Texas Instruments AWR1843 mmWave Automotive Radar Sensor
Texas Instruments AWR1843 mmWave Automotive Radar Sensor employs the low-power 45nm RFCMOS process and enables unprecedented levels of integration in an extremely small form factor. The AWR1843 can operate in the 76GHz to 81GHz band, making it an ideal solution for low-power, self-monitored, ultra-accurate radar systems in the automotive space.
TI's RFCMOS process enables a monolithic implementation of a 3TX, 4RX system with built-in PLL and A2D converters. This feature integrates the DSP subsystem, which contains TI's high-performance C674x DSP for Radar Signal processing. The AWR1843 Automotive Radar Sensor includes a BIST processor subsystem, which is responsible for radio configuration, control, and calibration.
Additionally, the AWR1843 includes a user-programmable ARM R4F base for automotive interfacing. The Hardware Accelerator block (HWA) performs radar processing and contributes to saving MIPS on the DSP for higher-level algorithms. Simple programming model changes can facilitate various sensor implementations (Short, Mid, Long) with the possibility of dynamic reconfiguration for implementing a multimode sensor.
The device is a complete platform solution, including TI reference designs, software drivers, sample configurations, API guides, and user documentation. The AWR1843-Q1 variant is AEC-Q100 qualified for automotive applications.
Features
- FMCW transceiver
- Integrated PLL, transmitter, receiver, Baseband, and A2D
- 76GHz to 81GHz coverage with 4GHz available bandwidth
- Four receive channels
- Three transmit channels
- Ultra-accurate chirp engine based on fractional-N PLL
- TX power: 12dBm
- RX noise figure
- 14dB (76GHz to 77GHz)
- 15dB (77GHz to 81GHz)
- Phase noise at 1MHz
- -95dBc/Hz (76GHz to 77GHz)
- -93dBc/Hz (77GHz to 81GHz)
- Built-in calibration and self-test (monitoring)
- Arm® Cortex®-R4F-based radio control system
- Built-in firmware (ROM)
- Self-calibrating system across frequency and temperature
- Cortex-R4F microcontroller for object tracking and classification, AUTOSAR, and interface control
- Supports autonomous mode (loading user application from QSPI flash memory)
- Other interfaces available to user application
- Up to 6 ADC channels
- Up to 2 SPI channels
- Up to 2 UARTs
- I2C and GPIOS
- 2-lane LVDS interface for raw ADC data and debug instrumentation
- On-chip Memory: 2MB
- C674x DSP for FMCW signal processing
- Integrated peripherals
- Internal memories with ECC
- Host interface
- CAN and CAN-FD
- ASIL B targeted
- AEC-Q100 qualified (Q1)
- AWR1843 advanced features
- Embedded self-monitoring with no host processor involvement
- Complex baseband architecture
- Embedded interference detection capability
- Programmable phase rotators in transmit path to enable beam forming
- Power management
- Built-in LDO network for enhanced PSRR
- I/Os support dual voltage 3.3 V/1.8V
- Clock source
- Supports external oscillator at 40MHz
- Supports externally driven clock (square/sine) at 40MHz
- Supports 40MHz crystal connection with load capacitors
- Easy hardware design
- 0.65mm pitch, 161-pin 10.4mm × 10.4mm flip chip BGA package for easy assembly and low-cost PCB design
- Small solution size
- Supports automotive temperature operating range
Applications
- Blind spot detection
- Lane change assistance
- Cross-traffic alert
- Parking assistance
- Occupancy detection
- Gesture recognition
Automotive Diagram
Functional Block Diagram
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