Pulse waveform optimization for UWB systems with PPM on Gaussian channels

In this paper, we present two numerical methods to optimize pulse waveforms for ultra-wide band systems using pulse position modulation on Gaussian channels. The waveforms are optimized in terms of minimizing the bit error rate for any given modulation index. We also present the optimal waveforms and their correspondent error probabilities. The results show that the performance improvement over the conventional pulses is about 0.4 dB - 0.7 dB on Gaussian channels, but these new pulses may have other drawbacks.