Reinventing Radar: The Power of 4D Sensing

Radar has evolved from a complex, high-end military technology into a relatively simple, low-end solution penetrating industrial and consumer market segments. This rapid evolution has been driven by two main factors: Advancements in silicon and packaging technology are leading to miniaturization, and growth of computing power is enabling the use of machine learning algorithms to tap the full potential of raw radar signals. Radar facilitates localization of targets in 3D space and can be further used for vital sensing or classification, providing a 4D view that enables several industrial and consumer applications. The use and applications of radar technology have grown multi-fold in recent years. Apart from military and defense applications, radars increase safety and facilitate driving in medium- to premium-priced cars, for example. For many industrial and consumer applications, the wide adoption of short-range radar sensors follows reliable system performance at low-power and low-cost. In this article, we explain how radar technology can be used in consumer electronics and industrial applications, bringing benefits to our daily lives.