UWB location and tracking for wireless embedded networks

In this paper, we investigate the performance of different position estimation methods which make use of time-of-arrival (TOA) of ultra wideband (UWB) signals for low cost/low complexity UWB systems. We first propose a simple and robust two-stage, non-coherent TOA estimation approach. We then explore positioning algorithms utilizing both non-iterative and iterative techniques. A review of positioning in distributed networks is also performed and a positioning algorithm is proposed for node location in multi-hop distributed networks. Furthermore, we consider smoothing techniques to improve accuracy when tracking moving objects and we propose the use of sinc functions to smooth the estimate of the mobile position in order to achieve both good accuracy and low complexity. The system modelled and investigated corresponds to an actual test environment in a ski field where skiers are tracked. r 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.