Ultra-wideband communications - An idea whose time has come

Liuqing Yang, G.B. Giannakis
2004 IEEE Signal Processing Magazine  
ltra-wideband (UWB) radio is a fast emerging technology with uniquely attractive features inviting major advances in wireless communications, networking, radar, imaging, and positioning systems. By its rulemaking proposal in 2002, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States essentially unleashed huge "new bandwidth" (3.6-10.1 GHz) at the noise floor, where UWB radios overlaying coexistent RF systems can operate using low-power ultra-short information bearing pulses. With
more » ... ilar regulatory processes currently under way in many countries worldwide, industry, government agencies, and academic institutions responded to this FCC ruling with rapidly growing research efforts targeting a host of exciting UWB applications: short-range very high-speed broadband access to the Internet, covert communication links, localization at centimeter-level accuracy, high-resolution ground-penetrating radar, through-wall imaging, precision navigation and asset tracking, just to name a few. This tutorial focuses on UWB wireless communications at the physical layer. It overviews the state-of-the-art in channel modeling, transmitters, and receivers of UWB radios, and outlines research directions and challenges to be overcome. As signal processing expertise is expected to have major impact in research and development of UWB systems, emphasis is placed on DSP aspects.
doi:10.1109/msp.2004.1359140 fatcat:wpf7n3shlbb27kyld2xxtkvzuu