Product category:
Wireless Communications
News Release from: Cambridge Consultants | Subject: CCL-Softcar
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 02 June 2003
Novel technology cuts the cost of
automotive radar
Cambridge Consultants (CCL) has developed an anticollision radar system for automobiles based on economical 5.8GHz component technology.
Cambridge Consultants (CCL) has developed an anticollision radar system for automobiles based on economical 5.8GHz component technology By using a software-centric system and broad-beam antennas, the design and development company has created a single, stand-alone radar module providing a complete solution, yet measuring just 80 x 120mm and offering an angular resolution of less than 2 degrees
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 5 Nov 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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Dubbed the CCL-Softcar project, the system is a pulsed radar designed to work in the 5.8GHz band.
This contrasts with alternative technologies that have elected to use higher frequencies including 24 or 77GHz, and which require expensive compound-semiconductor technologies, and precision assembly processes in order to make products.
CCL tags its CCL-Softcar anticollision technology as smart, because of a unique sensing approach that makes it possible to accurately distinguish and track multiple objects.
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Just one CCL-Softcar module is required to implement rear, side or front view safety.
Alternative approaches typically require two or more transmit/receive modules spaced widely apart for each view, in order to allow the system to determine object position using a form of triangulation (trilateration).
Conventional wisdom dictates that the further apart the sensors are, the higher the accuracy.
But CCL has proven that for automobile radar, the exact opposite can be true.
This is because the exterior surfaces of the typical automobile result in a complex scattering of echoes that make it very hard to accurately determine distance and trajectory, a problem exacerbated when measurements are being taken from different positions and directions.
By using a single transmitter and a closely spaced antenna array, echo scatters are more closely matched, allowing the system to determine distance and trajectory with greater accuracy.
This approach not only reduces the number of radar modules required for anticollision warning, but significantly reduces the computation required to analyse the echoes - further reducing system costs.
This is especially important for dealing with multiple objects.
When two or more objects are in the field of view of a radar system with widely spaced transmitters and sensors for example, the mathematical analysis required to determine their positions and trajectories is so great that it can demand supercomputer-style performance.
This is one of the major reasons why anti-collision radars have been so long in development.
Conversely, the echo separations between multiple objects appearing in the field of view of CCL-Softcar will always tend to be more clearly defined.
CCL has constructed a proof-of-concept system.
The demonstration unit comprises a rear-view radar module with a range of 5m, mounted inside a typical compact automotive bumper, and providing intelligent anticollision impact warning.
A DSP-based electronic control unit (ECU) processes the echoes, and communicates the results to the central controller containing the driver interface, over a CANbus vehicle network.
The same ECU will control further transmitter/receiver modules for side- and front-view protection.
An identical radar transmitter and antenna receiver - programmed for a different field of view - is used for side view protection.
The same basic module - but with a different signal waveform - is used for frontal view systems, to accommodate the extended range.
This architecture allows four-quadrant vehicle protection to be implemented with just four radar modules and a single ECU.
This compares with the eight or more radar modules required by some alternative systems.
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