Ultra wideband receiver with high speed noise and interference tracking threshold

An ultra wideband receiver comprising:

• an antenna;
• a variable attenuator receiving an output from said antenna;
• an ultra wideband detector to detect an ultra wideband signal passed through said variable attenuator;
• a current controller having both a fixed data threshold output level and a fixed noise threshold output level to bias said ultra wideband detector;
• and
• a processor to process an output of said ultra wideband detector.

An ultra wideband receiver comprising:

• an antenna;
• a variable attenuator receiving an output from said antenna;
• an ultra wideband detector to detect an ultra wideband signal received from an output of said variable attenuator;
• a processor to process an output of said ultra wideband detector;
• and
• a calibration switch to switch an input to said variable attenuator from said antenna to an impedance-matched termination terminal.

An ultra wideband receiver comprising:

• an antenna;
• a variable attenuator receiving an output from said antenna;
• an ultra wideband detector to detect an ultra wideband signal passed through said variable attenuator;
• a constant current source having at least two output current settings to bias said ultra wideband detector;
• a first threshold controller to set said constant current source to a first one of said at least two output current settings;
• and
• a second threshold controller to set said constant current source to a second one of said at least two output current settings.

A method of detecting an ultra wideband signal with an ultra wideband detector, said method comprising:

• determining a first bias to be applied to said ultra wideband detector based on a probability of noise detection of about 50%;
• determining a second bias to be applied to said ultra wideband detector based on a probability of noise detection below a predetermined amount set by a desired bit error rate (BER);
• alternately switching between said first bias applied to said ultra wideband detector and said second bias applied to said ultra wideband detector;
• and
• adjusting an attenuation level of said ultra wideband signal during a data dwell based on the occurrence of noise detected during at least one noise dwell.

A method of receiving an ultra wideband signal, comprising:

• (i) determining a first bias level of an ultra wideband detector to detect a noise floor with a predetermined probability;
• (ii) determining a second bias level of said ultra wideband detector to detect data with a predetermined maximum bit error rate (BER);
• (iii) determining an attenuation level of a received ultra wideband signal necessary to maintain said predetermined probability of detection of noise floor by said ultra wideband detector, based on a result of at least two noise dwells with said ultra wideband detector biased at said first bias level;
• (iv) adjusting said attenuation level based on a result of step (iii)
• (v) performing a data dwell with said ultra wideband detector biased at said second bias level;
• and
• (vi) repeating steps (iii) to (v) until reception of said ultra wideband signal is completed.

An ultra wideband receiver comprising:

• an antenna;
• a variable attenuator receiving an output from said antenna;
• a first ultra wideband detector to detect an ultra wideband signal passed through said variable attenuator;
• a second ultra wideband detector to detect noise passed through said variable attenuator;
• and
• a processor to process an output of said first ultra wideband detector and an output of said second ultra wideband detector to interpret said ultra wideband signal.

An ultra wideband receiver comprising:

• an antenna;
• a variable attenuator receiving an output from said antenna;
• a first ultra wideband detector to detect an ultra wideband signal passed through said variable attenuator;
• a second ultra wideband detector to detect noise passed through said variable attenuator;
• a first detector gate to switch said first ultra wideband detector between a dwell position wherein an ultra wideband signal is applied to said first ultra wideband detector, and a termination position wherein an anode of said first ultra wideband detector is connected to ground through resistance;
• and
• a second detector gate to switch said second ultra wideband detector between a dwell position wherein said ultra wideband signal is applied to said second ultra wideband detector, and a termination position wherein an anode of said second ultra wideband detector is connected to ground through resistance.

An ultra wideband receiver comprising:

• an antenna;
• a variable attenuator receiving an output from said antenna;
• a first ultra wideband detector to detect an ultra wideband signal passed through said variable attenuator;
• a second ultra wideband detector to detect noise passed through said variable attenuator;
• a processor to process an output of said first ultra wideband detector and an output of said second ultra wideband detector;
• and
• a calibration switch to switch an input to said variable attenuator from said antenna to an impedance-matched termination terminal.

A method of receiving an ultra wideband signal, comprising:

• (i) determining a bias level of a first ultra wideband detector to detect a noise floor with a predetermined probability;
• (ii) determining a bias level of a second ultra wideband detector to detect data with a predetermined maximum bit error rate (BER);
• (iii) determining an attenuation level of a received ultra wideband signal to maintain said predetermined probability of detection of noise by said first ultra wideband detector, based on an output of said first ultra wideband detector and an output of said second ultra wideband detector during at least two dwells;
• (iv) adjusting said attenuation level based on a result of step (iii)
• (v) performing a data dwell to detect a presence of data in said ultra wideband signal;
• and
• (vi) repeating steps (iii) to (v) until reception of said ultra wideband signal is completed.