Accurate SAT based TOA extraction and synchronization for ultra wideband ad hoc networks

Ultra wideband communication is a promising technology with attractive features of low power, low complexity transceiver and rich multipath diversity that can be used for transmitting both high and low data rates. Exploiting the inherent capabilities of UWB communication is up to perfect synchronization between transmitter and the receiver which is a serious bottleneck of these systems. Using very short pulses (of the order of nanoseconds) with low peak power (usually under the noise) makes the synchronization of UWB systems a challenging problem. Like any other system, simple, accurate and fast synchronization algorithms are of interest. Another important property of short pulses of UWB systems is the possibility of accurate position estimation which makes a variety of applications possible. In this paper using the idea of SAT receivers and solving an optimization problem through simulations, we have significantly improved the accuracy of the timing synchronization. The effect of the proposed method on the accuracy of the synchronization and BER performance is investigated. The improved synchronization, is precise enough be directly used in UWB positioning systems with no additional hardware or computational load.