Xilinx Helps Continental Radar Sensors Pave the Way for L5 Autonomous Driving

Xilinx, Inc. recently announced that it has partnered with Continental to provide the Zynq? UltraScale+? MPSoC platform for Continental’s new Advanced Radar Sensor (ARS) 540 The first mass-produced 4D imaging radar in the automotive industry. The collaboration will enable new mass-produced vehicles to be equipped with the ARS540, enabling SAE L2 autonomous driving capabilities and paving the way for L5 autonomous driving systems.

4D imaging radar can determine the location of objects based on distance, azimuth, elevation and relative velocity, providing detailed information about the driving environment. While early automotive radar systems could only capture speed and azimuth information, they could not provide such detailed information. Continental’s ARS540 is an advanced long-range 4D imaging radar with high resolution that can detect objects up to 300 meters away. In addition, its wide field of view of ± 60 degrees enables tracking of multiple what-if situations for precise predictions while driving, which is critical for managing complex driving scenarios such as detecting traffic jams under bridges.

Image source “Xilinx”

Xilinx’s Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC platform for automotive is a highly adaptable platform that allows Continental’s 4D imaging radar to be immune to the multiple configurations of the sensor platform and to meet OEM specifications. Parallel processing within the device’s programmable logic enables optimal performance and remains fully independent while processing the pipeline critical to the ARS540’s 4D sensing. The platform is equipped with a number of digital signal processing (DSP) chips that can also accelerate the real-time input of radar sensors.

In addition, the high horizontal and vertical resolution of the ARS540 system can detect potentially dangerous objects on the road and react appropriately. The sensor can support L2 autonomous driving, which requires a human driver to supervise vehicle control, and can be extended to L5 autonomous driving.