Energy efficient ultra-wideband impulse radio systems and methods

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions, the computer executable instructions when executed by a digital signal processing (DSP) circuit cause the DSP circuit to execute a process comprising:

• transmitting a signal from a first wireless transceiver associated with the DSP circuit to a second wireless transceiver, where the signal triggers an echo signal to be generated by the second wireless transceiver which is subsequently received by the first wireless receiver;
• establishing an energy within integration time windows that are established in dependence upon a clock signal generated by a clock source forming part of the first wireless transceiver and the output of an energy detector circuit forming part of the first wireless transceiver;
• establishing an estimate of an elapsed time between transmission of the signal and receipt of the echo signal, the estimate of the elapsed time being established in dependence upon an energy distribution determined by the DSP circuit for two consecutive integration time windows during which the echo signal is received;
• and
• establishing a range between the first wireless transceiver and the second wireless transceiver with another process employing the estimate of the elapsed time.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions, the computer executable instructions when executed by a digital signal processing (DSP) circuit cause the DSP circuit to execute a process comprising:

• transmitting a first packet comprising a plurality of pulse bundles from a first wireless transceiver associated with the DSP circuit;
• starting a first timer associated upon transmission of the last pulse bundle of the plurality of pulse bundles;
• processing a plurality of other pulse bundles forming a second packet received from a second wireless transceiver at a detector circuit forming part of the first wireless transceiver;
• synchronizing to a predetermined pulse within a last pulse bundle of the plurality of other pulse bundles of the second packet using a synchronization circuit forming part of the first wireless transceiver;
• stopping the first timer upon determining detection of the predetermined pulse within the last pulse bundle of the plurality of other pulse bundles of the second packet;
• and
• calculating a time of flight in dependence upon the elapsed time of the first timer.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions, the computer executable instructions when executed by a digital signal processing (DSP) circuit cause the DSP circuit to execute a process comprising:

• establishing a range between a pair of Ultra-Wideband (UWB) transceivers comprising a first ultra-wideband (UWB) transceiver with a second UWB transceiver using another process in execution upon the first UWB transceiver and the second UWB transceiver;
• wherein
• the another process comprises:
• synchronizing the first ultra-wideband (UWB) transceiver with the second UWB transceiver;
• transmitting a first packet from the first UWB transceiver comprising a plurality of UWB pulse bundles;
• starting a first timer associated with the first UWB transceiver upon transmission of the last pulse bundle;
• processing the received plurality of UWB pulse bundles upon the second UWB transceiver;
• synchronizing to a predetermined pulse within the UWB pulse bundles of the first packet using a circuit comprising at least a first correlator and a first delay-locked loop;
• starting a second timer associated with the second UWB transceiver upon determining detection of the predetermined pulse within the last pulse bundle of the plurality of pulse bundles;
• transmitting a second packet from the second UWB transceiver when the second timer reaches a predetermined wait time;
• processing the received plurality of UWB pulse bundles associated with the second UWB transceiver upon the first UWB transceiver;
• synchronizing to a predetermined pulse within the UWB pulse bundles of the second packet using a circuit comprising at least a second correlator and a second delay-locked loop;
• stopping the first timer upon determining detection of the predetermined pulse within the last pulse bundle of the plurality of pulse bundles of the second packet;
• calculating the time of flight in dependence upon the elapsed time of the first timer and determining a range between the first UWB transceiver and second UWB transceiver.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions, the computer executable instructions when executed by a digital signal processing (DSP) circuit cause the DSP circuit to execute a process comprising:

• establishing a range between a pair of Ultra-Wideband (UWB) transceivers comprising a first ultra-wideband (UWB) transceiver with a second UWB transceiver using another process in execution upon the first UWB transceiver and the second UWB transceiver;
• wherein
• the another process comprises:
• providing a synchronization circuit forming part of the first ultra-wideband (UWB) transceiver for synchronizing wireless communications with the second UWB transceiver comprising at least a first correlator and a first delay-locked loop;
• transmitting a first packet from the first UWB transceiver comprising a plurality of first UWB pulse bundles;
• starting a first timer associated with the first UWB transceiver upon transmission of the last first UWB pulse bundle of the plurality of first UWB pulse bundles;
• receiving a second packet from the second UWB transceiver comprising a plurality of second UWB pulse bundles;
• synchronizing to a predetermined second UWB pulse bundle within the plurality of second UWB pulse bundles of the second packet using the synchronization circuit;
• stopping the first timer upon determining detection of the predetermined pulse within the last pulse bundle of the plurality of pulse bundles of the second packet;
• and
• calculating the time of flight in dependence upon the elapsed time of the first timer and determining a range between the first UWB transceiver and second UWB transceiver.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions, the computer executable instructions when executed by a digital signal processing (DSP) circuit cause the DSP circuit to execute a process comprising:

• establishing a range between a pair of Ultra-Wideband (UWB) transceivers comprising a first ultra-wideband (UWB) transceiver with a second UWB transceiver using another process in execution upon the first UWB transceiver and the second UWB transceiver;
• wherein
• the another process comprises:
• transmitting an ultra-wideband (UWB) impulse with the first UWB transceiver operating with a first clock rate having first integration windows in dependence upon the first clock rate;
• receiving from the second UWB transceiver an echo signal generated by the second UWB transceiver in dependence upon receipt of the UWB impulse;
• integrating received UWB signals within the first integration windows and determining when the received energy within a first integration window exceeds a predetermined threshold that the echo signal has been received;
• passing the integrated energies within the first integration windows to a digital signal processing (DSP) circuit;
• and
• deriving an estimate of elapsed time with the DSP circuit.