Charting New Frontiers in Automotive Imaging Radar Transceivers

mm-Wave radar capabilities that enable robust, precise environmental mapping and object classification under all weather conditions define the next frontier in automotive sensing. Crossing this frontier requires advances across all four radar dimensions: achieving sub-degree angular resolution in both azimuth and elevation, extending detection ranges with high range resolution, and reducing velocity ambiguities to reliably detect vulnerable road users at long distances — even when positioned near large objects. At the same time, low power consumption and compact form factors are essential for seamless integration into future electric vehicle architectures. This presentation argues that architectural innovations on large-scale MIMO antenna arrays and mm-wave circuits, combined with multidisciplinary design optimization and adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies, form the foundation for crossing the imaging radar frontier. These breakthroughs will unlock the full potential of emerging radar signal processing algorithms and AI techniques. The talk will begin by linking targeted use cases to critical performance indicators — each shaped by physical resources, architecture, and technology. It will then dive deeper into innovations such as large-scale waveguide sparse antenna arrays and key building blocks, including agile low-noise waveform synthesizers, IC cascading, phase rotators, and linear receivers with high dynamic range ADCs — components that extend the versatility and performance of Fast Chirp FMCW combined with DDMA MIMO coding. Finally, the presentation will explore opportunities enabled by advanced packaging and silicon technologies and showcase algorithmic approaches that leverage waveform versatility to mitigate radar-to-radar interference and multipath effects.