Page 50 - EE Times Europe Magazine - June 2025

50 EE|Times EUROPE

Time-of-Flight and Radar Take the Wheel

RADAR OPTION fusion of these sensors is a must for more
The 60-GHz radar has a range of about advanced in-cabin applications,” Rasch said.
5 meters—ideal for inside a vehicle—and, “The new NCAP rating will be established
unlike a ToF imager, can be used to monitor in 2026, and already we see the Tier 1s and
vehicle occupancy, intruders, and even OEMs working on the next generation [of For reader inquiries and address changes,
heart and breathing rates in drivers and cabin-monitoring systems] that will need please contact: christiane.lockner@aspencore.com
passengers. Infineon has already manufac- radar and camera. These will be seen in cars To unsubscribe, please go to:
tured 60-GHz radar MMICs for consumer by 2028 to 2029.” www.eetimes.eu/unsubscribe/
electronics and healthcare and is currently
working on a smaller device with an on-chip MULTISENSOR FUTURE
antenna that should reach the market by Combining ToF and radar sensors could Aspencore Media GmbH
the end of this year. “A single sensor module well aid next-generation cabin-monitoring Frankfurter Straße 211
63263 Neu-Isenburg
[with the chip on board] is really tiny and systems. But from a straightforward safety Germany
will be fitted to just below the rearview mir- perspective, combining a range of sensors EE TIMES EDITORIAL MANAGEMENT
ror to cover the entire cabin,” said Stephan into these systems makes sense, as more Nitin Dahad, Editor-in-Chief, EE Times,
Rasch, senior product marketing manager data from more sources can deliver more nitin.dahad@aspencore.com
for Infineon’s 60-GHz radar technology. robust results. Anne-Françoise Pelé, Editor-in-Chief, EE Times Europe,
afpele@aspencore.com
For future in-cabin monitoring systems, With that in mind, Infineon has been Echo Zhao, Chief Analyst, echo.zhao@aspencore.com
Infineon has been collaborating with integrating its 3D ToF sensors with 2D Yorbe Zhang, Head of AspenCore APAC,
Novelic (Belgrade, Serbia), a developer cameras to develop RGB-D cameras—cam- yorbe.zhang@aspencore.com
of 60-GHz radar and software for human eras that capture depth information as well GLOBAL ASPENCORE EDITORS
detection and in-cabin monitoring, includ- as RGB data—for a range of applications. “As Matthew Burgess, matthew.burgess@aspencore.com
ing child presence detection. The 60-GHz the industry moves to full-occupant mon- Anthea Chuang, anthea.chuang@aspencore.com
Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio,
radar can distinguish between the faster itoring, we see a strong benefit of adding a maurizio.dipaolo@aspencore.com
and slower chest movements that relate to 2D sensor and 3D sensor, such as a time- Yvonne Geng, yvonne.geng@aspencore.com
heart rate and detect the difference in the of-flight sensor, into one compact [RGB-D] Amy Guan, amy.guan@aspencore.com
Susan Hong, susan.hong@aspencore.com
breath rates of children and adults. camera,” Lass said. “Our RGB-D camera Illumi Huang, illumi.huang@aspencore.com
hasn’t yet reached automotive applications, Majeed Ahmad Kamran, majeed.kamran@aspencore.com
Clover Lee, clover.lee@aspencore.com
Given each technology’s but we are in discussions about this.” Shao Lefeng, lefeng.shao@aspencore.com
As part of this development, Infineon
Jenny Liao, jenny.liao@aspencore.com
limitations, 60-GHz has worked with several partners, including Elaine Lin, elaine.lin@aspencore.com
Luffy Liu, luffy.liu@aspencore.com
Ofilm, a Chinese high-tech manufacturing
radar platforms with ToF and assembly company that has already Stefani Muñoz, stefani.munoz@aspencore.com
Challey Peng, challey.peng@aspencore.com
Gina Roos, gina.roos@aspencore.com
sensors will be essential combined 2D and ToF cameras into a single Fendy Wang, fendy.wang@aspencore.com
module with gesture control software.
Sally Ward-Foxton, sally.wardfoxton@aspencore.com
in future in-cabin Meanwhile, pmdtechnologies is developing Demi Xia, demi.xia@aspencore.com
Franklin Zhao, franklin.zhao@aspencore.com
monitoring systems. AI-based ToF processing software to effi- Momo Zhong, momo.zhong@aspencore.com
ciently fuse high-resolution data that will
come from combined 2D and ToF sensors. CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Late last year, the three companies revealed Pat Brans, pdbrans@gmail.com
Filippo Di Giovanni, digiovanni2@gmail.com
“Radar doesn’t need line of sight, so it can they had collaborated with Chinese intel- Robert Huntley, robert@seventyfourhundred.com
even detect babies covered in blankets in car ligent home robotics provider Roborock to Saumitra Jagdale, saumitra@opencloudware.com
Egil Juliussen, egil@norskeagle.com
foot wells,” Rasch said. “Also, a future require- integrate a module combining ToF sensors Stefano Lovati, slovati@gmail.com
ment of NCAP is post-crash assessments, so and advanced processing into Roborock’s Rebecca Pool, editorial@rebeccapool.com
as long as [the radar] is still functional after intelligent vacuum cleaner robot. Ann Thryft, athryft@earthlink.net
an accident, it could identify the breath rates “The demand [for RGB-D cameras] has PRODUCTION
of the occupants and provide this information also been ramping in China’s automotive Adeline Cannone, Design Director,
to emergency agencies.” market, although the focus is on rear-seat adeline@cannone.com
Lori O’Toole, Chief Copy Editor, lotoole@aspencore.com
Rasch said Infineon’s radar modules entertainment,” Lass said. “But as well as Diana Scheben, Senior Copy Editor,
would reach cars by the end of 2026, noting offering gesture control, these [cameras] diana.scheben@aspencore.com
that the semiconductor manufacturer had monitor occupants and classify them, so SALES & MARKETING
already won several contracts with Tier 1 [the technology is] definitely going in the The Hufmann Agency, victoria@hufmann.info,
suppliers and OEMs. However, in a simi- direction of safety.” norbert@hufmann.info
lar vein to Lass, he emphasized how radar Looking further into the future, Lass Todd Bria, todd.bria@aspencore.com
has its disadvantages, such as insufficient believes in-cabin monitoring systems could Cyrus Krohn, Vice President, Publisher — AspenCore
resolution to distinguish between males and draw data from even more devices, including Copyright© All rights reserved. No part of this publication
females, or large and small people, as might MEMS microphones and gas sensors. “OEMs may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means without the prior express written permission of
be necessary in smart airbag deployment are going to want to minimize the number of AspenCore Media. Although we make every effort to present
and other scenarios. cameras and systems in the car to keep costs up-to-date, accurate information, EE Times Europe will not
be responsible for any errors or omissions or for any results
Given each technology’s limitations, both as low as possible,” he said. “But I think these obtained from the use of such information. The magazine
Rasch and Lass asserted that 60-GHz radar sensors will be combined to improve user will not be li able for any loss caused by the reliance on
information obtained on this site. Furthermore, EE Times
platforms with ToF sensors will be essen- experience in future cars so that OEMs can Europe does not warrant the accuracy or completeness
of the information, text, graphics in this magazine. The
tial in future in-cabin monitoring systems. differentiate themselves on user experience opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors
“Radar alone cannot do everything—the in the car.” ■ and not necessarily the opinions of the publisher.
JUNE 2025 | www.eetimes.eu