The latest automotive innovation features an Ultra-Wideband chip for car access, safety, and user experience with technology.
NXP Semiconductors have launched the TrimensionTM NCJ29D6, an automotive Ultra-Wideband (UWB) chip. This chip combines real-time localization with short-range radar, supporting applications like car access, child presence detection, intrusion alerts, and gesture recognition.
The NCJ29D6A, compatible with NCJ29D6B, combines ranging and UWB radar in one chip, including an integrated MCU. This allows Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to create UWB-based systems for multiple uses, eliminating redundant systems and reducing costs, space, and weight. OEMs can use these systems for applications like child presence detection, in line with the U.S. Hot Cars Act and the European NCAP roadmap. This approach simplifies development, allowing OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to add features via software updates, reducing ownership costs and accelerating the introduction of new features.
The chip enhances secure car access, allowing hands-free vehicle entry using a digital key on UWB-compatible mobile phones. It incorporates performance improvements that aid in design flexibility and future-proof secure car access systems. The chip’s features include RF sensitivity and dual operating receiver chains, which enable antenna diversity and angle of arrival techniques to accurately detect changes in distance or direction of other UWB devices.
Additionally, it focuses on reducing system costs by offering enhanced CPU performance, increased memory size, and high levels of integration, including an integrated digital CAN transceiver, thereby enabling developers to reduce the component count per anchor to just a single chip.
“UWB will drive new advancements in the consumer automotive experience, and this is only the beginning of what it will enable. Automotive OEMs and Tier 1s will benefit from a single system that can deliver multiple new software-defined experiences enabled by Trimension NCJ29D6 UWB ICs over time. Building on our expertise and standardization efforts in bodies such as the Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) and the FiRa Consortium, we are helping UWB become an essential part of the automotive ecosystem.” Markus Staeblein, Senior Vice President and General Manager Secure Car Access, NXP Semiconductors.
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