Performance improvement of UWB autocorrelation receivers by minimizing the energy capture time

Due to their robustness and simple system configurations the transmitted reference (TR) modulation scheme and autocorrelation receiver are preferred candidates for the implementation of cheap ultra wideband (UWB) impulse radio (IR) systems. Unfortunately, the results of simulations and field tests performed on built UWB IR TR systems have shown a relatively poor noise performance. This noise performance results in such a bad receiver sensitivity that prevents the application of TR modulation and autocorrelation receivers in real applications. This contribution shows that the noise performance of UWB IR TR autocorrelation receiver can be improved considerably by reducing the energy capture time of the receiver. By matching the receiver parameters to that of the transmitted UWB pulse, an almost 8-dB improvement in receiver sensitivity has been achieved.