Texas Instruments (TI) has developed a new portfolio of automotive lidar, clock, and radar chips to assist automakers in transforming vehicle safety by adding more autonomous features to a broader variety of cars. TI’s new LMH13000, the industry’s first integrated high-speed lidar laser driver, has an ultra-fast rise time that improves real-time decision-making.
The CDC6C-Q1 oscillator, as well as the LMK3H0102-Q1 and LMK3C0105-Q1 clock generators, are the industry’s first automotive BAW-based clocks. They improve the reliability of sophisticated driver assistance systems. TI’s new AWR2944P mmWave radar sensor addresses expanding ADAS needs by providing improved front and corner radar capabilities.
Real-time decision-making with 30% longer distance measurements
Lidar, a critical technology for the future of safe autonomous vehicles, creates a precise 3D map of the driver’s surroundings. This allows vehicles to identify and react correctly to barriers, traffic, and road conditions in real time, improving decision-making capabilities.
TI’s new LMH13000 is the industry’s first integrated high-speed laser driver with an ultra-fast rise time of 800ps, allowing for up to 30% longer distance measurements than discrete systems.
The device does not require huge capacitors or additional external circuitry since it includes integrated low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS), complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS), and transistor-transistor-logic (TTL) control signals.
This integration also results in an average 30% decrease in system costs while lowering solution size by four times, allowing design engineers to discretely mount compact, economical lidar modules in more areas and across more vehicle models.
As lidar technology advances to higher output currents, large fluctuations in pulse duration over temperature make it difficult to meet eye safety regulations. TI’s LMH13000 laser driver provides up to 5A of configurable output current with only 2% variance across its -40C to 125C ambient temperature range, as opposed to discrete alternatives, which can vary by up to 30%. The device’s short pulse-width generation and current control allow it to meet Class 1 U.S. Food and Drug Administration eye safety requirements.
The company also revealed the AWR2944P, a new front and corner radar sensor based on TI’s widely used AWR2944 platform. The new radar sensor’s capabilities increase vehicle safety by extending detection range, increasing angular precision, and allowing for more complex processing algorithms.
Key Improvements Include:
- An improved signal-to-noise ratio.
- Increased computational capabilities.
- A larger memory capacity.
- An integrated radar hardware accelerator that allows the microcontroller and digital signal processor to execute machine learning for edge artificial intelligence applications.
TI’s new automotive lidar, clock and radar solutions build on the company’s commitment to helping engineers design adaptable ADAS for a safer, more automated driving experience. To learn more, see TI.com/adas.
Leadership Comments
“Our latest automotive analog and embedded processing products help automakers both meet current safety standards and accelerate toward a collision-free future,” said Andreas Schaefer, TI general manager, ADAS and Infotainment. “Semiconductor innovation delivers the reliability, precision, integration and affordability automakers need to increase vehicle autonomy across their entire fleet.”
For more information, ti.com/LMH13000, ti.com/CDC6C-Q1, ti.com/LMK3H0102-Q1, ti.com/LMK3C0105-Q1 and ti.com/AWR2944P.
Package, Availability and Pricing
Preproduction quantities of the LMH13000, CDC6C-Q1, LMK3H0102-Q1, LMK3C0105-Q1 and AWR2944P are available for purchase now on TI.com. Other output current options and an automotive-qualified version of the LMH13000 are expected to be available in 2026. Supporting resources for the news devices include:
- Multiple payment and shipping options.
- Evaluation modules.
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