79 GHz-Band High-Resolution Millimeter- Wave Radar

High-resolution millimeter-wave radar that operates in the 79 GHz band is expected to achieve a significant increase in the distance resolution of radar systems because of the availability of a wide frequency bandwidth of 4 GHz as compared with 0.5 GHz of the existing 77 GHz-band millimeter- wave radar. For this reason, it has the potential to distinguish between a vehicle and a human, which was conventionally difficult, and recognize their movements. Therefore it raises expectations for use as a surrounding monitoring radar in driving safety support and automatic driving. As one of FUJITSU TEN's efforts regarding sensing technologies for driving safety support and automatic driving, it has been developing 79 GHz-band high-resolution millimeterwave radar. This paper presents specifications of radar for application to systems that assist in safe driving and automatic driving and the results of testing a prototype for a wider bandwidth that is required to accomplish the technology's purpose. This radar increases the ability to detect a pedestrian in the surroundings of a vehicle, which was difficult to do with the existing 77 GHz-band radar. Furthermore, this paper also describes how the newly developed radar offers the possibility of improving the performance of a sensor for automatic driving and systems to assist in safe driving.