Introduction to Ultra-Wideband Communications > UWB Applications. The trade-off between data rate and range in UWB systems holds great promise for a wide variety of applications in military, civilian, and commercial sectors. Chapter 5 contains a detailed discussion of UWB's present and future applications. For now, we present a brief summary of UWB applications to complete our introductory discussion. As explained in Sections 1.9 and 1.10, the FCC categorizes UWB applications as either radar, imaging, or communications devices.
Radar is considered one of the most powerful applications of UWB technology. The fine positioning characteristics of narrow UWB pulses enables them to offer high-resolution radar (within centimeters) for military and civilian applications. Also, because of the very wide frequency spectrum band, UWB signals can easily penetrate various obstacles. This property makes UWB-based ground-penetrating radar (GPR) a useful asset for rescue and disaster recovery teams for detecting survivors buried under rubble in disaster situations. Ultra Wide Band Modulation. Ultra Wide Band (UWB) modulation techniques are the latest buzzword to hit the industry press. In this feature we will explore some of the ideas behind these interesting techniques, and attempt to place them into context. Most readers will be familiar with established narrowband and spread spectrum modulation schemes.
To best contrast how different UWB techniques are, it is worth briefly reiterating the basic principles of narrowband and spread spectrum techniques. Narrowband modulation techniques are the oldest and technologically simplest approach, and have also set the precedents via which bandwidth is allocated commercially. The simplest technique is amplitude modulation, the basis of AM radio and analogue TV. The alternative is to use either phase or frequency modulation techniques, whereby the instantaneous phase or frequency of the carrier is proportional to modulation signal. Security is also improved, since without knowing the spreading code, you cannot demodulate the signal. Ultra-wideband. Ultra-wideband (also known as UWB, ultra-wide band and ultraband) is a radio technology pioneered by Robert A.
Scholtz and others which may be used at a very low energy level for short-range, high-bandwidth communications using a large portion of the radio spectrum.[1] UWB has traditional applications in non-cooperative radar imaging. Most recent applications target sensor data collection, precision locating and tracking applications.[2] Similar to spread spectrum, UWB communications transmit in a manner which does not interfere with conventional narrowband and carrier wave used in the same frequency band. Ultra-wideband is a technology for transmitting information spread over a large bandwidth (>500 MHz); this should, in theory and under the right circumstances, be able to share spectrum with other users. Theory[edit] A valuable aspect of UWB technology is the ability for a UWB radio system to determine the "time of flight" of the transmission at various frequencies.
Technology[edit] Winner: Active Networked Tags | Wireless Innovation Project™ - Vodafone Americas Foundation™ Enhants.