Equip the radar for the phone

Radar can appear in a variety of devices including mobile phones thanks to the invention of small chips with fingernails for just over a dollar.

Future phones are also equipped with radar. (Emma Woollacott)

Researchers have discovered that the chip has many important applications in the auto industry, as well as mobile devices, robots, and other applications.

Professor Christoph Scheytt, who represents the IHP microelectronics company in Frankfurt, Germany, runs the project, saying it is the world's smallest radar system. At 8x8mm, this chip operates at 120GHz - equivalent to a wavelength of about 2.5mm. It uses the runtime of the wavelength to calculate the distance of an object within 3 meters with an accuracy less than 1mm. It can also detect moving objects and calculate their velocities using Doppler effects.

The project partners estimate that on industrial scale, each miniaturized radar costs about one euro. With the size and cost, it can be used in mobile phones. Some companies like Bosch, Silicon Radar of Germany, Selmic of Finland and Hightec of Switzerland are considering developing this technology.