SiLC Technologies and Indie Semiconductor have joined forces to advance coherent detection-based lidar platforms, ushering in a new era of cutting-edge sensing applications encompassing driver assistance, self-driving mobility, robotics, and industrial automation.
The collaborative effort will blend Indie’s Surya System-on-Chip (SoC) with SiLC’s Eyeonic Vision Sensor, culminating in fully integrated vision system platforms that leverage frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) detection technology.
In contrast to conventional direct detection-based time of flight (TOF) methodologies, FMCW-driven lidar brings a host of advantages including remarkable long-range precision, robustness against interference, instantaneous per-point velocity insights, and accurate motion measurement.
Both companies’ resultant products will coalesce into reference platforms, promising a “significant enhancement” in sensing performance, ease of manufacturing, power efficiency, form factor, and cost-effectiveness vis-à-vis competing systems.
Chet Babla, Senior Vice President of Strategic Marketing at Indie Semiconductor, commented, “Indie eagerly joins forces with SiLC to integrate the processing innovation inherent in Surya into FMCW lidar, thereby introducing a groundbreaking reference design. By synergizing the capabilities of Surya—characterized by software-defined high-performance, yet power-efficient analog and digital processing—with SiLC’s Eyeonic vision solution, system integrators and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) gain access to 4D FMCW imaging, poised for widespread adoption across various applications.”
Ralf Muenster, Vice President of Business Development and Marketing at SiLC, expressed enthusiasm, stating, “Our collaboration with Indie holds immense promise in delivering leading FMCW-based lidar platforms to the market. Our state-of-the-art FMCW lidar sensor boasts unrivaled integration, resolution, precision, and exceptional range compared to any competing approach. Furthermore, it remains the sole commercially accessible solution that provides polarization information.”
By synergizing their technological prowess, SiLC Technologies and Indie Semiconductor aim to revolutionize the realm of lidar-based sensing, forging ahead with innovation that has the potential to redefine multiple industries.
