Metawave successfully demonstrates 77GHz analog beamsteering 3D radar with highest angular resolution

According to foreign media reports, Metawave™ announced that its industry's first analog beam-steering radar SPEKTRA™ was successfully demonstrated. It is said that SPEKTRA is the most accurate and intelligent automotive radar currently available, capable of clearly detecting vehicles 300 meters away and pedestrians 200 meters away with the highest angular resolution.

(Image source: Metawave official website)

At the heart of SPEKTRA are Metawave’s MARCONI™ 77GHz phase controllers and millimeter wave integrated circuits, which, in conjunction with Metawave’s proprietary calibration system, can precisely control the transmit and receive beams in 0.1º steps over a ±22º range. SPEKTRA has extremely high angular resolution, allowing it to distinguish between adjacent objects, such as cars and bicycles. Its analog narrow beam can quickly detect objects in the vehicle’s field of view (FoV) with extremely high accuracy while avoiding interference. SPEKTRA’s focused beam and small cross-section enable detection of pedestrians, road obstacles, and more at long distances in all weather conditions. In addition, the narrow beam and high angular accuracy enable SPEKTRA to track intersecting vehicles, a scenario that traditional radars have difficulty handling.

In the coming months, Metawave plans to launch its proprietary AI platform AWARE™, which will enable SPEKTRA to classify and label objects in real time, enabling more efficient and faster ADAS processing. Thanks to AWARE, a machine learning sensor fusion platform, SPEKTRA can accurately detect objects even when the vehicle is driving at high speeds in adverse conditions such as storms, darkness, or dense fog.

SPEKTRA is able to accurately detect and classify objects 300 meters away due to its unique ability to focus an extremely narrow beam across the entire field of view. The company claims that Metawave is currently the only automotive radar company that has demonstrated a calibrated phased array and front-end solution and implemented analog beamforming signals using a single traditional frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar transceiver chip. Traditional radars require four or more transceiver chips to travel digital beams or use "flash" to cover a wider field of view, which limits their detection range and ability to accurately distinguish between adjacent objects.

Metawave is working with some customers to conduct SPEKTRA verification and evaluation, allowing customers to test this new generation of radar at a low cost for highly automated and autonomous driving. At the same time, customers can also communicate directly with Metawave's experts and use Metawave's most advanced laboratories. In addition, the raw data from the SPEKTRA radar sensor can be flexibly output, and customers can run their own algorithms and seamlessly process SPEKTRA data in their software stack.

Radar is a key sensor for the deployment of highly automated and self-driving cars. The global automotive radar market is expected to be worth $6.61 billion by 2021. Radar is able to provide accurate speed information in complex driving conditions, which is critical to the deployment and development of self-driving cars. SPEKTRA can provide automakers with a wide range of ADAS and safety features, including steering assistance, blind spot monitoring, automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, automatic following in traffic jams, high-speed cruise, and lane keeping assist.