Car Makers, along with Industry and Government, are adding Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) to the new vehicles to comply with stringent regulations, improve road safety by avoiding accidents, and provide more security, comfort, and efficiency. Those ADAS are designed to help with Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Blind Spot Detection (BSD), and Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS). Also with Forward Collision Warning System (FCWS), Parking Assistance (PA) and Auto Emergency Breaking (AEB) applications.
RADAR technology has evolved in the past years to become a key technology for measuring the (short-, mid-, and long-) range and velocity of objects, detecting them in various safety systems. The automotive industry has pushed forward ADAS technologies and applies RADAR to include both short-range (BSD and PA) and long-range (ACC and pre-crash detection) applications, altogether with emerging solutions in both driver convenience and safety.
Nowadays, autonomous cars require several E/E functional blocks to navigate rightly, safely drive, and perform correctly —ADAS use sensors and actuators for receiving environment information, communicate through Integrated Circuits (ICs), do data analysis utilizing microprocessors (MPUs) or digital signal processors (DSPs), and manage the entire system using microcontrollers (MCUs) with advanced algorithms. Simplifying those E/E blocks using a highly-integrated mixed signal microcontroller allows engineers to avoid system errors, enhance safety troubleshooting, and reduce time-to-market. The NXP's S32R27 MCU is designed to address advanced RADAR signal processing capabilities and merge them with MCU capabilities for generic software tasks and car bus interfacing; bringing unique signal processing acceleration together with powerful multi-core architecture. The S32R27 is an ultra-high performance 32-bit Power Architecture
based MCU, offering quadrupled computing power specifically for RADAR applications, satisfying highest ASIL-D and SIL 3 Functional Safety specifications.
The performance bar for RADAR applications has been raised in the past years, demanding precise object detection and classification, accurate velocity resolution, and improved spatial resolution. ADAS are requiring more and more complex integration of sophisticated software processed with powerful hardware components; pushing the boundaries of technology to comply regulations, give more comfort, and to improve safety and security.