Components and Concepts for low-power mm-wave pulsed angle modulated ultra wideband (UWB) communication and ranging
Final Report Abstract
The project PFM-USR aims to investigate components and concepts for pulsed frequency modulated ultra wideband secondary radar systems. Novel ultra wideband systems, which are inherently suited for monolithic integration, have been developed. The concept of pulsed linear or stepped frequency modulation (PFM) has been put forward as an alternative to common pulsed UWB approaches. The introduction of the novel PFM UWB concept requires sophisticated system and concept design to permit a comparison to already established concepts. The feasibility of UWB localization with millimeter precision in an operating range up to 100 m was demonstrated based on system theoretical considerations and simulations with realistic hardware parameters derived from the 1st chip-set fabricated within this project. In addition, the practicability of a completely novel concept for generating PFM UWB signals based on switched injection locked regenerative sampling was proved. This new method allows for reducing the complexity and power consumption, comparable to that of a simple UWB pulse radar system. This target is reached by employing the harmonic sampling principle to avoid components like PLLs or linear amplifiers at RF frequencies. A thorough system theoretical investigation of the proposed concept was developed and the theory was verified by laboratory experiments. At the end of the project, a fully functional PFM UWB transmitter has been built that does not require any laboratory equipment. It was shown the first prototype system delivers a good SNR for precise radar measurements. The circuits designed in the project show the feasibility of integration of the pulsed frequency-modulated synthesizer. Both the traditional approach using a VCO with wide tuning range (consequently in a commercial approach, a PLL would be used) combined with a switch at the output and the innovative switched injectionlocked (SILO) principle are suited for an SOC solution. Using said SILO principle enables the usage of wellknown and low-power PLL circuits in a lower frequency band and thus an overall lower system power consumption than the PLL/switch approach. The emphasis of future work will be on generalizing and extending the PFM UWB principle towards synthesizing arbitrary angle modulated ultra wideband signals for combined localization and communication. This research is part of the subsequent DFG project within the UKoLoS priority programme – “Components and concepts for low-power mm-wave pulsed angle modulates ultra wideband communication and ranging” (PAMUCOR). An additional key aspect within that project will be the application of the new signal generation concepts to mm-wave frequency range circuits, where higher bandwidth for greater radar resolution is available but mastering power consumption and system complexity is even more challenging. Furthermore, receiver architectures and demodulation concepts, which are still missing for a complete secondary radar system, will be developed.
Publications
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"A Low Phase-Noise SiGe Colpitts VCO with Wide Tuning Range for UWB Applications," in 2010 European Wireless Technology Conference (EuWIT), Paris, France, 2010, pp. 229-232
A. Esswein, G. Dehm-Andone, R. Weigel, A. Aleksieieva, and M. Vossiek
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(2011). On the Performance of Pulsed Frequency Modulated UWB Local Positioning Systems. IEEE International Microwave Symposium 2011, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Ebelt, R., B. Waldmann, et al.
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„Voltage-Controlled Colpitts-Oscillator with Wide Tuning Range in Silicon-Germanium Technology with Output Switch for Pulsed Frequency Modulated UWB Signals”, Analog 2011 (12. GMM/ITG-Fachtagung), Erlangen
A. Esswein, G. Dehm-Andone, A. Aleksieieva, C. Carlowitz, T. Usmueller, G. Fischer, M. Vossiek, R. Weigel
