A Compact Single-Board Solution for Commercializing Cost-Effective 77 GHz Automotive Front Radar

To develop a cost-effective 77 GHz front radar towards serious automotive product, a single-board solution has been implemented and verified in this work. A compact printed circuit board (PCB) with all necessary components for complete radar module was built up on its both sides. The system architecture is mainly based on the monolithic millimeter-wave integrated circuit (MMIC) chip TEF8102 for 77 GHz transceiver front-end and the S32R274 for digital signal processing (DSP), and micro-controller as back-end, respectively. The E- and H-plane radiation patterns of the patch antenna array for transmitting channel were characterized on radar module level and compared with simulated results. Good agreement on the field of view (FoV) between simulation and verification was observed. A two-way radar performance test was additionally done in real traffic scenario. The maximum detecting range achieved 300 m as designed. Passenger cars were stably detected and tracked within 170 m. Buses and trucks were stably detected and tracked within 300 m. Objects with low radar cross section (RCS) as motor cycles were detected and tracked stably within 110 m. Pedestrians could be detected and stably tracked within 90 m. This shows a satisfied verification for automotive front radar application from the entire system aspect.