Wide-scanning, ultra-compact, multi-beam reconfigurable antenna for the next generation of automotive radars for active safety – MM-Scan

The MM-Scan project is divided into five workpackages (WP). WP1 deals with the coordination of the project and the dissemination of the results. In WP2, we will derive the technical specifications of the final antenna system; they are based on system-level requirements defined for SRR, MRR and LRR modes. WP3 aims at defining the best fabrication techniques for the intermediate and final antenna systems; mature industrial processes will be selected. WP4 is divided into 4 tasks: design of the primary feeds and the beam forming network, design of the quasi-optical transitions, design of the radiating part, design and optimisation of the final antenna prototype.

This project started in Spring 2013. This section will be updated soon.

This project is ongoing. This section will be updated soon.

This project is ongoing. This section will be updated soon. Some of the concepts investigated here (pillbox antenna systems and beam forming networks) are patented by IETR.

Context.
The development of new intelligent transport systems (ITS) is of prime importance in many industrial countries so as to improve road safety and reduce the total number of fatal accidents. Many current on-board or embedded ITS equipments are considered as comfort systems; they must evolve towards active safety systems. Indeed, it is considered that 90% of road accidents involve human factors. In this context millimetre-wave automotive radars play a crucial role for adaptive cruise control, brake assistance or blind spot detection. The currently-available systems offer limited capabilities, and new antenna configurations must be invented to comply with the wide diversity of new end-user specifications; the latter are more and more stringent and deal with many different road scenarios for short range, medium range and long range detection.

General objective and market.
The major objective of the MM-Scan project is to develop a very innovative ultra-compact antenna architecture for automotive active safety systems at millimetre waves. This architecture will complying with end-users requirements and account for all technological PCB fabrication constraints in order to provide a final demonstrator compatible with already-available industrial manufacturing processes. The target market is quite narrow today (about 50000 radars a year), but the growth expectation is very high and new solutions must be invented by anticipation.

Partnership, Dissemination and Exploitation of results.
This MM-Scan project is coordinated by IETR (Institut d’Electronique et de Télécommunications de Rennes, UMR CNRS 6164) and is accompanied by Bretagne Valorisation. The corresponding antenna concepts have been patented by the University of Rennes 1. Pilot studies carried out in 2009 and 2010 have demonstrated successfully the relevance and performance of simple antenna breadboards. Our major technical objective is to conduct further studies to design, optimize, fabricate and characterize a final demonstrator. This prototype is ultra-compact (double-folded configuration) and will produce multiple beams for short range, medium range and long range radar systems covering the 76-81 GHz band using one single sensor. The expected results are far beyond the state-of-the-art. This demonstrator will be the key element for the dissemination and exploitation of the results (technology transfers, patent licensing, new industrial partnerships, opening towards new commercial markets in telecommunications, defence or aeronautics, etc.).