EURASIP Journal on Applied Signal Processing 
Volume 2006 (2006), Article ID 32082, 13 pages
doi:10.1155/ASP/2006/32082

Time of Arrival Estimation for UWB Localizers in Realistic Environments

Chiara Falsi,1 Davide Dardari,2 Lorenzo Mucchi,3 and Moe Z. Win4

 1Dipartimento di Elettronica e Telecomunicazioni, Universitàdegli studi di Firenze, Via Santa Marta 3, Firenze 50139, Italy
2The WiLAB, IEIIT/CNR, CNIT, Università di Bologna, Via Venezia 52, 47023 Cesena, Italy
3Dipartimento di Elettronica e Telecomunicazioni, CNIT, Università degli studi di Firenze, Via Santa Marta 3, Firenze 50139, Italy
4Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Room 32-D658, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge 02139, MA, USA
Received 14 June 2005; Revised 12 December 2005; Accepted 30 April 2006

Abstract

This paper investigates time of arrival (ToA) estimation methods for ultra-wide bandwidth (UWB) propagation signals. Different algorithms are implemented in order to detect the direct path in a dense multipath environment. Different suboptimal, low-complex techniques based on peak detection are used to deal with partial overlap of signal paths. A comparison in terms of ranging accuracy, complexity, and parameters sensitivity to propagation conditions is carried out also considering a conventional technique based on threshold detection. In particular, the algorithms are tested on experimental data collected from a measurement campaign performed in a typical office building.