ACC - Adaptive Cruise Control
All currently available ACC systems use radar sensors to determine the distance to the vehicle ahead
Next step up in ACC systems is the anti-collision system, in which the sensors all operate in the 77 GHz area, in a band that is reserved exclusively for the automotive sector. Nowadays, well-equipped new vehicles even have other radar systems that operate mainly in the 24 GHz band. These are systems such as Blind Spot Detection (BSD), Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA), etc. In all radar applications, the vehicle transmits an individually modulated signal - for example, in saw-tooth shape, frequency-modulated, etc., – which is then reflected, in the case of the ACC, from the vehicle ahead and detected by a number of antennae. In the case of ACC, it is also important to capture angular information for the reflected radar signal at the same time, using relatively complex antenna systems in order to include in the calculations only information for vehicles in the same lane, and not for vehicles in other lanes. EBV Elektronik supports its customers with many different components for use in radar applications. The spectrum ranges from diodes to MMICs that are usually implemented in SiGe technology. For price reasons, GaAs products do not currently play a role in vehicles and SiGe products remain the first choice. However, there are already approaches that still take advantage of lower-cost CMOS technology in the form of RF CMOS processes for this application.