Synchronization in UWB systems

A technology called UWB (Ultra Wideband) has gained recent attention. Using UWB, the scarce spectrum resource could be shared by several users. By spreading the signal over a wide frequency range, the average power per Hertz will be very low. The signal is very noise-like and is claimed to be able to co-exist with existing systems and services. The FCC and ETSI are considering allowing UWB, in already allocated bands, under its current regulation. Some parties have raised objections that the aggregate effects of a large number of UWB devices may raise the noise floor considerably. There may be a risk of interference with existing systems. One version of UWB, previously also called Impulse Radio, has the potential of being implemented with CMOS technology. This could result in very inexpensive transceiver chips. Due to the extreme bandwidth used, exceptional properties have been claimed. UWB is also claimed to have good multipath resolution. These properties are very important for indoor geolocation. This thesis is focused on one of the most interesting subjects of research for UWB technology: the synchronization. A synchronization algorithm is proposed, claimed able to solve the presence of Inter Frame Interference (IFI). After that, an algorithm to detect the presence of the signal is proposed. Everything is done in a simple way to keep the receiver complexity very low. The work was developed in the group Circuits and Systems, faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, at TU-Delft, since 16 of August till 15 February , under the supervision of Prof. dr. ir. Alle Jan van der Veen and the collaboration of Yiyin Wang, PhD student in the same group.