As TI's innovators develop new applications that help unlock new applications for TI's millimeter-wave (mmWave) radar, engineers can apply cost-effective sensor technology in a variety of scenarios, including vehicles, factories, smart homes, and more, to build a more safe world. To learn more about the price/performance ratio of radar and CMOS technology, see the Visionary Blog post.

Dan Wang's first job after graduation was working with the TI innovator team to create unexpected surprises in the technology world.

Taking on a tough challenge, they developed the first on-chip mmWave radar system using CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) analog design, making an otherwise expensive radar detection function affordable and easy to integrate into $20,000 vehicles .

Back then, creating such a system was no easy task. At the time, Dan and his team were gearing up to demonstrate to a major automaker how such a system could take vehicle safety to the next level. They condensed and loaded radar technology into a system roughly the size of a dollar coin, with high precision to help vehicles detect and avoid crashes in any road condition.

"This is a disruptive technological breakthrough," Dan said. “By using CMOS technology, we can greatly increase the integration of radar sensors and reduce costs significantly. I remember the first time I placed eight small test sensors around a vehicle and saw them transmit a 360-degree panoramic three-dimensional view of the environment. The scene, the excitement I will never forget.”

Today, she remains committed to showing engineers the new possibilities of this technology and inspiring them to imagine the next bright spot. She is a leader in cascading millimeter-wave sensors—high-resolution image sensors that help vehicles more clearly detect distant objects ahead—and is passionate about developing algorithms for new millimeter-wave applications.

"I think millimeter wave technology has huge potential to help improve safety in factories, buildings, homes, and everyday life," she said. "It's just beginning."

Automotive interior and exterior safety

Dan's job is to help clients design algorithms.

Algorithms help engineers understand how to get the most out of our technology and define next-generation devices based on engineer feedback. Dan may also show how TI's cascaded radar, which uses multiple synchronized devices to process data as a single device, can detect another vehicle more than 300 meters ahead, distinguish between two vehicles traveling in close proximity, and alert the driver to take appropriate action .

Millimeter-wave radar is still a relatively new technology, so every day is a new endeavor for Dan. Her team members continue to research and develop algorithms for new applications that help improve safety inside and outside the vehicle.

"In the beginning, everyone knew that millimeter wave technology has great potential for application in advanced driver assistance systems, but we knew there were many other applications to be explored," she said. "We've been working on industrial applications and in-vehicle sensing to see the huge potential of millimeter-wave sensors."

Inside vehicles, mmWave sensors can improve safety by alerting parents to children in the back seat, reminding passengers to fasten their seat belts, monitoring driver alertness and vital signs, and communicating with in-vehicle systems using only gestures interact.

The above features can also be used to improve home safety, such as alerting family members when the elderly fall, and can also be used to enable robots to safely collaborate with people in factories. These features are all new and still evolving. According to Dan's predictions, the future trend will be to develop smaller, smarter sensors that can use machine learning to better classify objects and information.

"Looking ahead to radar technology in the future, we believe that more affordable, high-performance sensors will have the potential to impact more market segments," she said. "Twenty years from now, it will be our primary sensor, everywhere we look."

Passionate about creating a better world

Discovering new applications for TI's mmWave radar (in vehicles, factories and homes) once again demonstrates TI's innovators' passion for making the world a better place by reducing the cost of electronics through semiconductor technology. We have persevered over the years, with each advancement and breakthrough innovation building on the previous generation's innovations to make electronics smaller, more efficient, more reliable and more affordable. At TI, that's engineering advancement. This is exactly what we have been doing for decades and now.