How can millimeter-wave radar accelerate the future of autonomous driving in China from the cooperation between NXP and Falcon Eye?

Autonomous driving is a golden desert. After experiencing a bubble and returning to rationality, this field is still one of the hottest trends in the automotive industry in 2019.

At this year's Shanghai International Auto Show, NXP Semiconductors, the world's largest automotive electronics and artificial intelligence IoT chip company, announced that it had signed an investment and strategic cooperation agreement with Nanjing Falcon Eye Technology, a Chinese automotive radar manufacturer. Falcon Eye Technology, relying on the Millimeter Wave Key Laboratory of Southeast University, has the most profound technical foundation and the strongest engineering and technical talents in China in the field of automotive millimeter wave radar. NXP has been deeply rooted in China for 30 years and has profound technical experience in the radar market. The 77GHz millimeter wave radar product jointly developed by the two parties was also unveiled at this auto show. The strong combination of NXP and Falcon Eye Technology will undoubtedly accelerate the development of autonomous driving in China.

Ambition of cooperation: aiming at the international market

According to IHS Markit, China will become the world's largest automotive radar market by 2023. Given such a huge market, the cooperation between the two parties appears particularly "ambitious."

Mr. Shi Xuesong, CEO of FalconEye Technology, pointed out that the new cooperation model brings together NXP, FalconEye Technology, Tier 1 and car manufacturers. This is the biggest difference compared to the traditional model.

NXP Global CTO Lars Reger said that there are a large number of new companies entering the market now. The characteristics of new companies are that they have strong financial support, but are relatively lacking in technology and experience. If they want to compete with mature large car manufacturers, from NXP's perspective, we can bring them reference designs and customize them. The problem is that there are too many new companies entering the industry, so NXP has no way to customize them one by one. At this time, a company with deep experience in the radar field is needed to act as a bridge to help these companies with some radar-related designs, so that Tier 1 can make suitable products to sell to OEMs. Now NXP's cooperation with Falcon Eye is carried out in this way, and this model is very suitable for a market full of innovative vitality.

NXP is the world's largest supplier of automotive electronic solutions. The current Chinese radar market has great potential, and many old radar systems need to be replaced. Lars Reger hopes that NXP can make a breakthrough in this regard. At the same time, Lars Reger also hopes that one day NXP can help Chinese companies bring the best solutions and products to the world and lead the world. To do this, it is necessary to have a very good talent pool and the most innovative radar system. So, at present, the cooperation between NXP and Falcon Eye Technology is more like an inevitable result driven by history.

Similarly, in the eyes of Ms. Liu Fang, General Manager of NXP Greater China Automotive Electronics Business, in recent years, the requirements of Chinese OEMs for electronic and electrical devices have been growing, and these requirements are precisely what the global large Tier 1 cannot flexibly customize and cooperate with. In addition, the protection of technology and intellectual property rights has created obstacles for the development of Chinese OEMs to a certain extent. As a Tier 2, NXP hopes to play the role of industry empowerment, so that the industry can quickly approach the international level, especially to help improve the international level of China's industrial chain. Speaking of this, Ms. Liu Fang said that China's basic research is no less than the international advanced level, but many Chinese companies and even universities lack industrialization capabilities. NXP can provide such a platform to shorten the gap between China's local Tier 1 and international Tier 1. However, many international and local Tier 1s have unique intellectual property rights, which NXP does not have, so NXP hopes to create such an industrial platform to accelerate the implementation of basic disciplines and industrial research achievements, and this goal is exactly the original intention of NXP's innovation.

Regarding the results of the cooperation between the two parties, Shi Xuesong, CEO of Falcon Eye Technology, said that Falcon Eye Technology has already started cooperation with some OEMs and some international and local Tier 1s. We use NXP's platform to provide them with reference designs. Some of these products are expected to reach mass production within this year, while other products, such as radar products for corners and blind spots, may reach mass production next year.

LiDAR vs. Millimeter-wave Radar: Who Will Dominate the Future?

Discussions on the three technologies of lidar, camera and radar surrounding autonomous driving have always been hot topics in the technology circle.  

