Measurement and Characterization of the Near-Ground Indoor Ultra Wideband Channel

The propagation of near-ground indoor ultra-wideband channel is an important issue with significant impacts on the future direction and scope of ultra wideband (UWB) technology and its applications. Near-ground applications are effective where the use of scatter nodes/devices is used in a conventional application, such as rescue personnel. The goal of this article is to present an assessment and characterization of near-ground UWB channels and the potential for near-ground communication systems. Time-domain measurements for UWB indoor propagation channels were taken with transmit and receive antennas placed directly on the ground in order to characterize statistical properties of the channel's impulse response. Both large-and small-scale models were evaluated and compared to existing results for above-ground measurements. The model parameters that were extracted from measurements prove to be in accordance with expected physical trends from previous work. These preliminary results could be advantageous in the design of future near-ground indoor UWB systems capable of fusing propagation and communication functionalities.