NXP Extends Industry-First 28 nm RFCMOS Radar One-Chip Family to Enable ADAS Architectures for Software-Defined Vehicles

• New radar one-chip targets distributed radar architectures and is designed to deliver a seamless transition path from today’s smart sensors to future streaming sensors
• NXP’s full system solution enables software-defined radar, including 360-degree sensor fusion, better sensor resolution and AI-based object classification
• HELLA, as a leading supplier of automotive electronics, will leverage NXP’s SoC family as the foundation for its 7th generation radar portfolio

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CES – NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) today announced an extension of its automotive radar one-chip family. The new SAF86xx monolithically integrates a high-performance radar transceiver, a multi-core radar processor and a MACsec hardware engine for state-of-the-art secure data communication over Automotive Ethernet. Combined with NXP’s S32 high-performance processors, vehicle network connectivity and power management, the full system solution paves the way for advanced, software-defined radar.

The highly integrated radar SoC (System-on-Chip) is intended for streaming rich low-level radar sensor data at up to 1 Gbit/s. It helps carmakers optimize next-generation ADAS partitioning for software-defined vehicles, while providing for a smooth transition to new architectures. Additionally, OEMs will be able to easily introduce new software-defined radar features during the lifetime of the vehicle through Over-the-Air (OTA) updates.

It also shares a common architecture with the SAF85xx introduced last year and leverages 28 nm RFCMOS performance for significantly improved radar sensor capabilities, compared to prior-generation 40 nm or 45 nm products. It enables Tier-1 suppliers to build more compact and power-efficient radar sensors. Drivers and other road users will benefit from extended detection range beyond 300 m, along with more reliable detection of small objects like curb stones as well as vulnerable road users including cyclists and pedestrians.

HELLA, a leading supplier of automotive electronics, will leverage NXP’s SoC family as the foundation for its 7^th generation radar portfolio, including variants for front, rear, corner, and side radar.

“After initiating our collaboration with NXP on the development of RFCMOS-based radar sensors approximately 10 years ago, we can now look back and confidently say that choosing this collaboration was the right decision. Leveraging NXP’s RFCMOS TEF81xx and TEF82xx automotive radar transceivers, we have become a leading provider of automotive 77/79 GHz corner radar sensors. With NXP’s radar SoC family, we are now prepared to expand our market position and offer radar solutions for all relevant radar-supported functions, up to level 4 automated driving.”

Dr. Dietmar Stapel, Vice President, Radar Program Management at HELLA

The new radar one-chip supports NCAP safety functions including emergency braking and blind-spot detection. It also supports advanced ADAS and autonomous driving applications, including advanced comfort features for SAE levels 2+ and 3 such as traffic jam assist, highway pilot and park assist, front and rear cross-traffic alerts, as well as lateral and rear collision avoidance.

“Using our new SAF86xx radar one-chip family, OEMs can quickly and easily migrate their current radar platforms to new software-defined vehicle architectures. A network of connected radar sensors with software-defined functions on a dedicated S32R radar processor in a distributed architecture can enhance radar-based perception to support advancements in autonomous driving. That includes 360-degree sensing, more powerful AI-based algorithms and secure OTA software updates.”

Steffen Spannagel, SVP and GM, ADAS, NXP Semiconductors

The comprehensive SAF8xxx family featuring the new SAF86xx and SAF85xx can be tailored for individual OEM use cases. It supports a range of sensor outputs, including object, point cloud-, or range-FFT-level data for smart sensors in today’s architectures and streaming sensors in future distributed architectures.

Extending NXP’s 3^rd generation RFCMOS radar platform

• Built on the proven RFCMOS automotive radar expertise of NXP, which was the first to ramp to high volume series production and has already shipped tens of millions of units
• The highly integrated 76 to 81 GHz SAF86xx radar SoC is optimized for streaming sensors and include a Gigabit Ethernet interface and enhanced MACsec security
• The SAF86xx is developed in accordance to ISO 26262 Safety Element out of Context (SEooC) methodology supporting ASIL Level B, in accordance to ISO/SAE 21434 (as a component-out-of-context) and meets the latest security requirements through its HSE security engine

  The SAF86xx is a highly integrated one-chip RFCMOS radar SoC supporting future distributed automotive radar architectures. The integrated RFCMOS chip contains 4 transmitters, 4 receivers, ADC conversion, phase rotator, low-phase-noise VCO, BBE32EP DSP, Arm^® Cortex^® – M7 core and SRAM to support various use cases in short-range, medium-range and long-range automotive radar applications. It provides pre-processed radar data, e.g. compressed or uncompressed Range-FFT over Gigabit Ethernet to a radar post-processing unit. SAF86xx is developed in accordance with the functional safety standard ISO 26262 supporting ASIL Level B and ISO/SAE 21434 specifying engineering requirements for cybersecurity risk management. It is meeting the latest security requirements through its HSE security and MACsec engine.

  Block Diagram

  SAF86xx Radar SoC

  

  Features

  Highly Integrated Transceiver

  • Operates in 76 GHz to 81 GHz band

  Wide Bandwidth

  • Total bandwidth of 5 GHz
  • Effective chirp bandwidth up to 4 GHz

  High Performance RF Transceiver

  • Improved power output
  • Low noise figure
  • Low phase noise

  Real-Time Compute

  • Arm^® Cortex^®– M7 @320 MHz

  Radar Processing Acceleration

  • BBE32 Vector DSP @320 MHz

  Onboard Memory

  • 2 MB SRAM with ECC

  Compact Form Factor

  • Launcher in Package variant is available with a footprint of 11.95 mm x 14.00 mm

  Flexible Interfaces

  • 1 x SGMII Gbit Ethernet 10/100/1000 Mbit/s
  • 1 x LinFlexD/Uart, 1 x CAN-FD (optional)
  • CSI-2

  Future-Proof Security

  • Hardware security engine (HSE)
  • EVITA Full, SHE+, ISO/SAE 21434 compliant
  • MACsec

  Functional Safety

  • Developed in accordance with ISO 26262 SEoOC methodology. Supporting ASIL B applications
  • Built-in functional safety monitoring circuit

  Scalable Applications

  • Supports short to long range applications

  Automotive Quality

  • AEC-Q100

  Wide Automotive Temperature Range

  • -40 °C to 150 °C junction temperature