Multi Detector Fusion of Dynamic TOA Estimation using Kalman Filter

In this paper, we propose fusion of dynamic TOA (time of arrival) from multiple non-coherent detectors like energy detectors operating at sub-Nyquist rate through Kalman filtering. We also show that by using multiple of these energy detectors, we can achieve the performance of a digital matched filter implementation in the AWGN (additive white Gaussian noise) setting. We derive analytical expression for number of energy detectors needed to achieve the matched filter performance. We demonstrate in simulation the validity of our analytical approach. Results indicate that number of energy detectors needed will be high at low SNRs and converge to a constant number as the SNR increases. We also study the performance of the strategy proposed using IEEE 802.15.4a CM1 channel model and show in simulation that two sub-Nyquist detectors are sufficient to match the performance of digital matched filter

WUB-IP : a high-precision UWB positioning scheme for indoor multi-user applications

High-precision positioning scheme, an important part of the indoor navigation system, can be implemented using an ultra-wide band (UWB) based ranging system. Recently, solutions for precise positioning in dense multi-path and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) conditions have attracted a lot of attention in literature. On the other hand, it is expected that Waveform Division Multiple Access (WDMA) technology for multi-user UWB positioning application will be indispensable in the near future. In this regard, a WDMA-UWB based positioning scheme is investigated in this paper, for enhancing the performance of positioning accuracy in multi-user applications. In accordance with practical requirements of indoor positioning, we propose a new indoor positioning scheme, termed as WUB-IP. This scheme adopts WDMA for multiple access, and utilizes an entropy-based approach for the Time of Arrival (TOA) estimation. Moreover, a transfer learning approach is used for ranging error mitigation in NLOS conditions, in order to improve the positioning accuracy in NLOS conditions. System-level simulations demonstrate that the proposed scheme enhances the performance of indoor positioning for multi-user applications

Double sliding window variance detection-based time-of-arrival estimation in ultra-wideband ranging systems

Ultra-wideband (UWB) ranging via time-of-arrival (TOA) estimation method has gained a lot of research interests because it can take full advantage of UWB capabilities. Energy detection (ED) based TOA estimation technique is widely used in the area due to its low cost, low complexity and ease of implementation. However, many factors affect the ranging performance of the ED-based methods, especially, non-line-of-sight (NLOS) condition and the integration interval. In this context, a new TOA estimation method is developed in this paper. Firstly, the received signal is denoised using a five-level wavelet decomposition, next, a double sliding window algorithm is applied to detect the change in the variance information of the received signal, the first path (FP) TOA is then calculated according to the first variance sharp increase. The simulation results using the CM1 and CM2 IEEE 802.15.4a channel models, prove that our proposed approach works effectively compared with the conventional ED-based methods

Ultra Wideband Indoor Navigation System

Typical indoor environments contain multiple walls and obstacles consisting of different materials. As a result, current narrowband radio frequency (RF) indoor navigation systems cannot satisfy the challenging demands for most indoor applications. The RF ultra wideband (UWB) system is a promising technology for indoor localisation owing to its high bandwidth that permits mitigation of the multipath identification problem. This work proposes a novel UWB navigation system that permits accurate mobile robot (MR) navigation in indoor environments. The navigation system is composed of two sub-systems: the localisation system and the MR control system. The main contributions of this work are focused on estimation algorithm for localisation, digital implementation of transmitter and receiver and integration of both sub-systems that enable autonomous robot navigation. For sub-systems performance evaluation, statics and dynamics experiments were carried out which demonstrated that the proposed system reached an accuracy that outperforms traditional sensors technologies used in robot navigation, such as odometer and sonar.Fil: Segura M.. Universidad Nacional de San Juan; ArgentinaFil: Mut, Vicente Antonio. Universidad Nacional de San Juan; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sisterna C.. Universidad Nacional de San Juan; Argentin

TOA Estimation of Chirp Signal in Dense Multipath Environment for Low-Cost Acoustic Ranging

In this paper, a novel time of arrival (TOA) estimation method is proposed based on an iterative cleaning process to extract the first path signal. The purpose is to address the challenge in dense multipath indoor environments that the power of the first path component is normally smaller than other multipath components, where the traditional match filtering (MF)-based TOA estimator causes huge errors. Along with parameter estimation, the proposed process is trying to detect and extract the first path component by eliminating the strongest multipath component using a band-elimination filter in fractional Fourier domain at each iterative procedure. To further improve the stability, a slack threshold and a strict threshold are introduced. Six simple and easily calculated termination criteria are proposed to monitor the iterative process. When the iterative 'cleaning' process is done, the outputs include the enhanced first path component and its estimated parameters. Based on these outputs, an optimal reference signal for the MF estimator can be constructed, and a more accurate TOA estimation can be conveniently obtained. The results from numerical simulations and experimental investigations verified that, for acoustic chirp signal TOA estimation, the accuracy of the proposed method is superior to those obtained by the conventional MF estimators

The Future of the Operating Room: Surgical Preplanning and Navigation using High Accuracy Ultra-Wideband Positioning and Advanced Bone Measurement

