Building on the market success of its existing radar transceivers, NXP Semiconductors has begun production of its next-generation RFCMOS radar transceivers.

NXP Semiconductors announced on the 2nd that it has launched and is producing a second-generation RFCMOS radar transceiver family.

The TEF82xx is the successor to the TEF810x, which has been proven in the market and has already shipped tens of millions of units. Optimized for fast chirp modulation, this device supports short-range, medium-range, and long-range radar applications, including stepped high-resolution imaging radar. In addition, it supports 360-degree detection for critical safety applications, including automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, traffic warning systems, and automatic parking.

Radar is becoming a primary sensing method for safe use cases in existing automotive ADAS functions and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) applications. In particular, demanding use cases in the transition to fully autonomous driving require higher radio frequency performance to see over long distances exceeding 300 meters, and precise resolution to accurately detect, separate, and classify small objects; the TEF82xx radar transceiver makes all of this possible. NXP's scalable S32R radar processor family, combined with NXP TEF82xx RFCMOS radar transceivers, provides the fine resolution, processing power, and range required for production-ready imaging radar solutions.

The fully integrated RFCMOS chip includes three transmitters, four receivers, an ADC converter, a phase rotator, and a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO). The NXP TEF82xx also includes built-in safety monitors and external interface functions for MIPI-CSI2 and LVDS, and complies with ISO26262 and ASIL Level B standards.

Based on NXP's proven RFCMOS technology nodes and production setups, this device delivers significantly enhanced capabilities compared to the previous generation. RF performance has more than doubled, including a +6 dB improvement in phase noise, an output of 14 dBm at -95 dBc/Hz phase noise, and a receiver noise figure of 11.5 dB. The TEF82xx utilizes an ultra-small eWLB package with an exposed die to support optimal thermal transfer, enabling it to meet the demanding thermal conditions of high-performance radar applications even at high ambient temperatures. In particular, the short 4μs chirp return time reduces power-on time, lowering sensor power consumption, and narrows the chirp interval to improve velocity estimation capabilities.

Developers can easily build and optimize applications using the comprehensive radar algorithm library provided by the Automotive Radar Software Development Kit (RSDK) without spending time manually fine-tuning accelerator software. Engineers can also access the resources needed for faster development by leveraging NXP's extensive ecosystem, which consists of compilers, development environments, MCAL, and support for free and commercial RTOS.

Steffen Spannagel, Vice President and General Manager of NXP’s ADAS division, stated, “For high-performance imaging radar applications requiring 4x NXP TEF82xx radar transceivers cascaded with the high-performance S32R45 processor, OEMs can achieve a range of over 300m with sub-resolution for azimuth and elevation. We are already in the final radar module validation phase based on the TEF82xx, aiming for a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) by the end of this year, and some automotive OEMs are targeting launches for 2023 and 2024 models.”