[Editor's Note] Calterah, which has built its technological prowess by supplying radar technology to BYD's ADAS, is realizing a future where cars and smart homes are safer and smarter through CMOS-based mmWave and UWB single-chip radar technology. It is also widely disseminating this technology through global standards and ecosystem collaboration. In recognition of its UWB SoC technology, Calterah was selected as the winner in the electronic components and materials category at the Korea Electronics Show (KES) 2025 Innovation Awards. Accordingly, our magazine met with Kalterra CEO Lee Sang-min, who participated in KES 2025, to hear about Kalterra's technological capabilities and future plans.


■ Please introduce Calterah.

Founded in 2014, Calterah is a global leader in CMOS single-chip millimeter wave (mmWave) radar sensors, producing a range of products including radar system-on-chips (SoCs) for the 77/79 GHz and 60 GHz bands and ultra-wideband (UWB) system-on-chips (SoCs).

Our company's products are used not only in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving, but also in industrial and consumer markets such as smart homes, elderly care, and smart transportation.

■ I would like to know what technology philosophy Calterah is based on to lead the mmWave and UWB markets.

Our technology philosophy at Calterah is based on three core principles:

The goal is to integrate the entire radar front-end and processor into a single CMOS SoC, dramatically reducing size, power consumption, and cost. These principles extend to our Antenna-in-Package (AiP) and Radiator-on-Package (RoP™) technologies, simplifying customer designs and improving performance.

Our R&D focuses on solving practical challenges for mass production, aiming to overcome realistic challenges in manufacturability, cost efficiency, and reliability.

This ensures that our solutions have practical and achievable value in the market.

We also actively participate in global standardization organizations and work closely with partners.

For example, our UWB products are certified by the FiRa (Fine Ranging) Consortium, ensuring interoperability and contributing to a robust and collaborative ecosystem for widespread adoption of mmWave and UWB technologies.

■ Key technical features of the latest SoCs such as Dubhe UWB SoCs and Andes

Let's start with the Dubhe UWB SoC series, which won the Innovation Awards at this year's Korea Electronics Show.

Dubhe is the world's first UWB SoC compliant with the IEEE 802.15.4ab standard, and can detect up to 400m using MMS UWB technology.

It also supports advanced detection functions such as child detection (CPD) through 2T4R radar function, and is an ultra-low-power product manufactured with a 22nm CMOS process and has received global standard certifications including FiRa 3.0 and CCC Digital Key 3.0, making it ideal for digital keys, vehicle interior/exterior radar, smartphones, and IoT devices.

Andes (CAL77C844) is a 4T4R 77/79GHz mmWave radar RoP™ SoC product that features a multi-core CPU, DSP, and Calterra's own developed radar signal processing unit.It provides superior signal processing performance compared to existing solutions by integrating a signal processor (RSP).

It also supports multi-chip connection through Flex-Cascading technology to simultaneously implement long-distance and high-resolution functions, making it ideal for Level 3 or higher autonomous driving and advanced ADAS applications.

■ How Calterah's technology is being used in smart homes and automobiles

Calterra's technology brings new capabilities to both the automotive and smart home sectors.

In the automotive sector, Calterra's radar provides the following key capabilities:

ADAS supports everything from basic blind spot detection (BSD) to sophisticated 4D imaging radar for advanced features like Navigate on Pilot (NOP).

Interior sensing accurately detects the presence, posture, and even vital signs such as heart rate of passengers, improving both safety and convenience.

In smart homes and IoT, it provides functions such as presence detection, fall detection, and security.

Presence Detection Unlike traditional PIR (Passive IR) sensors, our radar detects subtle movements like breathing, enabling true presence-aware automation for lighting and temperature control.

For example, air conditioners are being used for purposes such as accurate location determination, space size measurement, posture recognition, and breathing and heartbeat detection, and are also being utilized for elderly care.

Fall detection and security provides reliable fall detection for senior care facilities and accurate intrusion notifications for home security systems.

■ I am curious about what global standards and ecosystem collaborations Calterah is promoting to expand its technology.rong>

We are deeply involved in the development and adoption of global standards. As a full member of the FiRa Consortium, we ensure that UWB chips meet the rigorous interoperability standards essential for the digital key market. In the automotive sector, we contribute to adhering to and defining functional safety (ISO 26262) and cybersecurity best practices.

We also work closely with leading global foundries and back-end semiconductor (OSAT) partners to ensure a resilient supply chain and advance packaging technologies such as antenna-in-package (AiP).

We collaborate with major Tier-1 suppliers and module manufacturers to provide comprehensive reference designs and technical support, accelerating product development and time-to-market.

■ Calterah's vision of a mmWave/UWB-based future

We envision a future where sensing is seamless, contextual, and intelligent.

mmWave radar and UWB will evolve beyond simple sensors into integrated perception platforms.

We anticipate these two technologies working together to build a coherent understanding of the environment: cars that understand their occupants' safety, homes that anticipate users' needs, and factories where robots and humans safely collaborate.

mmWave radar is a radar that can obtain high-resolution images using short-wavelength radio waves, making it an essential solution for ADAS and autonomous driving, including imaging radar, forward radar, corner radar, side radar, interior, tailgate, and automatic door collision avoidance.

Additionally, UWB is expected to find a place in advanced automotive features such as smart access, child detection, and kick sensing, as well as consumer applications such as digital keys and real-time location tracking systems.

■ Lastly, if you have any final words for the readers, please tell us.

At Calterra, we are committed to leading this transformation by providing core chips that enable more precise and intelligent perception and understanding of the surrounding environment.>
We hope that readers will visit our booth at the Korea Electronics Show (KES) for the first time and learn how mmWave radar and ultra-wideband SoCs can leverage cutting-edge technologies to address rapidly changing radar demands.

We also thank our customers and partners for their trust.

thank you