Electronic Scan Millimeter Wave Radar Detects Objects in Three Dimensions

FUJITSU TEN LIMITED (Head office: Kobe City, Hyogo, President & Representative Director: Takashi Shigematsu, Capital: ¥5.3 billion) has developed "Automotive Compact 77GHz 3D Electronic Scan Millimeter Wave Radar" that is capable of detecting an object in three dimensions, including "elevation" range in addition to distance and azimuth range.

While making further improvements, FUJITSU TEN will aim at delivering this product to automobile manufacturers from 2014.

This product will be presented in a paper at the "19th ITS World Congress Vienna, Austria" (October 22 (Mon.) – 26 (Fri.), 2012) and will be on display in the attached exhibition.

In 1997, FUJITSU TEN succeeded in the world's first(*1) practical application of 60GHz millimeter-wave radar for dump trucks. Since 2003, a wide variety of frontward, rearward, and front-sideward 77GHz millimeter-wave radars have been developed for passenger cars, and those have been delivered to many automobile manufacturers.

This developed product is for frontward detection usage. By sensing three dimensions including elevation range in addition to the conventional distance and azimuth range, the product can detect signs located above or falling objects over the road, etc. more reliably. That is, the product can identify obstacles on the road more reliably from a farther position. Through the advanced signal processing technology (jointly-developed with FUJITSU LABORATORIES LTD.(*2)) and the innovative design of antenna for transmitting and receiving radio waves, FUJITSU TEN has realized the size fitting in the palm, as large as the size of our latest 2D electronic scan millimeter-wave radar. The product can be mounted in a wide range of automobiles from large-sized automobiles to small-sized automobiles.

[Features of Developed Product]

1. Detection of subjects in 3D including elevation range
   By use of the 3D scan including elevation range in addition to the distance and azimuth range, objects above and below are detectable more reliably. For example, since the height of the guide sign posted above over the expressway can be detected, more accurate identification of the object in front of the automobile becomes possible. Since the obstacles on the road can be identified more reliably from a farther position, the performance in high-speed area of pre-crash safety feature(*3) is improved.
2. Compact size
   < Size: equal to our latest 2D electronic-scan-type product >
   Through the advanced signal processing technology (jointly-developed with FUJITSU LABORATORIES LTD.) and the innovative antenna design, FUJITSU TEN has realized the palm-sized 3D scan radar, as large as the size of our 2D electronic-scan-type millimeter-wave radar.
3. Simplified automobile mounting
   The axis adjustment used to be conducted when mounting the millimeter-wave radar in the automobile factory can be simplified, which contributes to the productivity improvement.