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Wrangling over frequencies for driver assistance systems

is

compromising safety on the roads of Europe

 

(January 16, 2004)

 

The door to a new era of driver assistance systems and unprecedented levels of road safety is wide open: newly developed 24 GHz radar sensors will help monitor a car's environment more closely than before. The advantage of such assistance systems is that they are able to detect obstacles and potential hazards in advance and reduce the impact of an accident by activating safety measures in good time - or, ideally, avoid accidents altogether.

The requisite radar technology is already approaching the production stage. The problem is that in some European countries there is a dispute concerning the assignment of a standard frequency, despite the successful completion of tests. In the USA, the frequency needed for such sensors has been allocated to the automotive industry. "Wrangling over frequencies is compromising safety on the roads. Radio frequencies are a natural resource whose efficient use for the collective good must be guaranteed. This is all the more important when a lifesaving technology is at stake," said Prof. Burkhard Göschel, BMW AG Board Member for Development and Purchasing, at the industrial consortium Short range Automotive Radar frequency Allocation (SARA) in Berlin. The aim of the SARA initiative, backed by numerous car manufacturers and suppliers, is to push for the rapid introduction of international regulation for 24 GHz broadband car radar sensors.

I can see things you can't see: sensors as lifesavers
Radar sensor technology in the 24 GHz range can prove a lifesaver in many road situations. The ability of humans to master highly complex situations by means of associative thought and action is perfectly complemented by this sensor technology. It can continuously and reliably monitor the car's environment in all directions and instantly warns of potential dangers. This type of radar sensor is fundamental to lane-change assistants which are able to "see" blind spots. In the future, motorists can to be warned of hazards when changing lanes or turning-especially when turning off into another road as cyclists or pedestrians are easily overlooked. Systems are also being developed that use this technology to warn of rear-end collisions or, for example, that allow for a comfortable stop-and-go function in slow-moving traffic.

Improving safety through cooperation
Automotive radar sensors use very low levels of transmission power - 1,000 to 5,000 times less than that of a mobile phone. It has been proved that they are able to share wavebands with other applications without any problems. The frequency assignment authority in the USA recognized the safety potential of this technology in 2002 and allocated the necessary frequency for radar sensors to the automobile industry. Representatives of the EU Commission in Brussels and the German Federal Government agree that there should be a prompt regulation of frequencies in Europe. The problem is that, despite successful tests having been carried out, some European countries are still focusing on the minimal risks of incompatibility with other applications, even though these are a hundred times less probable than winning the lottery first time around. This is causing delays in the introduction of these crucial short-range radar sensors.

Source:  BMW Group Pressroom