In this regard, Lars Reger believes that no matter what technology is used now, the purpose is to ensure the normal operation of cameras, radars, and lasers to ensure that there will be no mistakes in autonomous driving. What NXP wants to create now is to give this system the ability to reflect itself. But at present, we cannot fully trust the camera because the camera's pixels are not high enough and some obstacles are inevitable; the radar cannot be fully trusted either because its pixels cannot reach the level we need. When the radar can have the same high resolution and high recognition rate as the laser, we can remove the lidar from the entire module, which can also make the vehicle safer and reduce costs.

Ms. Liu Fang also gave her rational observations on this. She said that the multi-sensing functions or multi-sensing channels and means of cameras and radars will coexist for a long time. The development of imaging radar is still in its early stages. Will the future market see the mass production of lidar and the reduction of costs to a very low level, or will imaging radar continue to develop and replace lidar? Everything is still a question mark, but commercial costs will become the most fundamental factor in the final promotion of the development of one of the technologies. This is some feedback Ms. Liu Fang has received from the Chinese market.

In fact, Lars Reger said that for NXP, whether imaging radar or LiDAR will dominate in the future, it is good news for NXP. Because the processor and controller that control LiDAR are also manufactured by NXP. However, from a design perspective, the cost of LiDAR is also very high. If we look at the global situation, some advanced car manufacturers have begun to declare that they will no longer use LiDAR. Therefore, Lars Reger believes that the market will see more visual cameras and imaging radars in the future.

Advantages of overtaking rivals: existing experience and future market potential

NXP is not the only company in the automotive radar market. Everyone is eyeing the market and trying to catch up with it. But what are NXP's advantages?

Lars Reger pointed out that, firstly, NXP has accumulated experience over a long period of time. Although CMOS chip technology may be very similar to that of other products, NXP is second to none in terms of performance and can reduce system costs. Compared with similar products on the market, NXP can achieve a price that is 40% lower and a CMOS chip that is 40% smaller. In the past few years, NXP has occupied a major market share in medium-range radar systems with its powerful performance. Secondly, cooperation can lead to win-win results. The business battlefield is like a competition. If you want to stay ahead in the competition, you need to cooperate with companies like Falcon Eye Technology to achieve leadership. Lars Reger also demonstrated the medium-range radar cognitive chip developed in cooperation with Falcon Eye Technology. Through design, the use space of this chip has been reduced to 1/10 of the original, and it can save more electricity than before, so the cost of the entire system will also be reduced. Thirdly, all NXP software, algorithms, and development toolboxes are the same, which saves developers time in retraining.

In terms of semiconductor modules, Lars Reger believes that NXP will occupy a larger market share in the future. Because with the development of electrification or driverless driving, the automotive semiconductor market will expand three times in the next ten to fifteen years. In the future, MCUs will become more and more advanced and relatively more expensive, which is exactly where NXP believes the future potential of semiconductors in this field lies. In other words, although the number of MCUs is decreasing, its value is constantly increasing.

At the same time, when asked about the cooperation with new car-making forces, Lars Reger said that for NXP, these new OEMs entering the market are very attractive. Because everything is brand new, NXP can cooperate with them better without having to consider the old machines of the past. Of course, whether it is a new company or the original OEM, NXP can cooperate well with them, because NXP has changed from the passive role of selling products in the past to the role of designers and architects in the entire industry chain. The main reason for the change is that NXP has very good innovation capabilities, and NXP also has the ability to develop different types of systems in vehicles, whether it is access, ADAS, gateways, or fusion, NXP has considerable ability to complete it.

The peak moment of autonomous driving is brewing. Although the road is long and difficult, it has never stopped because there are companies like NXP and Falcon Eye Technology behind them. They have found each other along the way, walked side by side, and established a mutually supportive ecosystem. To achieve what Lars Reger said, in ten years, NXP will also be able to achieve a "moon landing plan" in the field of autonomous driving. There are too many uncertainties in the process, but the only thing that is certain is that it must be inseparable from the development of China's autonomous driving.