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The objective of this thesis is to demonstrate an indoor intruder location and tracking system with UltraWideBand (UWB) technology and use data compression and Constant False Alarm Rate (CFAR) techniques to improve the performance of the location system. Reliable and accurate indoor positioning requires a local replacement for GPS systems since satellite signals are not available indoors. UWB systems are particularly suitable for indoor location systems due their inherent capabilities such as low-power, multi-path rejection, and wide bandwidth. In our application, we are using UWB radios as a radar system for tracking targets in indoor locations. We also use Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) to compress the UWB scan waveforms from the receivers to the main computer to conserve bandwidth. At the main computer, we use Inverse DCT to recover the original signal. The UWB intruder detection system has the indoor tracking accuracy of four inches. There are many military and commercial applications such as tracking firefighters and locating trapped people in earthquake zones, and so on. This thesis demonstrates the capability of a UWB radar system to locate and track an intruder to an accuracy of four inches in an indoor cluttered environment.

Yes / This paper examines the case for an ultrawideband planar inverted-F-L-antenna design intended for use in the lower sub-band. The antenna construction is based on the conventional inverted F, and inverted L as its feed element, and parasitic element, respectively. The optimized antenna size is 30×15×4mm3. The prototype antenna has a good return loss of -10 dB, and a 66.6% impedance bandwidth (2.8 GHz ¿ 5.6 GHz), the gain varies between 3.1 dBi and 4.5 dBi.

Ultrawideband (UWB) is one of the most promising communication technologies in recent times with the promise of high data rates and spectral reuse. This work analyses the outdoor and outdoor-to-indoor propagating characteristics of the UWB pulse, which can be of the order of a few gigahertz in bandwidth. The aim of the thesis is to provide the parameters needed in order to develop a channel model for such cases. The channel model would then play an important role in determining physical layer (PHY) solutions to optimally exploit these characteristics. The measurements carried out on the Virginia Tech campus are used to compute parameters such as path loss, penetration loss and delay statistics. These are carried out in multiple frequency bands and the results are compared across frequency bands to determine effect of different frequency levels on the parameters. Finally the results are analyzed with respect to similar parameters obtained in other measurement campaigns in an attempt to evaluate the performance of Ultrawideband vis-à-vis narrowband systems. / Master of Science

A direction of arrival (DoA) estimation technique for broadband microwave signals is proposed using a single ultrawideband antenna. It is inspired by the sound source localization ability of a human auditory system using just one ear (monaural localization). By exploiting the incident angle-dependent frequency response of a wideband antenna, the DoA of a broadband microwave signal can be estimated. The DoA estimation accuracies are evaluated for two antenna configurations and microwave signals with different signal-to-noise ratios. Encouraging the DoA estimation performance of the proposed technique is demonstrated in both simulation and experiment.

Trådlös kommunikation mellan noder sker genom att skicka data över det trådlösa mediet, för att få kommunikationen att samspela har flertalet standarder utvecklats. En av dessa standarder är 802.15.4 med UWB PHY vars utformning är av en sådan karaktär att signalöverföringen blir störningstålig och osynlig för andra standarder. UWB används ofta till lokalisering och positionering, men kan även användas till en samtida dataöverföring då standardens utformning tillåter detta. Det var dock oklart med vilken prestanda detta kunde genomföras. Därför har den datakommunikationsprestandan undersöks. Den hypotes som följdes under arbetet var att ''genom att skicka data mellan positioneringsimpulserna möjliggörs användandet av samma enhet för positionering och datakommunikation, systemets prestanda påverkas då av MAC-metoden''. Ur hypotesen kom det tre frågeställningar: Vilken MAC-metod är lämplig för både positionering och dataöverföring? Är det möjligt att använda systemet för både positionering och dataöverföring genom att skicka data mellan positioneringsimpulserna? Vilken kommunikationsprestanda kan uppnås när systemet används för både postionering och dataöverföring? I arbetet bevisas hypotesen samt frågeställningarna med syftet att detta kunde komma att hjälpa till inom exempelvis robotiken, men även som ett alternativ till WiFi då UWB är både störningståligt och osynligt för andra standarder. Den iterativa metoden användes för att utveckla ett system som kunde lösa den kombinerade positioneringen och datakommunikationen. I prestandatesterna gick det att utläsa att hypotesen stämde förutsatt att parametrarna är korrekt. / Wireless communication between nodes is achieved by sending data over the wireless medium. In order to have communications interact different standards have been developed. One such standard is 802.15.4 with UWB PHY, designed such that the signal transmission becomes interference-resistant and invisible to other standards. UWB is often used for location and positioning, but the standard design also allows for a contemporary data transfer. However, it was unclear with what performance this could be implemented. Therefore, the data communication performance has been investigated. The hypothesis that was followed during the work posits that ''by sending data between the positioning pulses, the use of the same unit for positioning and data communication is made possible, and that the system's performance is then affected by the MAC method.'' Three questions arose from this hypothesis. Which MAC method is suitable for both positioning and data transfer? Is it possible to use the system for both positioning and data transmission by sending data between the positioning pulses? What communication performance can be achieved when the system is used for both positioning and data transfer? In this work the hypothesis and the research questions are verified with the intended purpose that it could be of help in the field of robotics and also as an alternative to WiFi, due to UWBs robustness and invisibility characteristics. An iterative process has been utilized throughout this work to build a system which could solve the combined positioning and data communication. In the following performance tests the hypothesis is verified, provided that the parameters used are correct.

