Performance analysis of DS-MA ultra-wideband communications incorporating channel-induced pulse overlap

In this paper, we provide performance analysis for direct-sequence multiple-access ultra-wideband (UWB) systems operating in multipath environments when the effect of overlap between received pulses is included. Pulse overlap occurs when the pulse width is larger than the fine delay resolution of the UWB channel and is particularly important to consider in multidimensional pulse modulations. A closed-form bit error rate expression is derived and compared with simulations that employ UWB signals complying with the FCC UWB indoor emission mask and the channel model recommended by IEEE 802.15.3a. The detailed theoretical analysis and simulations reveal that channel-induced pulse overlap has a significant impact on UWB system performance. The results also show that compared with binary modulations, multidimensional biorthogonal pulse keying can improve power efficiency for multiple-access UWB systems under multipath fading, thereby providing an advantage for power-limited UWB communications.