Automotive Ultrasonic Radar and OEM Parking Roadmap Development Research Report, 2023
Automotive Ultrasonic Radar Research: as a single vehicle is expected to carry 7 units in 2025, ultrasonic radars will evolve to the second generation.
As a single vehicle is expected to pack 7 units in 2025, ultrasonic radars will take the fast lane.
According to the statistics of ResearchInChina, the ultrasonic radars installed in new passenger cars in China swelled by 7.4% year on year from 100.09 million units in 2021 to 107.525 million units in 2022. It is expected that the installation will exceed 140 million units by 2025. From 2021 to January 2023, there were an increasing number of ultrasonic radars installed in a single vehicle, up from 4.9 units to 5.6 units. Thanks to factors such as large-scale application of driving and parking integration, and the integration of cockpit and parking, it is expected that ultrasonic radars per vehicle will rise to 7 units in 2025, and the ultrasonic radar market will enjoy a boom.
In terms of installed solutions, in 2022, 36.8%, 20.6% and 21.8% of new passenger cars in China carried 4-, 8- and 12-ultrasonic radar solutions, respectively; AVP used 12-ultrasonic radar solutions. In 2022, 28,804 vehicles with AVP were sold, rocketing by 589% on the previous year.
Ultrasonic radars evolve to the second generation - AK2 ultrasonic radar.
Amid the growth in installations and demand, ultrasonic radar technology is also advancing, and has iterated to AK2 ultrasonic radar. Compared with conventional ultrasonic radars, AK2 ultrasonic radar offers the following benefits:
Longer detection range (>5m), smaller blind spot (<10cm).
More echoes: DSI3 communication mode is adopted, providing the highest rate of signal propagation, up to 444kbit/s; at most 230 echoes can be supported in a sensor detection cycle.
Anti-interference
ASIL-B
Waveform coding
Multi-mode switching (for example, Longhorn AK2 supports three transmission modes: fixed frequency mode, rising delta frequency mode and falling delta frequency mode)
Diagnosis function (for example, Bosch's sixth-generation ultrasonic radar can detect hardware deafness).
Regarding the AK2 layout, foreign manufacturers started earlier than Chinese companies. In 2016, Bosch successfully developed the sixth-generation ultrasonic radar, which combines digital signals and signal codes together and enables sensors to achieve multiple receptions and multiple transmissions through a linear frequency. Continental's full-stack solution based on its CUS3 ultrasonic sensor (with longest detection range of 5.5m, and self-diagnosis capability) is planned to be produced in quantities in 2024. The next-generation products of Murata Manufacturing can be used together with the ElmosE 524.17 driver chip to support frequency conversion (coding), with the blind spot only covering 15cm, and the longest detection range of 5.5m.
In China, both Audiowell Electronics and ZongMu Technology mass-produced AK2 radar in 2022; Coligen and Suzhou UDAS plan mass production in 2023; the rest companies are developing or have successfully developed AK2 radar.
Among them, the second-generation coded ultrasonic sensor of ZongMu Technology meets the German AK2 sensor appearance design standard. Through the Chirp (linear frequency modulation) coded transmission mode, the self-developed point cloud perception algorithm and probe enable the anti-noise capability of the system, with the refresh cycle in the encoding mode less than 100ms. The signal envelope helps to improve the detection of low obstacles such as ground locks and limiters. The product supports such functions as parking space monitoring, emergency braking, automatic space detection, target clustering and generation, and adaptive compensation of sensor performance parameters. The AK2 sensor was mass-produced in the second quarter of 2022, supporting customers like JAC Group, Voyah, Changan Automobile (Changan APA 7.0) and Seres.
Will ultrasonic sensors be replaced by radars in the future?
In recent years, ultrasonic sensors have faced challenged from radars. For example, in 2022, O-Film Tech introduced a solution of applying radars to low-speed autonomous driving for the purpose of space perception, and enabled the parking function using its self-developed 77Ghz radar. In 2022, TransMicrowave unveiled a short-range point cloud imaging radar, which can output 4D (X, Y, Z, V) point cloud information and enables automated parking in the 4D point cloud AVP mode, with the localization accuracy of 2cm. Tesla even announced to globally remove ultrasonic radars from Model X and Model Y since 2023. Does this mean that ultrasonic radars will be replaced or no longer needed?
On the one hand, ultrasonic radars have a big cost advantage in short-distance ranging, and gain ever more competitive edges. Besides the iteration of AK2 ultrasonic sensor, ultrasonic radars tend to be miniaturized and hidden. One example is AW101, a MEMS ultrasonic sensor developed by Audiowell Electronics in November 2022, mainly used for rear occupant alert (ROA), sound controlled by gesture, VR&AR and so forth. The MEMS ultrasonic sensor is a new kind of sensor that integrates piezoelectric thin films (as functional thin films) with silicon-based MEMS for miniaturization, integration, and hidden installation. The micron-level functional films and millimeter-level devices of the sensor facilitate further integration, compounding and arraying, and make it easy to design SiP and SoC devices and built circuits in.
On the other hand, ultrasonic sensors are finding application in more scenarios from parking to in-cabin monitoring. For example, Coligen is expanding the application of ultrasonic sensors in wading warning, height limit warning, low-speed F/RAEB, load warning, reverse drive assist, and AVP based on multi-sensor fusion; Suzhou UDAS is also exploring the use of ultrasonic sensors in low-speed AEB, and high-speed lane change and blind spot detection.