Στη διπλωματική αυτή εργασία περιγράφεται η σχεδίαση και η υλοποίηση σε πλακέτα (PCB) ενός Ultra Wideband Low Noise Amplifier (UW-LNA) με περιοχή λειτουργίας 3.1- 10.6 GHz. Ο ενισχυτής αυτός αποτελεί το σημαντικότερο κομμάτι ενός δέκτη σε ό,τι α- φορά τη θορυβική συμπεριφορά του τελευταίου. / In this diploma thesis we designed an Ultra Wideband Low Noise Amplifier (UW-LNA), operating in the band of frequencies between 3.1-10.6 GHz. The LNA has also been implemented on a PCB. The LNA is the most important component of a receiver as far as the noise behavior is concerned.

A new class of Planar Ultrawideband Modular Antenna (PUMA) arrays, termed PUMAv3, is introduced to offer improved performance and further meet demand needs for multifunctional systems. PUMAv3 extends the frequency scalability of PUMA arrays to mm-waves (approximately 50 GHz) and improves bandwidth by 50\% without the use of a matching network or external baluns. The major enabling technical innovation is the advent of a new common-mode mitigation mechanism that relies upon capacitively-loaded shorting vias to push broadside catastrophic resonances below the operating band without inhibiting low-end bandwidth performance. Ridged waveguide models are employed to explain the operational principles and accurately predict the location of the common-mode frequency within the new array topology. Additionally, the superstrate loading scheme is split into two exclusive layers to enhance broadside and wide angle impedance levels while maintaining the highest frequency at 97% of the grating lobe frequency and reducing the overall array profile by up to 30%. The PUMAv3 also retains the attractive practical advantages inherent to the PUMA array family: aperture modularity, direct 50-ohm feeding, and low-cost planar multilayer PCB fabrication. Infinite array full-wave simulations of a dual-polarized PUMAv3 satisfying manufacture guidelines suggest 10.6-47.6 GHz (4.5:1) operation with strong VSWR levels out to 45 degrees, high port isolation and low cross-polarization.

No / A miniaturized modified planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA) is presented and experimentally studied. This antenna consists of a planar rectangular monopole top-loaded with a rectangular patch attached to two rectangular plates, one shorted to the ground and the other suspended, both placed at the optimum distance on each side of the planar monopole. The fabricated antenna prototype had a measured impedance bandwidth of 125%, covering 3 to 13GHz for reflection coefficient better than -10 dB. The radiator size was 20 x 10 x 7.5 mm(3), making it electrically small over most of the band and suitable for incorporation in mobile devices. The radiation patterns and gains of this antenna have been cross-validated numerically and experimentally and confirm that this antenna has adequate characteristics for short range ultra-wideband wireless applications.

Ultrawideband (UWB) phased antenna arrays are critical to the success of future multi-functional communication, sensing, and countermeasure systems, which will utilize a few UWB phased arrays in place of multiple antennas on a platform. The success of this new systems approach relies in part on the ability to manufacture and assemble low-cost UWB phased arrays with excellent radiation characteristics.This dissertation presents the theory and design of a new class of UWB arrays that is based on unbalanced fed tightly-coupled horizontal dipoles over a ground plane. Practical implementation of this concept leads to two inexpensive wideband array topologies, the Banyan Tree Antenna (BTA) Array, and the Planar Ultrawideband Modular Antenna (PUMA) Array. The key challenge in designing unbalanced-fed tightly-coupled dipole arrays lies in the control of a common mode resonance that destroys UWB performance. This work introduces a novel feeding strategy that eliminates this resonance and results in wideband, wide-angle radiation. More importantly, the new feeding scheme is simple and intuitive, and can be implemented at low-cost in both vertically and planarly-integrated phased array architectures. Another desirable byproduct of this topology is the electrical and mechanical modularity of the aperture, which enables easy manufacturability and assembly. A theoretical framework is presented for the new phased array topologies, which is then applied to the design of innite BTA and PUMA arrays that achieve 4:1 and 5:1 bandwidths,respectively. A practical application of this technology is demonstrated through the full design, fabrication, and measurement of a 7.25-21GHz 16x16 dual-pol PUMA array prototype for SATCOM applications.