An Experimental Approach to a Low-Complexity Two-Step TOA Measurement for TR-UWB Signals

A proposal for a two-step time of arrival (TOA) estimation based on the Time Delayed Sampling and Correlation (TDSC) method for Transmitted Reference Ultra-wideband (TRUWB) signals is presented and experimentally tested in a wireless environment. It relies on the sliding correlation over a symbol length, at the coarse step, to find a signal block where the direct path is enclosed. At the second step, the sliding correlation is finely evaluated over this signal block to estimate precisely the beginning of the pulse. The TOA is then evaluated with a high resolution obtained from the relatively high sampling frequency of the metal-oxide semiconductor circuit (CMOS) that implements the TDSC method. This TOA estimator structure is simple, feasible and with a low computing demand.