Interference Suppression in Non-coherent Time-Hopping IR-UWB Ranging

Ranging requires detection of the first arriving signal component. The accuracy of time-of-arrival-based range estimation is greatly degraded in the presence of multi-user interference (MUI). We develop a method that applies a nonlinear filter on received signal energy to suppress multiuser interference. Then, leading signal path is tracked via an iterative searchback algorithm. The method is tested on time-hopping impulse radio ultrawideband systems. Simulations conducted over IEEE 802.15.4a residential line of sight ultrawideband multipath channels indicate that range detection accuracy is significantly improved by the proposed non-linear filtering approach