As essential components for autonomous driving, radar sensors help keep road users safe. With each stage on the way to fully autonomous driving, the number of radar sensors per vehicle rises significantly. Both OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers need reliable test solutions, suitable for mass production, for the large number of safety-related radar-based driver assistance systems.

Due to the dramatic rise in the number of vehicles equipped with radar-based safety-related driver assistance systems, the European regulatory authorities have stipulated mandatory tests in the Radio Equipment Directive (RED) to ensure safe operation and coexistence of automotive radar sensors, particularly with respect to autonomous driving.

Rohde&Schwarz developed its new R&S AREG100A automotive radar echo generator in close cooperation with the automotive industry. The R&S AREG100A automotive radar echo generator reliably tests radar sensors in the 24GHz ISM band and in the E band at 77GHz or 79GHz. It simulates echoes of up to four artificial target objects at fixed distances. User-configurable Doppler offsets can optionally be applied to simulate radial movement of the objects. Customers can specify desired fixed distances at the time of order.

The R&S AREG100A tests advanced long-range and short-range radars. It can simulate objects at a minimum distance of 4m if the distance between the frontend and the DUT is 80cm.

For easy, convenient and cost-optimized execution of the tests specified in the RED standard ETSI EN 303396, the R&S AREG100A provides calibrated input and output ports in the IF band. The immunity of the sensors to interference signals can be checked with a connected RF signal generator.

The occupied bandwidth and spurious emissions can be measured easily and conveniently with a connected signal and spectrum analyser. And the total radiated power (equivalent isotropic radiated power, EIRP) can be determined very precisely using a connected power meter. All that is needed is an RF signal generator up to 6GHz, a signal and spectrum analyzer, and a power meter with 8GHz bandwidth, since the millimeterwave hardware of the frontend can be used with all of these instruments. No additional millimeterwave T&M equipment is needed to carry out the tests.