Vehicle-mounted millimeter-wave radar research: installation volume will increase by 49.5% year-on-year in 2021, and will increase by 35.4% in the first nine months of 2022

1. The assembly volume of vehicle-mounted millimeter wave radars continues to grow and is expected to reach more than 24 million units in 2025.

In 2021, China's new passenger car millimeter wave radar installation volume will be 12.241 million units, compared with 8.187 million units in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 49.5%; from January to September 2022, the installation volume will reach 11.391 million units, compared with 8.187 million units in 2021 There were 8.414 million units in the month, a year-on-year increase of 35.4%. With the practical implementation of commercial applications of L2.5 and L2.9 autonomous driving, the vehicle-mounted millimeter wave radar market will continue to grow at a high rate, and the installation volume of millimeter wave radar on single vehicles will further increase. It is expected that the installation volume in 2025 will reach More than 24 million.

Forecast of millimeter-wave radar installations in China’s passenger cars (10,000 units)

Source: Zuosi Auto Research

2. The proportion of multi-radar solutions for newly launched models in 2022 will increase, with 3R and 5R solutions increasing the most.

From the perspective of vehicle hardware solutions, there were 678 new passenger car models launched in China from January to September 2022, of which 1R solutions accounted for 22.1%, an increase of 3.1 percentage points from last year; 2R solutions accounted for 4%, an increase from last year An increase of 0.3 percentage points; the 3R plan accounted for 18.7%, an increase of 5 percentage points from last year; the 5R plan accounted for 8.7%, an increase of 5.2 percentage points from last year.

Proportion of millimeter wave radar solutions for newly launched models in 2021 and January-September 2022

Note: Proportion of solutions = number of nR solutions/number of overall car models Source: Zuosi Auto Research

Among them, 3R and 5R solutions accounted for the largest increase, mainly due to:

1). Many new models launched in 2022 are equipped with 3R and 5R solutions. For example, the Audi Q5 e-tron is equipped with the 3R1V solution; Xpeng G9 provides two 5R solutions (5R1V2L, 5R1V).

Audi Q5 e-tron vehicle hardware solution

Source: Audi

2) Some models will be upgraded to new models launched in 2022, such as the Volvo XC60. The standard configuration of the models launched in 2021 will be the 1R1V scheme, and the high-end configuration will be the 3R1V scheme. The standard configuration of the models launched in 2022 will be the 3R1V scheme; BYD Han , the standard configuration of the car models launched in 2021 will be the 1R1V solution, and the 5R1V will be added as a high-end configuration for the car models launched in 2022, with the 1R1V solution as the standard configuration.

Millimeter-wave radar solution for some Chinese passenger car models: time to market

Note: R: millimeter wave radar; V: camera; L: laser radar

Source: Zuosi Auto Research

3. The maximum range of the new generation forward radar reaches 300 meters.

From the perspective of suppliers, from January to September 2022, foreign companies in forward radar still occupy a dominant position, with installations accounting for more than 96% of the total installations. The main suppliers include Bosch, Denso, Continental, etc.

As millimeter wave radar technology continues to iterate, its parameters are also constantly improving. The maximum range of the latest generation forward-facing radars launched by suppliers from 2020 to 2022 has generally reached the 300m level, which is about 50-100 meters higher than the previous generation products.

For example, the forward-facing radar FLR7 launched by Aptiv in 2022 has 4D imaging and a range of 300m (an increase of 50m compared to the previous generation product). It is Aptiv’s seventh-generation radar (Gen7) series and uses proprietary intellectual property and unique Designed with air waveguide antenna technology.

Aptiv forward radar FLR7

Falcon Eye Technology was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Nanjing. Its main products are the research and application of 76~81GHz automotive millimeter wave radar technology. Its application fields include passenger cars and transportation. The FR601 launched by Falcon Eye Technology in 2022 has a range of 300m (70m higher than the previous generation), HFOV100°, VFOV20°, and a maximum number of targets of 1024.

