NXP signs investment and strategic collaboration agreement with Hawkeye, experts in 77GHz radar – a key technology for safe, autonomous drivingSHANGHAI, China, April 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI), a market and technology leader in 77GHz radar solutions, has announced a new strategic collaboration and investment agreement with Hawkeye Technology Co., Ltd, a company at the forefront of the Chinese automotive radar sector. Hawkeye will offer its deep 77GHz expertise, a team of highly qualified engineers and a state-of-the-art lab complex within Southeast University in Nanjing, China. Together, the two companies will form a reference design collaboration that leverages the top engineering talent at Southeast University and NXP’s longstanding radar expertise, to create NXP-based reference designs for the Chinese automotive market.
China’s automotive radar sensor market is growing at nearly 2 times the world market rate.1 Current automotive market analysis projects that by 2020, radar technology will be in 50% of all newly produced cars.2 These robust appraisals are driven in part by the China New Car Assessment Program (C-NCAP), which mandates the further implementation and innovation of radar in safety-related applications such as blind spot detection, automatic emergency braking, front and rear cross traffic detection and precise environmental mapping.
NXP is a pioneer and market leader in RFCMOS-based 77GHz automotive radar sensors, a key technology in the next phase of the advanced driving assistance roadmap. This leading-edge technology will continue to develop to address the detection and classification of vulnerable road users, full and surround view applications and the ultimate solution; imaging radar, which could in time replace more expensive and bulky technologies. NXP is building on the success of its radar sensor and S32 processing portfolio and its large scale commercial implementations by partnering with top engineering talent in China.
“The collaboration with Hawkeye is evidence of NXP’s confidence in the Chinese market and our determination to continuously invest in the country,” said Kurt Sievers, President of NXP Semiconductors, “Innovators in automotive, like Hawkeye and Southeast University, have become the driving force for the transformation of China’s automotive industry. We are pleased to collaborate with these excellent partners, leveraging NXP’s leadership in the fast-growing radar semiconductor market to improve road safety.”
The cooperation will address important research areas in automotive radar to help China’s domestic Tier 1 suppliers meet the challenges of this complex, fast-growing technology through complete radar system solutions and reference designs. The partnership aims to help shape the future of radar implementation in China.
“Southeast University and Hawkeye have established a joint research center focusing on vehicle millimeter-wave radar technologies,“ said Professor Hong Wei, IEEE fellow, director of the State Key Laboratory of Millimeter Waves of Southeast University. “At the same time, we have launched long-term research on millimeter wave multi-system radar imaging, new millimeter wave antenna arrays, and new millimeter wave circuit structures. Our latest research results will continue to be introduced in Hawkeye’s future designs and radar products.”
The collaborative environment will help the Chinese automotive market innovate with system-level solutions and radar reference designs.
Mr. Alex Shi, CEO of Hawkeye Technology, said: “The fast development of ADAS and autonomous driving technologies has raised new requirements for vehicle-based millimeter radar. Through our long-term cooperation with State Key Laboratory of Millimeter Waves, Hawkeye has accumulated outstanding engineering talent and rich product experience in terms of manufacturability and reliability of auto electronic products. By partnering with NXP, Hawkeye will focus on providing advanced millimeter wave radar system level solutions as well as comprehensive technical support for Tier 1 customers.”
Financial details of the agreement are not disclosed.
Notes
1 Based on Strategy Analytics Sensor Market Growth 2019
2 Based on NXP radar microprocessor shipments and IHS 2017 ADAS Semiconductor Market Tracker
About NXP Semiconductors
NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) enables secure connections and infrastructure for a smarter world, advancing solutions that make lives easier, better, and safer. As the world leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, NXP is driving innovation in the secure connected vehicle, end-to-end security & privacy, and smart connected solutions markets. Built on more than 60 years of combined experience and expertise, the company has approximately 30,000 employees in more than 30 countries and posted revenue of $9.41 billion in 2018. Find out more at www.nxp.com.
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