Ultra wideband (UWB) transmitter architecture

A quantized pulse generator comprising:

• a plurality of differential amplifiers, each differential amplifier coupled at a first end to a power rail, the differential amplifier to produce a current;
• a plurality of switches, each switch coupled to a second end of one differential amplifier of the plurality of differential amplifiers, the switch to regulate the flow of the current produced by the differential amplifier;
• a resistor coupled to the second end of each of the differential amplifiers via the plurality of switches, the resistor to convert a current from each differential amplifier into a voltage drop when the switch is closed;
• an output coupled to the resistor;
• a control signal generator coupled to the plurality of switches, the control signal generator containing circuitry to generate a plurality of control signals, one control signal being coupled to each switch in the plurality of switches, wherein the control signals are used to open and close each switch;
• and
• a memory coupled to the control signal generator, the memory to store information regarding the plurality of control signals to be generated by the control signal generator.

An ultra-wideband (UWB) transmitter comprising:

• a data input;
• a digital signal processing block coupled to the data input, the digital signal processing block containing circuitry to encode and convert a digital data stream provided by the data input;
• an analog signal processing block coupled to the digital signal processing block, the analog signal processing block comprising
• a quantized pulse generator coupled to the digital signal processing block, the quantized pulse generator containing circuitry to generate a quantized pulse in accordance with the encoded and converted digital data stream;
• a filter coupled to the quantized pulse generator, the filter to ensure that the quantized pulses generated by the quantized pulse generator conform to a specified spectral mask;
• and
• the UWB transmitter further comprising an antenna coupled to the analog signal processing block.