NXP & Zendar: High-Res Radar Fast-Track
On November 8, 2023, NXP Semiconductors (NXP) made a significant announcement regarding its strategic collaboration with Zendar Inc., a pioneering software startup. NXP, a reputable player in the semiconductor industry, has taken a strategic step to invest in Zendar Inc., thereby underlining its commitment to advancing cutting-edge technology solutions in the realm of automotive autonomous driving systems.
The joint endeavor between NXP and Zendar focuses on the development of an advanced high-resolution radar system tailored for automotive applications, harnessing the potential of Distributed Aperture Radar (DAR) technology. DAR, a proprietary innovation by Zendar, is a technological breakthrough poised to revolutionize automotive radar solutions, presenting an intelligent pathway for realizing superior high-resolution radar capabilities.
This investment reaffirms NXP's leadership in the automotive radar sector, emphasizing its dedication to fostering technological innovation. Furthermore, it demonstrates NXP's unwavering commitment to bolstering the automotive ecosystem and enhancing road safety.
In both autonomous driving (AD) and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), the demand for high-resolution sensing capabilities is paramount to ensure safe and efficient road navigation. DAR offers a transformative solution, seamlessly amalgamating data from multiple radar sensors within a vehicle to create a more comprehensive and effective antenna system. The result is an unprecedented enhancement in sensing resolution, capable of achieving angular resolutions below 0.5 degrees, akin to the precision offered by laser radar systems. This breakthrough is instrumental in the creation of highly accurate environmental maps, which was previously challenging to achieve with traditional radar sensors boasting resolutions in the 2 to 4-degree range.
The radar solution, born out of this collaboration, is set to leverage NXP's widely adopted S32R radar processing platform and RFCMOS SAF8x single-chip System-on-Chip (SoC). Designed to accommodate the diverse architectures of automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), it streamlines the transition toward distributed architectures. This approach simplifies high-resolution radar systems, reduces thermal complexity, optimizes space utilization, and offers a flexible installation process, ultimately delivering value to automotive manufacturers and leading suppliers.
