Radar technology is starting to be developed for use in motor vehicles, mainly in the interests of road safety:
Automatic Cruise Control 'long-range radar' operating at 77 GHz. This enables a vehicle to maintain a cruising distance from a vehicle in front.
Anti-collision 'short-range radar' operating at 24 GHz and 79 GHz. This is being developed as part of a system to warn the driver of a pending collision, enabling avoiding action to be taken. In the event where collision is inevitable, the vehicle may prepare itself (for example by applying brakes, pre-tensioning seat belts) to minimize injury to passengers and others.
ETSI develops standards for both Automatic Cruise Control radar and anti-collision radar.
Anti-collision radar
The anti-collision radar technology is intended to be marketed in two stages in Europe:
Temporary frequency band
A 'temporary' frequency band has been opened at 24 GHz, allowing equipment to be marketed in the short term. However, this band is also used by other radio services that would suffer interference if too many radar devices were operated simultaneously in the same area. For this reason, this band will be closed for the introduction of new devices before the usage becomes too dense.
In addition, the radar is required to be switched off within a certain distance of radio astronomy stations, to avoid interference. Currently this is achieved by manual intervention by the driver. An automatic de-activation mechanism will be required after a transition date.
European Commission Decision 2005/50/EC requires this band to be made available in all EU member states, and sets the requirements for the transition to the permanent band and for the introduction of automatic de-activation around radio astronomy sites.
Permanent frequency band
A 'permanent' band has been allocated at 79 GHz, allowing for long-term development of this radar service. European Commission Decision 2004/545/EC requires this band to be made available in all EU member states.