POLICIES :: eCommunications :: Short-range radar

A radar for your car

Innovative radar systems, so called short-range radars or SRR, are used in cars for active protection against collisions. Once they are widely used, SRR systems in vehicles have the potential to enhance road safety not only for drivers and passengers, but also for all other road users and pedestrians.

Automotive short-range radars (SRR) systems use the radio spectrum around a vehicle to detect obstacles, such as other vehicles, walls etc. If the vehicle is in motion the radars can alert the driver of possible impacts or even automatically trigger safety measures, such as pre-tensioning of seat belts and inflating air bags. Ultimately such systems could include automated braking to avoid or mitigate collisions.

The introduction of active safety systems in vehicles is therefore one element that supports the EU’s road safety policy goal of halving the number of deaths on the road.

An increasing number of motorists are familiar with simple parking assistance systems, mostly using ultrasound technology, that help to manoeuvre a car into a parking space. But SRR systems using radio frequency are much more elaborate devices. The first vehicles to incorporate SRR technology have been luxury cars but it is expected that medium cars will be deploying the technology within ten years. Analysis of data from these initial vehicle systems indicates that they do increase safety. To ensure that all road users throughout the EU will eventually benefit from these systems, it is necessary to allow the use of short-range radars in specific parts of the radio spectrum.

Frequency bands for road safety

In order to facilitate the development and deployment of SRR systems in the EU, automotive short-range radars are permitted to use two harmonised frequency bands in the European Union: the 24 GHz and 79 GHz bands. The 79 GHz band is considered to be the long-term operating frequency for SRR and has therefore been allocated on a permanent basis since 2004.

However, the first applications of the technology have been using the 24 GHz band. SRR systems are only allowed to use this band, subject to detailed regulatory restrictions to protect other users in the 24 GHz frequency range such as radio astronomy stations, earth exploration satellites and other satellite services.

In particular, only 7% of the total number of cars operating in the EU can be equipped with SRR systems operating in the 24 GHz. It was also considered that by 2013, the new systems for the 79 GHz band would be available and that the use of the 24 GHz band could therefore be phased out.

Extension of the use of the 24 GHz band for SRR

Originally it was expected that, by 2013, the new systems for the 79 GHz band would be available and that the use of the 24 GHz band could therefore be phased out. However, the automotive industry has experienced significant delay in the development of SRR systems to operate in the 79 GHz band, and it has become clear that new systems with 79 GHz-technology would not be mature enough for commercial deployment in cars by 2013.

In order to bridge the technological gap, the Commission launched an assessment of possible solutions, including the possibility of extending the period in which SRR equipment operating at 24 GHz could be mounted in new cars. The result showed that the original assumptions in regard to the protection of other spectrum users in the 24 GHz band remain valid, so therefore an extension of the use of 24 GHz band is possible.

Following a public consultation (responses) the Commission amended on 29 July 2011 the Decision on the harmonisation of the 24 GHz range radio spectrum band for use by automotive short-range radar equipment (2005/50/EC).

The amending Decision prolongs the use of the upper part of the 24 GHz band for SRR from the originally foreseen date of 30 June 2013 to 1 January 2018. The Decision also introduces an extension by an additional 4 years (until 1 January 2022) of the possibility of mounting 24 GHz SRR equipment in cars for which a type approval has been granted before 1 January 2018.