Specialty foundry TowerJazz (which has fabrication plants at Tower Semiconductor Ltd in Migdal Haemek, Israel, and at its US subsidiaries Jazz Semiconductor Inc in Newport Beach, CA and TowerJazz Texas Inc in San Antonio, TX, and at TowerJazz Japan Ltd) says that its 0.18µm SiGe technology was used to develop a 24GHz rear and side radar sensor for Japan’s DENSO Corp, a supplier of automotive technology, systems and components for major automakers. Using TowerJazz’s submillimeter-wave technology, the sensor is used in the Toyota Camry that was released in North America in July and it will help enhance the vehicle safety system.

DENSO’s rear and side radar sensor system offers SRR (short-range radar), enabled by TowerJazz’s SiGe process, which helps to alert the driver of vehicles approaching from behind when changing lanes and when reversing. It also helps to perform automatic braking when reversing. According to Global Market Insights, the global automotive radar market is forecasted to grow from $1.4bn to more than $5bn by 2023, boosted by the advent of self-driven cars.

TowerJazz says that DENSO chose its SBC18 process as the technology combines high-performance SiGe transistors for the transmission and reception of the radar signal together with 0.18µm CMOS for the integration of digital control functions on a single chip. TowerJazz’s accurate models for first time success and automotive quality certification were also factors.

“TowerJazz’s leading SiGe technology enabled us to create the collision avoidance system which is our flagship offering,” says Kazuma Natsume, director, Advanced Safety Engineering Division 2, DENSO. “TowerJazz’s advanced process enabled the engineers to fully achieve the challenging specs required for next-generation short-range radar (SRR) for automotive applications,” he adds.

“We look forward to grow the partnership and the relationship with DENSO, with this technology entering volume production and fanning out to multiple automobile models,” says TowerJazz’s CEO Russell Ellwanger.