Ultra Wide Band (UWB)

Technology & Its

Applications
by
Dr.A.T.Kalghatgi

Chief Scientist
Central Research
Laboratory
Bharat Electronics
Limited.,
Bangalore
ELITEX 2007 Seminar on
1Oth January

Overview
Trends that drive short range
wireless
Definition of UWB
Advantages of UWB
Applications of UWB
UWB Challenges
ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Trends that are driving short-range

wireless
The growing demand for wireless data
capability in portable devices at higher
bandwidth
Crowding in the spectrum that is segmented
and licensed by regulatory authorities in
traditional ways.
The growth of high-speed wired access to
the Internet in enterprises, homes, and
public spaces.
Shrinking semiconductor cost and power
consumption for signal processing.
ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Communication using Pulse

Sinusoidal signals are narrow in frequency and "wide"

over time

A pulse is narrow in time and wideband in frequency

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Narrow band Problems

Narrowband Problems
Multipath fading
-Destructive interference of CW signals causes
signal loss
Insecure
-Narrow Band signals are easily detected and
jammed
Poor range resolution
-Range resolution for tracking applications is a
function of RF bandwidth
Limited data rate

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

The UWB solution

Ultimate in spectrum spreading
GHz of RF bandwidth
Has all the advantages of spread spectrum
But to a much larger extent
Immune to multipath fading
Virtually undetectable
Unprecedented range resolution
Potential for very high data rates
Simple to implement
High capacity

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Comparison of UWB vs Spread

Spectrum and Narrow Band

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Definition of UWB
Conventional Definition- Short Pulse
Carrier Free,Baseband or Impulse
based
Typically only a Free RF Cycles
- Large fractional bandwidth (BW/f)
Very low duty cycles resulting in low
average energy densities
Typically generated by impulse or step
excited antennas and filters
ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

UWB Pulse Waveforms

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

UWB Fractional Bandwidth

As per FCC guidelines UWB fractional
bandwidth is defined by,

Where:
fu = upper 10 dB point
fl = lower 10 dB point

Either 25% fractional bandwidth

criteria should be met or the
instantaneous bandwidth of 500
MHz.
ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Multi Band OFDM

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

FCC Emission Requirements

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Comparison of occupied
bandwidths by UWB and other
wireless technologies

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Comparison of Spatial Capacity

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Comparison of Spatial Capacity of

Various Indoor Wireless System
System

UWB
IEEE
802.11a
Bluetooth
802.11b

Maximum
Data Rate
[Mbps]
100
54

Transmissio
n Distance
[m]
10
50

Spatial Capacity
[kbps/m2]
318.3
6.90

Spectral
Capacity
[bps/Hz]
0.013
2.7

1
11

10
100

3.2
0.35

0.012
0.1317

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Comparison of UWB bit rate with

other wired and wireless
standards
Speed
(Mbits/
second)
480
200
110
90
54
20
11
10
1

Standard

UWB,USB2.0
UWB(4m minimum),1394a (4.5m)
UWB(10m minimum)
Fast Ethernet
802.11a
802.11g
802.11b
Ethernet
Bluetooth

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

UWB Major Application Areas

a) Communications
Wireless Audio, Data & Video Distribution
RF Tagging & Identification
b) Radar
Collision/Obstacle Avoidance
Precision Altimetry
Intrusion Detection (see through wall)
Ground Penetrating Radar
c) Precision Geolocation
Asset Tracking
Personnel localization

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Some of Military & Commercial

Applications of UWB

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Source:MSSI

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Voice and Data Communications

With increasing congestion in the radio
spectrum from communications appliances of
all forms, new schemes for allowing more
users in a given area are always sought.
UWB allows users to simultaneously share
the spectrum with no interference to one
another and to apply it in UWB devices, such
as high-speed home and business networking
devices
as
well
as
storage
tank
measurement.
ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Ground and Ice Penetrating

RADAR

A system used to detect objects buried in

the ground.
A special directional antenna to transmit
the stimulus signal into the ground and
receive the reflected waves.
Depth of penetration is typically between
0.5 and 10 m, very short pulses are needed
to resolve typical buried targets.

