ML Time-of-Arrival estimation based on low complexity UWB energy detection

Abstract

Many different techniques for time-of-arrival (ToA) estimation have been described for UWB signals however they are typically highly complex. Energy detection based architectures have recently been seen as an interesting, low complexity solution for non-coherent ToA estimation. This paper presents a maximum likelihood (ML) ToA estimation strategy based on an energy detection approach utilizing a relatively long integration window. The technique offers improved estimation accuracy whilst overcoming the practical hardware limitation associated with the need for very short integration times in the receiver