![]() “We’re not sequentially scanning,” said Xin. ![]() The returning signal enters the sphere, which generates a high-gain beam in the opposite direction and is received by tiny receptors. “The transmitter sends out the radar wave,” explained John Xin, Lunewave’s chief executive. The lens-like antenna is placed inside an enclosure that contains micro-electromechanics to emit a radar signal. The current version, produced with an acrylic, weighs about 10 grams. Lunenwave’s antenna can focus a returning radar signal to one focal point or scale that up to hundreds of points of focus. He reduces the Luneburg antenna down to the size of a ping-pong ball – while maintaining the necessary complexity of the dielectric properties created via the thousands of tiny chambers. After two years, he was able to demonstrate the ability to “print” the Luneburg-inspired sphere, which contains 6,500 uniquely designed miniature chambers. Xin had been working with 3D-printing, polymer-jetting techniques since 2007. He’s also the chief technology officer for Lunewave. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, now heads the University of Arizona’s Millimeter Wave Circuits and Antennas Laboratory. Nearly 15 years ago, Hao Xin, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Arizona, started exploring how Luneburg’s approach might be used in new applications, such as autonomous driving and 5G communications. The design also allows for fast, single-snapshot readings rather than comparatively slower conventional radar scanning. That’s unfortunate, because the intricate pattern of chambers and branches inside a spherical Luneburg radar antenna imparts 360-degree sensing capabilities. But because Luneburg lenses are commonly between the size of a large grapefruit and a soccer ball, they are too big for use in cars. The lens, which serves as an efficient passive reflector, is used in fighter planes to enhance the signature of a radar signal. German-American Rudolf Luneburg, a professor of mathematics and optics, first proposed his unique gradient-index lens in 1944. Tucson, Arizona-based Lunewave was founded in 2017. That shortcoming motivated Hao and John Xin, the brother co-founders of Lunewave, to commercialize a spherical radar antenna based on the Luneburg lens design created three-quarters of a century ago. And it has a low cost, which depending on quality and scale of production, is between about $50 to a few hundred dollars per unit.īut the relatively inexpensive, planar, phased-array radar antennas commonly used for functions like adaptive cruise control don’t have the resolution needed for higher levels of automated functions. It’s good at detecting objects from long distances of a couple hundred meters or more, even in bad weather. Like all sensors intended an automated vehicle (AV), radar has strengths and weaknesses. Radar sensing has been used for various functions in passenger vehicles for more than two decades. ![]() The number of horizontal antennas per panel tightly depends on the required values of the link quality metrics, potentially leading to a non-uniform geometry between sides and front or back panels.The Luneburg-inspired sphere, about the size of ping-pong ball, contains 6,500 uniquely designed miniature chambers.” ![]() Regarding the horizontal geometry, four panels on the roof's edges provide good coverage and link quality. A shaped beam in the vertical plane based on three preset radiating elements is proven to be robust enough against self-scattering effects on the vehicle body. Connectivity parameters such as Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR) and outage probability are optimized based on the array topology. The study considers both the influence of the vehicle itself at radiation pattern level and the impact of the urban traffic on physical layer parameters. This paper presents an approach to design mmWave vehicular multi-antenna systems with beamforming capabilities considering the practical limitations of their usage in real vehicular environments. Millimeter-wave (mmWave) connectivity represents a paramount research field in which adequate geometries of antenna arrays must be provided to be integrated in modern vehicles, so 5G-V2X can be fully exploited in the Frequency Range 2 (FR2) band. The transformation of the automotive industry towards ubiquitous connection of vehicles with all kind of external agents (V2X) motivates the use of a wide range of frequencies for several applications.
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