The latest scalable S32R radar processor from NXP Semiconductors has entered production, designed to meet the demanding processing requirements of L2+ autonomous driving and advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) solutions. The S32R41 is claimed to be “vital for creating high-resolution corner and front-facing long-range radars.”
Cubtec has also announced it will use NXP’s S32R41 processors and TEF82xx RFCMOS transceivers for the company’s latest high-end radar sensor system. To benefit the next generation of commercial vehicles, the technology will deliver an advanced blind spot information system (BSIS) to enhance road safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
NXP’s scalable radar platform of integrated processors and radar one-chip – which offers a high degree of architecture compatibility and software reuse – will enable Cubtek to benefit from its prior work on 4D imaging radar with NXP’s S32R45.
One of the more demanding use cases requiring enhanced radar capability is the BSIS. Commercial vehicles have large blind spots on all four sides, which can change dynamically when making turns. Turning maneuver collisions between large commercial vehicles, such as trucks, and pedestrians or cyclists usually result in severe consequences. In the past, improving the driver’s vision by increasing the number of mirrors and equipping commercial vehicles with side underrun protection raised the safety of vulnerable road users. Since turning accidents still happen, many vehicles now include a BSIS, which provides blind spot detection (BSD) lane change alert (LCA) and turn assist (TA).
Additionally, the NXP S32R41 radar processor meets the needs of advanced 77GHz radar applications, for both high-resolution, long-range radar applications and for advanced corner radar applications, for passenger cars and commercial vehicles including Cubtek’s BSIS.
The architecture can support functional safety up to level ASIL D according to ISO 26262 and creates an optimal processing chain with high-performance SPT (signal processing toolbox) and Cadence BBE32 DSP radar processing accelerators. The high-performance processing capability with dual MIPI CSI2 interfaces and 8MB of local SRAM enables high angular resolution radar systems. Furthermore, the hardware security engine (HSE) with EdgeLock compliance provides over-the-air update capability and is ISO 21434-ready. Through the use of the S32R41 processor and radar software development kit (RSDK), NXP claims developers can easily build and optimize high-resolution 77GHz radar sensor applications.
“NXP’s S32R41 radar processor is the first device we have seen on the market that provides the necessary processing power and connectivity to meet both the technical and commercial requirements for enhancing safety in commercial vehicles. Cubtek’s ECE R151-certified system fulfills the BSD, LCA and TA functions, solving the tractor and container angle issues,” said Dennis Tsai, chief technology officer, Cubtek. “We are excited to work with NXP and use the S32R41 processor in our latest radar product.”
“The NXP S32R41 processor is tailor-made to deliver outstanding performance at low power to meet the next-generation high-class radar sensor requirements,” commented Huanyu Gu, director product marketing ADAS, NXP. “As such, the Cubtek team developed their BSIS with a remarkable field view of 180° and a detection range of over 110m. We are very pleased with the broad application of the S32R41 processor beyond the passenger car segment.”