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I am trying to understand the UWB technology and how it can be used for localization.

  1. Are there any resources where I can study about the algorithms it uses to calculate the direction?

  2. Also why does it able to provide a centimetre accuracy?

  3. For my understanding, it sends pulses in different frequencies within the frequency band. I am not quite sure how the communication is established. Is there a specific protocol used similar to Bluetooth?

Thanks a lot!!!

radar101
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1 Answers1

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Are there any resources where I can study about the algorithms it uses to calculate the direction?

"positioning" and direction finding are typically two different things; you can use direction finding with enough observers for positioning, but it's not the only way, and probably not used here. UWB and angular resolution is hard, because the usual "beautiful" algorithms for direction of arrival assume something narrowband.

There's nothing inherently fundamentally different about UWB pulse radar and pulse radar in general. And there's about 116 years of pulse radar history; I'm going to go ahead and assume you're a student; maybe ask your supervisor or professor in a radar or high-frequency lecture what they can recommend; it's probable they have a good idea of what would embed well into your educational background.

Also why does it able to provide a centimetre accuracy?

Radar systems are limited by noise and by bandwidth. Remember what "UWB" stands for!

For my understanding, it sends pulses in different frequencies within the frequency band.

A pulse is a wideband thing, it doesn't have a single frequency; so there's something a bit questionable about that wording.

Now, what could very well be is that it's a stepped-frequency wideband radar.

However, we don't really know which kind of UWB radar you're referring to, so I'll refrain from speculating here – might only confuse the both of us!

I am not quite sure how the communication is established.

Localization or radar are not communication methods.

Is there a specific protocol used similar to Bluetooth?

Almost certainly not.

Marcus Müller
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  • Hi Marcus, Many thanks for the reply. I am currently trying to understand whether there are any specific algorithms I can use with UWB to calculate the direction of arrival. With multiple receivers I can get the actual position by triangulation. Main application is for tracking of assets etc.. As you may know that iPhone11 has a UWB chip for spatial awareness. So I want to understand the algorithm types and how I can apply these algorithms after ADC(Analog Digital Converter). Let me know if there are any resources. Thanks a lot!! – radar101 Sep 16 '20 at 10:08
  • "UWB" doesn't say *what* you do, only about it's bandwidth. you need to look way more closely into what is done in the individual applications. Again, all the classical 116 years of radar apply, so the questions "what can be done on UWB radar" fills libraries, not stackexchange answers. – Marcus Müller Sep 16 '20 at 14:00
  • Thanks! Marcus for the information. – radar101 Sep 17 '20 at 13:09