WHAT’S IN THE BOX? – Automotive radars at a glance

Twice a month, Yole SystemPlus analysts share the noteworthy points from their automotive Teardown Tracks. Today, Baptiste Desbois, Guillaume Robichon, Maël Fontaine, Stéphane Elisabeth, Technology & Cost Analysts at Yole SystemPlus, part of Yole Group, take us to the heart of radar systems.

The shift towards highly sophisticated safety applications is driving the need for 4D radars that offer a better price-performance trade-off compared to legacy radars. The revenue for these sensors is expected to represent 61% of the automotive radar module market in 2028. Taking things, a step further, 4D imaging radars improve the angular resolution from 10° to less than 1°, enabling a much better analysis of closely spaced objects.

The injection-molded waveguide antenna from Huber+Suhner GmbH, found in the Continental ARS5-A ARS540 4D imaging radar, constitutes a small revolution. The 3D design includes four cascaded MMICs, 12 transmitting antennas and 16 receiving antennas. Some launchers have been integrated to transmit the RF signal which is then routed through the component. The planar antenna observed in the FC3TR legacy system from Aptiv also uses launchers for the RF connection between the MMIC on one side of the board and the antennas on the other.

Other points highlighted by Yole SystemPlus: the presence of Texas Instruments MMICs in many radars, whatever the category, and the use of FPGAs (field-programmable gate arrays) from Xilinx to manage the greater data processing need required in Continental’s imaging radar.

The first generation of 4D radar from Bosch, the FR5CPCCF 4D radar features a planar design, in this case with both the Infineon’s MMIC and the antennas on the same side of the board.

The subject is far from closed: 3D waveguide antenna technology is attracting widespread interest from many players like BOSCH, who are also seeking to improve 4D radar gain and directivity.

Stay tuned for our next What’s in the box? review!

Yole SystemPlus Automotive Teardown Tracks are the result of detailed physical and costing analyses. They are carried out by experts with academic and industrial backgrounds in the semiconductor domain. Yole SystemPlus Automotive Teardown Tracks offer a clear and fruitful understanding of the technical choices made by the leading manufacturers. It also reveals accurate insights related to manufacturing costs.

The company covers the overall supply chain from the components to the system. Based on daily technical and industrial monitoring, Yole SystemPlus has significant expertise to support innovation.

Baptiste Desbois serves as Technology & Cost Analyst at Yole SystemPlus, part of Yole Group.

With solid expertise in the analysis and the troubleshooting of electronics boards, Baptiste produces reverse engineering & costing analyses while also working on custom projects for the electronics systems teams.

His mission is to identify and analyze the components during the disassembly of the device and cutting of the electronic boards and determine the final manufacturing cost. This will provide the raw information to produce the reverse costing reports.

Prior to Yole SystemPlus, Baptiste worked as a bench test validation technician for Sercel (Nantes, France)

Baptiste holds a BTS Digital Systems Option B: Electronics and Communication and a professional license in mechatronics from E.S.P.R.I.T Campus (Redon, France).

Guillaume Robichon serves as a Technology & Cost Analyst at Yole SystemPlus, part of Yole Group.

With solid expertise in the analysis of component quotes, component price estimates, and system encryption, Guillaume produces the engineering & costing analyses while also working on custom projects for the electronic systems teams.

His mission is to identify and analyze the device’s components during the disassembly and cutting of electronic boards and determine the final manufacturing cost. This will provide the raw information to be able to produce the reverse costing reports.

Guillaume holds a University Diploma in Technology in Electrical Engineering and Industrial IT (Université de Nantes, France).

Maël Fontaine serves as a Technology & Cost Analyst at Yole SystemPlus, part of Yole Group.

With solid expertise in the analysis of electronics boards, Maël produces reverse engineering & costing analyses while also working on custom projects for the electronic systems teams. His mission is to identify and analyze the components during the disassembly of the device and cutting of the electronic boards and so determine the final manufacturing cost.
Prior to Yole SystemPlus, Maël worked in an electrification system engineering office in Tours.
Maël holds a license in Design, Study and Production of Digital and Analog Electronics at Tours University (France).        
   

Stéphane Elisabeth, PhD is Senior Technology and Cost Analyst at Yole SystemPlus, part of Yole Group (Yole). Stéphane regularly works on numerous reverse engineering and costing reports while also managing custom projects in the RF electronics and advanced packaging fields.

His mission at Yole SystemPlus is to provide an in-depth understanding of the technologies selected by the leading semiconductor companies as well as the ecosystem around a device.

In this context, Stéphane is leading a strategic watch to identify the latest innovative devices and collaborates closely with Yole SystemPlus’s laboratory to analyze devices or components. His aim is to reveal the link between functionality and the technical choice made by the device maker. Based on the identification of each process step and process flow, our analysts can then provide an accurate evaluation of the manufacturing cost.

His significant industrial and technical knowledge allows him also to update internal simulation tools developed by Yole SystemPlus’s experts.

In addition, Stéphane supports the development of RF electronics activities through key customer projects, including presentation of their results.

Prior to this collaboration with Yole SystemPlus, Stéphane worked on projects in partnership with THALES for the development of innovative hybrid RF circuits. He also regularly publishes articles and interviews within key RF electronics and packaging magazines.

Stéphane holds an engineering degree in electronics and numerical technology (Université de Nantes, France) as well as a PhD. in Materials for Microelectronics (Université de Nantes, France).

This article has been developed in collaboration with Cédric Malaquin, Team Lead Analyst and Raphaël Da Silva, Technology and Market analyst from Power and Wireless Division at Yole Intelligence.




Source: www.yolegroup.com