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Wall Imaging Radar System

To detect the location of objects contained
within a "wall," such as a concrete structure,
the side of a bridge, or the wall of a mine.
Operation is restricted by FCC to law
enforcement, fire and rescue organizations, to
scientific research institutions, to commercial
mining
companies,
and
to
construction
companies.

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Through Wall Radar

System
Uses very short pulses to provide
detection of objects on the opposite
side of a non-metallic wall.
The stimulus signal is transmitted into
the wall. A portion of the signal
incident on the wall is transmitted
through the wall and into the space on
the far side.
Objects in the field then reflect the signal back to the
wall where part of the signal is transmitted through the
wall to the receiver.
Freq of Operation: below 960 MHz or 3.1-10.6 GHz
band.

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Surveillance Systems
UWB
based
Surveillance
systems operate as "security
fences" by establishing a
stationary RF perimeter field
("bubble") and detecting the
intrusion of persons or objects
in
that field.
"Bubble"
can be established to cover either
certain area or certain object, such as
aircraft, vehicle etc.
Frequency band 1.99-10.6 GHz.
ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Vehicular Radar Systems

Potential applications include
collision avoidance,
proximity aids,
intelligent cruise control systems,
improved airbag activation
& suspension systems that better respond to road
conditions.
FCC limits operation of vehicular radar to the 2229 GHz band using directional antennas on
terrestrial transportation vehicles provided the
center frequency of the emission and the
frequency at which the highest radiated emission
occurs are greater than 24.075 GHz.

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Fluid Level Measurements

UWB distance measuring hardware
can be used as an electronic dipstick, to
determine the level of a fluid in a tank by
measuring the distance between the top
of the tank and the interface with the
surface of the fluid.

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Asset Location
Another form of data communications.
Up-to-date inventory of assets in a given
location.
A coded transmitter can be attached to
each asset for instantaneous inventory
control.
Not only can determine the presence of
a particular object, but also provides
information as to its exact location.
ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

ID Tags
Similar to asset tracking, ID tags can be
used to wirelessly identify individuals with
issued ID tags.
Other
applications
are
Intelligent
Transportation Systems, Electronic Signs and
Smart Appliances

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

UWB can enable a wide variety

of WPAN applications.

Replacing
IEEE1394
cables
between
portable
multimedia
CE
devices,
such
as
camcorders, digital cameras, and portable MP3
players, with wireless connectivity

Enabling high-speed wireless universal

serial bus (WUSB) connectivity for PCs and PC
peripherals,
including
printers,scanners,
and
external storage devices

Replacing
cables
in
next-generation
Bluetooth Technology devices, such as 3G cell
phones, as well as IP/UPnP-based connectivity for
the next generation of IP-based PC/CE/mobile
devices

Creating
ad-hoc
high-bit-rate
wireless
ELITEX 2007
Seminar
on 1Oth
January
connectivity
for CE,PC,
and mobile
devices

PC Clusters interconnected thru

UWB enabled Wireless USB

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

UWB Key Design Challenges

Co-existence with other services Strong narrow band
interference
Shaping of spectrum of the TX signal (impulse radio, multiband OFDM based UWB etc.)
Practical and Simple Receiver Design
(Synchronisation/Coherent or non coherent receiver design)
Wideband RF components (antenna,LNA etc.)
Time Domain response of antenna is important since the
antenna shapes the pulse
Antennas for impulse radio can no longer be optimized at
the carrier frequency
Flat group delay so that high and low frequency signals
arrive simultaneously
High Sampling rate ADCs for digital implementations

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Other Challenges for UWB

For UWB technology to become a widely adopted radio
solution, a few key areas need to be resolved:
Performance
(including
over-the-air
data
rate
performance, power consumption, co-existence with
other wireless devices, immunity to interference, and
link robustness)
Interoperability
Time-to-market considerations
Ease of product integration and certification
Overall solution cost (to the OEM)
Fulfillment and support
Quality of service
Global spectrum allocation

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January

Thank You

ELITEX 2007 Seminar on 1Oth January