Recent Advances and Applications of M-Sequence based Ultra-Wideband Sensors

Ultra-wideband (UWB) sensing is an upcoming technique to gather data from complex scenarios such as nature, industrial facilities, public or private environments, for medical applications, non-destructive testing and many more. Currently it is hard to estimate the full spread of future applications. The measurement approach traditionally used is based on stimulation of the test objects by either short sub-nanosecond impulses or sine waves which are stepped/swept over a wide spectral band. This paper deals with an alternative approach, which uses very wideband pseudo-noise binary signals such as M-Sequences for example. Such devices have a very high time stability, enable high measurement speed and do not burden the test objects with high voltage peaks. Furthermore, the device concept promotes monolithic circuit integration in a low cost semi-conductor technology. In what follows, the basic device concept and some extensions will be considered as well as some selected applications will be discussed.