Besides, multi-sensor fusion represents the development trend of autonomous driving technology. At present, vehicle intelligence is undergoing "cockpit and parking integration" and "driving and parking integration", and will see "cockpit and driving integration" soon. For them, ultrasonic radars should be integrated with different sensors to achieve different levels of functions. Examples include automated parking, enabled by “ultrasonic radars + surround view cameras” in the “cockpit and parking integrated” architecture; navigate on pilot and homezone parking pilot, enabled by “ultrasonic radars + multi-view cameras + radars” in the “driving and parking integrated" architecture; urban/end-to-end navigate on pilot, homezone parking pilot (across floors) and L2 AVP, enabled by “ultrasonic radars + multi-view cameras + radars” in the “cockpit and driving integrated" architecture.
Analysis on Xpeng’s Layout in Electrification, Connectivity, Intelligence and Sharing, 2023
Research on Xpeng’s layout in electrification, connectivity, intelligence and sharing: in the innovation-driven rapid development, secured orders for 100 flying cars.
NIO, Xp...
Automotive Cockpit SoC Research Report, 2024
Automotive Cockpit SoC Research: Automakers quicken their pace of buying SoCs, and the penetration of domestic cockpit SoCs will soar
Mass production of local cockpit SoCs is accelerating, and the l...
Automotive Integrated Die Casting Industry Report, 2024
Integrated Die Casting Research: adopted by nearly 20 OEMs, integrated die casting gains popularity.
Automotive Integrated Die Casting Industry Report, 2024 released by ResearchInChina summari...
China Passenger Car Cockpit Multi/Dual Display Research Report, 2023-2024
In intelligent cockpit era, cockpit displays head in the direction of more screens, larger size, better looking, more convenient interaction and better experience. Simultaneously, the conventional “on...
Automotive Microcontroller Unit (MCU) Industry Report, 2024
With policy support, the localization rate of automotive MCU will surge.
Chinese electric vehicle companies are quickening their pace of purchasing domestic chips to reduce their dependence on impor...
Automotive Digital Key Industry Trends Research Report, 2024
Automotive Digital Key Industry Trends Research Report, 2024 released by ResearchInChina highlights the following: Forecast for automotive digital key market;Digital key standard specifications and co...
Automotive XR (VR/AR/MR) Industry Report, 2024
Automotive XR (Extended Reality) is an innovative technology that integrates VR (Virtual Reality), AR (Augmented Reality) and MR (Mixed Reality) technologies into vehicle systems. It can bring drivers...
OEMs’ Next-generation In-vehicle Infotainment (IVI) System Trends Report, 2024
OEMs’ Next-generation In-vehicle Infotainment (IVI) System Trends Report, 2024 released by ResearchInChina systematically analyzes the iteration process of IVI systems of mainstream automakers in Chin...
Global and China Automotive Lighting System Research Report, 2023-2024
Installations of intelligent headlights and interior lighting systems made steady growth.
From 2019 to 2023, the installations of intelligent headlights and interior lighting systems grew steadily. I...
Automotive Display, Center Console and Cluster Industry Report, 2024
Automotive display has become a hotspot major automakers compete for to create personalized and differentiated vehicle models. To improve users' driving experience and meet their needs for human-compu...
Global and China Passenger Car T-Box Market Report, 2024
Global and China Passenger Car T-Box Market Report, 2024 combs and summarizes the overall global and Chinese passenger car T-Box markets and the status quo of independent, centralized, V2X, and 5G T-B...
AI Foundation Models’ Impacts on Vehicle Intelligent Design and Development Research Report, 2024
AI foundation models are booming. The launch of ChapGPT and SORA is shocking. Scientists and entrepreneurs at AI frontier point out that AI foundation models will rebuild all walks of life, especially...
Analysis on Geely's Layout in Electrification, Connectivity, Intelligence and Sharing
Geely, one of the leading automotive groups in China, makes comprehensive layout in electrification, connectivity, intelligence and sharing.
Geely boasts more than ten brands. In 2023, it sold a tota...
48V Low-voltage Power Distribution Network (PDN) Architecture Industry Report, 2024
Automotive low-voltage PDN architecture evolves from 12V to 48V system.
Since 1950, the automotive industry has introduced the 12V system to power lighting, entertainment, electronic control units an...
Automotive Ultrasonic Radar and OEMs’ Parking Route Research Report, 2024
1. Over 220 million ultrasonic radars will be installed in 2028.
In recent years, the installations of ultrasonic radars in passenger cars in China surged, up to 121.955 million units in 2023, jumpin...
Automotive AI Foundation Model Technology and Application Trends Report, 2023-2024
Since 2023 ever more vehicle models have begun to be connected with foundation models, and an increasing number of Tier1s have launched automotive foundation model solutions. Especially Tesla’s big pr...
Qualcomm 8295 Based Cockpit Domain Controller Dismantling Analysis Report
ResearchInChina dismantled 8295-based cockpit domain controller of an electric sedan launched in December 2023, and produced the report SA8295P Series Based Cockpit Domain Controller Analysis and Dism...
Global and China Automotive Comfort System (Seating system, Air Conditioning System) Research Report, 2024
Automotive comfort systems include seating system, air conditioning system, soundproof system and chassis suspension to improve comfort of drivers and passengers. This report highlights seating system...