ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - July 2023 - 10

Sensors
Significant growth is forecast for
cameras, radar, lidars and onboard
compute through 2027, according to
Woodside Capital analysis.
Experts agree that lidar's main holdup is cost:
To see it in volumes greater than 200 million units
annually, the technology will need a significantly
greater amount of light power - and that's expensive,
they noted. On cost and performance, the hardware
is evolving. Regarding detectors, for example, the
industry is moving to silicon photomultiplier (SiPM)
technology, Zaidi said; SiPM is a solid-state, high-gain
radiation detector that produces an output current
pulse upon absorption of a photon. These sensors with
single-photon sensitivity can detect light wavelengths
from near-ultraviolet (UV) to near-infrared (IR).
He explained that SiPM has evolved into a premier
photodetector, noted for its high internal gain and
low excess noise. Further, SiPMs are mechanically
compact, can be operated at low voltages and are
impervious to magnetic fields. The energy resolution
possible with SiPMs is in some instances comparable
to that achieved by photomultiplier tubes (PMTs).
Semiconductors, expected to account for 20% of a
premium vehicle's bill of material by 2030, according to
Roland Berger, play an increasingly key role in creating
more-capable and cost-effective sensors. Belgiumbased
semiconductor developer Imec recently introduced
a miniaturized, single-chip, solid-state lidar
solution operating in the SWIR range, noted Steven
Latre, the company's head of AI research.
" SWIR is close to natural light, " he explained. Imec
also is developing SWIR imaging using QD (quantum
dot) sensors for vehicle occupant sensing. Latre sees
a trend away from sensor-data fusion toward what he
calls " sensor-tech fusion, " with camera, radar and lidar
evolving into a single unit, but admits that discrete
sensors give OEMs flexibility in locating them on the
vehicle. Echoing other industry experts at AutoSens, he
stressed that compute requirements increase " dramatically "
when ADAS capability moves from L2 to L4.
" Higher levels of [vehicle] automation will require
more TOPS. The amount of compute that we need
is growing exponentially, " he said, to support more
advanced sensing across different modalities.
Latre believes automotive " semis " will evolve as
part of the current E/E architecture revolution, from
general purpose single-die SoCs to more domain-specific
solutions. Imec is moving to " chiplets " - smaller
chips with lower power requirements based on a SoC
architecture that can reduce the form factor of lidar
modules, making them more package-efficient (Imec
also is targeting the aerial drone and medical markets).
The company is developing lidar chiplets for wavelengths
around 1550 nm, range resolution of a few
centimeters and capable of performing imaging at
several frames per second, at 10-30 Hz. Faster time to
market is another benefit of chiplets, Latre said.
Mercedes' L3 pioneer
Konstantin Fichtner's much-anticipated presentation
on Mercedes-Benz's new Drive Pilot system attracted
a large audience at the AutoSens conference. Touted as
the company's first SAE Level 3 (currently for Germany
10 July 2023
ADAS & AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE ENGINEERING
Woodside Capital
ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - July 2023

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