Acconeer A121 Pulsed Coherent Radar (PCR)

Acconeer A121 Pulsed Coherent Radar (PCR) is a radar system based on patented PCR technology with picosecond time resolution and comes fully integrated in a small package of 29mm². The 60GHz radar system is optimized for ultra-low power consumption and high-precision performance. This one-package solution features an integrated baseband, RF front-end, and antenna for easy integration into portable battery-driven devices. The A121 sensor measures up to 20m, with the actual measurable distance dependent on object shape, size, and dielectric properties. The radar is not affected by natural interference, such as dust, noise, color, and direct or indirect light. Applications for the Acconeer A121 PCR include distance and velocity measurements, object tracking, gesture control, monitoring, and proximity, motion, and material detection.

Features

Improved jitter performance over A111
Increased buffer memory (4x) to allow longer sweeps
Power consumption improvements
- Sleep power consumption reduced
  - Active/sleep ratio improved, ability to stay longer in sleep
  - Power consumption reduced
- Hibernate power consumption reduced
  - Possibility to switch off major part of the digital power domain with config memory retained.
- Current leakage (at ENABLE low) reduced from typical 66µA to <1µA
IO improvements
- Possible to run sensor IO interface on 1.8V to 3.3V
- Changed GPIO default state to input PD instead of input Hi-Z
Built-in temperature sensor
Radar service improvement
- Sparse service provides phase information (Sparse IQ data)
- Sparse service distance steps possible to configure between 2.5mm and 60mm
- Sparse service with small distance steps can be used as a replacement for IQ to allow high sweep rates with long ranges (note: with IQ can do 30cm/s, and with Sparse IQ data can do m/s)
A121 pins are compatible with A111

Accurate distance ranging and movements
- Measures absolute range up to 20m
  - Absolute accuracy in mm
  - Relative accuracy in µm
- Possible to recognize movement and gestures for several objects
- Support continuous and single sweep mode
- HPBW typical of 65° (H-plane) and 53° (E-plane)
Easy integration
- 60GHz PCR
- Integrated baseband, RF front-end, and antenna in package
- 5.5mm x 5.2mm x 0.88mm fcCSP, 0.5mm pitch
- Can be integrated behind plastic or glass without needing a physical aperture
- Single reflowable component
- 1.8V single power supply, enable with power on reset (PoR)
- 1.8V or 3.3V IO interface power supply
- Clock input for crystal 24MHz
- SPI interface for data transfer, up to 50MHz SPI clock support
- INTERRUPT support
Power consumption update rates
- 0.1Hz : 0.2mW
- 10Hz: 1mW
- 100Hz: 20mW

Applications

High-precision distance measurements with mm accuracy and high update rate
Proximity detection with high accuracy and the possibility to define multiple proximity zones
Motion detection and velocity measurement