indie Semiconductor, an autotech solutions innovator, and SiLC Technologies, Inc, a leader in silicon photonics innovation, have entered into a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) partnership. Specifically, this collaboration enables coherent detection-based LiDAR platforms for next-generation sensing applications. Among them include driver assistance, autonomous mobility, robotics, and industrial automation. Also, this partnership will deliver fully integrated vision system platforms deploying frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) detection. Consequently, it will redefine benchmarks for rapidly emerging LiDAR applications.

FMCW-based LiDAR delivers multiple real-world benefits compared to direct detection-based Time of Flight (TOF) solutions. These include long-range with high precision, interference immunity, per-point instantaneous velocity and motion measurement. 

This ground-breaking partnership combines award-winning products from indie and SiLC into reference platforms. Such enable magnitude improvement in sensing performance, manufacturability, power consumption, form factor and cost relative to competing systems.   

“indie is excited to partner with SiLC to bring the processing innovation from Surya to FMCW LiDAR, offering a breakthrough reference design,” said Chet Babla, senior vice president, strategic marketing at indie Semiconductor.  “By combining the software-defined high-performance – but low power – analog and digital processing and system control capabilities of Surya™, coupled with SiLC’s Eyeonic™ vision solution, system integrators, and OEMs are enabled with 4D FMCW imaging for mass market deployment into multiple applications.”

Ralf Muenster, vice president, business development and marketing at SiLC added, “We are excited to partner with indie to bring industry-leading FMCW-based LiDAR platforms to market. Our state-of-the-art FMCW LiDAR sensor features the highest integration, resolution, precision, and longest range of any other competing approach. All these while remaining the only commercially available solution to offer polarization information.”

Driven by strong market demand, reference platforms featuring Surya™ and Eyeonic™ have already been deployed. They are being evaluated by select lead automotive, tier one and industrial OEMs. Both indie and SiLC are actively developing new reference platforms to showcase the scalability and flexibility of their combined technologies.

More information on indie’s Surya™ SoC and SiLC’s Eyeonic™ Vision Sensor are available at: https://www.indiesemi.com/solutions and https://www.silc.com/product/.