by AiP chips

Application Scenarios

With the core functions of respiration and heartbeat detection, mmWave radar can be applied in different scenarios, for example, smart cabin. The cabin of a car, to some extent, has become a third place between home and the workplace, and better driving experience regarding the safety and comfort of the cabin is the future trend for smart cabin systems as the automotive industry keeps going. In real life, news that children or pets are left in the car unattended is no stranger to us. In high temperature environment, this could lead to serious consequences.

Life detection solution in the cabin powered by mmWave radar can well address the issue. Calterah’s solution in this regard adopts a two-pronged approach taking objects both in movement and in fine motion into consideration, to have a more informed sensing of the presence of life in the cabin. Non-zero Doppler firstly identifies whether there is personnel moving; then the presence of life will be identified through respiration and heartbeat detection when there is no moving personnel.

Demo: The application of in-vehicle personnel monitoring

Meanwhile, through the monitoring on vital signs of the driver, the body conditions of the driver can be known in real time so that warnings can be triggered timely in case of potential danger. 

Detection of presence of life	Monitoring on vital signs

There is an extensive application demand for the detection of respiration and heartbeat in such fields as smart appliances, elder care and medicine. By installing mmWave radar modules on smart mattresses, monitoring beds for seniors, and baby cribs, vital signs including breath and heartbeats can be measured and analyzed without body contact, and their data will be transferred in real time to the back-end system for alerting and monitoring.

AiP solutions

Calterah AiP chips include 2 families—77-GHz/79-GHz chips and 60-GHz chips. With an integral solution comprising AiP chips and SDK, users can quickly realize the development of radar sensors. Being compact and easy to use, Calterah AiP chips help customers complete product design faster and reduce costs in R&D, thus more likely to be applied extensively in the automotive and medical fields. Ultimately, with Calterah AiP chips, we’ll see more and more safer and smarter sensing solutions available.