Indirect Localization and Imaging of Objects in an UWB Sensor Network

A method for the localization and the rough 2-D microwave imaging of objects is described. It detects and utilizes line-of-sight (LOS) paths between a mobile node and several fixed nodes of a distributed ultrawideband (UWB) sensor network. Objects are imaged in an indirect way, i.e., by a combination of maps, which show the distribution of LOS paths of individual network nodes. The method is demonstrated by means of ray-tracing simulations and measurements in a realistic environment. Performance limitation by diffraction and the question of temporal network node synchronization are discussed.