Decision feedback threshold selection for UWB TOA estimation with energy detection receiver

The energy detection receiver is a practical solution for time-of-arrival (TOA) estimation in ultra-wide bandwidth (UWB) ranging with its sub-Nyquist sampling rate. However, the threshold selection under harsh environments is a challenging problem. In this paper, a decision feedback criterion that determines the threshold value is proposed, with which the probability of early false detection can be reduced and the missed detection can be avoided. In this criterion, the threshold is determined by the noise level, and can be adjusted iteratively according to the feedback of the threshold comparing result with a purpose of avoiding missed detection. As a result, the estimation accuracy of the TOA is improved. Simulation results show that significant performance improvement can be derived with the proposed method.