Sector News

NXP unveils Gen-3 radar transceiver for autonomous driving systems

Thu, Mar 19, 2026

NXP Semiconductors has announced its third-generation RFCMOS automotive radar transceiver TEF8388, a highly integrated 8-transmit/8-receive (8T8R) device designed to unlock the full potential of imaging radar for L2+ to L4 ADAS and automated driving systems. In the era of software‑defined vehicles, advanced perception systems have become key enablers, with high‑resolution radar sensing as a foundational technology. Radar sensors must deliver higher resolution, enhanced dynamic range and longer detection range while remaining feasible for large volume production.

This new transceiver is a key building block in NXP’s comprehensive, scalable portfolio of radar sensing solutions, addressing the industry’s growing need for robust perception in increasingly complex driving environments. When combined with NXP’s radar processing solutions, such as the S32R4 radar processor series, it forms a scalable imaging radar solution designed to meet the diverse performance, cost and regulatory requirements of global markets.

As the automotive industry pushes for more advanced radar performance, the challenge is no longer purely technical – it is a system level challenge. Higher channel counts historically increased power consumption, cost and integration effort while slowing down adoption. NXP’s latest radar transceiver TEF8388 breaks this trade-off by combining excellent RF performance with strong power efficiency and system cost optimisation, making high-performance imaging radar a practical and sustainable choice for next generation ADAS programs.

The new radar transceiver integrates eight transmit and eight receive channels on a single monolithic RFCMOS die, delivering RF performance while maintaining power consumption comparable to today’s much less integrated 3-transmit/4-receive devices. Its engineered architecture, optimised pin assignment and strategic launcher placement help improve channel isolation and signal quality, while simultaneously reducing overall system bill of materials. These design choices allow OEMs and tier 1 suppliers to build higher resolution radar sensors while cutting the amount of costly power and thermal management components needed.

www.nxp.com

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NXP delivers new innovations for advanced physical AI with NVIDIA

Wed, Mar 18, 2026

NXP has announced robotics solutions for real-time data processing, data transport, and networking designed to support sensor fusion, machine vision, and motor control. The solutions were developed in collaboration with NVIDIA and implement NVIDIA Holoscan Sensor Bridge with NXP system-on-chip devices, reducing the number of discrete components and lowering footprint, power consumption, and system cost while simplifying software for robotic sensing and actuation, including humanoid robot designs.

Humanoid and other advanced robotic systems require low-latency data processing and communication to support synchronised motion, multiple sensors, and distributed actuation. These systems depend on reliable data transport between sensors, processors, and control units across the robot body.

NXP’s integrated robot body solutions combine edge processing with low-latency networking to support real-time communication. The solutions integrate NVIDIA Holoscan Sensor Bridge with NXP software support, enabling real-time processing and direct data transport between sensors, control nodes, and central processing units, reducing latency in robotic control systems.

The platform combines NXP edge processors, motor-control microcontrollers, networking devices, and high-speed data transport technology with NVIDIA AI processing infrastructure to form a system architecture intended for humanoid and other complex robotic platforms.

Initial Holoscan Sensor Bridge-ready solutions include a machine-vision platform based on the i.MX 95 applications processor for high-bandwidth sensor data, and a motor-control platform based on i.MX RT1180 crossover MCUs connected through an S32J TSN switch. The motor-control design supports industrial networking protocols including EtherCAT and TSN. The solutions are designed to reduce component count, power consumption, and system size while supporting safety, security, and real-time performance requirements in robotic systems.

www.nxp.com

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ST’s single-chip buck converter for domestic appliances and industrial loads

Tue, Mar 17, 2026

Capable of supplying 3A from a 3mm x 1.6mm footprint, STMicroelectronics’ DCP3603 monolithic buck converter simplifies design, saves PCB space, accelerates time to market, and enhances system reliability. With a 3.3V-to-36V input-voltage range, this miniature converter can power equipment such as smart meters, domestic appliances, and industrial 24V loads.

Leveraging synchronous rectification, and available with either 1MHz or 500kHz fixed switching frequency, the DCP3603 maintains high efficiency across the load range, reaching 93% at 600mA with 12Vin and 5Vout. With power switches and compensation built-in, only an inductor, bootstrap and filter capacitors, and feedback resistors are needed to complete the circuit, ensuring a minimal bill of materials.

Designers can choose from two variants, configured for forced-PWM operation for optimal performance in noise-sensitive applications, or pulse-skipping for minimal power consumption at light load. Both variants implement frequency dithering, to reduce noise power at the switching frequency, and have extremely low quiescent current of 85µA to minimise overall power consumption. An Enable pin allows the converter to be turned off to maximize power savings.

A dedicated evaluation board, STEVAL-3603BC1, is available to help quickly evaluate the DCP3603 in new designs. The board has a compact footprint and is quickly connected with screw terminals and headers, ready to power-up out of the box.

 www.st.com

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ST and Leopard accelerate robotics vision with NVIDIA multi-sensor module

Tue, Mar 17, 2026

ST and Leopard Imaging have introduced an all-in-one multimodal vision module for humanoid and other advanced robotics systems. Combining ST imaging, 3D scene-mapping, and motion sensing with the NVIDIA Holoscan Sensor Bridge technology, the module integrates natively with NVIDIA Jetson and NVIDIA Isaac open robot development platform, simplifying and accelerating vision system design within the size, weight, and power constraints of humanoid robots.

Powered by the NVIDIA Holoscan Sensor Bridge, the new module integrates seamlessly with NVIDIA Jetson over ethernet for real-time sensor data ingestion and NVIDIA Isaac open robot development platform, which offers open AI models, simulation frameworks and libraries for developers. The new module includes a build system and application programming interfaces (APIs), artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms curated for mobile robots, sample applications, domain randomisation, and a simulation environment containing sensor models.

ST continues to integrate its sensors, drivers, actuators, controllers, and development tools into the NVIDIA robotics ecosystem as a key NVIDIA robotics and edge AI partner, including high-fidelity models and proof-of-concept modules.

For vision-based sensing, the ST VB1940 automotive-grade RGB-IR 5.1-megapixel image sensor with combined rolling shutter and global shutter modes. ST has also released a mass market and industrial version V**943, part of the ST BrightSense product family, existing in monochrome or RGB-IR, in die or packaged sensor.
For motion sensing, the LSM6DSV16X 6-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU) embeds ST machine-learning core (MLC) for AI in the edge, sensor-fusion low-power (SFLP), and Qvar electrostatic sensing for user-interface detection.

For 3D depth sensing, the VL53L9CX dToF all-in-one LiDAR module, part of the ST FlightSense product family, provides 3D depth sensing with accurate ranging up to 9 meters. With its resolution of 54 x 42 zones (near 2,300 zones) combined with a wide 55°x42° FoV providing 1° angular resolution, short and long-distance measurements and small objects detection are achievable at up to 100 fps.

www.st.com

www.leopardimaging.com

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