LOW-COST ANTENNA ALTERNATIVES FOR AUTOMOTIVE RADARS

Over the last several years, considerable engineering effort has gone into developing radars for automotive applications. Much of the activity has focused on sensors for collision warning and intelligent cruise control numerous antennas have been built that meet the functional requirements for these sensors, few thus far can be manufactured at the low cost and in the high volumes that the automotive industry demands. This paper describes the intelligent cruise control and collision warning applications and how the requirements for those sensors translate into antenna requirements. Several antenna designs that were developed to meet the performance, cost and high volume requirements for automotive radars are described.