Comparison of some forward radar suppliers and product parameters

Source: Zuosi Auto Research

4. 77GHz is the current mainstream radar, and 79GHz is the future trend.

79GHz angle radar has obvious advantages compared with 77GHz and 24GHz. The 77GHz bandwidth is limited to 1GHz (76-77GHz) and cannot achieve high resolution. The 79GHz radar bandwidth is 4GHz (77-81GHz), which is a better choice for angular radars with higher resolution requirements; compared with For 24GHz radar, 79GHz can design more transceiver arrays under the same size, forming a larger transmit aperture and narrower beam, thereby achieving better angular resolution.

At present, the corner radar products of foreign suppliers such as Midland and Hyundai Mobis have been converted from 77GHz to 79GHz. Among them, Continental released the 79GHz angular radar SRR600 in 2021, with a range of 180m (an increase of 80m compared to the previous generation product) and HFOV 180°; Hyundai Mobis released a 79GHz angular radar MAR110 in 2021, with a range of 80m (an increase of 80m compared to the previous generation product). 10m), HFOV150°.

Panasonic Motors will launch a 4D 79GHz angular radar in 2022 with a range of 80m and HFOV100°; in 2021, it will release a 3D MIMO 79GHz angular radar with a range of 42m and HFOV180°.

The angular radar products of Falcon Eye Technology, a domestic supplier, have been converted from 77GHz to 79GHz. In 2021, the 79GHz angular radar CR521 will be released, with a range of 90m, HFOV150°, and VFOV30°.

Senstech and Lingbo Weibu have launched second-generation 79GHz angle radars. Among them, Senstech released the second-generation 79GHz angular radar STA79-2 in 2020, with a range of 110m, and HFOV150°; in 2021, it released the first-generation 79GHz angular radar product STA79-1, with a range of 80m and HFOV150°.

Senstech second generation 79GHz angle radar STA79-2

Lingbo Weibu released the second-generation 79GHz angular radar VJ80 in 2021, with a range of 80m, and HFOV120°; in 2019, it released the first-generation 79GHz angular radar product VJ40, with a range of 40m and HFOV120°.

77GHz and 79GHz angle radar suppliers and products

Source: Zuosi Auto Research

5. Domestic manufacturers are actively deploying 4D radars and releasing first-generation products

In addition to the distance, azimuth, and speed information that traditional 3D millimeter-wave radar can detect, 4D millimeter-wave radar can also detect height. In addition, 4D millimeter-wave radar also has high angular resolution and can detect static obstacles. Classification and other characteristics, its main technical routes are three types: multi-receiver and multi-transmit chip technology, synthetic aperture imaging + antenna design, and metamaterials.

At present, foreign suppliers Zhongan Bofu, Smartmicro, etc. have released second-generation 4D radars. Among them, Aptiv will release the second-generation 4D forward radar FLR7 in 2022, with a range of 300m; in 2021, it will release the first-generation 4D forward radar product FLR4+, with a range of 300m.

Smartmicro was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Germany. As a millimeter wave radar technology company, its main products are traffic radar and vehicle radar. It is expected to release the second generation 4D angle radar at the end of 2022/2023, with a range of 130m and HFOV 140°; the second generation will be released in 2019. The first-generation 4D angle radar UMRR-96 has a range of 120m and HFOV 130°.

Smartmicro second generation 4D angle radar DRVEGRD 169

Domestic manufacturers are actively keeping up. In 2022, Chengtai Technology launched the 4D forward radar CTLRR-410, with a range of 220m, HFOV90°, and the 4D angle radar CTMRR-410, with a range of 110m, HFOV150°; Muniu Technology released the 4D forward radar I79 in July 2022, with a The distance is 350m. It is the third generation forward radar product of Muniu Technology and the first generation 4D forward radar product.

Some 4D millimeter wave radar suppliers and products

Source: Zuosi Auto Research