Texas Instruments has unveiled a suite of new automotive-grade chips designed to help automakers accelerate the deployment of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous features across a broader range of vehicles. The latest additions to TI’s automotive portfolio include innovations in lidar, clock, and radar technologies aimed at improving both safety and system performance.
TI’s new LMH13000, the industry’s first integrated high-speed lidar laser driver, delivers ultra-fast rise times to support faster, more accurate object detection. Also debuting are the CDC6C-Q1 oscillator and LMK3H0102-Q1 and LMK3C0105-Q1 clock generators—the first automotive-grade clocking solutions based on bulk acoustic wave (BAW) technology. To further support the evolving needs of ADAS, TI has introduced the AWR2944P mmWave radar sensor, offering enhanced front and corner radar capabilities.
“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.”
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Breakthrough Lidar Performance for Safer Autonomous Driving
Lidar technology plays a critical role in enabling autonomous driving by delivering a high-resolution 3D view of the vehicle’s environment. TI’s LMH13000 is the first integrated high-speed laser driver to achieve an 800-picosecond rise time, allowing vehicles to make real-time driving decisions with up to 30% longer distance measurements than conventional discrete solutions.
This highly integrated solution supports LVDS, CMOS, and TTL control signals, eliminating the need for bulky external components and enabling a fourfold reduction in system size. Additionally, this integration helps reduce total system costs by approximately 30%, empowering engineers to design compact and cost-effective lidar modules for wider deployment across vehicle platforms.
Enhancing Eye Safety and System Reliability
As lidar systems demand higher output currents, maintaining consistent pulse durations across varying temperatures becomes increasingly difficult—posing a challenge for eye safety compliance. TI’s LMH13000 addresses this by delivering up to 5A of adjustable output current with just 2% variation across an ambient temperature range of -40°C to 125°C, compared to up to 30% variation in traditional discrete designs.
Its precise current control and short pulse-width generation capabilities help automotive systems comply with Class 1 U.S. FDA eye safety standards, making it a reliable option for integration into next-generation vehicles.