This dissertation embodies the diversity and creativity of my research, of which much has been peer-reviewed, published in archival quality journals, and presented nationally and internationally. Portions of the work described herein have been published in the fields of image processing, forensic anthropology, physical anthropology, biomedical engineering, clinical orthopedics, and microwave engineering. The problem studied is primarily that of developing the tools and technologies for a next-generation surgical navigation system. The discussion focuses on the underlying technologies of a novel microwave positioning subsystem and a bone analysis subsystem. The methodologies behind each of these technologies are presented in the context of the overall system with the salient results helping to elucidate the difficult facets of the problem. The microwave positioning system is currently the highest accuracy wireless ultra-wideband positioning system that can be found in the literature. The challenges in producing a system with these capabilities are many, and the research and development in solving these problems should further the art of high accuracy pulse-based positioning

Investigation of variety of non-coherent front end detectors for timing estimation

La localización en interiores de usuarios móviles es actualmente un tema central para muchas aplicaciones y campos, incluidas las redes de sensores, gestión de activos, asistencia sanitaria y localización de personal de seguridad pública. Las soluciones existentes se basan a menudo en la fusión de la información de múltiples sensores. La posibilidad de utilizar un sistema de banda ultra ancha (UWB) para la medición inalámbrica de distancias basada en el tiempo de ida y vuelta (RTT) se ha investigado en este proyecto final de carrera. Los receptores UWB no coherentes se han analizado utilizando dos enfoques diferentes: la detección de la amplitud y la detección de la energía. Para el análisis, se desarrolla un estudio teórico y también se han realizado diversas simulaciones. Además, ambos receptores UWB no coherentes han sido diseñados e implementados. Por otra parte, un método ha sido propuesto para permitir la reconstrucción de un pulso UWB a partir del submuestreo de una ráfaga de pulsos UWB y tratar de aproximar el rendimiento óptimo del receptor UWB ideal. Las simulaciones producen resultados interesantes en cuanto al rendimiento de la estimación de RTT. Ambas técnicas de detección se comparan, describiendo las ventajas y desventajas de cada uno

Impulse radio ultra wideband over fiber techniques for broadband in-building network applications

In recent years, the demand for high bandwidth and mobility from the end users has been continuously growing. To satisfy this demand, broadband communication technologies that combined the benefit of both wired and wireless are considered as vital solutions. These hybrid optical wireless solutions enable multi-Gbit/s transmission as well as adequate flexibility in terms of mobility. Optical fiber is the ideal medium for such hybrid solution due its signal transparency and wide bandwidth. On the other hand, ultra wideband(UWB) radio over optical fiber technology is considered to be one of the key promising technologies for broadband communication and sensor network applications. The growing interest for UWB is mainly due to its numerous attractive features, such as low power spectral density, tolerance to multipath fading, low probability of interception, coexistence with other wireless services and capability of providing cost-effective > 1 Gb/s transmission. The main idea of UWB over fiber is to deliver UWB radio signals over optical channels, where the optical part serves as a backbone communication infrastructure to carry the UWB signal with a bandwidth of several GHz. This enables multiple novel applications such as: range extension of high speed wireless personal area networks (WPANs), low cost distributed antenna systems, secure and intelligent networks, or delivering broadband services to remote areas. In particular, this thesis deals with novel concepts on shaping and generation of IR-UWB pulses, theoretical and experimental demonstrations over different fiber types, routing of integrated wired/wireless IR-UWB services and effect of fiber types on ranging/localization of IR-UWB-over-fiber systems. Accordingly, this thesis investigates techniques for delivery of high data rate wireless services using impulse radio ultra wideband (IR-UWB) over fiber technology for both access and in-building network applications. To effectively utilize the emission mask imposed for UWB technologies by the Federal Communications Commission(FCC), novel pulse shaping techniques have been investigated and experimentally demonstrated. Comparison of the proposed pulses with conventional ones in terms of the compliance to the FCC-mask requirements, spectral power efficiencies and wireless coverage has been theoretically studied. Simple and efficient optical generation of the new pulse has been experimentally demonstrated. Furthermore, performance evaluation of 2 Gb/s transmission of IR-UWB over different types of fiber such as 25 km silica single-mode, 4.4 km silica multi-mode and 100 m plastic heavily-multi-mode fiber have been performed. To improve the functionalities of in-building networks for the delivery of wireless services; techniques that provide flexibility in terms of dynamic capacity allocation have been investigated. By employing wavelength conversion based on cross-gain modulation in optical semiconductor amplifiers(SOA), routing of three optical channels of IR-UWB over fiber system has been experimentally realized. To reduce the cost of the overall system and share the optical infrastructure, an integrated testbed for wired baseband data and wireless IR-UWB over 1 km SMF-28 fiber has been developed. Accordingly, 1.25 Gb/s wired baseband and 2 Gb/s wireless IR-UWB data have been successfully transmitted over the testbed. Furthermore, to improve the network flexibility, routing of both wired baseband and wireless signals has been demonstrated. Additionally, the ranging and localization capability of IR-UWB over fiber for in-door wireless picocells have been investigated. The effect of different fiber types (4 km SMF, 4.4 km GI-MMF and 100 m PF GI-POF) on the accuracy of the range estimation using time-of-arrival (ToA) ranging technique has been studied. A high accuracy in terms of cm level was achieved due to the combined effect of high bandwidth IR-UWB pulses, short reach fiber and low chromatic dispersion at 1300nm wavelength. Furthermore, ranging/ localization using IR-UWB over fiber system provides additional benefit of centralizing complex processing algorithms, simplifying radio access points, relaxing synchronization requirement, enabling energy-efficient and efficient traffic management networks. All the concepts, design and system experiments presented in this thesis underline the strong potential of IR-UWB for over optical fiber(silica and plastic) techniques for future smart, capacity and energy-efficient broadband in-building network applications