Ranging method and apparatus for ultra wide bandwidth communication systems

摘要

A method and an apparatus are disclosed for detecting, e.g. for ranging purposes, a first-arrival-path signal transmitted in a multipath, interfering environment such as in an Impulse Radio Multiple Access communication system. Each received signal sample in an observation period is taken as a candidate initial sample of said direct path signal. For each candidate sample, the observation period is divided into a corresponding pair of complementary windows, the first of which comprises the samples preceding the candidate and the other one comprising the remaining samples in the period. The signal energy is evaluated in both windows of each pair; and the initial sample of the first-arrival-path signal is detected the sample giving rise to windows whose energies maximise a likelihood ratio test, based on the energy ratio of the two windows in each pair.